10 June 2019-NPWJ News Digest on Middle East and North Africa Democracy

Articles

Palestine considers ICC complaint against US envoy Friedman
AlJazeera, 09 Jun 2019

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates is considering filing a complaint against the US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his recent comments on the long-awaited US peace plan. Friedman, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlements, said Israel has the right to annex at least "some" of the occupied West Bank in an interview published by the New York Times on Saturday.

 

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The collapse of the 'Moroccan exception' myth
Middle East Eye, 09 Jun 2019

The wave of protests shaking Mohammed VI's regime may mark the start of violent social unrest "Long live the people" and "Corrupt state," shouted the crowds of demonstrators gathered in the streets of Rabat, the Moroccan capital. Thousands of protesters recently rallied for the liberation of political prisoners, in a movement launched by the Hirak prisoners' families collective. The population of the mountainous northern region, the Rif, was shocked when an appeals court last month upheld prison terms of up to 20 years for dozens of Hirak activists. Protest leader Nasser Zefzafi, inside Oukacha prison, sewed his lips shut to denounce the verdict.

 

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Assad demolishes refugee homes to tighten grip on rebel strongholds
The Guardian, 08 Jun 2019

As the civil war wanes, the government is blowing up properties in areas it claims were opposition heartlands.Amjad Farekh’s shops had survived Syria’s long civil war, but not the new, unsteady peace that has settled in some parts of the country. The government recently blew up several properties in the industrial zone of Qaboun, a former opposition stronghold just outside the capital, the exiled businessman said.

 

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Algeria's interim president calls for dialogue to prepare new elections
Reuters, 06 Jun 2019

Algeria’s interim President Abdelkader Bensalah called on Thursday for all parties to launch an “inclusive dialogue” to prepare for presidential elections, following the constitutional council’s scrapping of a vote set for July 4. Bensalah, in a speech broadcast on state television, did not set a date for the new contest. 

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