Media Summary
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe facing new charges after release
BBC News, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Times and The Associated Press report on the Pope’s four-day visit to Iraq. The papers note that Pope Francis visited areas in northern Iraq that were once held by ISIS, including Mosul, the former stronghold of the terrorist group. The Pope held a Mass at a stadium in Irbil, where he told the large crowd: “How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilisation, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow.” The Pope also met Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric.
Dan Hitchens writes for The Spectator about the significance of the Pope’s visit to Iraq. He says, “In fact, the Pope’s visit may already have helped the country’s minorities. Last week, the Iraqi parliament finally passed a long-awaited bill offering reparations to Yazidis, Christians and others who survived kidnapping by ISIS. It’s widely suspected that the Pope’s visit prompted the passing of the new law. Other effects are less immediate. The work of rebuilding Christian communities — and literally rebuilding demolished churches — will, at best, take many years. But Francis’s visit, by affirming the presence of Iraq’s Christians at this precarious moment for the Middle East, will help the faithful to persevere.”
BBC News and The Telegraph report on the new court case facing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe following the end of her five-year sentence in Iran. According to her husband, Nazanin had her ankle tag removed but is now due back in court on Sunday over new charges. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on twitter: “She must be released permanently so she can return to her family in the UK, and we continue to do all we can to achieve this.” While there has been no confirmation regarding the nature of the new charges, many speculate they are related to “involvement in propaganda activity against the Islamic Republic”.
The Financial Times reports that many companies are “freaking out” over Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ultimatum to multinationals, which stipulates that companies must have their Middle East headquarters in Saudi Arabia or face losing out on lucrative government contracts. The paper notes that “many executives view it as an attempt to strong-arm global companies to bend to Prince Mohammed’s will and are struggling to work out exactly what it would mean for those that have traditionally preferred to locate their regional headquarters in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Manama”.
The Independent reports that Belgium has announced it would repatriate around 30 children of Belgian jihadists from the al-Hol and Roj camps in Syria. Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced the decision citing the escalating security and humanitarian crisis in the camps. De Croo told parliament: “In these camps there are the terrorists of tomorrow and we cannot permit that. These children, we must do all we can to get them out.”
Ian Black reviews the book Red Line by Joby Warrick for The Guardian. Black writes that the book is “highly readable and well-sourced work, a bleak but real-life thriller. Its characters include ordinary Syrians, spies, diplomats, UN experts and Americans who worked hard to destroy Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal, only to discover that they had not completed their task”.
Bethan McKernan writes for The Guardian about her experience travelling through war torn Yemen in 2019. She says, “For Yemenis, the war is always there; they don’t have the luxury of ignoring it for long … reporting what people in the country have to say, and what they are going through, is a privilege I take very seriously.”
Reuters reports that Houthi rebels fired drones and missiles targeting Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, including a Saudi Aramco facility. The Saudi defence ministry said the drones were intercepted and destroyed before reaching their target. A spokesman for the country’s energy minister said, “Such acts of sabotage do not only target the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also the security and stability of energy supplies to the world, and therefore, the global economy.”
The Israeli media is dominated by election coverage. Maariv reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posed for the cameras in a tent alongside Bedouin dignitaries dressed in traditional garb. Netanyahu poured coffee for everyone and spoke with Bedouin leaders and Likud activists from the Negev. In addition to words of support and promises to vote for the Likud, Netanyahu also heard complaints about the Bedouins’ situation in the Negev about home demolitions, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of job opportunities.
Yediot Ahronot reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu met with business-owners at a café in Jerusalem and claimed that the attorney general would not let his plan for grants be passed because of the timing, just before the elections. “Take all your friends and go to the Justice Ministry,” he told one business-owner. High-ranking justice system officials protested the comments, saying: “This reminds us of the calls on demonstrators in the United States to lay siege to the Capitol.” Justice Minister Benny Gantz wrote on Twitter: “Bibi, this is a lie. It was only on last Thursday that you gave a very partial draft of the bill to the attorney general, who is at this moment working on it, after months in which you refused to turn it over. Your call on the public to storm the Justice Ministry is dangerous and borders on incitement. I call on you to retract it immediately. If we see the kind of spectacles that we saw in the United States, the blood will be on your hands.”
Maariv reports on comments from politicians at the Channel 12 annual conference of “influential” Israelis. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said, “It’s more important to me to remove Netanyahu from office than for me to be prime minister. It’s important to me that Yesh Atid be the leading party in the government. Most important in my opinion is to oust Netanyahu from office. The country needs a new start. We’re in a moment that might be the transition from the past to the future.” In his interview at the conference, New Hope Chairman Gideon Saar said: “We will do everything to avert a fifth election. We won’t rule anyone out. As opposed to Netanyahu, whose only option is the Haredim.” Yamina Chairman Naftali Bennett repeated that he would not serve in a Lapid-led government. “I said unequivocally that we would not sit under a prime minister from the Left,” said Bennett. “The public ‘isn’t there,’ and that would be really twisted. The only place in which Lapid is prime minister is in his own fantasies and in the spins generated by Netanyahu.”
In Haaretz, Chaim Levinson writes that the Likud is planning to hold dozens of rallies in the coming days to encourage increased voter turnout in Likud strongholds, in light of concern that supporters will stay home on Election Day. The campaign leaders’ main concern is voters’ indifference toward the election, according to polls and reports from the field. There is a sense that people are fed up with politics, that the election will change nothing and that, in any case, there will be a fifth election. Historically in Likud strongholds, voter turnout is lower than that of the centre-left. He adds that “the slogan ‘Lapid or Netanyahu’ has so far not borne fruit. This is a one-sided campaign. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid learned his lesson from Tzipi Livni, Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, who were flattered to go head-to-head against Netanyahu, which brought out Likud voters at the time. Likud intends to rev up spins against Lapid in the hope that he will enter a sparring match with Netanyahu and energise the Likud base.”
Kan Radio reports that IDF soldiers foiled a stabbing attack last night during an operation to arrest a wanted man in Tubas in the northern West Bank.
Kan Radio also reports that Indian officials have blamed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for the terrorist attack outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi about a month and a half ago. Indian officials believe that the bomb that exploded was not makeshift and had been operated by remote control. The Hindustan Times reported that there were signs on the bomb that were meant to confuse and to shift blame onto ISIS and away from Iran. Sources involved in the investigation said that Iran had not intended to cause deaths in India, a friendly country, but to send a threatening message to Israel.