tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/american-university-of-beirut-742/articlesAmerican University of Beirut2020-11-24T22:06:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1501902020-11-24T22:06:45Z2020-11-24T22:06:45ZDébat : La liberté d’expression défendue par Emmanuel Macron peut-elle s’affranchir de toute responsabilité sociale ?<p>Le 2 octobre dernier, le président Emmanuel Macron <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/10/02/la-republique-en-actes-discours-du-president-de-la-republique-sur-le-theme-de-la-lutte-contre-les-separatismes">a présenté</a> sa stratégie de lutte contre ce qu’il avait initialement nommé « le séparatisme ». Prononçant 52 fois les mots islam ou islamisme, il y a clairement visé – et plus encore stigmatisé – ceux des membres de la communauté musulmane qui refusent d’être purement et simplement <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2016/11/11/integration-ou-assimilation-une-histoire-de-nuances_5029629_3232.html">« assimilés »</a> à la majorité culturelle.</p>
<p>Se sont alors élevées un grand nombre de voix afin de rappeler que les communautés musulmanes en France font l’objet de stigmatisations d’ampleur, qui ont pour conséquences une très forte discrimination à leur encontre, les marginalisant sur le marché de l’emploi, de l’éducation ou du logement.</p>
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À lire aussi :
<a href="https://theconversation.com/separatisme-et-si-la-politique-antiterroriste-faisait-fausse-route-149078">« Séparatisme » : et si la politique antiterroriste faisait fausse route ?</a>
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<p>Tout en reconnaissant ces discriminations et en annonçant que la formation des imams se ferait en France (et non au Maroc comme l’avait décidé son prédécesseur François Hollande), il a néanmoins systématiquement amalgamé l’extrémisme religieux, l’islam politique et l’islam tout court.</p>
<p>Or, les mots de Macron, « l’islam est une religion qui connaît aujourd’hui une crise, partout dans le monde », résonnent désormais avec ceux de <a href="https://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/politique/eric-zemmour-pourquoi-macron-se-trompe-dans-son-analyse-de-l-islam-et-de-l-islamisme-20201009">polémistes</a> ouvertement racistes, laissant entendre que le problème c’est l’islam.</p>
<h2>Une stratégie politique</h2>
<p>Réputé plutôt accommodant avec l’islam et les musulmans à son accession au pouvoir en 2017, Macron a pu étonner par sa soudaine fermeté contre le « séparatisme islamique ». Mais il faut inscrire cet apparent changement de cap dans une séquence plus longue qui tient aussi d’une stratégie politique pour l’exécutif.</p>
<p>Ainsi, pour saisir la portée de son discours, le dernier livre d’Emmanuel Todd, <a href="https://www.seuil.com/ouvrage/les-luttes-de-classes-en-france-au-XXIe-siecle-emmanuel-todd/9782021426823"><em>Les Luttes de classes en France au XXIᵉ siècle</em></a> peut apporter des éclairages intéressants.</p>
<p>On comprend à la lecture du démographe que Macron ne peut pas espérer obtenir un second mandat avec <a href="https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/emmanuel-berretta/qui-sont-les-electeurs-d-emmanuel-macron-08-05-2017-2125665_1897.php">l’électorat</a> qui l’a porté au pouvoir en 2017, essentiellement « progressiste » et urbain.</p>
<p>Le soutien de son <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2018/07/07/la-popularite-de-macron-s-erode-a-gauche-comme-a-droite_5327668_823448.html">aile gauche</a> en particulier s’est fortement érodé après trois ans de politiques libérales, dénoncées notamment par le mouvement des « gilets jaunes » et la contestation sur les retraites. Il lui faut donc séduire impérativement les électorats classiques du puissant mouvement identitaire de la droite et de l’extrême droite, et notamment la composante ouvrière du Rassemblement national.</p>
<p>La stratégie de lutte contre « le séparatisme », reprend donc à son compte une partie des <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-sociologie-2014-1-page-13.htm">thèses islamophobes</a> actuellement en vogue dans le débat public. Ses accents populistes – qui plaident pour une laïcité offensive – tranchent avec la doctrine prônée au collège des Bernardins où Emmanuel Macron <a href="https://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Laicite/Discours-Macron-Bernardins-partie-classe-politique-condamne-atteinte-laicite-2018-04-10-1200930553">plaidait</a> pour une « réparation du lien entre l’Eglise et l’État ».</p>
<p>On peut donc légitimement y voir une stratégie électorale. J’entends donc ici me concentrer sur la façon dont le populisme de Macron conceptualise la « liberté d’expression ».</p>
<h2>Liberté d’expression versus responsabilité sociale</h2>
<p>La liberté d’expression, qui est un droit humain fondamental, devient, selon mes analyses, contraire à l’éthique lorsque la rigueur intellectuelle et la responsabilité sociale lui font défaut.</p>
<p><em>Charlie Hebdo</em>, par le biais du large spectre des cibles de ses caricatures en est l’exemple. Notons par exemple le nombre importants de dessins polémiques de Riss, familier des caricatures sur les étrangers et les musulmans etc.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.legrandsoir.info/charlie-hebdo-ou-la-derive-anticommuniste-et-le-racisme-larve.html">Son parcours et tonalités de ses dessins</a> interrogent. Il dessine tantôt une immigration <a href="https://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/quand-luz-trouvait-un-peu-confus-un-dessin-de-riss">profiteuse des allocations</a> tantôt se moque <a href="https://www.20minutes.fr/medias/1767351-20160117-aylan-kurdi-dessin-charlie-hebdo-fait-pleurer-pere-petit-syrien-noye">d’Aylan Kurdi</a>, le petit syrien retrouvé sans vie sur une plage turque, qu’il tourne en dérision.</p>
<p>Ainsi l’hebdomadaire satirique avait-il caricaturé cet enfant de trois ans en le projetant comme « futur violeur » à Cologne, tout en véhiculant une <a href="https://www.lesinrocks.com/2016/01/news/le-dessin-de-charlie-hebdo-a-fait-pleurer-le-pere-du-petit-syrien-noye/">infox colportée</a> par les mouvances xénophobes européennes.</p>
<p>Un certain nombre de caricatures du prophète de l’islam par Charlie Hebdo n’échappent pas à cette confusion des genres. Présenter le prophète Mohammed comme un terroriste ou comme un détraqué sexuel, ne serait au fond pas très différent que de présenter Moïse comme un colon, ou d’en faire une caution (morale) du comportement de la droite israélienne à l’encontre des Palestiniens. Une telle association serait pourtant – et à juste titre – condamnée comme antisémite et interdite par les lois de nombreux pays européens.</p>
<p>Enfin, rappelons qu’au sein même de <em>Charlie Hebdo</em>, il semblerait que la caricature portant sur Israël ou certaines personnalités juives prête au débat houleux. Ainsi, le dessinateur Siné a été licencié sous la simple accusation d’un trait d’humour qualifié d’« antisémite » (<a href="https://www.nouvelobs.com/medias/medias-pouvoirs/20080727.OBS4800/affaire-sine-les-points-de-vue-de-charb-et-cavanna-historiques-de-charlie-hebdo.html">affaire Siné</a>).</p>
<h2>Un dévoiement de la satire</h2>
<p>Le réductionnisme populiste qui se cache derrière ces caricatures s’inscrit donc en réalité dans un dangereux dévoiement d’une satire – comme outil indispensable de la critique de tous les pouvoirs – vers la déshumanisation de certaines minorités.</p>
<p>Des mécanismes qui rappellent la trajectoire d’un vieil antisémitisme européen qui avant la <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-le-coq-heron-2002-3-page-13.htm">diabolisation des juifs</a>, a commencé avec celle de leur foi et de leur culture, préparant les esprits à leur quasi-extermination.</p>
<p>Certains pensent pouvoir affirmer que statistiquement <em>Charlie Hebdo</em> ne vise pas spécifiquement l’islam en tant que religion (<a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2015/03/05/oui-charlie-hebdo-est-obsede-par-l-islam_4588297_3232.html">près d’1 % des unes</a> qui lui sont consacrées).</p>
<p>C’est peut-être vrai statistiquement, mais comment ne pas être troublé par l’essentiel du message qui est véhiculé par les seules caricatures produites en direction de l’islam et des musulmans ?</p>
<h2>Droit à la liberté d’expression : jusqu’à quel point ?</h2>
<p>Emmanuel Macron défend le droit à la liberté d’expression, fustigeant la notion de blasphème, abolie par la <a href="https://www.scienceshumaines.com/blaspheme_fr_36063.html">révolution française en 1789</a>.</p>
<p>Mais est-ce pour autant un droit ? Si c’est le cas, sur quelle valeur universelle prend elle appui ?</p>
<p>Ne faudrait-il pas considérer que cette notion tend à apparaître aujourd’hui comme une véritable incitation à stigmatiser une minorité en France ?</p>
<p>Or comme le formule très bien <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/28/emmanuel-todd-the-french-thinker-who-wont-toe-the-charlie-hebdo-line">Emmanuel Todd au journal britannique <em>The Guardian</em> en 2015</a> :</p>
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<p>« Oui, bien sûr, il y a un droit de blasphémer, mais il faut aussi avoir le droit de dire que le blasphème n’est pas une priorité et que c’est idiot »</p>
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<p>Et d’ajouter :</p>
<blockquote>
<p>« Je réclamais le droit de contre-blasphémer : de dire que les caricatures de Mahomet étaient obscènes, des bêtises, totalement décalées historiquement et qu’elles étaient l’expression d’une islamophobie rampante. Et bien, pour avoir dit cela, j’ai été accusé de complicité avec les terroristes. »</p>
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<h2>Le majoritarisme culturel français vu d’ailleurs</h2>
<p>En France, donc, il semblerait que ce soit imposé un « majoritarisme culturel », à l’encontre d’une société qui se décrit comme ouverte aux autres cultures.</p>
<p>Ce majoritarisme semble s’allier à la renaissance d’une forme très militante de la laïcité, combiné à une réminiscence prégnante de l’imaginaire colonial.</p>
<p>En effet, l’idée de « libérer l’islam » est considérée par certains, dont de nombreux Libanais, comme une continuité <a href="https://orientxxi.info/magazine/les-racines-coloniales-de-la-politique-francaise-a-l-egard-de-l-islam,1426">du comportement colonial de la France</a>.</p>
<p>Suite aux événements ayant frappé le Liban, l’un de mes étudiants à l’Université Américain de Beyrouth, <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/09/01/visite-du-president-emmanuel-macron-au-liban-moins-dun-mois-apres-lexplosion-au-port-de-beyrouth">tout en saluant l’intervention du Président français</a> contre la corruption s’inquiétait de la tournure de ses propos sur l’islam, vécu pour beaucoup comme un reliquat de la mentalité coloniale.</p>
<p>Plus généralement, plusieurs leaders religieux libanais ont critiqué la représentation du Prophète Mohamet par certains média français. C’est le cas <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/ar/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%AC%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%AA-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-/2026418">du patriarche Maronite (chrétien) Bechara Boutros al-Rahi</a>. Quasiment toutes les instances religieuses et politiques de pays musulmans ont dénoncé les <a href="https://www.oic-oci.org/topic/?t_id=24890&t_ref=15211&lan=en">dessins</a> à l’encontre du Prophète Mohamet.</p>
<p>Ces leaders s’étonnent du discours français qui fustige d’une part l’islam politique et cherche à le faire interdire « juridiquement » ou qui <a href="https://theconversation.com/les-ong-musulmanes-au-coeur-des-debats-sur-le-separatisme-149182">stigmatise certaines organisations</a>, tout en s’alliant économiquement à des <a href="http://www.slate.fr/story/159808/sissi-egypte-presidentielle-occidentaux-armes-migrants-petrole-terrorisme">régimes autoritaires arabes</a>, où souvent éclot ce même islam politique.</p>
<p>Rappelons enfin que a la Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme a elle-même considéré que l’atteinte au Prophète Mohammed <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/fr/monde/pour-la-cedh-latteinte-au-proph%C3%A8te-mohammed-nest-pas-la-libert%C3%A9-dexpression-/1292925">ne relève pas de la liberté d’expression</a>. Il ne semble ainsi pas envisageable, sous couvert de majoritarisme culturel, de laisser toute expression se répandre sans aucune limites ni responsabilité.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150190/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sari Hanafi ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Réputé plutôt accommodant avec l’islam et les musulmans à son accession au pouvoir en 2017, Macron a étonné le monde musulman par sa soudaine fermeté contre le « séparatisme islamique ».Sari Hanafi, Professor, American University of BeirutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/966762018-05-16T21:00:52Z2018-05-16T21:00:52ZLes Palestiniens prisonniers d’un « écosystème de guerre »<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219173/original/file-20180516-155573-ng04t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C37%2C1171%2C743&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Une jeune Palestinienne rentrant chez elle dans le camp de réfugiés Al-Shati de la ville de Gaza.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mohammed Abed/AFP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Les ressources en eau de Gaza ont de tout temps attiré les convoitises. Chaque armée, quittant ou entrant dans le désert du Sinaï, que ce soit les Babyloniens, Alexandre le Grand, les Ottomans, ou encore les <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/first-world-war-gaza-battle-palestine/">Britanniques</a>, a cherché à s’y approvisionner. Cependant, l’eau gazaouie attire aujourd’hui l’attention sur une situation échappant à tout contrôle.</p>
<p>Des attaques israéliennes à répétition et la fermeture des frontières palestiniennes par Israël et l’Égypte ont en effet laissé le territoire palestinien incapable de traiter correctement ses eaux ou ses déchets. Chaque goutte d’eau consommée à Gaza, chaque chasse d’eau actionnée ou chaque antibiotique absorbé s’en retourne à l’état dégradé dans l’environnement.</p>
<p>Lorsque quelqu’un tire la chasse dans un hôpital, l’eau non traitée s’infiltre dans l’aquifère à travers le sable. Elle y rejoint l’eau des fermes contenant des pesticides, celle polluée par les métaux lourds de l’industrie ou encore celle salée en provenance de l’océan. C’est cette même eau qui est ensuite repompée dans des puits municipaux ou privés, à laquelle s’ajoute une infime part d’eau douce achetée en Israël. Le tout s’écoule du robinet des habitants de Gaza.</p>
<p>Il en résulte une contamination générale de l’eau potable, devenue en grande partie <a href="https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/PNIPH%20-%20WHO%20-%20Gaza%20water%20report%20final%20210914.pdf">impropre à la consommation</a> : 90 % de cette eau dépasse les directives de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) concernant la salinité et les chlorures.</p>
<p>Et l’émergence de « super-virus » n’a fait qu’aggraver ces conditions. Ces organismes ont en effet développé des multirésistances, conséquence de la <a href="https://imed.pub/ojs/index.php/IAJAA/article/view/2135">prescription abusive d’antibiotiques</a> par des médecins souvent désarmés face à la multiplication des affrontements et des blessés. Dans un tel contexte, les blessures fragilisent un peu plus les populations. Et l’accès non garanti à l’eau potable permet aux infections de se <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-defeat-superbugs-everyone-will-need-access-to-clean-water-95202">répandre plus vite</a>, aux microbes de devenir plus forts, entraînant une prescription accrue d’antibiotiques, et laissant les victimes toujours un peu plus affaiblies.</p>
<p>Il en résulte ce que l’on appelle un « environnement toxique » ou encore un <a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/28/middle-eastern-surgeon-speaks-about-ecology-of-war/">« écosystème de la guerre »</a> ; le cycle de l’eau nocif n’en constituant qu’une partie. Le terme d’écosystème renvoie à l’interaction de tous les êtres vivants avec les ressources naturelles qui les soutiennent.</p>
<p>Or les sanctions, les barrages et l’état de guerre permanent que connaît Gaza ont des répercussions sur tout ce dont ses habitants ont besoin pour vivre ; la contamination de l’eau, la pollution de l’air, la perte de fertilité du sol et la mort du bétail <a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/141694/icode/">à la suite de maladies</a> en témoignent. Et si certains Gazaouis échappent par chance aux bombes ou aux tirs de sniper, ils ne peuvent fuir leur écosystème.</p>
<p>Les chirurgiens de guerre, les anthropologues médicaux et les ingénieurs hydrauliciens – dont nous faisons partie – en ont été témoins lors de <a href="https://msf-analysis.org/conflict-medicine-manifesto/">conflits armés ou d’application de sanctions économiques</a>. Le système d’approvisionnement en eau à <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321692502_Urban_Warfare_Ecology_A_Study_of_Water_Supply_in_Basrah">Bassorah</a> (Irak) a ainsi connu un sort identique ; de même que l’ensemble des systèmes de santé en <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=22595">Irak</a> et en <a href="http://website.aub.edu.lb/ifi/publications/Documents/conference_reports/20160504_msf_conference_report.pdf">Syrie</a>. De telles situations doivent être mieux gérées.</p>
<h2>De l’eau… pour certains</h2>
<p>L’eau potable est pourtant bien présente à proximité de Gaza et pourrait permettre d’améliorer cette situation.</p>
<p>À quelques centaines de mètres de la frontière, des fermes israéliennes utilisent de l’eau potable, pompée à partir du lac de Tibériade (la mer de Galilée), afin de faire pousser des plantes destinées aux supermarchés européens. Le lac étant situé à environ 200 km au nord, à 200 mètres en dessous du niveau de la mer, une grande quantité d’énergie est nécessaire pour puiser toute cette eau. Or les Libanais, les Jordaniens, les Syriens et les Palestiniens (en Cisjordanie) convoitent cette ressource, chacun cherchant à faire valoir son droit sur le bassin du <a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/global-environmental-justice/research/completed-projects/hydropolitical-baseline-of-the-upper-jordan-river">fleuve Jourdain</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">La ville de Gaza d’un côté de la frontière, des fermes israéliennes sur l’autre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Maps</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aujourd’hui, Israël dessale une telle quantité d’eau de mer que l’offre dépasse désormais la demande pour les municipalités du pays. Le surplus d’eau dessalée est utilisé pour irriguer les cultures ; la compagnie israélienne des eaux envisage même de l’utiliser pour <a href="http://mideastenvironment.apps01.yorku.ca/2018/01/sinking-kinneret-to-get-infusion-of-desalinated-water-jerusalem-post/">réapprovisionner</a> le lac de Tibériade – un cycle de l’eau aussi curieux qu’irrationnel, l’eau du lac continuant à être pompée pour alimenter le désert !</p>
<p>La quantité d’eau traitée en Israël est si importante que certains ingénieurs n’hésitent pas à <a href="https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2017/07/05/desalination-nation-israel-helping-world-fight-water-shortage/">affirmer</a> qu’« aujourd’hui, aucun Israélien ne connaît de pénurie d’eau ».</p>
<p>Il en va tout autrement pour les Palestiniens, et en particulier ceux n’habitant pas à Gaza. Ici, les populations ont recours à des filtres, des chaudières, ou encore des unités de dessalement placées sous les éviers ou dans les quartiers : autant de dispositifs ingénieux pour tenter de traiter l’eau.</p>
<p>Mais ces approvisionnements non réglementés sont bien souvent contaminés par des germes, conduisant notamment à la prescription élevée d’antibiotiques auprès des enfants ; ce qui alimente, on l’a vu, le cercle vicieux de l’eau polluée, médicaments et super-virus. Les médecins, les infirmiers et les équipes d’entretien des eaux tentent l’impossible avec un équipement médical réduit.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"892024273182707716"}"></div></p>
<p>Les conséquences pour tous ceux qui s’investissent dans des <a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf">projets hydriques et sanitaires</a> à Gaza, constamment menacés de destruction, sont claires. Si fournir davantage d’ambulances ou de camions-citernes peut devenir une solution lors de conflits particulièrement graves, il ne s’agit là que d’une réponse temporaire. Cela améliorera bien sûr les choses durant une courte période, mais tôt ou tard Gaza aura recours à la dernière génération d’antibiotiques, et devra alors faire face à de super bactéries en téflon.</p>
<p>Face à cette situation, ceux finançant les programmes humanitaires doivent plutôt prendre en considération cet « écosystème de la guerre » et ses ramifications. Ce qui signifie former plus de médecins et d’infirmiers, fournir davantage de soins et soutenir les infrastructures de service de santé et d’eau. Plus important encore, ils doivent intégrer à leurs stratégies de développement un soutien politique pour protéger leurs investissements, pourquoi pas en exigeant de ceux qui détruisent ces infrastructures des réparations.</p>
<p>Mais il existe un message encore plus fort : nos travaux montrent que la guerre ne se réduit ni aux armées ni aux manœuvres géopolitiques. Elle étend son emprise sur tous les écosystèmes. Si l’idéologie déshumanisante alimentant le conflit au Proche-Orient était enfin mise à mal et que l’excès d’eau servait à approvisionner les communautés plutôt que les lacs, alors les blessures répétées dont souffrent les habitants de Gaza pourraient peut-être se refermer ; et tous les Palestiniens pourraient alors vivre dans un écosystème assaini.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Les conflits étendent leur emprise sur tous les écosystèmes, comme en témoigne la contamination générale de l’eau potable à Gaza.Mark Zeitoun, Professor of Water Security, University of East AngliaGhassan Abu Sitta, Founder, Conflict Medicine Program, American University of BeirutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/953972018-04-27T10:33:04Z2018-04-27T10:33:04ZGaza now has a toxic ‘biosphere of war’ that no one can escape<p>Gaza has often been invaded for its water. Every army leaving or entering the Sinai desert, whether Babylonians, Alexander the Great, the Ottomans, or <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/first-world-war-gaza-battle-palestine/">the British</a>, has sought relief there. But today the water of Gaza highlights a toxic situation that is spiralling out of control. </p>
<p>A combination of repeated Israeli attacks and the sealing of its borders by Israel and Egypt, have left the territory unable to process its water or waste. Every drop of water swallowed in Gaza, like every toilet flushed or antibiotic imbibed, returns to the environment in a degraded state. </p>
<p>When a hospital toilet is flushed, for instance, it seeps untreated through the sand into the aquifer. There it joins water laced with pesticides from farms, heavy metals from industry, and salt from the ocean. It is then pumped back up by municipal or private wells, joined with a small fraction of freshwater purchased from Israel, and cycled back into people’s taps. This results in widespread contamination and <a href="https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/PNIPH%20-%20WHO%20-%20Gaza%20water%20report%20final%20210914.pdf">undrinkable drinking water</a>, about 90% of which exceeds the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for salinity and chloride.</p>
<p>Incredibly, conditions are getting worse, thanks to the emergence of “superbugs”. These multi-drug resistant organisms have developed thanks to an <a href="https://imed.pub/ojs/index.php/IAJAA/article/view/2135">over-prescription of antibiotics</a> by doctors desperate to treat the victims of the seemingly endless assaults. The more injury there is, the more chance there is of re-injury. Less regular access to clean water means <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-defeat-superbugs-everyone-will-need-access-to-clean-water-95202">infections will spread faster</a>, bugs will be stronger, more antibiotics will be prescribed – and the victims will be ever-more weakened.</p>
<p>The result is what has been termed a toxic ecology or “<a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/28/middle-eastern-surgeon-speaks-about-ecology-of-war/">biosphere of war</a>”, of which the noxious water cycle is just one part. A biosphere refers to the interaction of all living things with the natural resources that sustain them. The point is that sanctions, blockades and a permanent state of war affects everything that humans might require in order to thrive, as water becomes contaminated, air is polluted, soil loses its fertility and livestock <a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/141694/icode/">succumb to diseases</a>. People in Gaza who may have evaded bombs or sniper fire have no escape from the biosphere.</p>
<p>War surgeons, health anthropologists and water engineers – including ourselves – have observed this situation developing wherever <a href="https://msf-analysis.org/conflict-medicine-manifesto/">protracted armed conflict or economic sanctions</a> grind on, as with water systems in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321692502_Urban_Warfare_Ecology_A_Study_of_Water_Supply_in_Basrah">Basrah</a> and <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=22595">health systems throughout Iraq</a> or <a href="http://website.aub.edu.lb/ifi/publications/Documents/conference_reports/20160504_msf_conference_report.pdf">Syria</a>. It’s now well past time to clean it up.</p>
<h2>There is water – for some</h2>
<p>It’s not as if there is no fresh water nearby to alleviate the situation in Gaza. Just a few hundred metres from the border are Israeli farms that use freshwater pumped from Lake Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee) to grow herbs destined for European supermarkets. As the lake is around 200km to the north and lies 200 metres below sea level, a massive amount of energy is used to pump all that water. The lake water is also fiercely contested by Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestinians in the West Bank, each of which is seeking their <a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/global-environmental-justice/research/completed-projects/hydropolitical-baseline-of-the-upper-jordan-river%7D">legal entitlement of the Jordan River basin</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216509/original/file-20180426-175058-1pyjje1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gaza City on one side of the border, Israeli farms on the other.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Maps</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, Israel desalinates so much seawater these days that its municipalities are turning it down. Excess desalinated water is being used to irrigate crops, and the country’s water authority is even planning to use it to <a href="http://mideastenvironment.apps01.yorku.ca/2018/01/sinking-kinneret-to-get-infusion-of-desalinated-water-jerusalem-post/">refill Tiberias itself</a> – a bizarre and irrational cycle, considering the lake water continues to be pumped the other direction into the desert. There is now so much manufactured water that some Israeli engineers can <a href="https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2017/07/05/desalination-nation-israel-helping-world-fight-water-shortage/">declare that</a> “today, no one in Israel experiences water scarcity”. </p>
<p>But the same cannot be said for Palestinians, especially not those in Gaza. People there have resorted to various ingenious filters, boilers, or under-the-sink or neighbourhood-level desalination units to treat their water. But these sources are unregulated, often full of germs, and just another reason children are prescribed antibiotics – thus continuing the pattern of injury and re-injury. Doctors, nurses, and water maintenance crews meanwhile try to do the impossible with the minimal medical equipment at their disposal. </p>
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<p>The implications for all those who invest in Gaza’s <a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf">repeatedly destroyed water and health projects</a> are clear. Providing more ambulances or water tankers – the “truck and chuck” strategy – might work when conflicts are at their most acute, but they are never more than a band aid. Yes, things will get better in the short term, but soon enough Gaza will be onto the next generation of antibiotics, and dealing with teflon-coated superbugs. </p>
<p>Donors must instead design programmes suited to the all-pervasive and incessant biosphere of war. This means training many more doctors and nurses, providing more medicines, and infrastructure support for health and water services. More importantly, donors should build-in political “cover” to protect their investments (if not the local children), perhaps by calling for those who destroy the infrastructure to foot the bill for repairs. </p>
<p>And there is an even bigger message for the rest of us. Our research shows that war is more than simply armies and geopolitics – it extends across entire ecosystems. If the dehumanising ideology behind the conflict was confronted, and if excess water was diverted to people rather than to lakes, then the easily avoidable repeated injuries suffered by people in Gaza would become a thing of the past. Palestinians would soon find their biosphere a whole lot healthier.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95397/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Undrinkable drinking water is just one example of how blockades and war have permeated an entire ecosystem.Mark Zeitoun, Professor of Water Security, University of East AngliaGhassan Abu Sitta, Founder, Conflict Medicine Program, American University of BeirutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/720682017-01-30T08:38:31Z2017-01-30T08:38:31ZIn the face of Trump’s Muslim ban, all academics have a responsibility to act<p>President Donald Trump has signed an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politics/trump-syrian-refugees.html">executive order</a> preventing nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Somalia from entering the US. Syrian refugees are indefinitely banned, and other refugees are banned for 120 days. It’s not clear what comes next.</p>
<p>During his campaign, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-order-mark-11-million-undocumented-immigrants-deportation/story?id=45050901">Trump also stated</a> his intention to remove all 11 million “illegal immigrants” from the country. The nation is waiting to see what will happen to them.</p>
<p>In migration studies, there is a general lamentation about the eroding of the “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Politics-of-Compassion/Ure-Frost/p/book/9780415671590">politics of compassion</a>” and the development of what Hannah Arendt and Rony Brauman called “<a href="http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/59536/excerpt/9780521659536_excerpt.pdf">politics of pity</a>” that has replaced compassion, empathy and justice. Compassion takes place when the person suffering is in front of the person who is not; pity occurs at a distance. </p>
<p>Humanism and cosmopolitanism allow the politics of compassion to occur. Otherwise, only the politics of pity emerge. As Paul Farmer <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520257139">pointed out</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The road from unstable emotions to hard entitlements – rights – is one we must travel if we are to transform human values into meaningful and effective programs that serve precisely those who need our empathy and solidarity most.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This exercise is not related to any culture, be it Islamic or Western. Some countries belonging to the former culture have received Syrian refugees (<a href="https://theconversation.com/syrian-refugees-in-turkey-jordan-and-lebanon-face-an-uncertain-2017-70747">Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan</a>) and others have not (<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-the-gulf-states-so-reluctant-to-take-in-refugees-47394">the Gulf countries</a>). <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-some-european-countries-do-more-than-others-to-help-refugees-47115">Some Western countries</a>, such as Germany and Sweden took in Syrian refugees; <a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-how-much-are-european-countries-doing-to-help-shelter-syrian-refugees-38731">others did not</a>. </p>
<p>Donald Trump, by signing this executive order, has radically redefined the politics of migration in the United States. He has indicated that his perception of geography is binary, dividing the world into Muslim-lands and non-Muslim-lands – in the very same manner that some radical Islamists do.</p>
<p>Jacques Derrida <a href="http://users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/shipwreck/derridahospitality.pdf">has argued</a> that hospitality is always tinted with hostility and fear. Sociologists often <a href="http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405124331_yr2012_chunk_g978140512433130_ss1-1">argue</a> that xenophobia and racism are generated by the presence of the “other”, which migrants and refugees are often characterised as.</p>
<p>I am alarmed by the surge of new <a href="https://theconversation.com/right-wing-populism-is-surging-on-both-sides-of-the-atlantic-heres-why-47876">populism in USA and Europe</a>, which is tearing apart the universal right to asylum. The only way to counter this trend is via free debate in the public sphere. Migrants and refugees do not have to be strangers. This is where civil society and the press could step in, given the chance.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9hXoIm6M_IM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘The dead are coming’ Center of Political Beauty.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Let us take the example of a group called the <a href="http://politicalbeauty.com/">Center for Political Beauty</a> in Germany. In 2015, the center held a large-scale “burial of refugee bodies” on the lawn of the Reichstag in Berlin, complete with shovels, dirt mounds, and small white crosses. </p>
<p>This group produces its own accounts of the Syrian refugees crisis, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/amet.12259/abstract">challenging dominant narratives</a> in which state officials and journalists are the primary subjects who can speak the truth. </p>
<p>Anthropologists and Syrian refugees have begun ethnographic experiments using words and music, socialising weekly in a neighbourhood café, and providing courses in the some departments of anthropology in Germany, as well as activism to encourage the admission of Syrian refugees. </p>
<p>But even in countries that accept large numbers of refugees, incivility can grow. In Germany, the anti-Islam party <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-20/denmark-holds-first-anti-islamic-pegida-rallies/6027794">PEGIDA</a> was founded in Dresden in 2014. They <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/30694252/why-are-thousands-of-germans-protesting-and-who-are-pegida">have since launched</a> various marches in Europe against Muslim migrants.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154653/original/image-20170129-30424-1jaj95l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154653/original/image-20170129-30424-1jaj95l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154653/original/image-20170129-30424-1jaj95l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154653/original/image-20170129-30424-1jaj95l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154653/original/image-20170129-30424-1jaj95l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154653/original/image-20170129-30424-1jaj95l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154653/original/image-20170129-30424-1jaj95l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the ‘Wall of death’, each sandal stands for five migrants killed while trying to reach Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexander_mueller_photolover/23717000145/in/photostream/">Alexander Muller/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As I write these lines, it seems that we researchers who provide knowledge about racism and migration have failed in our mission. </p>
<p>As educators, we should promote critical thinking. Our <a href="http://researchguides.uic.edu/c.php?g=252299&p=1683205">knowledge</a> does not trickle down to other people on its own. </p>
<p>We cannot control what Donald Trump does or does not do. But, in addition to our conversations with our peers in academic outlets, we can renew our discourse and spend time with our diverse communities. </p>
<p>As researchers, we can foster public knowledge through mass media. We can also listen to other people’s fears. In the face of xenophobia, it’s the least we can do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sari Hanfi is Vice President of the International Sociological Association (for National Associations) and of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences.</span></em></p>When politics of compassion are replaced by binary visions of the world, we – scholars, media and civil society – should be able to provide challenging tools in the migration debate.Sari Hanafi, Professor, American University of BeirutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/690682016-11-22T07:43:36Z2016-11-22T07:43:36ZMisunderstanding, confusion and relief: the Muslim world and president-elect Donald Trump<p>President-elect Donald Trump’s worldview and projected foreign policy have created deep anxiety, unprecedented fear and grave expectations of destabilisation in the Muslim world. </p>
<p>Muslims everywhere were offended and psychologically shocked by his views on <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/arab-israeli-media-slam-donald-trump-his-comments-suggesting-muslim-immigration-us-2216410">immigration, racism, Israel, Arab and Muslim states</a>, and indifference to global political and economic suffering. </p>
<p>Trump is <a href="http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/Donald-Trump-Muslim-Ban-Reaction-from-World-360945971.html">perceived</a> as a man who measures world issues through race, religion and loyalty to capitalism rather than the long-held American values of tolerance, liberty, human rights and the great “melting pot”. </p>
<h2>Clash of civilisations</h2>
<p>Trump’s statements about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/9-outrageous-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-latinos_us_55e483a1e4b0c818f618904b">Latinos</a>, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/wild-donald-trump-quotes/3/">Muslims</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/20/politics/donald-trump-african-americans-election-2016/">black people</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/16-real-things-trump-has-said-about-women-while-for-running-for-president_us_57e14a5ae4b04a1497b6a29c">women</a>, alongside his lack of nuance, makes it seem as though we are heading towards a clash of civilisations. </p>
<p>Many, including former British prime minister David Cameron, have claimed that such <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/donald-trump/12116645/Donald-Trump-helps-extremists-by-creating-clash-of-civilisations-says-David-Cameron.html">messages of prejudice</a> only encourage extremist groups such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, Fath al-Sham Front, religious zealots and white supremacists. </p>
<p>Trump’s proposals for dealing with vital and existential issues to Muslims, such as <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/trump-victory-israel-far-right-comment-end-of-palestine-state-a7407231.html">the establishment of Palestinian state</a> or ending the wars in Syria and Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Afghanistan, betray either a profound misunderstanding of world events, or a dangerous bias that will only lead to more conflict. </p>
<p>Even if there is no official <a href="http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/9546.htm#_edn5">united reaction</a> in the Muslim world to Trump’s election, some examples can illustrate the mixed feelings in the region.</p>
<h2>Relief for Syria and Egypt</h2>
<p>The regimes in Syria and Egypt would likely have been relieved that Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton, failed, since they were expecting a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/07/27/fact-check-clintons-record-state-department-during-middle-east-chaos/87582276/">harsh hand against their regimes</a>. </p>
<p>Egypt feared that Clinton would <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13979410">support</a> the Muslim Brotherhood, which would weaken its military regime under Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Trump, on the other hand, says he will place <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161109-muslim-brotherhood-trump-victory-a-disaster/">the organisation</a> on the <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/press-release/goodlatte-statement-at-markup-of-h-r-3892-the-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-designation-act-of-2015">terrorist list</a>. This would weaken its struggle with the Egyptian regime and other regimes throughout the Muslim world – in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Yemen. </p>
<p>So President Sisi likely considers Trump’s victory as his own, and thinks he could become the next true strongman of Egypt, with <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-praises-egypts-al-sisi-hes-a-fantastic-guy-228560">US blessings</a>. </p>
<p>In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad is delighted with Trump’s views on terrorist organisations and the need to eradicate them, seeing him as “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/world/middleeast/assad-donald-trump-syria-natural-ally.html?_r=0">a natural ally</a>”. </p>
<p>Assad has clearly embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s seemingly <a href="http://www.defensenews.com/articles/analysts-trump-victory-forces-europes-hand-on-russia-policy">good relationship</a> with Trump, a shift that could seriously affect the political landscape in the region. </p>
<p>This new alliance has the potential to unite the US and Russia, as well as Syria and Iran, to eliminate the rebel groups fighting President Assad, as well as terrorist groups such as ISIS and Fath al-Sham Front. </p>
<p>It will help <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-syria-analysis-idUSKBN1360WJ">keep Assad’s regime in place</a>, reversing Barack Obama’s policy towards Syria and angering traditional American allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates</p>
<h2>Concerns in the Gulf states</h2>
<p>If the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are happy to see the end of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/world/middleeast/obama-criticizes-the-free-riders-among-americas-allies.html?_r=0">the Obama administration</a>, because of their frustrations with his nuclear deal with Iran and low-key support of Syrian opposition groups, they also worry about Trump’s criticism of Muslims and his declarations about creating <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/02/08/trump_i_will_build_a_mideast_safe_zone_and_make_the_gulf_states_pay_for_it.html">a safe zone in the Middle East, that the Gulf States will pay for</a>. </p>
<p>Riyadh has also reacted strongly to Trump’s comments that <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/timdaiss/2016/11/16/no-saudi-oil-says-trump-saudi-arabia-fires-back/#fd15b2c708b0">the US needs to block all oil imports from Saudi Arabia</a>. The president-elect’s vow to secure US energy independence “from our foes and the oil cartels” was perceived as an attack against the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), controlled more or less by Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p>But for the US to reduce its oil dependence also means it could reduce its engagement in the region’s conflicts. </p>
<p>Israel and oil have historically been seen as strategic assets to the US. This led America to create a security regime for the Middle East and invest a lot in military expansion. The US war against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait and the second Gulf War are emblematic of this. </p>
<p>Now, with the declared intention of finding new resources for oil elsewhere, Trump could be tempted to decrease his military commitments to the region. </p>
<h2>Apprehension in Iran</h2>
<p>The Islamic Republic of Iran feels apprehensive about Trump’s attitude toward the country, and especially the nuclear agreement it struck with the US in 2015. </p>
<p>If, once in the White House, the next US president <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-iran-idUSKBN13427E">tinkers</a> with the agreement, it will strengthen the hand of hardliners, including the <a href="http://www.rferl.org/a/iran-irgc-nuclear-sedition-united-states/27295884.html">Revolutionary Guards</a>, who have argued that the US is not sincere in its deals and who believe the US wants to control Iranian economy.</p>
<p>A Trump presidency will thus weaken the hand of <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/11/iran-reaction-rouhani-shamkhani-zarif-us-election-trump.html">the moderates</a>, headed by President Hassan Rouhani, who wants Iran to open up politically and economically to the US, and the rest of the world. </p>
<p>If Iran is treated as the centre of a new global axis of evil, as <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20160713-focus-israel-saudi-arabia-iran-nuclear-geopolitics-diplomacy-warming-relations">Israelis and Saudis</a> want, the nuclear agreement is sidelined or changed and the sanctions are not lifted, the US risks the possibility of a strong reaction from Iran.</p>
<p>This could lead to more radical repositioning in the Middle East. A roadmap to peace in the Middle East requires positive engagement with Iran and others with the goal of reducing wars in conflict zones and deflating rising tensions in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.</p>
<h2>Mixed feelings in Turkey</h2>
<p>In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan feels that his relations with the US will not worsen with Donald Trump in the White House. He would appreciate a new US policy that does not support <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-idUSKCN11T0G4">the separatist Kurds</a>. </p>
<p>Turkey’s strongman is pleased that Trump’s priority does not seem to focus on human rights, division of power, and fair political representation. </p>
<p>Trump’s seeming isolationism could serve the Turkish agenda for expansion in the region and having a free hand with the Kurds, Syrian and Iraqis. But Trump’s Islamophobic statements do create anxiety and fear of backlash in the US and Europe.</p>
<p>The delicate subject of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/23/turkey-fethullah-gulen-extradition-request-joe-biden-ergodan">the extradition of Fethullah Gulen</a>, accused by Erdoğan of masterminding this year’s attempted coup in Turkey, will have to be dealt with; but it can wait for the inauguration of the new US president. </p>
<p>More important to Turkey is the continuation of US-Turkish strategic cooperation and benefiting from Washington’s and NATO’s security umbrella. Nothing seems to be certain in this area for now.</p>
<h2>A changed relationship?</h2>
<p>The whole relationship between America and the Muslim world could be radically changed over the next few months. Conservative Islamic and Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia were waiting for <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/01/heres-who-saudi-arabia-want-as-the-next-us-president-oil-analyst.html">their preferred choice</a>, Hillary Clinton, to be elected. They feel that the US they have known for decades is no more. </p>
<p>From their point of view, one of the great risks is to see Russia and its allies in the Middle East take the upper hand in winning the wars that are raging. </p>
<p>Radical Islamism, Wahhabi fundamentalists and the Muslim Brotherhood could be heavily targeted as the linchpin of terrorism, with consequences that can’t be foreseen. </p>
<p>The US seems to be considering taking the back seat in regional conflicts, and the priority of the new administration seems to be not to bail out traditional US allies and groups funded or created with their support.</p>
<p>Donald Trump has not yet developed a concrete foreign policy, but his hard lines on Muslims and Arabs have not brought about the desired-for tranquillity that people want to see in the region.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ahmad Moussalli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Muslims everywhere were offended and psychologically shocked by the president-elect’s views. But Syria and Egypt think they can benefit from a Trump presidency.Ahmad Moussalli, Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies, American University of BeirutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/660792016-10-19T14:57:01Z2016-10-19T14:57:01ZOnly a bottom-up approach will deliver global health development targets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141982/original/image-20161017-4726-873kv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Frontline workers need to be engaged in the process of building responsive, interconnected health systems
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is an urgent need to put together a coherent goal-readiness plan to drive the <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">sustainable development goals</a> related to health. To succeed it needs to address three critical elements: how the goals will be financed, what health systems need to be established and how new skills, new thinking, and new ways of working together across systems can be developed.</p>
<p>Nine months after the United Nations’ sustainable development goals came into force implementation is still at the starting blocks. Most of the world still needs to learn about the goals and understand exactly <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54912#.V-BGWf5f1Gp">why they matter</a>. </p>
<p>The goals have been on the agenda of world leaders. At the recent Global Fund for Development meeting in Canada governments of both poor and wealthy countries committed to funding the fight against <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/">HIV, tuberculosis and malaria</a>. These are epidemics that the sustainable development goal for health seeks to eliminate.</p>
<p>But a much more comprehensive approach needs to be developed to achieve the sustainable development goals in totality and to meet the 2030 deadline. </p>
<p>aHe <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">millennium development goals</a> were laudable. But the top-down approach that was often taken to reach programmes did not result in the intended success it aimed for. For the sustainable development goals to be successful, they need to be owned by everyone. A hierarchical approach will not serve these ends. Global leaders need to take a different approach to the one taken with the millennium development goals. </p>
<h2>Learning from previous mistakes</h2>
<p>There were some notable successes in meeting the millennium development goals. These included increased gender parity in primary education enrolment. There were also some notable failures, such as winning the fight against HIV.</p>
<p>Overall the goals were criticised for being too focused on achieving specific measurable targets, without considering the context in which these needed to be achieved. Take for example the target to reduce the number of deaths of children younger than five. This target gave no consideration to the contexts and systems in countries that affect child mortality – such as conflict and insecurity. These conditions render children vulnerable despite frontline workers’ best efforts. </p>
<p>Focusing on disease specific measurable targets is considered a vertical approach. All resources are directed or funnelled towards fixing only one specific problem. </p>
<p>But this is problematic. It takes resources away from other needs. It does not strengthen the overall health system and does not address the context in which the problem occurs. </p>
<p>This approach may fix problems in the short term. But in the long term the broader contextual factors that remain in place are likely to result in the problem reoccurring.</p>
<p>Unlike the millennium development goals the sustainable development goals place greater emphasis on the relationship between individual health and its social determinants. </p>
<p>For example, the success of <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/">goal three</a> – which looks broadly at good health and well being – is dependent on the other 16 goals being achieved. And collectively the goals and their targets address the key social determinants underlying poor health. The goals realise that good health is dependent on food security, which in turn is affected if all the sustainable development goals are not achieved.</p>
<p>Put another way, the sustainable development goals are more integrated. This is an improvement on the limitations of the millennium development goals’ vertical approach. The clear shift from a disease or condition-specific focus to overall well-being is very important. </p>
<h2>Better health systems</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.wpro.who.int/health_services/health_systems_framework/en/">World Health Organisation</a> defines a health system as all organisations, people and actions whose primary interest is to promote, restore or maintain health. There are many components to this system and all need to work together. This includes:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>financing, </p></li>
<li><p>information systems, </p></li>
<li><p>supply mechanisms, </p></li>
<li><p>human resources, </p></li>
<li><p>physical infrastructure, </p></li>
<li><p>appropriate training, and governance. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>If one of these components is weak, all of the rest of the components are at risk. Establishing better health systems is therefore critical to ensure that all the components operate effectively. </p>
<p>The only way to enable better health systems is through policy and implementation. But policy needs to be more than a well-articulated wish list. Written policies mean nothing if they do not substantially and positively change everyday people’s lived reality. For this to happen, careful consideration is needed to translate decisions made at a macro-level to fit the reality at the coalface of implementation.</p>
<p>This means focusing on those at the frontline. Health workers, educators, engineers and an array of other development workers – and not only government leaders – will ultimately be responsible for delivering the sustainable development goals. </p>
<p>But how well are these workers being prepared to meet these goals? Do they know about the agenda? Have they heard of the goals, and do they understand their role in fulfilling them? </p>
<p>Frontline workers need to be engaged during this foundational phase to use the sustainable development goals to build resilient and responsive health systems that are interconnected with other service delivery systems. </p>
<p>And it means that policymakers and managers will need to have a more creative and innovative approach: less top-down, allowing greater discretion at local level. </p>
<p>It is important to invest in these workers’ buy-in. Their opinions on how to make the goals possible in their own contexts must be heard and considered. The diversity of their perspective and approach also needs to be embraced rather than controlled or dismissed.</p>
<h2>Changing the approach</h2>
<p>From our perspective the individual goals work together as part of a complex whole. The old system of control through vertical programme targets needs to be relinquished. A system of integration where the global goals are owned as part of the every day workings of communities and in government’s service delivery.</p>
<p>Unlike in the past governments, frontline workers and communities should not be expected to deliver on targets that are unrealistic because of constraints outside their control. This includes financial, material, human resource and time constraints as well as a constrained way of thinking. </p>
<p>Instead, the success of the sustainable development goals requires a vision for integration that includes a clear plan, and contingencies for the plan. This will ensure ownership and accountability to the people – not only within health systems but within all global systems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66079/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Daniels has recently been elected to the Board of Health Systems Global. She writes this article in her capacity as Board member. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aku Kwamie has recently been elected to the Board of Health Systems Global. She writes this article in her capacity as Board member.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fadi El-Jardali has recently been elected to the Board of Health Systems Global. He writes this article in his capacity as board member.</span></em></p>The millennium development goals were laudable but the approach to achieving them was flawed. An integrated, bottom-up approach is needed if the sustainable development goals are to be met by 2030.Karen Daniels, Specialist Scientist, Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilAku Kwamie, Health systems researcher, University of GhanaFadi El-Jardali, Professor of Health Policy and Systems, American University of BeirutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221312014-01-20T00:02:15Z2014-01-20T00:02:15ZCollapse of trust in medical systems prompts Syrians and Iraqis to flee for care<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39353/original/823yzw3d-1390170991.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C900%2C590&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Border problems.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sharnik</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The use of medicine as an “instrument of violence” in both the Iraq War and the Syrian conflict shows how blurred the lines between civilian and combatant spaces can become. According to the authors of <a href="http://bit.ly/1bd0tlz">a new paper</a> into the impact of conflict and displaced populations on health in the Arab region, evidence of doctors forced to take part in torture and work in militarised hospitals has led to a breakdown in trust for spaces previously considered safe havens.</p>
<p>Taking the war in Iraq and the Syrian conflict to show how “previously robust national health systems” can be destroyed, the paper – part of a <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/series/health-in-the-arab-world">Lancet series</a> on health in the Arab world – suggests “therapeutic geographies” have emerged: regional medical hubs that cater for huge numbers of those displaced and which operate within and across borders during war and conflict. </p>
<p>These hubs extend beyond places of humanitarian aid such as refugee camps and include places where people specifically travel to get help because they can’t access it at home. </p>
<p>“Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian citizens who still live in their respective states have been travelling to seek essential medical care in regional countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iran and India,” said Omar Dewachi, co-author of the report. “Many have been driven by the breakdown of previously robust national healthcare systems, the deterioration of everyday security, and the lack of trust in militarised and politicised medical systems.”</p>
<p>In addition to seeking help for medical emergencies such as trauma and war injuries, people also seek help for chronic conditions such a cancer and heart disease. “Many families sell belongings or borrow money to attend to the affliction of a family member,” Dewachi said. “They struggle with visa regulations, bureaucracies and high-cost medical care, as well as the potential of being exploited by profit-driven hospitals in the region. </p>
<p>"These compound the long-term effects of the war on already vulnerable populations and present us with long-term challenges in post-conflict state building.”</p>
<h2>The tactics of war</h2>
<p>The paper suggests that the fallout following the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent US-led “war on terror” have contributed to conflicts in the region and produced “a sense of permanent and pervasive war”. </p>
<p>The war in Iraq destroyed its national health system – and this is also now happening in Syria, where hospitals and healthcare facilities have become part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-medical-help-has-become-a-new-form-of-warfare-18388">the tactics of war</a>, the authors said. Alongside reports of <a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-medical-help-has-become-a-new-form-of-warfare-18388">attacks on</a> and the destruction of hospitals, healthcare workers faced pressures, including prioritising soldiers and withholding care, meaning the neutrality of those spaces could no longer be assumed. </p>
<p>The authors report instances in other Arab countries where hospitals and healthcare staff have been targeted or used during conflict. Bahrain’s Salmaniya Hospital, for example, was occupied by police and military after unrest in 2011 and <a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/article.cfm?id=5171">became a stand-off</a> point between state and opposition, with doctors arrested for treating Shi'a demonstrators. </p>
<p>Iraq has also seen a “mass exodus” of health professionals. The authors attribute this largely to the targeting of doctors by militia and gangs and said the exodus “has added to the devastation of the country’s medical care and public health.” A <a href="http://internationalmedicalcorps.org/document.doc?id=252">survey of doctors</a> in Iraq between 2008-9 suggested the majority (80%) had suffered violence, including from patients families. </p>
<h2>Helping and hindering</h2>
<p>Ordinary citizens also inevitably flee violence. According <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/51bacb0f9.html">to figures</a> from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Iraq was the third-highest source of refugees worldwide by the end of 2012, while Syria was ranked fourth with 728,500 refugees. <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e486a76.html">Current figures</a> are already much higher: 1.9m Syrian refugees and another 4.3m displaced within the country.</p>
<p>While other Arab countries such as Jordan and Iran have stepped in to help, the authors said, involvement and funding for struggles in the region by countries such as Iran also exacerbates the problem. </p>
<p>“We are dealing with very complex and intertwined geographies of violence and healthcare that are redefining the region as a whole,” Dewachi said. “Because of the effects of these two wars, the east of the Mediterranean shares this predicament of largest global refugee crisis. Thinking regionally to address the long-term effects of such conflict is critical.”</p>
<p>Though different in time and context, the situation in Syria and war in Iraq shared some common attributes, he said. “The effect of the breakdown of welfare institutions is remarkable and challenges future attempts of reconstruction (as we have seen more clearly in the Iraqi case).” </p>
<h2>Rebuilding trust</h2>
<p>In the longer term, rebuilding national health systems will not just be about security, but trust. For Syria, the subject of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24628442">Geneva II conference</a> this week, this is clearly a long way off. </p>
<p>“This will be very difficult and probably one of the most challenging tasks,” Dewachi said. “We’ve seen massive demographic transformations in the whole region and the rise of contentious sectarian and communitarian sentiments.”</p>
<p>He added: “Many of the effects of these long conflicts are irreversible and cannot be undone … Many of us have been feeling helpless … Still, I do believe and hope that such a historical moment will give birth to an era of reflection … our task is to document and attempt to think critically about such conditions and the possibility of political action that will shape a better future for populations. Meanwhile, our daily actions to support those who are in dire need will have to continue.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22131/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The use of medicine as an “instrument of violence” in both the Iraq War and the Syrian conflict shows how blurred the lines between civilian and combatant spaces can become. According to the authors of…Jo Adetunji, EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.