By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Starting this month, women in Saudi Arabia will be allowed for the first time to work in lingerie and cosmetic shops.

The change in social policy comes from a royal decree issued last summer, which ordered that sales personnel in shops selling garments and other goods explicitly for women must be female.

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Labor reports that more than 28,000 women have applied for these jobs, and that the total career opportunities created could top 40,000.

While this would not be news in almost any other country in the world, this is a critical social breakthrough in Saudi Arabia, where historically women have always been excluded from the public work force.

This change comes at a time in Saudi Arabia where women are being educated, at public expense, in increasing numbers.  The country’s economic planners have taken note of this development, and are making the necessary changes to capitalize on their economic output.

Saudi society has increasingly accepted the idea that women will work outside of their home.  They have long been employed in medicine and education, but retail has long been considered taboo because of its requirement of interaction with men.

The campaign to change the rules related to women working in lingerie stores was started by Reem Asaad, an activist and fashion-conscious financial advisor.  The movement almost succeeded in 2006, but was ultimately trumped by religious conservatives.

This new decree has the personal backing of King Abdullah, and his newly installed Minister of Labor, Adel Fakieh.

Under the new law, the country’s thousands of lingerie and cosmetic shops have until June to replace their male employees with women. The country’s feared religious police have been ordered to cooperate.

The change should likely not be viewed as a proponent of an upcoming enlightenment in Saudi Arabia.  Much of the support for allowing women to work is from the necessity of economic output in a country with rising living expenses.

In the future, it is likely that more jobs will become available to women, however such changes will include vehement opposition.

Many of the rights still denied to women, such as the right to drive, would make the transition much easier, and likely will come up for discussion as a result of the new changes.

For more information, please see:

The Telegraph — Men banned from selling lingerie in Saudi Arabia — 22 Jan. 2012

New York Times — Saudi Women Shatter the Lingerie Ceiling — 21 Jan. 2012

FINS — The Way to Sell Lingerie — 19 Jan. 2012

Jerusalem Post — Saudi Arabia bans men from selling lingerie — 04 Jan. 2012

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RABAT, Morocco – On Thursday, 19 January, five unemployed men set themselves on fire to protest a lack of jobs in Morocco for university graduates.  The men are members of the Morocco’s “unemployed graduates” movement that demonstrates to highlight the lack of economic progress in the country.  The police often violently dissolve the demonstrations organized throughout the country by this loose collection of millions of unemployed university graduates.

Three men received hospital treatment, and the other two men’s clothing singed.  Two men with serious burns are receiving medical treatment at the serious burns unit in Casablanca.  Thirty-year-old Mohammed Zeitoun is not likely to survive his injuries, and Moahammed Haouass, a protestor in his early twenties, is not critically injured.

Although the national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, the unemployment rate for university graduates is 16 percent.  When the Islamist-led government won the election in November, it promised the creation of 200,000 jobs per year from public and private investment.  On Thursday, over 1,000 unemployed graduates picketed the parliament when the government unveiled its new economic plan.

As a part of the movement’s protest, approximately 160 people occupied a Ministry of Higher Education’s administrative building in Rabat during the past two weeks.  The protesters received food from supporters until the police prevent the food delivery two days ago.

Youssef al-Rissouni from the Moroccan Association for Human Rights reported, “The authorities prevented them from receiving food and water, so five people went outside to get food and threatened to set themselves on fire if they were stopped.”

The men covered themselves with a liquid, began collecting the bread supporters threw towards the building over the police’s heads, and threatened to set themselves on fire if the police stopped them.  Two men burst into flames when the riot police with truncheons moved to stop them.  Supporters surrounded the men running wildly and smothered the flames.

Protesters began utilizing the once rare self-immolation tactic after a Tunisian vegetable seller set himself on fire to protest police harassment in December 2010.  Protesters in Tunisia continue to use this tactic.  Four protesters set themselves on fire, including a father of three who died from burns.

Casablanca-based activist Sayed Bouchaini said “The fact is that we are struggling to make ends meet, get jobs and have a good life…These men are beginning the movement for change and maybe it will get others to the street.”

For further information, please see:

Sydney Morning Herald – Men Set Themselves On Fire Over Lack Of Jobs – 21 Jan 2012

Agenzia Giornalistia Italia – Two Unemployed Set Fire To Themselves in Moroccan Capital – 20 Jan 2012

Bikya Masr – 5 Moroccans Set Selves Abalze To Protest Economic Conditions – 20 Jan 2012

Boston Globe – 5 Unemployed Moroccans Set Selves On Fire – 19 Jan 2012

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel arrested Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), at an army checkpoint on Thursday.

The arrest happened in Jaba, which is located between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Dweik was traveling by car to Hebron when he was arrested.

Israel has confirmed the arrest with Israeli border troops saying he was detained for “involvement in terrorist activities.”

Witnesses said that the troops handcuffed and blindfolded Dweik before taking him away.

Dweik is a member of the Islamist Hamas movement, which governs the Palestinian territory of Gaza.  He currently resides in the West Bank.

The BBC’s Wyre Davies in Jerusalem reports that it is likely that Dweik’s arrest will be seen as a provocative act and further proof that Israel is pursuing a policy of restricting the movement of senior Palestinian figures.

The arrest comes at a time full of rising tensions between Israel and the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip.  On Wednesday, Israeli aircrafts attacked targets in and around the border fence between Gaza and Israel.

This not the first time Dweik has been detained by Israel.  Last May, he was held at an Israeli military checkpoint in West Bank.  In 2006, Dweik was arrested and held for two years after Palestinian militants abducted an Israeli soldier.

Analysts note that approximately 20 of Hamas’s 74 MPs in the 132-member PLC are currently being held by Israel.

The Palestinian Parliament has not functioned since Hamas seized control of Gaza from Fatah in 2007.  Since then Fatah has governed the West Bank and Hamas has governed Gaza.

Hamas won the most seats in the Palestinian election of 2006, leading Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, to call for new elections.  The disagreement quickly resulted into a brief war between the two sides.

Hamas’s interior tensions continue through the present day.

Earlier this week, Hamas came under attack by Palestinian rights groups who claim that the Sunni Muslim group is endorsing the harassment and detainment of Shi’a Muslims in the Gaza Strip.  Hamas is believed to have close ties to Iran, the Shi’a Islamic Republic.  However, according to Haaertz, the Israeli newspaper, Hamas is fighting back against some Shiite groups “out of fear of growing Iranian influence in Gaza.”

A recent statement from Hamas’s prime minister, Ismail Haniya, has confirmed rumors that a negotiation regarding a merger between Hamas and the militant organization Islamic Jihad is currently underway.  This merger is likely complicated by the fact that much of the support previously given to Hamas by Iran is now going to Islamic Jihad, who have previously chided Hamas for going soft.  Earlier attempts to merge the organizations have ended in failure.

It is unclear at this time how Israel would respond to such a merger.

Hamas has been identified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and the European Union, due to its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel.  Hamas’s charter does include a commitment to the destruction of Israel.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Israel arrests Palestinian parliament speaker — 19 Jan. 2012

BBC — Israel arrests senior Palestinian Aziz Dweik — 19 Jan. 2012

Voice of America — Israel Arrests Hamas Head of Palestinian Parliament — 19 Jan. 2012

Al Jazeera — Gaza Rights Groups Accuse Hamas of Abuses — 17 Jan. 2012

The Telegraph — The end of the affair between Hamas and Iran — 17 Jan. 2012