The Gateway to the East

Speaking to AsiaNews the Latin Patriarch reviews the dramatic events of the last period, the war, the killing of the two Christian women. A "preventable" death, impossible to mistake them for Hamas militiamen. Conflict causes pain that divides, everyone "locked in their own." Jerusalem and Bethlehem's silence, failure to visit Gaza. Starting over with people, "to rebuild."

In this interview with AsiaNews, Avi Dabush, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, looks back at the tragic hours when terrorists attacked Kibbutz Nirim. Despite the fear and the violence, he considers the release of the hostages to be paramount and has launched a new outreach programme in the West Bank. For him, it is time to work for rights and justice. In Gaza, the parish of the Holy Family was also hit; a water tank and solar panels were destroyed.

Added to concerns over the civilian victims of the conflict in the Strip are fears for regional economies. Oil prices and repercussions in the energy sector are being watched. A sharp drop in GDP is expected for the entire MENA region. World Bank: the impact on employment in an area where 300 million young people will be knocking on the door of the labour market by 2050.

The patriarchal vicar for Israel expressed his shock at the attack in the heart of the country. The massacre struck the innocents, women and children, young people who wanted to have fun. Such violence is rooted in the denial of the rights of the Palestinians people. Only "their respective extremisms" have won. The Church in the Holy Land is not a "political power" but a "voice of peace", which remains "the necessary goal".

Turkish security forces arrested 90 people in 18 provinces suspected of links with the PKK, responsible for last Sunday’s attack in Ankara. For the Kurdish group, it was a way to show the flag, but Turkey’s harsh response risks generating an escalation that will involve Syria and Iraq. In the first half of 2023, Turkey carried out more than 665 air strikes against Kurdish targets in Syria and Iraq.

Tensions are running high in Iran at the approach of the first anniversary of the death by the regime’s morality police of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman. Last weekend, authorities in the southwest of the country jailed six people for "organising" riots to remember her. An uncle of the young victim has also targeted. The Islamic Republic’s reign of terror and repression continues; more than 500 people have died during the unrest. At present, Iran’s economic woes risk overshadowing the fight for rights.

Saudi Arabia has called on its citizens to leave Lebanon “as soon as possible”, followed by other Gulf states. Fighting between Palestinian factions in Ain al-Hilweh have renewed concerns in the Arab world, as fears of violence grow. This mirrors a cooling in Saudi-Iranian rapprochement.

Card Raphael Louis Sako, Patrairch of the Chaldean Church, issued his first statements from Erbil after he was compelled to leave Baghdad. In it he describes a situation in which too many political divisions are driving the country apart and undermining the Iraqi state. Experts note that ethnic militias are the result of repeated exclusions of various ethnic and religious groups by those in power over the years.

Almost three years after the Abraham Accords, Israel takes a step to boost ties with Morocco, the most lukewarm of its new allies. Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government confirms work on a land bridge to UAE through Saudi Arabia.

A report by international NGOs shows the critical situation of those who leave the Islamic Republic, especially converts, to escape persecution. Abuse by employers, high rents, lack of education for children among the critical issues. The serious slowdown in the outplacement system in third countries (United States, Canada, Australia).

Israel's military operation continues in the north of the West Bank with at least 10 Palestinians killed, 100 wounded, and 3,000 displaced. Speaking to AsiaNews, the founder of the Israel/Palestine: Creative Regional Initiatives notes that the conflict is now at a "dead end”. He slams the expansionism of the Netanyahu government, hostage to extremists, while criticising the Palestinian Authority’s old and corrupt leadership, the United States’ inaction and China’s shallow “show”.

Behind the trafficking of dozens of children and young teenagers was the Süleymancılar sect, which, according to some reports, benefited from government and Akp cover. At least six youngsters from remote forest areas ended up in Manaus, then transported overseas to the association's Turkish headquarters. Child abuse increased by 700 percent under "sultan" Erdogan