YAOUNDE: These days, the word on the street in war-torn Syria is that hospitals are best avoided - even if you're injured.
"Sometimes we hear that people feel the home is safer than the hospital," said Mohamed Elamein, an information officer at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Gaziantep, Turkey, close to the Syrian border.
Communities often oppose plans to build a clinic in their town or village fearing it will be targeted, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.
Keeping a standardised track of attacks on health facilities and workers has been a major challenge in conflict zones.
But a new digital instant messaging tool that relies on smartphone application WhatsApp has been developed by the WHO and its partners to detect, verify and log the devastating consequences of such attacks.
It is hoped the WhatsApp-based tool will provide vital evidence for the international community, which in the future could be used to hold perpetrators to account.
Syria has been named the most dangerous place on earth for healthcare providers by a Lancet Commission on Syria report, published in March, which revealed that more than 800 medical workers had been killed since 2011.
Nearly half of hospitals in non-government controlled areas were attacked and a third of services hit more than once between November 2015 and December 2016, according to a separate study published by Elamein and others.
The new tool piloted in Gaziantep by health organisations working in Syria involves a WhatsApp group of nearly 300 trusted contacts on the ground.
After the initial alert of an attack, further details are logged and cross-referenced with a range of sources in a central database.
'WHO' YOU GONNA CALL?
Mobile messaging is the fastest-growing digital communication phenomenon ever, according to a report compiled this year by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
From the Syrian hospital alert system to refugees who share information about safety at sea, digital messaging services like WhatsApp, owned by Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Inc, are becoming indispensable in fast-unfolding humanitarian crises.
Their potential is growing every day, experts say, with 3.6 billion people globally expected to use messaging apps by 2018.
In Syria, the WhatsApp tool identified 402 attacks against health facilities and medical workers between November 2015 and December 2016. It is also designed to report attacks on ambulances and patients.
The tool is already being deployed in Jordan and Pakistan, and the WHO plans to roll it out in Iraq and Yemen. The U.N. agency is also considering its use in other troubled hotspots, including in Africa.
AFRICAN APPS
While smartphones are less widespread in Africa, the number of users almost doubled between 2014 and 2016, reaching 226 million.
In Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania, up to 90 percent of smartphone owners regularly use at least one messaging service, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, according to a study issued last month by GSMA Mobile Economy.
During the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, 25,000 people subscribed to the BBC's first "Lifeline" humanitarian service using WhatsApp. It disseminated public information via audio, image and text message alerts to combat the disease's spread.
In Somalia, a country grappling with drought and attacks by the al Shabaab militant group, messaging apps also play a critical role for the diaspora, said Amor Almagro, a spokeswoman for the World Food Programme.
"It's one of the ways by which they stay in contact with their families in Somalia, get news from home and arrange for money transfers through the informal networks," she said.
FANNING THE FLAMES
But instant messaging is far from a panacea in crisis zones, and some experts say it can also be used to fuel violence.
In Central African Republic, diamond smuggling gangs are plundering the country's resources and funding conflict by making illegal sales via WhatsApp and Facebook, said a recent report by NGO Global Witness.
Connectivity disruptions are another hurdle.
Earlier last month, Somalia plunged into an internet blackout lasting more than three weeks, after a cargo ship damaged an underwater cable.
Other countries simply pull the plug. In 2016, 11 African governments suspended internet connections during elections or protests.
A 2016 paper by Adebayo Fayoyin of the United Nations Population Fund warned of a "new media utopianism", adding "technology is a tool of development, not an end in itself".
Staying alive: WhatsApp finds new uses in conflict zones
Staying alive: WhatsApp finds new uses in conflict zones
How should Arab Americans deal with Trump administration?
- Michigan-based businessman Ned Fawaz tells “The Ray Hanania Radio Show” the community should opt for engagement, not boycott
- Civil rights attorney David Chami sees a double standard that plays down anti-Arab racism while amplifying pro-Israel narratives
CHICAGO: A prominent Arab American businessman from Michigan has called on Arab and Muslim communities to abandon the boycott strategy they adopted during Donald Trump’s first presidency and instead engage with his administration to address pressing issues, including the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. However, an Arizona civil rights attorney cautioned that the plea coincides with what he views as a concerning surge in anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia.
Speaking on “The Ray Hanania Radio Show,” Ned Fawaz, president of the Lebanese International Business Council and founder of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce in Michigan; and David Chami, a civil rights attorney representing students sanctioned by Arizona State University for anti-Israel protests, urged the community to prioritize dialogue over boycotts. They acknowledged what they view as Trump’s polarizing reputation and pro-Israel cabinet appointments, and argued that there is a rising tide of hatred toward Arabs and Muslims, but also highlighted the importance of engagement to influence policymaking.
Fawaz said that dialogue is essential to influencing US policy. “It’s bad to boycott. After all, we’re American. We have issues (other than just) the Middle East as well. And I think we should all dialogue and talk, and be ready to communicate with the president, with any administration, because we cannot just sit aside and do nothing.”
He urged Arab Americans to seize “every opportunity” to push Trump to end the violence and foster a climate for lasting peace, including support for the two-state solution for Palestinians. “Yes, always, negotiation makes better sense than boycotting. We believe in evolution. We do not believe in revolution. So, that’s the way it should be,” Fawaz said, highlighting the importance of engaging with the US president regardless of who holds the office, to address issues affecting both Arab American citizens and the Middle East.
Trump, who defeated Democratic rival Kamala Harris in both the electoral college and by popular vote on Nov. 5, remains a controversial figure in the Arab American community. However, as suggested by a pre-election survey by Arab News, many view Trump as the leader best equipped to end the Gaza conflict, despite his perceived closeness to Israel.
During his first term, Arab Americans overwhelmingly supported Democrat Hillary Clinton during the election and grew frustrated with Trump’s policies in office, including his anti-immigration stances and strong backing of Israel. The community boycotted several key initiatives, such as the 2020 Peace to Prosperity Conference in Bahrain, organized by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and opposed the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and some Arab states like the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain.
Adding to an already complex geopolitical situation, on Thursday, after months of deliberation, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas official Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges stem from the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s extensive offensive in the Palestinian territory.
While the suspects are unlikely to appear before judges at The Hague — since Israel is not an ICC member — the announcement could influence the dynamics of the conflict. The full extent of its repercussions remains unclear.
In an almost bipartisan statement, the US strongly condemned the ICC’s decision, diverging from the more cautious responses of its allies. President Joe Biden called the arrest warrants “outrageous,” saying: “Let me be clear once again: Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.” Mike Waltz, the incoming national security adviser, dismissed the ICC’s credibility, claiming its allegations had been refuted by the US government. “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January,” he said.
Fawaz, while analyzing Trump’s potential influence in the region, acknowledged the former president’s unwavering support for Israel and his close alliance with Netanyahu, describing it as a possible obstacle. However, he highlighted Trump’s personal connections to the Arab community, noting that his daughter Tiffany is married to Lebanese American Michael Boulos, whose father, Massad Boulos, was a vocal supporter of Trump and the Arab Americans for Trump group.
However, Fawaz acknowledged the significant challenges posed by Trump’s cabinet selections. Many of his appointees are staunchly pro-Israel and have made controversial statements about Palestinians. These include the former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, nominated as US ambassador to Israel, who once claimed that “there is no such thing as Palestinians” and opposes the two-state solution. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, expected to serve as secretary of state, has openly supported Israel’s military actions in Gaza, opposing calls for a ceasefire while advocating for additional funding and weaponry for Israel.
“The secretary of defense also has an extreme Zionist position. I think, even with all of that, we must continue to negotiate, continue the dialogue, to interact with the administration,” Fawaz said, referencing the nomination of Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Iraq war veteran. “Hopefully there will (be) some people who are fair, who are good for the US government, they are good for the US people, good for the taxpayers and they see some fair issue,” he said. “They will not allow this kind of genocide that has taken place in Lebanon or in Gaza.”
Since the outbreak of the conflict in October 2023, the US administration has consistently voiced its support for Israel, which has drawn widespread criticism for what many experts describe as excessive use of force. In 14 months of conflict, about 44,000 people, including one-third of them children, have been killed in Gaza, while more than 3,500 deaths have been reported in Lebanon, many caused by US-made and supplied weapons.
Speaking on a separate segment of the show, attorney Ahmad Chami claimed that there has been a surge in anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia, which he said is not an aberration, but a continuation of systemic hostility toward Arab and Muslim Americans, exacerbated by Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Chami criticized the inconsistent responses of US politicians, claiming they are quick to act against discrimination targeting other groups but hesitant to address anti-Arab racism or Islamophobia for fear of being labeled antisemitic.
“We are too easily the villains for our government and our media,” Chami said, citing the Arizona State University lawsuit as an example of the suppression of pro-Palestinian protests. “We’re so worried about the perception that this anti-Israeli policy protest is going to have on the poor innocent Jewish Americans that we are willing to suppress free speech, and pass bills, and attempt to pass bills labeling Students for Justice in Palestine as ‘terrorist sympathizers’.”
Chami described this as a double standard that minimizes public attention to anti-Arab racism while amplifying narratives that favor Israel, and pointed to a rise in hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims in the US — an increase of 71 percent in the first half of 2024, according to Chami — that has been “vastly underreported.”
Citing the recent attack by a 64-year-old Jewish woman in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, who verbally and physically assaulted a Muslim man and his pregnant wife at a coffee shop because the husband was wearing a sweatshirt with the word “Palestine” on it, Chami argued that this atmosphere allows people to “feel protected and emboldened” to attack Arabs or Muslims with impunity.
“That is a systematic problem,” he said. “That is a problem with our government allowing these people to feel like, I can attack an Arab, I can attack someone I perceive as Muslim or even pro-Palestinian, and I’ll be fine.”
Chami linked this environment to political factors portraying Arabs and Muslims as terrorists, which he said devalues Arab and Muslim lives while elevating those of pro-Israel or Jewish individuals. Chami also revealed that documents from his lawsuit against Arizona State University suggest the Anti-Defamation League lobbied university officials to treat anti-Israel protests as acts of violence.
“They (ADL) call themselves a civil rights organization, but they’re very clearly, in my view, an organization that is a political organization that is intended to protect not only Jewish Americans, but more importantly, Israeli interests,” Chami said, accusing the group of pressuring institutions like the ASU to silence pro-Palestinian voices.
Fawaz echoed the need for change at both local and international levels, pointing to Trump’s administration as a potential avenue for such transformation. “Change is always possible,” he said, citing Trump’s frequent cabinet reshuffles during his first term. While Trump has yet to appoint Arab Americans to key roles, Fawaz said that there are many qualified individuals in the community. “There are some capable Arab Americans in politics, all over the US,” he said. “And he can select someone who is fair, who can be our voice.”
He also highlighted efforts by Massad Boulos to act as a liaison between Trump and the Lebanese community. “We hope Boulos succeeds and secures a position where he can make a difference,” he said.
Although Biden initiated outreach to Arab Americans during his first year in office and appointed two dozen Arab Americans to White House and State Department roles, Fawaz criticized the administration for curbing their influence by barring them from speaking publicly on Middle East issues. He expressed hope that this would change under Trump’s leadership, though, in this increasingly intricate political landscape, much remains to be seen.
Jordan slashes EV tax rates to boost green transition
- Fully EVs with customs value between JD10,000 and JD25,000 will be taxed at 20 percent, down from 40 percent
AMMAN: The Jordanian government on Saturday announced a reduction in special taxes on electric vehicles (EVs) until the end of 2024, in a move aimed at easing financial burdens on citizens and importers while encouraging the adoption of eco-friendly transportation.
Under the decision, fully electric vehicles with a customs value between JD10,000 ($14,100) and JD25,000 will be taxed at 20 percent, down from 40 percent, Jordan News Agency reported.
For plug-in hybrid EVs exceeding JD25,000, the tax rate will be reduced to 27.5 percent, compared to the previous 55 percent.
The policy, effective immediately and set to expire on Dec. 31, also includes provisions for retroactive refunds.
Owners who cleared EVs under the previous tax regime before this announcement will be eligible for reimbursement of the difference.
The decision, made during a Saturday cabinet session led by Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan, followed a two-month review involving experts and stakeholders.
It addresses concerns about EVs already stored in bonded warehouses or free zones before the decision was implemented.
“The government sought logical solutions to ease the burden on citizens and importers while enabling them to complete clearance procedures,” officials stated.
To further promote accessibility, the government confirmed that EVs with a customs value below JD10,000 remain fully exempt from taxes, aiming to make electric mobility affordable for middle-income families.
The reduction underscores Jordan's commitment to sustainable transport while balancing economic pressures on its citizens. However, the government emphasized that the exemption was non-renewable, marking the end of tax relief on Dec. 31.
Aid only ‘delaying deaths’ as Sudan counts down to famine: agency chief
- “We have the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet in Sudan, the biggest hunger crisis, the biggest displacement crisis,” Norwegian Refugee Council chief Jan Egeland said
- “I met women barely surviving, eating one meal of boiled leaves a day“
CAIRO: War-torn Sudan is on a “countdown to famine” ignored by world leaders while humanitarian aid is only “delaying deaths,” Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) chief Jan Egeland told AFP on Saturday.
“We have the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet in Sudan, the biggest hunger crisis, the biggest displacement crisis... and the world is giving it a shrug,” he said in an interview from neighboring Chad after a visit to Sudan this week.
Since April 2023, war has pitted Sudan’s regular army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), killing tens of thousands of people and uprooting more than 11 million.
The United Nations says that nearly 26 million people inside Sudan are suffering acute hunger.
“I met women barely surviving, eating one meal of boiled leaves a day,” Egeland said.
One of few organizations to have maintained operations in Sudan, the NRC says some 1.5 million people are “on the edge of famine.”
“The violence is tearing apart communities much faster than we can come in with aid,” Egeland said.
“As we struggle to keep up, our current resources are merely delaying deaths instead of preventing them.”
Two decades ago, allegations of genocide brought world attention to Sudan’s vast western region of Darfur where the then government in Khartoum unleashed Arab tribal militias against non-Arab minorities suspected of supporting a rebellion.
“It is beyond belief that we have a fraction of the interest now for Sudan’s crisis than we had 20 years ago for Darfur, when the crisis was actually much smaller,” Egeland said.
He said Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and Russia’s war with Ukraine had been allowed to overshadow the conflict in Sudan.
But he said he detected a shift in the “international mood,” away from the kind of celebrity-driven campaigns that brought Hollywood star George Clooney to Darfur in the 2000s.
“More nationalistic tendencies, more inward-looking,” he said of Western governments led by politicians compelled to “put my nation first, me first, not humanity first.”
“It will come to haunt” these “short-sighted” leaders, when those they failed to assist in their homeland join the tide of refugees and migrants headed north.
In Chad, he said he had met young people who just barely survived ethnic cleansing in Darfur, and had made the decision to brave the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe even though they had friends who had drowned.
Inside Sudan, one in every five people has been displaced by this or previous conflicts, according to UN figures.
Most of those displaced are in Darfur, where Egeland says the situation is “horrific and getting worse.”
The North Darfur state capital of El-Fasher has been under siege by the RSF for months, nearly disabling all aid operations in the region and pushing the nearby Zamzam displacement camp into famine.
But even areas spared the devastation of war “are bursting at the seams,” Egeland said. Across the army-controlled east, camps, schools and other public buildings are filled with displaced people left to fend for themselves.
On the outskirts of Port Sudan — the Red Sea city where the army-backed government and UN agencies are now based — Egeland said he visited a school sheltering more than 3,700 displaced people where mothers were unable to feed their children.
“How come next door to the easiest accessible part of Sudan... there is starvation?” he asked.
According to the UN, both sides are using hunger as a weapon of war. Authorities routinely impede access with bureaucratic hurdles, while paramilitary fighters have threatened and attacked aid workers.
“The ongoing starvation is a man-made tragedy... Each delay, every blocked truck, every authorization delayed is a death sentence for families who can’t wait another day for food, water and shelter,” Egeland said.
But in spite of all the obstacles, “it is possible to reach all corners of Sudan,” he said, calling on donors to increase funding and aid organizations to have more “guts.”
“Parties to conflicts specialize in scaring us and we specialize in being scared,” he said, urging UN and other agencies to “be tougher and demand access.”
Hamas armed wing says Israeli woman hostage killed in north Gaza
- Abu Obeida’s statement did not further identify the hostage or say how or when she was killed
- The woman had been held with a second female hostage whose life was in danger
GAZA: Hamas’s armed wing said Saturday an Israeli woman taken hostage during the October 2023 attack had been killed in a combat zone in northern Gaza and the Israeli military said it was investigating.
Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said contact had been restored with the woman’s captors after a break of several weeks and it was established that the hostage had been killed in an area of north Gaza where the Israeli army has been operating.
Abu Obeida’s statement did not further identify the hostage or say how or when she was killed.
The Israeli army told AFP it was looking into the claim.
Abu Obeida said that the woman had been held with a second female hostage whose life was in danger.
During last year’s Hamas attack which triggered the Gaza war, militants took 251 hostages, of whom 97 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.
Ten female hostages, including five soldiers, were believed to remain alive in custody before Abu Obeida’s statement, according to an AFP tally.
During a one-week truce in November last year, 105 hostages were freed, including 80 Israelis who were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli government has come under immense public pressure to agree a new deal to bring the remaining hostages home while they are still alive.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group did not wish to comment on Saturday’s claim.
“Nothing is known other than what Hamas is saying. Our only reliable source is the Israeli army,” the group told AFP.
Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 44,176 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Fierce Israel-Hezbollah clashes at flashpoint town: Lebanon state media
- Israel was “attempting to control the town” as it was “a strategic gateway for a rapid ground incursion,” the NNA said
- It said Israeli troops had dynamited houses and were “trying to surround (Khiam) from all sides using extensive air and ground cover“
BEIRUT: Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops engaged in fierce clashes Saturday at the key south Lebanon town of Khiam and in the coastal Bayada area several kilometers north of the border.
The official National News Agency (NNA) reported intense air and artillery bombardment of Khiam, about six kilometers (nearly four miles) from the frontier.
Israel was “attempting to control the town” as it was “a strategic gateway for a rapid ground incursion,” the NNA said.
It said Israeli troops had dynamited houses and were “trying to surround (Khiam) from all sides using extensive air and ground cover.”
Over the past two days, Hezbollah said its fighters had attacked Israeli troops about 20 times in and around the large town.
On September 23, Israel launched an intense air campaign in Lebanon, mainly targeting Hezbollah bastions in the south and east and in south Beirut.
A week later it sent ground troops across the border.
The NNA said Saturday that on the south coast, “the areas of Bayada and Wadi Hamoul are witnessing violent clashes,” and also reported air strikes and shelling.
It said Israeli troops tried to penetrate the area in order to encircle the town of Naqura via Bayada — “a strategic location” on the coast between Naqura and Tyre, 20 kilometers from the border.
Israeli tanks have been operating east of Khiam for more than three weeks, with the NNA reporting on Tuesday that the tanks had moved north of the town.
On October 29, the NNA said Israeli tanks entered Khiam’s outskirts in their deepest incursion yet into south Lebanon.
Khiam has symbolic significance. It was the site of a notorious prison run by the South Lebanon Army, an Israeli proxy militia, during its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon.
Israeli forces withdrew from the region in 2000.
The NNA also reported intense Israeli bombardment along the border, including around 70 shells pounding the town of Bint Jbeil alone.
All-out war erupted in September after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of Hamas, following its Palestinian ally’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
The health ministry in Beirut says that more than 3,650 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, with most deaths recorded since September this year.
