July 25, 2014

Palestinian protests planned as a “day of rage” in the West Bank erupted this morning in violence, with at least five Palestinians killed by Israeli security guards. Palestinians took to the streets, chanting “with our soul and blood, we will redeem Gaza,” to demonstrate their anger at the deaths of more than 800 Palestinians since the latest Israeli-Hamas conflict began on July 8. Sporadic disturbances also broke out in East Jerusalem following prayers on this the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Following an international outcry over yesterday’s missile strike on a United Nations (UN) school in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has increased efforts to broker a cease-fire.

The strike on the UN school, which was being used as a displaced persons shelter in northern Gaza, left 16 people dead and dozens more injured. “Many have been killed–including women and children, as well as UN staff,” declared UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a statement issued to the media. It is yet unclear who was behind the strike. A spokesperson for Hamas condemned it as “Israeli brutal aggression that targeted” Palestinians left homeless by Israeli strikes. The Israeli military suggested that the hit was self-inflicted, noting that rockets from Gaza sometimes fall and explode within Gaza.

A Hamas supporter waves Islamic flags on the roof of the Palestinian Parliament building in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Today in the West Bank, thousands of Palestinians protested Israel's strikes on Gaza. (AP/Wide World)

Simmering tensions among Palestinians in the West Bank have raised the specter of a third intifada, or Palestinian uprising. Middle East experts note, however, that such uprisings, by their nature, are not planned. “The intifada does not start by a decision and end by a decision,” stated Othman Abu Gharbiya, a member of the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah central committee. Nevertheless, he noted, “no doubt we are passing through a dangerous time.”

The current Israeli-Hamas hostilities began when a Palestinian boy was murdered on July 2 in an apparent reprisal for the murder of three Israeli teenage boys, whose bodies were found in the West Bank on June 30. Besides the Palestinian death toll, 33 Israelis–30 soldiers and 3 civilians, have been killed so far in the conflict.

Additional World Book article:

• Israel 1987 (a Back in Time article)
• Israel 2000 (a Back in Time article)
• Middle East 2007 (a Back in Time article)

July 10, 2014

Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip left at least 20 people dead today, bringing the overall death toll to 80 since Israel launched its operation earlier this week. The operation was in response to Palestinian rocket attacks. Hamas militants in Gaza have fired some 350 rockets into Israel, most of which have been intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system. Palestinian civilians in Gaza have no way to escape the barrage because of Egyptian and Israeli blockades.

A spokesperson for the Israeli military announced today that 20,000 reservists have been called up, and Israeli President Shimon Peres told a CNN correspondent that a ground offensive might happen “quite soon.”

In New York City, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon characterized the situation as “on a knife-edge” and warned of the dangers of escalation, saying the region cannot afford another full-blown war: “The deteriorating situation is leading to a downward spiral which could quickly get out of control.” Ban has called the UN Security Council into an emergency session.

Tensions between Israel and Hamas began late last month when three Israeli teenagers were found murdered. Israel blamed Hamas, and a Palestinian teenager was subsequently murdered in a suspected revenge attack.

Additional World Book article:

• Middle East 2007 (a Back in Time article)

April 16, 2014

NATO announced today that it is reinforcing its defenses in the Baltic States and central Europe. In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated that in the face of the current crisis in Ukraine, NATO is putting “more planes in the air, mores ships on the water, more readiness on the land.” The announcement came as Ukraine forces are moving into eastern Ukraine to retake control of the region and as Russia has massed 40,000 troops along its border with Ukraine.

Secretary Rasmussen called on Russia to make clear it did not “support the violent actions of well-armed militias or pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.” In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by telephoning  United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Putin demanded “clear condemnation from the United Nations and the international community of the anti-constitutional actions” taken by the interim Ukrainian government by launching a military campaign against pro-Russian separatists in the east.”

For additional information on the Ukrainian crisis, search Ukraine articles under Archived Stories.

Additional World Book article:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)

January 14, 2014

The security situation in Iraq continues to rapidly break down. Yesterday, multiple car bombs exploded in several of Baghdad’s Shi’ite neighborhoods, killing at least 29 people. The attacks appeared to be coordinated with the arrival of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was in Baghdad to confer with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki. The secretary general reportedly scolded Iraq’s political leaders for not working together to “stop the senseless deaths of Iraqi women, children, and men.” More than 8,000 Iraqis were killed in 2013 as security deteriorated in and around Baghdad, the capital; hundreds more have died so far this month.

In restive Anbar province, a Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad, the city of Fallujah is currently under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a militant group with connections to the al-Qa’ida terrorist network. On January 12, fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, commonly known as ISIS, and Iraqi government forces spread out of Anbar province to the very outskirts of Baghdad. Clashes between ISIS forces and the Iraqi army left at least 14 people dead near the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. In Ramadi, the other major city in Anbar province, militants captured and executed four members of an elite unit of the Iraqi military in an effort to retake control of the area.

Iraqi militants celebrate an attack on U.S. trucks in 2004 in Fallujah, the site of renewed fighting between Iraqi forces and Sunni rebels. The militants are again in control of the city. (© Karim Sahib, AFP/Getty Images)

ISIS is also actively involved in the civil war in Syria. Experts on the situation in Syria note that infighting between ISIS and the secular Free Syrian Army rebel group threatens to tip the balance among rebel forces. ISIS forces have increasingly come into conflict with the Free Syrian Army and other factions as Islamist militants attempt to enforce their strict form of Islamic Shari’ah law on areas under rebel control. The Free Syrian Army and the other factions have been fighting to bring down the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2011.

Additional World Book articles:

• Iraq War
• Iraq 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Iraq 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• Iraq: a Quest for Political Identity in a Second Year of War (a special report)
• Syria: The Roots of a Rebellion (a special report)

July 12, 2013

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban, spoke today at the United Nations (UN) on the occasion of  “Malala Day.” She told a specially convened youth assembly that books and pens scare such extremist groups as the Taliban. A Taliban gunman shot Malala in the head on a school bus in October 2012 because of her campaign for girls’ rights, including the right to an education.

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai spoke today to a special youth assembly in the plenary chamber at the United Nations.  (© Mario Tama, Getty Images)

“They are afraid of women,” Malala told the forum, noting that the Taliban’s attack had only made her more resolute: “Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, courage and fervor was born. . . I speak not for myself but for those without a voice,” she continued, stating that she is fighting for the rights of women because “they are the ones who suffer the most.”

According to the UN Statistics Division, fully one-quarter of all young women worldwide have not completed primary school. Malala’s native Pakistan ranks among the lowest in terms of female literacy and the enrollment of girls in school.

After Malala presented UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with a petition demanding universal education, he addressed the special assembly: “She is calling on us to keep our promises, invest in young people and put education first.” He credited Malala with bringing the issue of women’s education to worldwide attention. Her petition bore more than 3 million signatures.

After being shot, Malala Yousafzai was flown from Pakistan to the United Kingdom for treatment. She now lives in Birmingham, England.

Additional World Book articles:

• Pakistan 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• Fifty Years of Defending Human Rights for All (a special report)

August 2|, 2012

Kofi Annan, the special United Nations (UN) and Arab League envoy (representative) who has worked for months to resolve the conflict in Syria, submitted his resignation today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Annan will leave his position at the end of August. A former UN secretary-general and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Annan had grown increasingly frustrated with his inability to achieve even a short-term cease-fire. The conflict began in March 2011 as a peaceful uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It has now escalated into full-blown civil war.

Annan’s six-point proposal–which called for Assad to withdraw his forces from urban areas and for the rebels to put down their arms–never went into effect, despite Assad’s pledge to comply. Annan also failed to secure an enforceable Security Council resolution and tougher sanctions against the Assad regime. Russia and China, permanent members with veto power, opposed any resolution that might lead to UN-backed military intervention.

Kofi Annan (AP/Wide World and Kathy Willens)

In a statement announcing the resignation, Secretary Ban noted that the Security Council’s own divisions “have themselves become an obstacle to diplomacy, making the work of any mediator vastly more difficult.” Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, Annan delivered a blistering criticism of the Security Council’s failure to unite to stop the escalating violence: “The bloodshed continues, most of all because of the Syrian government’s intransigence, and continuing refusal to implement the six-point plan, and also because of the escalating military campaign of the opposition–all of which is compounded by the disunity of the international community. . . . At a time when we need–when the Syrian people desperately need action–there continues to be finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a Special Report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

July 16, 2012

Fierce clashes between antigovernment activists and the Syrian military continue in Damascus for a second day. Troops backed by armored personnel carriers are being deployed in various parts of the city. According to witnesses communicating by cell phone to media outside the country, the deployment in the capital is the largest in the 16-month uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. A Syrian activist told the Associated Press that the main road to Damascus International Airport in the south has been closed. Speaking to a BBC reporter, one resident stated, “It’s mainly in the southern parts of the city which are effectively besieged at the moment. . . The feeling, among people around me, is that it’s our turn now. We are really feeling this. That this is the final fight, building up to who wins control of the regime.” Yesterday, the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Committee of the Red Cross declared that it now viewed the conflict in Syria as a full-blown civil war.

Clashes between antigovernment activists and the Syrian military, ongoing since March 2011, have recently spread into the capital city of Damascus.

Last week, more than 200 Syrians were massacred in a village near the city of Hama. Helicopter gunships and tanks bombarded Tremseh before militiamen stormed the farming village and carried out execution-style killings, in what could prove to be the worst single incident of violence since the start of the uprising.

In response, Syria’s ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf al-Fares, announced that he had defected from Assad’s government and was supporting the opposition. The diplomat’s move comes just days after another top-level defection. On July 4, Brigadier General Manaf Tlass, a long-time friend and member of Assad’s inner circle, crossed into Turkey with his family and several lesser ranking members of the Syrian military. According to the Turkish government, hundreds of Syrian soldiers have sought refuge across the border.

Kofi Annan, the special United Nations (UN) and Arab League envoy for Syria, arrived in Moscow today (July 16) to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is expected to urge Putin to pressure Syria’s leaders to begin a political transition. A long-time ally of Syria, Russia has vetoed several UN Security Council resolutions for foreign intervention. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also expected to discuss the situation in Syria with Chinese leaders when he arrives in Beijing for a China-Africa summit. China has joined Russia in vetoing the Security Council resolutions. Some 16,000 people are believed to have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011.

Additional World Book articles:

• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

June 8, 2012

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informed the General Assembly yesterday that UN monitors were shot at trying to get to the scene of yet another massacre in Syria. According to opposition activists, at least 78 people in the village of Qubair, near Hama, were slaughtered on June 6 by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The victims included as many as 40 women and children. Condemning “this unspeakable barbarity,” Ban stated that for many months it had been evident that Assad and his government “have lost all legitimacy” as well as “its fundamental humanity.”

On May 29, major Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats in response to the May 25 massacre of 108 civilians in the Houla region of Syria. (Houla is an area northwest of the city of Homs, center of the 14-month uprising against the Assad regime.) Outrage over the killings–one of the gravest atrocities in the uprising–prompted the governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States to inform the various Syrian legations that top diplomats were to leave within the week.

Syria. World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.

Members of the UN Human Rights Council believe that the Syrian army and the feared shabiha militia may have carried out both massacres. It is widely believed that the shabiha, consisting mainly of Alawite Muslims, is the Assad regime’s hired death squad. (Alawites are a mystical Sunni religious group prominent in Syria. The Assad family and most Syrian government officials are members of the sect.)

The UN Security Council has condemned the Syrian government “in the strongest possible terms.” The council pronounced the “outrageous use of violence against civilians” a violation of international law. At least 10,000 people have died in Syria since protests against the Assad regime broke out in March 2011.

Additional World Book articles:

• Diplomacy
• Hafez al-Assad
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

Feb. 10, 2012

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on February 9 called the failure of the Security Council to agree to a resolution (a formal expression of opinion) on the situation in Syria “disastrous.” President Bashar al-Assad’s government has launched its most intense bombardment so far of rebel-held areas in and around the city of Homs. Communicating to Western media via social networking websites, activists in the rebellion reported an unprecedented assault on Homs, involving tanks and heavy artillery. The rebel-controlled suburb of Baba Amr was slammed yesterday with more than 200 rockets in the space of three hours.

Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York City, Ban noted, “For too many months we have watched this crisis deepen. We have seen escalating violence, brutal crackdowns and tremendous suffering by the Syrian people. I deeply regret that the Security Council has been unable to speak with one clear voice to end the bloodshed.” A UN Security Council resolution demanding that President Assad give up power was vetoed by Russia and China on February 4.

Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations. Eskinder Debebe, UN Photo

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• Foreign policy
• Lebanon
• Constant Comments: What’s All the Twitter About (a special report)