Roger Waters to Robbie Williams: Don’t play in Tel Aviv

One UK superstar to another: If you take children and human rights seriously, please don't play Israel

Waters and Williams (Photo Credit: AP/Evan Agostini/Gero Breloer)

In a letter last week, Roger Waters explains to Robbie Williams why his decision to play in Tel Aviv tomorrow, May 2, “gives succor to [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and his regime and endorses their deadly racist policies.”

The following is Waters’ letter published in Salon on April 28:

* * * *

Roger Waters to Robbie Williams: “Your decision to play in Tel Aviv gives succor to Netanyahu and his regime, and endorses their deadly racist policies”

ROGER WATERS

Robbie Williams:

One of the most horrifying incidents during Israel’s massive assault on Gaza last summer was the killing of four Palestinian boys playing soccer on a beach.  This war crime was meticulously documented by human rights organizations and by journalists on the scene at the Al-Deira Hotel. NBC correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin tweeted that just minutes prior he had joined the children in their soccer game.  War-hardened journalists tweeted their eyewitness distress.

Gaza beach last summer (Photo by Tyler Hicks, The New York Times)

I bring up this gruesome scene because popular UK entertainer Robbie Williams, soon to play a May 2 concert in Tel Aviv, is known to be a huge soccer fan.  He is also UNICEF’s UK ambassador and a declared supporter of its Children in Danger campaign. Yet, sadly, when it comes to Palestinian children, like those killed on that beach in Gaza that day, Williams is showing a chilling indifference to their well-being.

London Palestine Action has pointed to his hypocrisy in that he purports to represent UNICEF while preparing to play a gig in Tel Aviv: “We hope UNICEF will remain steadfast in defense of children’s rights, including Palestinian children, and ask Robb

UNICEF, as declared in its mission statement, insists that “the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.”

Dear Robbie, playing this concert on May 2 would be giving your tacit support to the deaths of over 500 Palestinian children last summer in Gaza, including the four soccer players on the beach in Gaza, and condoning the arrest and abuse of hundreds of Palestinian children each year living under Israeli occupation, as has been documented by UNICEF itself.

To declare my own history, I confess I myself played a gig in Israel in 2006 before I knew any better. At that time and afterward, moved as I was, I listened to voices from all sides and made it my business to learn as much as I could about the situation in Israel and Palestine. I traveled widely in Israel and the West Bank and now nine years later having done my research, I have come to the conclusion that BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) is the most viable, peaceful way to end the suffering of, and forge a better future for, all the people of the Holy Land. I encourage you, Robbie, and all other artists, not to play in Israel until Israel complies with international law and recognizes the basic human rights of all the people of the region, including the Palestinian people, which, Robbie, includes Palestinian children playing soccer.

Since my 2006 gig, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement has emerged as a dynamic force to be reckoned with. Covered heavily in mainstream media around the world, BDS has succeeded in publicizing the Palestinian people’s predicament, their lack of freedom, equality and access to justice.

Now, in 2015, there is really no excuse for musicians agreeing to play in Tel Aviv. The jury of world opinion is in; global civil society supports equal rights for all. We are approaching the same tipping point as when artists lent their support to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

Those innocent soccer-playing children in Gaza were the victims of a violent indiscriminate Israeli attack.

That was more than nine months ago.  Since then, one of those kids, 12-year-old Montasser Abu Bakr, who was playing alongside his brother, and three friends, has attempted suicide and is regularly subject to uncontrollable fits of screaming and sobbing. This is one of the children whose “survival, protection and development” you, Robbie, have promised to uphold. Tragically, it is too late for Montasser’s dead brother and the other three children needlessly slain that day. But, Robbie, you can still stand up and send a powerful message as an individual and as a genuine human rights ambassador, that “business as usual” with Israel is unacceptable until such time as our Palestinian brothers and sisters are afforded equal human rights under international law and their children are not subject to this kind of obscene random slaughter.

As a UNICEF ambassador and a man of humanity and honor, you have, in my opinion, a duty to respect the picket line created by Palestinian civil society and a growing number of engaged musicians, artists and academics around the globe.  Not just Ken Loach and Stephen Hawking and Elvis Costello and Brian Eno and me, but all the other artists, thousands and counting, standing up for the oppressed and the occupied, those subjugated people that Israeli officials describe as needing to be made to “lose weight, but not to starve to death” or, worse, as grass to be mowed.

To be clear, Robbie, whether intended or not, your decision to play in Tel Aviv gives succor to Netanyahu and his regime, and endorses their exceptionalist and deadly racist policies.

So, I say, please, Robbie, look inside yourself and find the soccer fan, the man, the father who can feel another father’s loss.

If you cannot see yourself in the eyes of a Palestinian father, you should do the decent thing and resign from UNICEF, or failing that, UNICEF should let you go.

Love.

Roger Waters.

PS: To all of you reading this who care about children, thank you, we are bound together by the love we have for children, not just Montasser Abu Bakr, his brother and his friends, but the other children in Gaza and the West Bank and Israel and all the other children all over the world who should have the right to live and play in peace and safety. Our love and goodwill extends to each of them equally as we strive to encourage the creation of a Holy Land worthy of that name.

Educate girls for a better world

Today, October 11, marks the second International Day of the Girl Child.

The United Nations declared October 11, 2012, the first Day of the Girl to focus attention on girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights. This year's observation targets their education.

Some decades ago, aged eight or nine, I was given the choice of either doing well at school or being a housemaid. My mom took me out of school for three days to show me how it would compare. I was back at school after the second.

Although my dreams and ambitions of higher education were quashed by the Lebanon civil war, I have since been a strong supporter of education in general, but especially girls’ education. Having worked since age 12, I am also a firm believer in the woman’s role in the workplace and global economy.

Girls face discrimination and violence every day across the world. The International Day of the Girl Child – designated on December 19, 2011 in UN General Assembly Resolution 66/170 -- focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

The fulfillment of girls’ right to education is first and foremost an obligation and moral imperative.

There is also overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves. It is the one consistent positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome, from reductions in mortality and fertility, to poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and democratization.

While there has been significant progress in improving girls’ access to education over the last two decades, many girls -- particularly the most marginalized -- continue to be deprived of this basic right, according to the United Nations.

Girls in many countries are still unable to attend school and complete their education due to safety-related, financial, institutional and cultural barriers. Even when girls are in school, perceived low returns from the poor quality of education, low aspirations, or household chores and other responsibilities keep them from attending school or from achieving adequate learning outcomes. The transformative potential for girls and societies promised through girls’ education is yet to be realized.

Recognizing the need for fresh and creative perspectives to propel girls’ education, the 2013 International Day of the Girl Child will address the importance of new technology as well as innovation in partnerships, policies, resource utilization, community mobilization, and most of all, the engagement of young people themselves.

Examples of possible steps include:

• Improved public and private means of transportation for girls to get to school -- from roads, buses, mopeds, bicycles to boats and canoes;
• Collaboration between school systems and the banking industry to facilitate secure and convenient pay delivery to female teachers and scholarship delivery to girls;
• Provision of science and technology courses targeted at girls in schools, universities and vocational education programs;
• Corporate mentorship programs to help girls acquire critical work and leadership skills and facilitate their transition from school to work;
• Revisions of school curricula to integrate positive messages on gender norms related to violence, child marriage, sexual and reproductive health, and male and female family roles;
• Deploying mobile technology for teaching and learning to reach girls, especially in remote areas.

Raise your hand

To mark International Day of the Girl Child today, a UK charity calls on nations to urgently prioritize quality education for girls as an essential factor in tackling crippling poverty.

Malala Yousafzai and actress Frida Pinto raise their hands

Plan UK, a global children’s charity founded 75 years ago, has a petition running to call on the United Nations to make girls’ education a priority in its new development agenda. The “Raise Your Hand” petition has reached over one million hands raised and is now aiming for four million.

Plan works with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity.

Globally, it is estimated 65 million girls are out of school, with one in five adolescent girls around denied an education by the daily realities of poverty, discrimination and violence. Disasters and emergencies can make these problems worse.

Supporting girls’ education is one of the single best investments a government can make to help end poverty and give hope to girls, otherwise denied their rights and aspirations, Plan says.

Plan UK is celebrating the worldwide support shown for the petition on the first anniversary of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai who has become a global spokesperson on the subject since she was shot by the Taliban in October 2012 for going to school.

Malala is just one of the many people around the globe to have raised her hand for our Because I Am A Girl campaign. The petition has now reached 1.5 million signatures and will be presented to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Plan’s Because I am a Girl campaign aims to support four million girls to stay in education and fulfill their potential.

Plan’s campaign will be in London’s Trafalgar Square today from 10.30 a.m to unveil a giant “erasable” billboard to remind the world that every girl has a right to go to school.

Plan will also be “pinkifying” monuments around the world for the second year running on International Day of the Girl. Monuments including the Empire State Building will be glowing pink in support of girls’ education.

It believes girls hold the power to help break the cycle of poverty. With education, skills and the right support, girls can make choices over their own future and be a huge part of creating lasting change. An educated girl is...

• less likely to marry and to have children whilst she is still a child.
• more likely to be literate, healthy and survive into adulthood, as are her children.
• more likely to reinvest her income back into her family, community and country.

Child marriage

Last year’s Day focused on child marriage, which is a fundamental human rights violation and impacts all aspects of a girl’s life. Child marriage denies a girl of her childhood, disrupts her education, limits her opportunities, increases her risk to be a victim of violence and abuse and jeopardizes her health.

Globally, around one in three young women aged 20-24 years were first married before they reached age 18. One third of them entered into marriage before they turned 15. Child marriage results in early and unwanted pregnancies, posing life-threatening risks for girls. In developing countries, 90 per cent of births to adolescents aged 15-19 are to married girls, and pregnancy-related complications are the leading cause of death for girls in this age group.

Girls with low levels of schooling are more likely to be married early, and child marriage has been shown to virtually end a girl’s education. Conversely, girls with secondary schooling are up to six times less likely to marry as children, making education one of the best strategies for protecting girls and combating child marriage.

Preventing child marriage will protect girls’ rights and help reduce their risks of violence, early pregnancy, HIV infection, and maternal death and disability, including obstetric fistula. When girls are able to stay in school and avoid being married early, they can build a foundation for a better life for themselves and their families and participate in the progress of their nations.

Related posts:

Shame, as we fail the children of Syria -- August 23, 2013

March 8: Women's rights non-negotiable -- March 8, 2013

Malala: Education is the only solution -- July 13, 2013

The Power of We… for education -- Oct 15, 2012

How many more Child Brides must die? -- June 11, 2012

March 8: Education can win the future -- March 06, 2012

Syria’s children: A dying shame

Photo via @Fsa_Media_Hub

The shock, the horror, the shame, the heartbreak… I was left speechless by the above photo of a child in Syria.

Is such human tragedy possible in the 21st century?

The international community’s claim that the task of stopping Syria’s murderous regime is difficult cannot be reason enough to turn a blind eye to the Syrian people’s suffering.

How do American, European, Russian and Chinese politicians have the chutzpah to look their own children in the eye?

I had read a report by Save the Children warning the lack of access to food, soaring prices and a collapse in food production has left the children of Syria at risk of malnutrition.

But a picture is worth a million words and reports!

Save the Children gathered testimonies from refugees in Syria’s neighboring countries, as well as residents trapped by fighting and enduring siege-like conditions, who described families' desperate struggle to feed their children.

The report, Hunger in a War Zone, details how over four million Syrians -- more than two million of them children -- are unable to produce or buy enough food, with many thousands living under fire with little or no access to foodstuffs needed to survive.

Save the Children is already seeing reports that one in 20 children in rural Damascus is severely malnourished.

It heard refugee accounts of children forced to subsist off nothing more than lentils or bread for days on end, with one family trapped in their basement by explosions eating just half a loaf of bread each over the course of four days.

In a briefing on the state of hunger in Syria, released in Washington on September 23, Save the Children also details how severe food shortages are being compounded by an explosion in food prices.

The price of even the most basic food items has spiraled out of control with the cost of the most basic supplies rising by 100 percent.

The war has shattered Syria's economy. The United Nations now estimates close to seven million Syrians have been plunged into poverty since fighting began in March 2011.

In addition, Syria's agriculture and infrastructure are collapsing, with grain production falling to less than half the pre-war levels.

"The world has stood and watched as the children of Syria have been shot, shelled and traumatized by the horror of war. The conflict has already left thousands of children dead, and is now threatening their means of staying alive," said Roger Hearn, Save the Children's regional director for the Middle East.

Syria's children: "A stain on all our consciences" (Photo @Fsa_Media_Hub)

"That some children are going to bed trapped amid fighting -- terrified, alone, vulnerable -- and with empty stomachs ought to be a stain on all our consciences.

"We understand there is a political debate over what to do next in Syria, but we believe everyone can agree on the critical need for safe humanitarian access across the entire country. There is no room for delay or argument: Syria's children must not be allowed to go hungry."

A lack of security makes gathering data on child malnutrition rates extremely difficult throughout Syria.

However, all available evidence -- including spiraling food outlays, a collapse of infrastructure and food production, and testimonies of individuals' experiences with hunger -- suggests Syria's children are facing a mounting struggle to survive.

What will we do about this? More importantly, what will the powers that be do about this?

Addressing the question of what needs to be done, Save the Children is calling for:

• The UN Security Council to unite around measures to secure full, safe, and unimpeded access to all areas of Syria by the most effective routes
• International donors to increase support for humanitarian operations throughout all of Syria by any possible channel, as well as scaling up support for refugees and host communities in neighboring countries
• The UN Secretary General to find ways to increase UN support for a humanitarian response that covers the whole of Syria, including those areas where the UN itself is not based
• Syria’s neighbors to keep borders open and to work with the UN and humanitarian agencies to ensure a reliable humanitarian supply chain for operations in Syria, including facilitating aid across borders where delivering aid through other routes is not possible or effective
• All parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate the effective and safe passage of aid to all populations in need, including easing bureaucratic constraints and agreeing on priority humanitarian routes across conflict lines or borders if needed.

Landmark UNSC vote keeps Assad in place

The Security Council votes on Friday (UN photo by Amanda Voisard)

In a landmark move, the Security Council on Friday evening endorsed the expeditious destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons program, with inspections to begin by Tuesday (October 1). It agreed that in the event of non-compliance, it would impose “Chapter VII” measures.

This follows the international outrage caused by the use of chemical weapons on two Damascus suburbs on August 21, as concluded by a United Nations investigation team.

But the war in Syria has been raging since March 2011 through the use of conventional weapons. It was going on before August 21 and continues still.

More than 100,000 people have been killed. One out of every three Syrians is displaced. One out of every three Syrians needs humanitarian assistance. The medical system has collapsed. And third of Syria is in rubble because conventional weapons are being used indiscriminately every day.

Will the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, his supporters and backers be deterred from continuing to use conventional weapons?

By keeping the regime untouched, does Assad now have license to kill through conventional weapons?

Unanimously adopting Resolution 2118 (2013), the 15-member Security Council determined that the use of chemical weapons anywhere constituted a threat to international peace and security. It called for the full implementation of the September 27 decision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which contains special procedures for the expeditious and verifiable destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.

Specifically, the Council prohibited Syria from using, developing, producing, otherwise acquiring, stockpiling or retaining chemical weapons, or transferring them to other States or non-State actors. It underscored also that no party in Syria should use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer such weapons.

Also, Syria should comply with all aspects of the OPCW decision, notably by accepting personnel designated by OPCW or the UN and providing them with immediate and unfettered access to -- and the right to inspect -- any and all chemical weapons sites.

Further, the Council decided to regularly review Syria’s implementation of the OPCW Executive Council decision and the present resolution, requesting the OPCW Director-General, through the Secretary-General, to report to it within 30 days and every month thereafter.

Fully endorsing the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012, the Council called for the convening, as soon as possible, of an international conference on Syria to implement that Communiqué.

Following is the full text of Security Council Resolution 2118 (2013):

“The Security Council,

“Recalling the Statements of its President of 3 August 2011, 21 March 2012, 5 April 2012, and its resolutions 1540 (2004), 2042 (2012) and 2043 (2012),

“Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic,

“Reaffirming that the proliferation of chemical weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security,

“Recalling that the Syrian Arab Republic on 22 November 1968 acceded to the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, signed at Geneva on 17 June 1925,

“Noting that on 14 September 2013, the Syrian Arab Republic deposited with the Secretary-General its instrument of accession to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (Convention) and declared that it shall comply with its stipulations and observe them faithfully and sincerely, applying the Convention provisionally pending its entry into force for the Syrian Arab Republic,

“Welcoming the establishment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic (the Mission) pursuant to General Assembly resolution 42/37 C (1987) of 30 November 1987, and reaffirmed by resolution 620 (1988) of 26 August 1988, and expressing appreciation for the work of the Mission,

“Acknowledging the report of 16 September 2013 (S/2013/553) by the Mission, underscoring the need for the Mission to fulfill its mandate, and emphasizing that future credible allegations of chemical weapons use in the Syrian Arab Republic should be investigated,

“Deeply outraged by the use of chemical weapons on 21 August 2013 in Rif Damascus, as concluded in the Mission’s report, condemning the killing of civilians that resulted from it, affirming that the use of chemical weapons constitutes a serious violation of international law, and stressing that those responsible for any use of chemical weapons must be held accountable,

“Recalling the obligation under resolution 1540 (2004) that all States shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons and their means of delivery,

“Welcoming the Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons dated 14 September 2013, in Geneva, between the Russian Federation and the United States of America (S/2013/565), with a view to ensuring the destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic’s chemical weapons program in the soonest and safest manner, and expressing its commitment to the immediate international control over chemical weapons and their components in the Syrian Arab Republic,

“Welcoming the decision of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of 27 September 2013 establishing special procedures for the expeditious destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic’s chemical weapons program and stringent verification thereof, and expressing its determination to ensure the destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic’s chemical weapons program according to the timetable contained in the OPCW Executive Council decision of 27 September 2013,

“Stressing that the only solution to the current crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process based on the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012, and emphasizing the need to convene the international conference on Syria as soon as possible,

“Determining that the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic constitutes a threat to international peace and security,

“Underscoring that Member States are obligated under Article 25 of the Charter of the United Nations to accept and carry out the Council's decisions,

“1.   Determines that the use of chemical weapons anywhere constitutes a threat to international peace and security;

“2.   Condemns in the strongest terms any use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, in particular the attack on 21 August 2013, in violation of international law;

“3.   Endorses the decision of the OPCW Executive Council 27 September 2013, which contains special procedures for the expeditious destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic’s chemical weapons program and stringent verification thereof and calls for its full implementation in the most expedient and safest manner;

“4.   Decides that the Syrian Arab Republic shall not use, develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to other States or non-State actors;

“5.   Underscores that no party in Syria should use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer chemical weapons;

“6.   Decides that the Syrian Arab Republic shall comply with all aspects of the decision of the OPCW Executive Council of 27 September 2013 (Annex I);

“7.   Decides that the Syrian Arab Republic shall cooperate fully with the OPCW and the United Nations, including by complying with their relevant recommendations, by accepting personnel designated by the OPCW or the United Nations, by providing for and ensuring the security of activities undertaken by these personnel, by providing these personnel with immediate and unfettered access to and the right to inspect, in discharging their functions, any and all sites, and by allowing immediate and unfettered access to individuals that the OPCW has grounds to believe to be of importance for the purpose of its mandate, and decides that all parties in Syria shall cooperate fully in this regard;

“8.   Decides to authorize an advance team of United Nations personnel to provide early assistance to OPCW activities in Syria, requests the Director-General of the OPCW and the Secretary-General to closely cooperate in the implementation of the Executive Council decision of 27 September 2013 and this resolution, including through their operational activities on the ground, and further requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Director-General of the OPCW and, where appropriate, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, to submit to the Council within 10 days of the adoption of this resolution recommendations regarding the role of the United Nations in eliminating the Syrian Arab Republic’s chemical weapons program;

“9.   Notes that the Syrian Arab Republic is a party to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, decides that OPCW-designated personnel undertaking activities provided for in this resolution or the decision of the OPCW Executive Council of 27 September 2013 shall enjoy the privileges and immunities contained in the Verification Annex, Part II (B) of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and calls on the Syrian Arab Republic to conclude modalities agreements with the United Nations and the OPCW;

“10.  Encourages Member States to provide support, including personnel, technical expertise, information, equipment, and financial and other resources and assistance, in coordination with the Director-General of the OPCW and the Secretary-General, to enable the OPCW and the United Nations to implement the elimination of the Syrian Arab Republic’s chemical weapons program, and decides to authorize Member States to acquire, control, transport, transfer and destroy chemical weapons identified by the Director-General of the OPCW, consistent with the objective of the Chemical Weapons Convention, to ensure the elimination of the Syrian Arab Republic’s chemical weapons program in the soonest and safest manner;

“11.  Urges all Syrian parties and interested Member States with relevant capabilities to work closely together and with the OPCW and the United Nations to arrange for the security of the monitoring and destruction mission, recognizing the primary responsibility of the Syrian Government in this regard;

“12.  Decides to review on a regular basis the implementation in the Syrian Arab Republic of the decision of the OPCW Executive Council of 27 September 2013 and this resolution, and requests the Director-General of the OPCW to report to the Security Council, through the Secretary-General, who shall include relevant information on United Nations activities related to the implementation of this resolution, within 30 days and every month thereafter, and requests further the Director-General of the OPCW and the Secretary-General to report in a coordinated manner, as needed, to the Security Council, non-compliance with this resolution or the OPCW Executive Council decision of 27 September 2013;

“13. Reaffirms its readiness to consider promptly any reports of the OPCW under Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which provides for the referral of cases of non-compliance to the United Nations Security Council;

“14.  Decides that Member States shall inform immediately the Security Council of any violation of resolution 1540(2004), including acquisition by non-State actors of chemical weapons, their means of delivery and related materials in order to take necessary measures therefore;

“15. Expresses its strong conviction that those individuals responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic should be held accountable;

“16.  Endorses fully the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 (Annex II), which sets out a number of key steps beginning with the establishment of a transitional governing body exercising full executive powers, which could include members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent;

“17. Calls for the convening, as soon as possible, of an international conference on Syria to implement the Geneva Communiqué, and calls upon all Syrian parties to engage seriously and constructively at the Geneva Conference on Syria, and underscores that they should be fully representative of the Syrian people and committed to the implementation of the Geneva Communiqué and to the achievement of stability and reconciliation;

“18. Reaffirms that all Member States shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, and calls upon all Member States, in particular Member States neighboring the Syrian Arab Republic, to report any violations of this paragraph to the Security Council immediately;

“19.  Demands that non-State actors not develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, and calls upon all Member States, in particular Member States neighboring the Syrian Arab Republic, to report any actions inconsistent with this paragraph to the Security Council immediately;

“20.  Decides that all Member States shall prohibit the procurement of chemical weapons, related equipment, goods and technology or assistance from the Syrian Arab Republic by their nationals, or using their flagged vessels or aircraft, whether or not originating in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic;

“21.  Decides, in the event of non-compliance with this resolution, including unauthorized transfer of chemical weapons, or any use of chemical weapons by anyone in the Syrian Arab Republic, to impose measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter;

“22. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

UAE names 1st woman delegate to UN

Lana Nusseibeh (photo via www.weforum.org/Norbert Schiller)

Lana Nusseibeh has become the UAE’s first woman delegate to the United Nations.

HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai swore in Nusseibeh on August 1.

The announcement comes as no surprise following last December’s UAE Cabinet decision that made it compulsory for corporations and government agencies to include women on their boards of directors.

Sheikh Mo, as we fondly refer to His Highness, announced to his more than 1.3 million followers on Twitter on December 9, 2012: “We have also made a decision to make the representation of women, in all the boards of directors of companies and government entities, compulsory… Women proved themselves in many workplaces and today we want them to have a strong presence in decision-making positions in our institutions.”

Very few nations have implemented such far-reaching regulations to ensure the representation of women.

Norway became the first country to introduce board gender quotas in 2003. There, if a board has more than nine directors, each gender must be represented by at least 40 per cent of directors.

In Europe, Italy, France, Belgium, Spain and Iceland have also introduced quotas.

Elsewhere, Malaysia last year announced it would be compulsory from 2016 for women to have 30 per cent representation in decision-making positions.

Hence, Nusseibeh joins a growing number of women decision-makers in the Emirates, including:

-- Four ministers -- HE Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, HE Maryam Mohammed Khalfan Al Roumi, H.E Dr. Maitha' Salem Al Shamsi and HE Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy);

-- Seven Federal National Council members, one of them Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, who made history as the first deputy speaker of the FNC and chaired the House session in January 2013); and

-- Four ambassadors.

Nusseibeh was director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s Policy Planning Department.

She joined the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs (FNCA) in August 2006 as Director of Communications running regional and international media and communications strategy for the first UAE elections to the FNC in December 2006.

Nusseibeh developed key position statements for UAE government spokespeople and handled domestic and international media relations as well as communications management during the election period.

From August 2007, she established and directed the Research Unit at the Ministry to provide policy research and recommendations on key issues that impact the development of the UAE.

Aside from parliamentary issues, Nusseibeh works directly with Minister of State for FNCA Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, who is also Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, chairperson of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, chair of the committee to monitor issues that Impact the reputation of the UAE and deputy chair of the National Population Committee.

Nusseibeh is frequently part of UAE delegations abroad as part of the minister’s team. Her areas of policy work include parliamentary affairs, human trafficking, human rights issues and labor market reform.

Prior to that, she was a research analyst at the Dubai Gulf Research Center (GRC) in the Security and Terrorism Program. She contributed to research publications on Gulf security issues as well as articles for regional and international media.

As a researcher on security and terrorism studies at the GRC, Nusseibeh also edited the Security and Terrorism Research Bulletin, a quarterly publication produced in both English and Arabic tackling key security and terrorism issues in the Gulf.

Her research interests focus on regional security and strategic affairs with particular emphasis on “The Gulf as a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone Project,” which the GRC launched in December 2004.

Before joining the GRC, Nusseibeh worked at UNESCO in Paris as a consultant. She has also worked for the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CABU) in the UK, where she wrote briefs and reports for MPs regarding British foreign policy in the Middle East.

She received her BA and MA in History from Cambridge University. Nusseibeh also completed research on Israel, Zionist ideology and the evolution of the Israeli political system. Her second MA thesis at SOAS focused on the political and ideological relationship between the Christian Right in the United States and Israel for which she was awarded a Distinction.

She has several published articles and research papers, including:

“Palestinian crisis demands proactive GCC role” -- Article, December 6, 2004.

“The Year that was – Qatar 2004” -- Research Paper, February 1, 2005.

“Iran has Bush to thank for its growing power” – Article, Daily Star, Qatar Peninsular, August 29, 2005.

“Defusing Iran’s nuclear issue” -- Article, October 30, 2005, Daily Star, Arab Times.

Nusseibeh has also published a book, “Gulf States: Counterterrorism -- Laws and Treaties,” co-authored with Mustafa Alani and Farida Al Ajamy.