United Nations

By Zeina Khodr in Middle East on January 27th, 2012

Every Friday since the start of the uprising almost a year ago, Syrian activists have called for nationwide protests. And, there is always a slogan.

For the past weeks and months, protesters took to the streets demanding international intervention, a no-fly zone, a safe area ...

By Benedict Moran in Middle East on January 24th, 2012
Syrian protesters have called on Russia to changes its position in the Security Council [Reuters]

By Benedict Moran

Sunday’s Arab League proposal may breathe a gust of fresh air into the hallways of the UN Security Council, which has been long deadlocked on the issue of Syria.

Western countries in the 15-member body, including the UK, France, the US, and Germany, have long backed strong condemnation of what they perceive as a blatant violation of human rights in the country, and seek sanctions or an arms embargo as punitive action against Damascus.

Russia, and to various degrees China, India, and South Africa, have opposed involvement, saying the West is overstepping its bounds and is interfering in the sovereign affairs of a state.  They have continued to call for political dialogue.

In part, the deep divisions over the role of the international body stem from a degree of regret that some members feel since it mandated international intervention in Libya.  

By Andy Gallacher in Americas on January 11th, 2012
The UN mission in Haiti has faced public anger over allegations that Uruguayan troops raped a local teenager [Reuters]

The video of an alleged sexual attack on a Haitian teenager by United Nations peacekeepers from Uruguay went viral months ago; it is everywhere.

Even so, finding the young man who claims to be the victim of the assault seemed like it would be a mammoth task for us in Haiti. This is not the kind of place where you can flip through a phone book or call an operator for help.

Haiti has no solid infrastructure, so I was more than a little surprised when my producer called and told me "We found him".

Tracking down Johnny Jean took less than an hour, a testament to our local staff and a slap in the face for the Uruguayan investigators who claim they can not find him.

Without his testimony, they say, allegations against their soldiers will not be pursued. But that was not the end of the surprises.

By Azad Essa in Africa on December 3rd, 2011
Photo by Azad Essa

Walikale is one of those towns you won't spot from the window of a plane.

Squeezed between rolling carpets of treetops, you might just detect a brown blot on a green canvas if you strain your eyes hard enough.

By Azad Essa in Africa on November 27th, 2011
The capital of North Kivu state, with Mount Nyiragongo in the background [Azad Essa/ Al Jazeera]

Flashes of lightning illuminate Lake Kivu as thunder crackles above. The storm causes the lights to trip and disrupts the internet connection at our place of rest, the Ihusi Hotel.

The hotel, which overlooks the lake, is a meeting place - or hunting ground - for UN types, election observers, haughty journalists, as well as certain undesirables.

UN cars line the parking lot. French-speaking receptionists ignore requests made in Queen's English and poll monitors insist on parading around in their election observer vests (Can sipping cocktails at the bar could ever be free or fair?

The road from the Rwandan border into Goma is bustling with activity and the construction sites lining it suggest the city is undergoing a facelift.

But when the neatly tarmacked road ends, another Goma presents itself in the form of the gigantic BDGL roundabout.

By Peter Greste in Africa on October 3rd, 2011


Dadaab Refugee Camp, KENYA - As with most natural disasters, numbers swirl around the drought on the Horn of Africa like so many dust particles. 

They float up from the tyres of aid agency Land Cruisers in great billowing clouds; they blow in from donor conferences like a sandstorm sweeping in from the east; they get in your eyes, and cloud the air making it almost impossible to see through the statistics and understand what is really going on.
By Marwan Bishara in Imperium on September 29th, 2011
An ardent supporter of the Iraq war, Tony Blair is now tasked with brokering Middle East peace [AFP]

Tony Blair has been a political salesman since he first made his debut at the British Labour Party conference. And he is good, no doubt about that.

Not only because he speaks coherently; he is Scottish after all. Nor is it because he's often compared with George W Bush.

It's because Tony could peddle ideas and sell economic and military agendas better than most.

The question is: Would you buy a used car from Tony?

The Palestinians and the Arabs in general have concluded enough is enough.

Nabil Sha'ath, the Palestinian Authority's first ever foreign minister, told me last year: "Forget Tony Blair. I think Mr Blair is at the wrong time at the wrong place and he’s just making it easier for Mr Netanyahu to deceive us, really, in more ways than one."

By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on September 22nd, 2011
Palestinians marching in Ramallah on Wednesday in support of the PLO's statehood bid. [Gregg Carlstrom/Al Jazeera]

The reaction in the West Bank to US President Barack Obama's speech at the United Nations has been, as you might expect, frustrated. Frustrated - but not surprised.

The frustration was mostly with the tone of the speech, rather than its substance. The most offensive line to many, at least in interviews this morning, was Obama's declaration that "there are no shortcuts"; as several Ramallah residents reminded me, the Palestinian people have been dispossessed for 63 years already.

But the speech did not surprise anyone; it has been clear for months, after all, that Obama planned to veto the Palestine Liberation Organisation's bid for full membership at the UN. Mustafa Barghouti, the Palestinian politician and activist, called Obama's position "disappointing" in an interview before the president's speech.

By Marwan Bishara in Imperium on September 21st, 2011
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted 690 different resolutions on matters dealing with Palestine [EPA]

Failure to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel's 40-year occupation, in the words of UN former Secretary General Kofi Annan, would "continue to hurt the reputation of the United Nations and raise questions about its impartiality".

By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on September 19th, 2011
Mahmoud Abbas arrived in New York on Monday ahead of the UN General Assembly. [EPA]

The Palestine Liberation Organisation seems to have passed the point of no return in its bid for full membership at the United Nations. Mahmoud Abbas could still abandon the bid - he will not formally submit the PLO's request until later this week - but that would be a politically ruinous move after his speech on Friday night.

Nonetheless, the United States and the European Union are still trying to convince Abbas to back down. There will be a few frantic meetings in New York this week ahead of Abbas' speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday.

The carrot they are offering him is the prospect of renewed negotiations with Israel, possibly with a timer attached: If talks do not go anywhere after, say, six months, the so-called Quartet would then endorse the PLO's bid for UN membership.

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