International Day of Education

In light of the International Day of Education (24 January), it is timely to reflect on the recent ban on women attending university, the limitations for girls in secondary schools, and the restriction on women
educators in Afghanistan. UNESCO dedicates its fifth edition of the International Day to all the girls and women in Afghanistan, who have been denied their right to learn, study and teach. Director-General Ms. Audrey Azoulay states,

“The Organization condemns this serious attack on human dignity and on the fundamental right to education. With these persistent threats towards the advancement of education and careers… the future is seemingly bleak. To many, the threat towards education has been imminent, yet many still held hope onto the Taliban’s earlier statements reassuring the public of them upholding human rights obligations”.

After a 20-year war and the collapse of the Western-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, the Taliban took back power in August of 2021. With many fearing and questioning this ‘new’ regime, the Taliban promised they would abide to various human rights obligations, specifically reassuring that, “our sisters and our men have the same rights,” and that they were “committed to the rights of women” within the context of their interpretation of Islamic mandates”. Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Minister of Higher Education, also promised, “the people of Afghanistan will continue their higher education in the light of sharia law in safety without being in a mixed male and female
environment”.

However, these were empty promises, as the Taliban first showcased their power by gradually impeding on these rights a month into power. In September 2021, women were only permitted in universities that adhered to gender-segregated classrooms with strict dress code rules, and were
only taught by professors of the same sex or older men. And the threat to education did not stop there: in March 2022, all girls’ secondary schools were shut down, with the students being instructed to stay home till further notice. This restriction was then bolstered by the Minister of Higher Education’s announcement that women’s education would be suspended in December – “no PhD or master’s degree is valuable today. You see that the Mullahs and Taliban that are in power have no PhD, masters or even a high school degree, but they are the greatest of all”.

The Taliban insists that these measures are backed up by their interpretation of Islamic teachings, yet we have seen several leaders from Muslim-majority countries condemn their actions. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed their astonishment and regret of the Taliban’s backtracking on their initial statement, compelling them to “reverse this decision, which is astonishing in all Islamic countries” and give “Afghan women their full legitimate rights, foremost of which is the right to education, which contributes to supporting security, stability, development and prosperity for Afghanistan”. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also urged the end of the ban and expressed their concern and disappointment towards the regime. The UAE representative for the UN declared the Taliban’s actions aimed to erase women and girls from public life, further stating that the ban would “violate fundamental human rights, contravene the teachings of Islam, and must be swiftly
reversed”. The Secretary-General for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation believes that these bans and restrictions will ruin the government’s already failing credibility, but most importantly deny girls and women access to their fundamental rights.

It is important to remember that before the Taliban’s takeover in 1996, Afghanistan benefitted from an inclusive education system, where women and girls took up 50% of Kabul University’s population (both individually within student and teacher populations), as well as 70% of the country’s
schoolteachers, 50% of civilian government workers, and 40% of doctors. With the enrolment of girls drastically increasing from 100,000 (2000) to over 3.5 million in recent years, many fear these numbers will severely dwindle with the new bans and restrictions.

The Taliban has a history of impeding on human rights. It is pertinent that not only are their actions scrutinised and condemned, but most importantly as a global community that we strive and actively contribute to protecting the rights of these girls and women, many of whom have only endured hardship and strife.

Toxic Waste Mountain: How The Occupation Also Harms Israelis

Israel is explicit about the objective of its supposedly sustainable projects: to achieve full sovereignty over “the lands of Judea and Samaria” by whatever means necessary, i.e. present-day Israel combined with its occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories. Let’s imagine this objective were to magically be achieved overnight: Israel would literally have a mountain of toxic waste on its hands. 

Israel uses the West Bank as a dumping ground for its own waste and the waste from illegal settlements. Israel also systematically denies Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza suitable access to resources and infrastructure for the responsible management of their own waste. This has led to the widespread adoption of unsafe waste disposal practices in the area. Israel is attempting to circumscribe both the Palestinian people and all of the waste in the region within its eight meter walls, and it will eventually fail on both counts. The ongoing imprisonment of the Palestinian people seems to thus entail the ongoing degredation of the lands by Israelis; both practices continue to harm their intended Palestinian victims as well as unintentionally backfiring on Israelis.

Let’s be clear– the occupation of Palestine is a war crime violating a seventy-three-year-long list of human rights; it is wholly inappropriate to compare the suffering of an Israeli to that of a Palestinian. In addition to our awareness about the myriad ways in which the Israeli occupation harms Palestinians, it is also important to pay attention to the ways that the occupation harms Israelis: when a bare foot in the grass crushes an unsuspecting bee, the bee is killed– but not before leaving a nasty sting. 

Israel and Palestine are enmeshed in a relationship of coloniser- colonised “stuckedness” as explained by Ghassan Hage: they are bound to one another, destined to be doomed or flourish collectively. Hage states that no matter what, they are in fact “stuck with each other.” Building on this concept of stuckedness, the June 2020 UN report illustrates that Palestinians and Israelis are stuck with their collective toxic waste as much as with each other.

Achille Mbembe’s conceptualization of the “racist affects” of borderwork explains that the Israeli borderworkers are expected to inflict injury on the Palestinian ‘other.’ The omnipresence of “racists affects” within Israeli society have not only perpetuated the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians, but has also led to widespread trauma and chronic mental illness among the Israeli population of indentured soldiers. But there is a third loser in this war: the ‘sacred’ land on which it’s waged. Mbembe shows us that Israelis are encouraged to undertake unsustainable environmental practices (like the mass dumping of toxic waste) as one of many tools for inflicting harm on the Palestinians. These practices are backfiring: poisoning the neighbours’ garden harms yours too, especially when you’re actively stealing their land.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett delivers a speech on stage during a meeting at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 1, 2021. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Obsessive anti-Israel bias': Erdan rips up human rights report at UN podium  | The Times of Israel

Two events last month encapsulate the hypocrisy of Israel’s greenwashing. Israeli PM Bennett was outspoken at COP26 about Israel’s green-tech ‘innovations’ and its self-declaration of ‘successfully’ having implemented the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Elsewhere, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN tore up the annual human rights report on the podium at the UN General Assembly. By using the global stage at COP26 to greenwash Israel’s inherently unsustainable practices, the international community itself is not just greenwashing but also gaslighting the continuation of Israel’s human rights violations and war crimes. Israel’s allegedly “successful” implementation of the SDG’s serves as an offensive cover-up for their policy of genocide and environmental degradation, and also as state approval for the continuation of unsafe practices like toxic waste disposal in the West Bank. These Israeli efforts to destroy Palestinian land are destroying all the lands for all those in its midst, and eventually the toxic waste will be the last one standing.

Environmental Peacekeeping – the Future of Diplomacy?

We know that global warming is accelerating volatile weather and putting a strain on natural resources. But do we really know the true breadth of its implications? 

Environmental peacekeeping is a relatively nascent field, emerging at the start of the 21st century. It offers a new, ‘green’ lens for examining peacebuilding in conflict zones and is attracting the attention of practitioners and academics alike. This dynamic interdisciplinary field has huge practical value, exploring how environmental resources can empower and unite conflicting groups. Its exciting and inclusive approach is opening up new dialogues and fresh perspectives on conflict resolution. Although research into environmental peacekeeping still has further to go, it already implies that solving armed conflicts and the climate emergency go hand-in-hand and are by no means insurmountable. 

Extreme weather is particularly problematic in what is often referred to as the Global South. This is an appellation for some of the most economically poorer regions which were exploited by former colonial regimes and the neoliberalist systems persisting today. The countries which contribute the least to the Earth’s rising temperatures are disproportionately the most impacted by its effects. For instance, increasing drought frequency, water scarcity, illness and food insecurity; all threaten people’s livelihood and security, which in turn can cause disputes that become violent. 

Even if a conflict isn’t directly caused by the climate, it still disrupts humankind’s ability to depend on the natural world. The use of arms and weapons pollute the air, soil and water, often releasing hazardous substances. Failing to address these after-effects can aggravate human suffering for years after. During the gulf wars, Western forces used depleted uranium for their weapons. A by-product of this radioactive material was poisonous dust which, through wind, polluted agriculture and local waters. More recently it has been linked to rising cancer rates, highlighting how environmental justice is tied to human health. Meanwhile, Daesh has committed crimes against both humanity and the environment. It has targeted rural areas, including the irrigation wells of farmers. In Al-Faw, a city in Southern Iraq, many blame the water and farming problems on the felling of date trees by the military during the Iran-Iraq war. Society has to recognise the link between our environment and armed conflict, as well as how the climate emergency is increasingly influencing the nature of conflicts. Ecology is an inextricable aspect of our lives. It is not enough to alleviate the symptoms of conflict in the short-term, we need a diplomatic approach that is more durable, equitable and which tackles the root cause.

A peaceful and prosperous world can sometimes seem beyond reach. The recent failure of world leaders at COP26 to commit to keeping warming levels below 1.5C has further dampened hopes. Our survival, the future generation’s, and that of our planet are intertwined. It is dangerous for us to become complacent and dismiss the environmental challenges with which our planet is grappling. When it comes to mediating conflict, the environment isn’t usually at the top of peacebuilding agendas; instead, de-escalation, humanitarian relief, political reconciliation and economic redevelopment are prioritised. Without a shadow of a doubt, these are vital priorities. Nevertheless, conflict-resolution should additionally account for how our environment shapes our experiences and quality of life. There is a need for us to apply our understanding of the climate crisis to managing natural resources and post-conflict rebuilding. Long-lasting solutions which factor in our planet’s health can help us break cyclical patterns of violence. Enter: environmental peacekeeping. 

For example, in the Sundarbans forest, the largest mangrove forest in the world, we see nature can foster interreligious and interethnic harmony between India and Bangladesh. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on ‘Conservation of the Sundarbans’ to streamline cooperation on the management and conservation of resources, ecotourism and sustainable socio-economic development.

In southern Africa, Peace Parks integrate natural conservation, economics and politics. These parks help manage large protected areas and migratory species, as well as producing alternative sources of income. As such, they play an important role in addressing the conflicting economic interests of local inhabitants as well as environmental conservation. Cooperation in respect to shared natural resources can forge common bonds which prevent violence, especially in climate-vulnerable and conflict-sensitive areas.

Climate change ultimately fans the flames that can ignite conflicts. When ecological degradation disrupts people’s access to the basic necessities of life, it can push people to join terrorist or armed groups for an alternative source of income and ‘stability’. Recognising the causal role of the climate in certain conflicts will enable us to tackle it more effectively. Through environment-oriented diplomacy, we can heal our relationship with the natural world. By pushing for local, national and international governments and peacekeeping bodies to develop a conflict-resolution toolkit we can save lives and livelihoods. Some of us may be extraordinarily privileged not to be directly affected by Earth’s temperature rise at the moment, yet it would be wrong to dismiss the gravity of global heating. If we don’t act, our own children may end up waging wars for water, food and other commodities. While this may make grim reading, the principles of environmental peacekeeping give us much room for hope. 

Image credit : Unsplash

Policy Brief Issue 3: May 2021

Afghanistan Peace talks: addressing concerns over women’s rights and justice

Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.

Please click here for an accessible version of this brief (including access to hyperlinks). 

Policy Brief Issue 2: April 2021

Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.

Please click here for an accessible version of this brief (including access to hyperlinks). 

Save Sheikh Jarrah: Forced Expulsions of Palestinians in Occupied East Jerusalem

The Palestinian neighbourhood Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, is yet again at the forefront of Israeli settler colonialism, as dozens of Palestinians are facing forced expulsion from their homes. Simultaneously, footage of Palestinian protests against the dispossession, Israeli border police firing skunk water at Palestinian sit-ins, and Israeli police assaulting unarmed Palestinian worshippers at al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan have been shared (and partly censored) on social media globally. 

But why are Palestinian families who have lived in their houses for decades facing eviction to make way for Israeli settlers? And how is the situation in Sheikh Jarrah, which has triggered recent escalations, related to the general policies of Apartheid Israel? 

Why Palestinian families face eviction in Sheikh Jarrah

The decision made by the Jerusalem District Court to forcibly dispossess six Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah in May and another seven families in August, is based on developments dating back to 1956. During that time, when the West Bank and East Jerusalem were still under the mandate of Jordan, a deal between Jordan, the UNRWA and Palestinian refugees from Yafa and Haifa displaced in the 1948 war was reached. With this deal, 28 Palestinian refugee families were promised deeds to houses they would receive as part of a humanitarian initiative in return for the revocation of their refugee status. However, the promise of property deeds has never materialised, and after the 1967 war East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel. Ever since, Israeli settler organisations have filed legal actions to claim the houses as their own (despite the fact that East Jerusalem is Palestinian land which is only occupied by Israel), leading Palestinian families to live in their homes with the constant fear of “if they steal our land”

Israeli settlers in front of the house of the Palestinian Ghawi family seized by the Israeli occupation

Ethnic cleansing vs. Real estate dispute

The most recent Jerusalem District Court decision and the impending evictions put Palestinian Jerusalemites at risk of not only losing their homes, but also one of their remaining neighbourhoods in Jerusalem, which is still resisting Israeli settler colonialism. At the same time, the court decision represents just one among a long history of legally sanctioned eviction and dispossession of Palestinians in Jerusalem. Following a policy dating back to the time of Prime Minister Golda Meir in the 1970s, the gradual expulsion and settler colonialism have successfully obscured the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

Accordingly, the Israeli government now tries yet again to hide its settler colonial project by preventing large parts of the press and society from entering the neighbourhood. Palestinians like Mohammed el-Kurd, a member of one of the families facing evictions, however, counteract that policy by sharing their struggle over social media.  

Mohammed el-Kurd, 7 May on Twitter

Mohammed el-Kurd, 7 May on Twitter

Mohammed el-Kurd, 7 May on Twitter

Rather than trying to save face in this situation, the Israeli Foreign Minister’s description of  the evictions as a “real estate dispute between private parties” underlines Israel’s open and systemic racism. 

While Palestinians, whose very existence is threatened, are still waiting for a final decision by the Jerusalem District Court on the appeal against the expulsions, a number of European governments are issuing statements calling “on both sides to […] resume a credible and meaningful dialogue”. The only question is how long it will take before the world finally realises that this is not about “two sides”, but about an Apartheid system which will continue to commit war crimes unless the international community finally recognises the systematic ethnic cleansing and takes actions. 

Note: This article has been written before the most recent escalations in Jerusalem and Gaza. For more information on the situation in Sheikh Jarrah, visit here:
Mohammed el-Kurd
Muna el-Kurd