Orientul Mijlociu

A better path forward for Syrian refugee return

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used his speech at the annual gathering of the UN General Assembly to advocate for a plan that would see the return of over one million Syrian refugees from Turkey to a strip along the Turkish border in northeastern Syria. While Turkey should not have to indefinitely host its 3.6 million Syrian refugees, the plan proposed by Erdogan would entail large-scale deportations of refugees, demographic re-engineering, and the destabilization of northeastern Syria, an area enjoying relative calm. A better path forward would be to facilitate the return of refugees from northeastern and eastern Syria to their homes by investing in reconstruction of the area and encouraging political reforms that would remove obstacles to their return.

Fayçal, du jihad en Syrie à la désillusion

Faycal* aura passé plus d’un an et demi en Syrie. Responsable de la distribution de la nourriture au sein de groupes rebelles, son témoignage inédit éclaire le fonctionnement interne des factions de combattants ainsi que le quotidien et la désillusion de nombreu·ses·x Tunisien·nes.

Pour raconter son histoire, Fayçal prend ses précautions. Il n’accepte de parler qu’en-dehors de son quartier, dans un café discret. Le jeune homme n’a pas encore 30 ans. De forte corpulence, il a un visage doux et arbore un sourire gêné. Méfiant, il regarde constamment autour de lui. Après avoir passé plus d’un an en Syrie, il est retourné chez ses parents. Depuis, il ne sort presque plus de chez lui et se sent surveillé en permanence.

Will the EU Follow Britain in Banning Hezbollah?

Counterpoint host Daniel Schwammenthal is joined by Geoffrey Van Orden, British Member of the European Parliament, and Tommaso Virgili, Visiting Fellow at the Martens Centre for European Studies, to discuss the UK’s decision to ban Hezbollah in its entirety and the prospects for the EU to follow suit. Will Brussels end the artificial distinction between the “military” and “political” arms of Iran’s terror proxy?

France Welcomes the Saudis, Condemns Critics of Islam

“Mohammed Al-Issa, who heads the World Islamic League, is credited for more than 500 executions when he was Minister of Justice of Saudi Arabia from 2009 to 2015, and countless orders of torture including the conviction of the famous Raif Badawi with 1.000 lashes.” — Michel Taube, Le Figaro, September 16, 2019.

Extremist Content Online: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Releases Second Video in 2019

istribution of Propaganda From ISIS Leader Matches Scope of Previous April Video

New Address by ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

(New York, N.Y.) – On September 16, 2019, ISIS’s al Furqan Media Foundation released an address by the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Titled “And Say, Act,” the speech was widely released on Telegram and various audio, video, and file sharing platforms. Baghdadi’s last prior public communication was on April 29, 2019.