GAZA CITY, Gaza – Thousands of Palestinians gathered in cities across Gaza and in the West Bank to protest the peace conference currently underway in Annapolis.  At the largest rally, in Gaza City, leaders of Hamas spoke amongst chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”.  Hamas, who is labeled as a terrorist organization by the US, was not invited to the conference, and has been protesting against the conference for several days.  At the Gaza City demonstration, Haniya, the former Palestinian Prime Minister, stated that the “conference cannot change the reality of history and geography,” and that any conference that denies this reality is “doomed to failure.”

In the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority (PA) banned any demonstration against the conference, smaller rallies took place in major cities, such as Ramallah, Hebron, and Nablus.  At these demonstrations, PA policemen dispersed demonstrators by firing live ammunition in the air, using tear gas, and by hitting individuals with batons.  At the largest West Bank demonstration in Hebron, one demonstrator was shot in the chest and was killed.  Medics report that several individuals sustained serious to minor injuries.  The Palestinian police have refused to comment.

Demonstrations against the Annapolis conference also occurred in other countries, such as Jordan and Israel.

For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Hamas says “Annapolis Doomed” – 27 November 2007

BBC – Gaza rally against Mid-East talks – 27 November 2007

International Herald Tribune – Israeli, Palestinians hard-liners demonstrate against US-sponsored Mideast conference – 27 November 2007

Reuters – Jordanians stage anti-Annapolis protest – 27 November 2007

Reuters – One killed in Palestinian clashes over Annapolis – 27 November 2007

Telegraph – Annapolis Middle East summit : Q&A – 27 November 2007

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – On November 23, the Lebanese parliament postponed the election of a president for a fifth time – until November 30.  This meant that later that day, when current President Lahoud’s term ended, Lebanon was left without a president.  As Lahoud vacated the presidential palace, he declared a state of emergency and handed security powers to the Lebanese Army, lead by General Michel Suleiman.

However, following this announcement, Prime Minister Siniora rejected Lahoud’s declaration of a state of emergency, stating that it was unconstitutional since the required cabinet approval was not given.  Instead, Siniora claims that the cabinet acts as a caretaker until a new president is elected by the parliament.  Still, over 20,000 Lebanese soldiers are deployed in and around Beirut to prevent and contain any factional fighting.  During the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel and the conflict against militants this summer, the army gained respect within Lebanon as a neutral institution.

Currently, Lebanese politics are divided between two main factions: pro-Syrian and pro-Western.  The pro-Syrian faction includes former President Lahoud and Shia groups such as Hezbollah; and receives support from Syria and Iran.  The pro-Western faction includes current Prime Minister Siniora and receives support from the US and Saudi Arabia.

For the past year, tensions between the two groups have grown and resulted in the resignation of several parliament and cabinet members.  For the past few months, Hezbollah party members and pro-Syrian members have been boycotting parliamentary elections, preventing the necessary quorum, thus making any result unconstitutional.  Pro-Syrians also claim that the government is unconstitutional, following the resignation of five pro-Syrian members.  The current situation has prompted fears that a parallel government will be created and that a political power struggle between the two will result in a second civil war.

Following the end of Lahoud’s presidency and the ensuing presidential vacuum, both sides have agreed to maintain the relative peace and stability until the scheduled election on November 30.  Each side maintains that the most important goal right now is security and for a peaceful resolution.  However, Hezbollah has complicated the situation by demanding that the next president support the group’s fight against Israel.  While the pro-Western government currently does not have relations with Israel, it is hesitant to provoke hostilities with their neighbor.

Some analysts believe that the upcoming peace conference in Annapolis will help resolve the conflict.  Some believe that Syria is purposely delaying the election and is waiting to see what happens in Annapolis.  If Syria is allowed to be a major player in the discussions, it is thought that they will be more likely to pressure the opposition to agree on a president.

For more information, please see:
Associated Press – Hezbollah adds new demand in Lebanon – 25 November 2007

Reuters – Hezbollah raises specter of long Lebanon power void – 25 November 2007

Telegraph – Hezbollah recruits thousands in Lebanon crisis – 25 November 2007

Associated Press – Political crisis deepens in Lebanon – 24 November 2007

BBC – Lebanon faces power vacuum threat – 24 November 2007

Guardian – Lebanon’s president hands power to army – 24 November 2007

Middle East Times – Lebanon in constitutional void – 24 November 2007

New York Times – Vote is postponed as Lebanese president leaves – 24 November 2007

The Press Association – Army in control, says Lebanese PM – 24 2007

Reuters – Lebanese PM says cabinet assumes presidential powers – 24 November 2007

BBC – Lebanese presidency ends in chaos – 23 November 2007

International Herald Tribune – With Lebanon in political turmoil, army emerges as nation’s last line of defense – 23 November 2007

TEHRAN, Iran – Maryam Hosseinkhah, a journalist and women’s rights activist, was arrested on November 18 in Iran. She was accused of “disturbing public opinion”, “propaganda against the system” and “publication of lies” through websites she edits. Bail was set for one billion rial ($107,000) but she could not afford it and was taken to prison.

Hosseinkhah is an active member of the feminist website Change for Equality, an initiative to collect a million signatures to end legislations that discriminate against women. Zanestan, another women’s online bi-monthly Hosseinkhah was frequent contributor of, has been closed since November 12 on the order of the Internet Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Orientation.

Hosseinkhah’s arrest marks the continuation of increased harassment of women’s rights activists, especially members of the “One Million Signatures” petition. Since the start of the campaign, 40 individuals have been arrested. Two other members of the campaign besides Hosseinkhaha remain in prison without access to their families or lawyers.

Press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders said “these women are simply asking for the same rights as men and there is nothing dangerous about them. The crackdown against these brave women shows the importance of the Internet in the country to the feminist struggle.”

This was not the first time Hosseinkhah was arrested. In June 2006, she took part in a protest in Tehran square against Iranian laws in marriage, child custody, and divorce for women. Seventy people who participated the protest were arrested and some were jailed. Police were accused of beating up women. Also in March 2007, Hosseinkhah was among 33 women arrested for protesting at the trial of five women’s rights activists.

Iran is notorious for omnipresent internet monitoring. It is among the world’s most repressive countries in relation to the Internet and boasts that it filters 10 million “immoral” websites. Since 2006, authorities have banned high speed connections in order to hamper what little internet freedom the Iranians previously enjoyed before.

For more information, please see:

Reporters Without Borders – Authorities could demand 95,000 euros for cyber-feminist’s release – 21 November 2007

AFP – Iran arrests women’s activist – 21 November 2007

Amnesty International – Arbitrary arrest/prisoner of conscience: Maryam Hosseinkhah – 19 November 2007

Payvand News – Journalist and woman activist, Maryam Hosseinkhah, arrested – 18 November 2007

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

MALATYA, Turkey- The trial began for the five men who allegedly killed three Christians.  On April 18, 2007, the Christians were killed in their publishing house during a Bible study.  Two Turkish converts and German missionary were in a Bible study when their attackers arrived.  The prosecutor has stated that he will seek the death penalty for the men accused of the crime.

“Their attackers tied the men to their chairs, targeting Tilmann Geske, a German father of three, before turning to Pastor Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel. By the time police arrived, the Turkish converts had been virtually decapitated, with their buttocks, testicles, stomachs and backs repeatedly stabbed, their fingers sliced and throats slashed from ear-to-ear. The accused, all between 19 and 20, allegedly filmed clips on their mobile phones.”  (Guardian Unlimited)

The trial is important because the Turkish judicial system must show that it is committed to protecting the minorities in the community.  The Christians have always faced a strong anti-Christian sentiment in Turkey despite only 350 official conversions to Christianity in the past 15 years.  (The Independent)

In the past, Christians were seen as rebels seeking to overthrow the existing government.  However, Turkey’s recent desire to enter the European Union has caused the Turkish government to relax its regulations and protect the country’s Christians.  Yet, as anti-Western sentiment has recently grown, the Christians have suffered more attacks from churches being burned and a priest was recently shot and killed.

The court must take a strong stance on protecting the country’s minorities, especially since it has begun air strikes against the PKK in northern Iraq.  The PKK is a Kurdish militia seeking independence for the Kurdish people.  The Turkish government must show that it is committed to protect the minorities, since the violence against minorities, especially Turkey’s 15 million Kurds, may increase because of the PKK’s recent attacks.  If the Turkish government allows the minorities to be marginalized then it could allow independent militias like the PKK to gain support.

For more information, please see:

Guardian Unlimited- Turks accused of killing Christians go on trial- 24 November 2007

Independent Online- Five on trial in Turkey for missionary murders- 24 November 2007

Today’s Zaman- Court adjourns Bible publisher murder case- 24 November 2007

BosNewsLife- Turkish Prosecutor Seeks Life Sentences For Killers Of Christian Missionaries- 23 November 2007

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian Christian woman is going to jail for three years because her father’s brief stint as an Islam 45 years ago made her a Muslim, not a Christian as her official papers say.

Shadia Nagui Ibrahim on Thursday was charged with fraud for stating her religion as Christianity on her marriage certificate. She was unaware that her father, who left when she was two, had once converted to Islam in 1962. Her father’s conversion automatically made her a Muslim because children in Egypt must take their father’s religion. Even though he came back three years later and re-converted to Christianity, her status as a Muslim stood the same.

Christians in Egypt face many hardships solely because of their religious affiliation. While Egyptians typically have little difficulty changing religion from Christianity to Islam, changing from Islam to another religion such as Christianity is socially risky and considered apostasy.

Compounding the hardship is the state’s reluctance to allow citizens to put their religion of choice on identification cards. In Egypt, all citizens are required to carry identification cards once they reach the age of 16. Because the citizens have only three choices to choose from, this policy forces members of minority faiths to obtain forged documents that can result in criminal prosecution.

When Ibrahim’s father reconverted to Christianity, he forged his document to say he was a Christian. The authorities eventually caught him and told his daughter that she was still a Muslim and charged her with “providing false information on official documents” for stating that she was a Christian when she got married in 1982. She got sentenced for three years after a brief court session.

Also under Egyptian law, Muslim woman are not allowed to marry a Christian man.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Egypt Copt jailed 45 years after father’s conversion – 22 November 2007

Reuters – Egypt denies ID papers to Baha’is, converts – 12 November 2007

BBC News – Egypt ‘denies minority beliefs’ – 12 November 2007