Monthly archive : "October, 2019"

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: One of the world’s most enduring and tragic wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears to be at an impasse well into its 71st year, and the dream of a two-state solution seems to be in retreat with Israel refusing to suspend its controversial settlement enterprise and fulfill its obligations as the occupying power. According to Israel-Palestine Timeline, at least 9,940 Palestinians, including 2,172 children, have been killed by Israeli forces since 2000. As reported by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 4,787 Palestinian security detainees and prisoners are being held in Israel Prison Service (IPS) facilities. Many of these captives are behind bars for entering...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Democracy is on the decline. In 2018, the Freedom in the World report published by Freedom House recorded the 12th consecutive year of retreating global freedom. This included established democracies like the United States as well as authoritarian countries such as China and Russia. In the US, the situation is particularly worrying as a populist president appears to be damaging the country’s democracy through his divisive rhetoric, his contempt for the rule of law and his fiery attacks on the media and his critics. President Donald Trump’s incendiary language and his aggressive comments about immigrants, Muslims and Mexicans have emboldened white nationalists. Law enforcement authorities...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Iran is a country with a rich culture. Those who know about its ancient history probably agree that it shouldn’t be judged based on the events after the 1979 revolution. Indeed, there are many people across the globe who simply know Iran through the mainstream media’s portrayal of the oil-rich nation and the stereotypes associated with it: a theocratic, anti-Western country with a controversial nuclear program. This negative view has discouraged many people — mostly in the West — from visiting the country. Yet there are travel connoisseurs who have explored Iran, a nation associated with names such as Persepolis and Avicenna. Reinier van Oorsouw is a filmmaker and photographer from the...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Tensions between India and Pakistan are soaring again as New Delhi decided to rescind the special status accorded to the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, claimed in its entirety by Pakistan, marking what some say is the most broad-ranging political move in the disputed region in nearly seven decades. Article 370 of India’s constitution granted special rights to Kashmir, including the right to its own constitution and autonomy on all matters other than defense, communications and foreign affairs. A presidential decree issued on August 5 revoked this special status, sparking fears that a drastic demographic transformation will be underway. Following the controversial decision, India dispatched thousands of...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s longest-running and most divisive conflicts. Rooted in a violent quest for territory, it has affected the Middle East landscape for decades since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when the Holy Land was divided into three parts. Efforts by consecutive US governments and other international actors to settle the disputes have so far proved ineffective. The Madrid Peace Conference of 1991, when the Israelis and Palestinians had the opportunity to engage and negotiate directly for the first time after years of confrontation, was a point in time when several sticking points between the two sides, including the actual borders of the two states, the Israeli...