Tupac and a Push for Palestinian Freedom

Oakland, California and Lod, Israel two cities separated by 7,405 miles that share a surprising connection.  Tupac Shakur a rapper from Oakland, California is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. During the early 1990’s his music could be heard on radio stations all across America. He rapped about the struggles of living in an inner city, the effects of drugs on poor neighborhoods, and a system of racism that divided that kept African Americans from becoming successful. A young Tamer Nafar in the small city of Lod, Israel, heard this message and was inspired to rap. Lod is similar to Oakland in many ways, about 15 minutes from Tel Aviv, it is a poor town filled mainly with people of Palestinians, outsiders in their own country. Tamer learned English by memorizing Tupac’s songs and translating them to English.

                Tamer decided that his town needed a similar voice and began rapping in 1998 recording an EP “Stop Selling Drugs.” He joined up with his younger brother Suhell Nafer and childhood friend Mahmoud Jreri and the group DAM was born. DAM, meaning “blood” in Hebrew, began preforming in clubs around Tel Aviv. They originally rapped in Hebrew and wrote songs about violence and drugs in the city they grew up in.

                Their music took a sudden shift in 2000 during the Second Intifada. DAM saw the violence around them and decided to lend their voice to the Palestinian resistance. They wrote their first political song over a beat from their hero Tupac Shakur. They released the song “Innocent Criminals” a song about the struggles of Palestinians living in Israel and the hypocrisy of the Israeli government. The song became a huge hit with Palestinians and gained a large amount of attention all over Israel.

                DAM went on to release many hits including “Who is the Terrorist?” “Born Here” and “Dedication.” They are credited with the rise of Palestinian Hip-Hop and lending a powerful, young voice to the struggle of young Palestinians. In a way they became the Tupac of the Arab world. Born into an oppressive system that kept them confined to a poor city, filled with violence and drugs using rap as a method of expression and protest to raise awareness about a struggle that many people would not think about if not for the music that defines it.

They have a fire soundcloud for anyone interested: https://soundcloud.com/damrap

References:

http://www.damrap.com/about

http://www.damlondon.co.uk/Home.html

https://electronicintifada.net/content/we-will-continue-sing-dams-suhell-nafar-interviewed/9787

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAM_(band)

-Cameron Cook

American Change of Heart?

          Over the past two weeks, the situation in Syria took an unforeseen turn when Syrian President, Bashar-al-Assad, launched chemical weapons strikes against his own people in the rebel controlled Idlib Province. As of right now, the death toll exceeds 70 and consists mostly of elderly citizens and children. This war crime has sparked outrage across the globe, and it has been debated why the Syrian leader would make such a move when his forces are closing in on the rebel strongholds. Even the U.S. had turned their attention from the situation since Trump took office. Why execute such a barbaric and controversial strategy? Assad is probably feeling the ramifications of his actions now that the U.S. has reinforced their commitment to removing him from office.
          Last Friday, President Trump ordered cruise missile strikes against a Syrian airbase. The strikes were mostly successful as all but one hit their target. One missile failed in flight. This is also an interesting move by the U.S. President. Ever since taking office, he has diverted attention from Syria, in an effort to build upon relations with the Russians, who have supported Assad’s regime from the beginning. Several countries have condemned the U.S. attack as an assault on the sovereignty of a nation, including Russia, China, and Iran. But several more countries, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Australia, support the president’s actions, stating that the chemical attacks are a war crime that should be dealt with.
          Even U.S. citizens have shown overall support for the strikes. Although some officials, including Senator Tim Kaine, question the legality of Trump’s actions saying, “He should not have done this without coming to congress.” Many people think that this marks the beginning of official U.S. involvement in the Syrian Rebellion and not just by means of local proxies. Only time will tell.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/04/syria-chemical-attack-idlib-province http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/07/world/syria-us-strike-world-reaction/ http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-launches-missiles-syrian-base-after-chemical-weapons-attack-n743636 http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tim-kaine-trump-has-no-congressional-authorization-for-syria-strike/article/2619644

Air Strikes

Recent air strikes

Phot cred: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/06/us-military-has-launched-more-50-than-missiles-aimed-at-syria-nbc-news.html

          Since 2011 Syria has been launched into the Civil War led by many level Rebel groups including such as Free Syrian Army, ISIS, Al-Qaeda and pro authoritarian Assad troops. Originally United States stayed relatively neutral in Syria, because Assad has strong alliances with Russia. In 2014 United States started launching attacks against ISIS in the Iraq and Syrian region and carefully avoided Assad forces [1]. However, a land mark event has occurred that may mark a change in the United States’ level of involvement in Syria. Thursday evening presidents Trump launched 59 tomahawk missiles into Syria onto an Assad controlled air field [2].

                 Photo cred: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/06/politics/donald-trump-syria-military/
          

             According to president Trump the US airstrike is in response to Syria's use of chemical weapons in the rebel-held town of Idlib where “at least a hundred people have been killed and 400 injured” [3] according to some accounts. These actions have garnered a lot of attention on social media because news accounts have posted videos of civilians dying after inhaling toxic fumes. In a press conference shortly after launching the air strikes Donald Trump said “Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many."[2]

The United States informed many foreign and allied states ahead of their airstrikes; including Russia. Russia claims that Assad did not launch chemical attacks, rather Assad forces launched attacks on rebel factories and strongholds that were hoarding chemical weapons. [4]

Politically this is bad for Assad and his forces; now they must be cautious when conducting further military action, because now the United States has set a precedent now that it may police the region.

                This may be a political victory for Trump because it minimizes recent allegations that claim he has dangerous ties with Russia, also this event may showcase him in a morally good light. However, if Assad is proven not to have been involved in leading chemical strikes then it can lead to increased tensions between Russia and the United States.

A U.S. defense official called the U.S. strike a "one-off" [2].  Liberal media outlets have expressed concerns that this may be the early signs of the United States posturing for an all-out military effort in the region while conservative news outlets seem to be celebrating the airstrikes as an American moral victory. The truth of the matter is that no one knows for sure how we will look back on this event in the future. 

                                                                                                                         -Ibrahim Khan

[1]http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-airstrikes-syria/story?id=25686031

[2]http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/06/us-military-has-launched-more-50-than-missiles-aimed-at-syria-nbc-news.html

[3]http://www.itv.com/news/2017-04-04/at-least-18-dead-and-dozens-injured-idlib-gas-attack-in-syria/

 [4]http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/06/the-us-warned-the-russians-ahead-of-syria-missile-strikes-official.html

Euphrates Shield Comes to an End

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml-ZXoX-CsM&feature=youtu.be

On August 24, 2016 Turkey launched a military operation called Euphrates Shield. The objective of the operation was to clear the Turkey-Syria border of the YPG (an acronym for what translates to People’s Protection Units) which Turkey considers to be a Syrian terrorist organization. As formally described by the National Security Council in Turkey, "Operation Euphrates Shield aimed at ensuring our country's border security and thwarting the Daesh terror group's threat and attacks targeting our country." Since then, Turkey’s armed forces sent troops, tanks and warplanes to support Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels. Through the course of the war, the Turkish military has secured a roughly 100-kilometer (60-mile) stretch of the border and taken the border cities of Jarablus, Dabiq and al-Bab from the jihadists. After taking these cities, “Turkish officials warned the offensive would push the Kurdish militia out of Manbij, before moving south to Raqqa. But neither of those has happened.” According to BBC “it is possible Turkey has got cold feet after sustaining heavy losses in al-Bab. It may also be trying to please the US secretary of state, who was in Ankara on Thursday and was likely to reiterate that Washington would not drop its alliance with the Syrian Kurds.” At any rate, on Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim proclaimed “Operation Euphrates Shield has been successful and is finished.” Of course, he also made it clear that the end of the operation would not necessarily mean the end of conflict in the region, as he went on to explain "If something threatening our security happens in the future, regarding Daesh or something else, then there will be a new operation." Although little has changed by the end of Euphrates Shield, this was Turkey's biggest intervention in Syria since the beginning of the war.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39439593

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-syria-ends-euphrates-shield-military-operation-binali-yildirim-jarablus-isis-islamic-state-a7657156.html

http://www.trtworld.com/mea/turkey-ends-operation-euphrates-shield-in-northern-syria-326612

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/turkey-ends-euphrates-shield-operation-syria-170329211428970.html

Energy Game: Jordan

As was seen in class before the commencement of our Spring Break, there is a history of foreign involvement in the development of energy resources in the Middle East. Presented in class was the case of a US oil corporation in the late 1940’s. Just recently, China secured a bid for the development of the Attarat um Ghudran oil shale deposit in Jordan, after the Guangdong Yudean Group became a 45% shareholder of the Attarat Power Company. The project, which involves the construction of a 470MW oil shale power plant (operational by 2020), is to be financed by Chinese banks and directed by the Guangdong Power Engineering Corporation. The electricity generated by this plant would provide 10-15% of Jordan’s future electricity needs. It is referred to as the “largest private-sector project in Jordan’s history”.[1]

Not so endowed with crude oil reserves as its neighbors, Jordan has historically imported much of its energy needs (approx. 90%, 2012). The vast majority of these energy imports are in the form of crude oil, sourced from Saudi Aramco (approx. 2.5 million barrels per month, 2016). Another supplier has been Iraq, with whom Jordan has been pursuing an oil/natural gas pipeline project which, if completed, would transport 1 million barrels of oil per day, from the Basra oil fields to the port of Aqaba.

Following the Arab Spring and the resultant threats experienced to its energy security, Jordan has since been very engaged in developing its energy independence, namely via the diversification of its energy mix and the development of domestic energy resources. An ambitious strategy, tied with a relatively stable market, has attracted $10s of billions in foreign, energy-related investments. Jordan’s mid-term goals involve reducing dependence on oil products, increasing natural gas inputs, and introducing alternative energy capacity (i.e. renewable, nuclear, and oil shale). While Jordan is endowed with sizeable uranium deposits, a foray into nuclear energy might prove risky given regional water scarcity. Regarding renewable energy resources, Jordan’s 2020 targets are 600 and 1200 MW for solar (PV) and wind, respectively, totaling 10% of future electricity demand. These goals are viable considering the country’s abundant wind (consistently high speeds in the south) and solar (sunbelt orientation; 300 days of sun per year) resources. The projected fuel mix for Jordan (in 2020) is as follows: oil products, 40%; natural gas, 20%; oil shale, 14%; renewable, 10%; nuclear, 6%. Overall, domestic electricity production is projected to increase by 56% (from 2015 levels).[2]

Why is China involved? China seeks greater involvement in the Middle East mainly for economic reasons and it is evident that Chinese economic pressure has been expanding throughout the region in the past decade. As China’s interests are purely economic, this expansion is generally welcomed amongst Middle East nations. It may be said that China enjoys an ‘unaligned’ reputation in the region, much in contrast to Russia or the US. Ultimately, China’s greater goal of ushering in a new, Sino-centric, international trade-regime calls both for closer economic ties and greater economic stability with/in the Middle East.[3]

[4]

Composed by: Luc Guittard

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[1] http://www.gtreview.com/news/mena/jordan-shale-oil-project-reaches-financial-close/

[2] http://www.mei.edu/content/article/jordans-energy-future-path-forward

[3] http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/01/china-vision-middle-east-160121052018955.html

[4] http://yashnews.com/170316-amman-march-16-2017-xinhua-jason