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Africa. Puppet Theatre.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

The roots of puppet shows in Africa are as old as the myths and legends. Today, they are used very much in education but also as a way to condemn political power and corruption.

According to a myth of the Ibibio people of south-east Nigeria, the puppet theatre was born in the land of the dead. In this subterranean world, such representations are frequently carried out. One day, a certain living man descended into the land of the dead and witnessed one of these shows. When he came back to the land of the living, he taught them this art. However, that caused his death.
In Angola, an Ambundu legend tells how a woman died. When she was about to be buried, she came back to life and started speaking. She returned to her village and went to the house of a carver and took possession of a small statue that she impregnated with magical substances. As a result, the figure came to life and began to produce images showing hidden objects.

In Guinea, it is said that the birth of the puppet was caused by the appearance of a mysterious speaking object that was found in water. A woman took it to the village and showed it to everyone there but the mysterious object would not speak. After that, the woman decided to send away the men. The object then began to speak, telling its sad story and how it had no husband, causing it to remain in the water.
In Malawi, a Chewa legend tells how a man who had no children began to model two small images of clay. One night, they came to life and began to act like people; this went on until they disobeyed their adopted mother and were going away, following a footpath. They were drenched by a cloud burst and once again became the clay they were made from.

Pedagogical instrument

The Africa puppet theatre is a pedagogical instrument which serves to transmit ancestral wisdom, especially to new generations. It is also used to criticise behaviour. Through laughter and satire they make fun of politicians and local authorities. It is also a means to transmit ancestral wisdom by means of theatrical spectacles at important times in social life, at initiation and fertility rites, in the celebration of cycles, funeral rites and the worship of ancestors. It is also used for social criticism. The testimony of the puppets carries elements of the joy of life, a utopia, a plan or a dream for the country, a person or a community, the memories of prosperous times of the past that it would be good to copy in the present and in the future.
In some cases, the puppeteer accompanies the healer or the witch doctor and takes part in the diagnosis of the sick person.

At present, especially in urban areas, puppets have become a form of entertainment that is used in theatres, television, the cinema, in musical videos and in behavioural therapy sessions and during courses of formation in development.
South Africa is well known on the continent for its growing group of artisans and puppeteers. This is also helped by the fact that it hosts the largest international festival of puppet shows.

The puppet movement

In such western African countries as Mali, Benin, Togo, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, puppets tend to be more expressions of the lives of the people. In Mali, this ancestral heritage is present in the daily lives of eight people out of every ten.
Yaya Coulibaly, originally from Mali and one of the master artisans, has contributed more than any other to preserving and spreading the puppets in his country and worldwide. He is the heir in a family of puppeteers who, for six generations – from the 15th century until today – preserves the precious treasure of the art of making puppets as a record of the oral patrimony of the Bambara kingdom of Segou.

The puppets of Yaya Coulibaly represent different aspects of the Bambara mythology in relation to actual problems. Coulibaly’s workshop is located in the Magnambougou quarter of Bamako, the capital. He has a collection of about 25,000 pieces comprising masks and puppets as well as collective or giant puppets. The themes and colours of the puppets have their own symbolism.For example, one of the pieces is a mythical figure: the head of an antelope with its horns covered by six personages that symbolise the entire universe. Another is a representation of Captain Sanogo, the leader of the 2012 coup. Then there is Vilaine, mother of King Soundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire, used in one of his exhibitions in 2016.Coulibaly began learning the art of his father when he was only six years old. He is now teaching thirty puppeteers whose futures may well be decided by the Kabako Theatre Troupe Company of Yaya Coulibaly. The passion for the art of puppets is also to be found in other people of the country. Among these are the Sogo-bo society, a theatrical association which collects Bamana traditions; Somoni and Bozo of the central south of Mali, as well as the Troupe Nationale des Marionnettes du Mali in Bamako.

The puppet theatre of the Bambara of Mali was discovered towards the end of the nineteenth century and became the first African puppet theatre to be known in Europe.
In its most ancient form, the show materialises the spiritual beings that govern the destiny of the community, the protector fetishes, so that hunting and fishing may be successful and that peace may reign in the village. The puppets are moved from below with rods through a collapsible theatre called a kalaka that is made with a structure that supports a tent. They sometimes have copper decorations, especially among the Marka. The puppets are kept in a hut where women and children are not allowed to enter.
In other African countries: Jean-Pierre Guingane, is the instigator in Burkina Faso of the International Marionette and Theatre Festival at Ouagadougou. In the Congo, together with other sorts of puppets, we find the kebe-kebe of the Mbochi and the Kuyu that celebrate great personalities of the past. These figures are moved from below by wooden rods. The puppeteer is hidden by a hood and keeps the head of the figure higher that his own.
In the city of Ketù, for example, close to the border between Nigeria and Benin, the Yoruba operate the mask-puppets, called gledé in a propitiatory fashion. They appear in rituals celebrated at the end of the rainy season and at the start of the dry season. The puppets are carried on the head and the figures that emerge high above the crowd are moved, during the dance, from below, by cords controlled by the dancer who wears them. The movements of the puppets and those of the dancers are integrated into a single action.
In Togo, the Compagnie des Marionnettes of Danaye Kanlanfei in the capital, Lomé, is a school which, besides teaching the art, assists the youths to construct puppets using recycled material. The representations made by this company always follow themes of the environment and anti-corruption.
In Kenya, Chrispin Mwakideu uses puppets to teach children, making them aware of AIDS, malaria and human rights, both on the streets and by way of TV programmes.
Fernando Felix

Mesoamerica. Pizza With Savour Of Aztec Cuisine.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Along the centuries, food and plants coming from America, and in particular from Mexico have given a great contribution to the Mediterranean diet.

The first people to bring back information about the food and plants of the Americas were early explorers and conquistadors, some of whom showed a special interest in the vegetation of the New World.
Spain was the first stop for Mexican plants on their route to dissemination throughout Europe. After their arrival, they spread along two different paths: some plants prospered in northern Europe, while others adapted better in the warm climate and loose soil of the Mediterranean basin.

The latter group arrived first in Italy, which is not surprising since the Spanish crown dominated large parts of the Italian Peninsula in the sixteenth century, facilitating contact between the two areas. Corn or maize, for many centuries a staple food in Mesoamerican Indian cultures, along with beans, the traditional accompaniment for tortillas, prospered in the Mediterranean. Chili peppers and tomatoes, a flavor combination characteristic of Aztec cuisine, also adapted to the new environment. Other Mexican plants that prospered in the new habitat were squash, the sweet potato, the agave or century plant and the prickly pear cactus, which now forms an integral part of the local landscape.

The well-established trade routes set up by Spaniards many years before were important factors in the spread of American products. Aragonese merchants controlled commerce between Spain, Italy and the Far East and no doubt played an important role the distribution of plants along routes. The Turks also took them to the whole eastern half of the Mediterranean basin, dominated in the sixteenth century by the Ottoman Empire. The early nomenclature given to the newly arrived plants reflects the Turkish role in their dissemination.
Corn first appeared in Europe herbals under the names ‘Turkish grain’, ble de Turquie or ‘Turkis korn’; the chili pepper was known as ‘Turkish red pepper’; the squash was called ‘Turkish cucumber’ and even the wild turkey, which arrived England in 1511 still goes by the name of ‘turkey’ in contemporary English.

The new plants

During the early Middle Ages, a distinct diet was formed in the Mediterranean basin, based on bread, olives, wine. There were certain regional variations in the diet such as the thick soups of southern France, Italian pastas and Turkish yogurt, but a certain uniformity in the diet became evident from early times and has continued until today. Mexican plants did not however arrive in the area as competitors of the traditional crops that had developed over the centuries. Rather, their role was complementary. While wheat and other grains were planted in autumn and winter, maize, beans and squash were planted in the spring and did not encroach upon the space needed for the traditional plants. Nor were their harvests incompatible, since wheat was generally cut in June and grapes and olives were picked in the fall, whereas American crops were harvested at the end of summer.

Initially the new plants could only be grown in small family plots or gardens as most American plants developed as semitropical crops that require moisture during the growing cycle and the formation of the fruit. In the hot, dry Mediterranean summers, the new plants needed artificial irrigation in order to produce fruit, and this was only possible on small plots of land. This was never a problem for the traditional plants of the area because they had evolved in semi-arid zones of the Middle East and needed humidity after being sown in the winter, but did not need water during the final months of their agricultural cycle which were in the summer.Mexican plants offered several advantages over European crops. For example, beans are well known for their ability to enrich the soil since they have the capacity to fix nitrogen in the earth through the small nodes on their roots. The overworked and exhausted soils of the Mediterranean were badly in need of enrichment and improvement. Mexican plants also played a role in crop rotation, another method of soil improvement, since the same grain could not be sown on the same land for more than two consecutive years because of the depletion of the land’s humus level.
Some plants proved to be more easily accepted due to their similarity with those already known in the area. This was the case of the Mexican bean that looked like the European fava bean, known since Romans distributed it throughout the Mediterranean basin during the expansion of their empire. Spaniards knew them as fesoles and gave them the same name when they came upon them in the Caribbean. Some years, later, the name was changed to frijol and they are still known by that name in Mexico today.
The corn plant has little similarity with other grain plants, but its preparation in the form of ground flour in breads and gruels gave it an air of similarity with other cereals. Corn meal was mixed with other bread flours to make coarse, rustic breads for the poor. It also became a substitute for millet in Italian polenta, an ancient Roman dish that had sustained poor Italians for centuries. Corn offers several advantages over other grains: it produces more calories in less space, in less time and is less labour-intensive than any other grain except for rice. It adapts easily to a wide variety of climates, soils and altitudes and can be used as animal fodder as well as for human consumption.

The chili pepper and the tomato arrived as strange new plants and were regarded with deep suspicion. They acquired the reputation of being hallucinogenic and poisonous since they belonged to the same plant family as the mandrake, henbane and belladonna. They also soon became well known as effective aphrodisiacs. Both these plants were completely new to the Europeans; they had never seen any fruits that even looked like them. They did not know how to grow them, prepare them for the table or even how to go about eating them. Chili peppers were spicy and pungent so that they were difficult to eat. Italians were afraid to eat tomatoes raw, fearing they might be poisonous, but when cooked, they were unappetizing and appeared to be spoiled. They were also said to have a ‘foul’ smell. It was not easy to adopt these plants and incorporate them into the Italian diet. Furthermore, the large, red, smooth juicy tomatoes we know today have little similarity with the small, ridged, pale, acidic and strong-smelling tomato that arrived in Europe in the sixteenth century. It was the caring hands of Italian gardeners that transformed the tomatoes into the edible and attractive fruit we know today. They also modified the chili pepper, converting it into a large, sweet-tasting vegetable without the pungency characteristic of Mexican chili pepper. Transformed into ‘green peppers’, they could be consumed as vegetables and were used for stuffed peppers, a popular dish in the eastern Mediterranean. The chili pepper was introduced into Hungary by the invading. Turks in 1526 and was given the local name of paprikas or paprika and is a dominant flavor in Balkan cuisine.
During the eighteenth century, Mexican fruits and vegetables became incorporated into European diets. Many changes occurred in European cuisine during that time. A new social class developed due to the prosperity attained from commercial activities of the time. The new bourgeoisie favoured a simple cuisine, based on regional dishes, as taste was no longer dictated by the nobility and a life centred around the royal court. New World flavors combined well with the local dishes and cooks began incorporating new ingredients into established local fare. They did not invent new or exotic dishes with them, rather they learned to use them as useful elements in traditional dishes.

The red colour of tomato sauce

Corn and potatoes were added to local soups, stews and other typical dishes. The frijol or Mexican bean became a substitute for the roman fava bean in such dishes as fabada asturiana of northwestern Spain and in the cassoulets of France’s Provence. Italians living around Florence adopted the bean with such relish that Italians in the rest of the country began to refer to them as mangiafagioli or bean eaters. Neapolitans discovered that tomato sauce blended well with pastas, previously served with sauces made with olive oil or butter. Italian pizzas also benefited from the new flavor and bright red color of tomato sauce. The flavor combination of tomatoes and green peppers has been documented in salads typical of every country surrounding the Mediterranean basin.

Southern Spain’s gazpacho, an ancient soup known from the time of Arab occupation in the region, suddenly acquired a new presentation with the addition of tomatoes and green peppers. Valencian paella incorporated several Mexican ingredients into its preparation, as did the codfish dish, bacalao. By the end of the eighteenth century, Mexican plants were fully incorporated into the diet in several Mediterranean countries.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these plants, modified and improved by Europeans, were reintroduced into the New World as part of the cultural baggage brought by European immigrants who wanted to recreate their native diets in their new countries. Italian immigrants in the United States, Canada and Argentina brought new uses for the tomato as canned tomato sauce to accompany pasta dishes. They also brought green peppers and a new method of eating squash as a young, immature vegetable, which they called ‘zucchini’.
Finally, Mexican plants were incorporated into the Mediterranean diet. They contributed toward a more nutritious diet, made food more abundant and thus helped reduce effects of hunger that had plagued Europe for centuries. Some historians consider them to have played an important role in the population increase that became evident in the second half of the eighteenth century. Their ability to complement the ancient Mediterranean crops during the agricultural cycle as well as in the diet contributed toward their final acceptance. Today, they are identified with the Mediterranean diet as the areas older plants, such as wheat, the olive tree and the grapevine.

Janet Long

Protests, Not Like The Arab Spring.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Unlike the protests of the ‘Arab Spring’, moreover, the recent protests in Iran have a political connection. President Rohani publicly declared they had valid reason to protest and the right to do so.

The revolts began in Mashhad, a spiritual centre noted for its sympathies with the conservatives – as well as the shrine of Imam Reza, one of the most revered figures in Shia Islam, attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every year. The interventionist West and its Middle Eastern allies presented the protests as indicative of a deep dissatisfaction with Iranian foreign policy; namely its backing of the al-Asad government in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Counter demonstrations in favour of the government celebrated Iran’s strong role in defeating ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Yet, the ‘Millennials’ would rather the government confront more pressing economic issues related to employment and the cost of living. A series of privatisations and ‘neo-liberal’ economic reforms constituted the main reason for the protest. The timing of the protests should not surprise close observers of Iranian politics. The internal struggle between the pragmatists and conservatives demands compromise. President Rohani’s determined effort in favour of Hezbollah and Syria (Yemen too) was the ideological price he had to pay to appease the more ‘revolutionary’ elements such as Ayatollah Khamanei. Iran’s regional defiance is the ‘admission fee’ that Rohani must pay for the Conservatives’ endorsement for the “5+1” nuclear deal.

Rohani is playing a game not unlike Kim Jong Un in the People’s Republic of Korea – or Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi in 2004. It was mostly young people, who voter for Rohani. They’re tired of the isolation and care most about economic prospects rather than ideological/religious pursuits. Rohani’s goals in pushing the nuclear deal have always been entirely geared toward addressing the youth’s concerns. Indeed, the nuclear deal is the centrepiece of the Iranian government’s strategy for economic development. The deal was signed to lift sanctions and attract foreign investors, while opening new avenues of trade. The idea was to normalize and re-integrate Iran in the global system. In turn, the Iran deal also has something to offer Khamenei’s and the conservatives: stability. The only aspect that all Iranian power currents can agree is the need to open the country for business, even if from different angles. But, when Trump denigrates the deal and threatens to repeal it, it strengthens the conservatives, who can always blame the progressives for being too trusting of the ‘Great Satan’.

Thus, Trump, most of the U.S. foreign policy apparatus, the think tanks and lobbyists that surround the Capitol in Washington hurt the progressives when they target the ‘5+1’ Deal. As for the protesters, the government has offered compromises over its liberal economic reforms, largely succeeding in quelling them. The government remains free to pursue its foreign policy goals This is especially the case when Americans, Saudis and Israelis threaten to challenge Iran. Regardless of religiosity and economic conditions, Iranians are a nationalist people. They fight to protect the country rather than the regime. Iran has a far more developed sense of national self than its Arab neighbours, which only became unified States after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in 1919. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 ended in an Islamic Constitution and Republic. But, its character was significantly nationalist. That’s the lesson that Trump should learn. If he truly cares about democracy in Iran, he should stay quiet and allow Rohani to pursue his reforms and the world to open its doors to Iran. (A.B.)

Brazil. Being A Church That Goes Forth.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

A Church that is attentive to the situation of the people. Pastoral decisions that may help a community to grow in a ministerial and missionary dimension. We talk about these matters with Mons. Odelir José Magri, the Comboni Bishop of Chapecó in southern Brazil.

Four years have passed since Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Chapecó, transferring him from the diocese of Sobral. Mons. Odelir recalls: “It was a big surprise as I had only been in Sobral four years, to be then transferred to my native territory and diocese”. The diocese of Chapecó is located in the west of Santa Catarina State, in southern Brazil, on the border with Argentina and the Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul and Paranà. The diocese comprises 80 communes, mostly agricultural and sparsely populated. The diocese was created in 1958.

Mons Odelir tells us that the first inhabitants of the region were the Guarani and Kaigangs indigenous peoples. For part of the XIX and XX centuries, the western region was also home to the ‘Caboclo’ people, a cross between indigenous people and Portuguese migrants, and black people, mostly poor families from rural areas.
At the start of the 20th century, the process of colonisation began with a second migration, this time by Italian, German and Polish immigrants who today make up the majority of the inhabitants of the region. Recent years have seen the arrival of Haitians, Senegalese and people from other parts of Africa.

The diocese of Chapecó has a population of 755,000 people of whom 79.13% claim to be Catholic. Most of the people, around 68.35% live in urban areas and 31.64% in rural areas. The diocese is divided into ten pastoral areas. There are 40 parishes and around 1563 base Christian communities. Most of these base communities are in rural areas.
Missionaries play an important part. Of the 40 parishes, 13 are run by religious. This is the reason, as the bishop says: “Our primary objective is to help the communities to live the missionary dimension, or, as Pope Francis puts it, to be a Church that goes forth”.
“Another objective is to provide continuity to its characteristic of being a ministerial Church. We have many lay ministers such as those of the Eucharistic, the Word of God, of Hope (funerals), extraordinary ministers of baptism and qualified witnesses of Matrimony”, Mons. Odelir explains.
A further challenge lies in the requalification of the pastoral so as to provide a concrete response relevant to the daily life of the Christian communities. It is necessary to be a Church that continues to defend life, and has at its heart the option for the poor. We must not be afraid to join the battle in defence of the least”, the missionary bishop affirms.
Mons. Odelir mentions the commitment of the diocese regarding the process of initiation into the Christian life. This implies striving to join up faith and life and to make some fundamental aspects of the encounter with Christ such as conversion, discipleship, communion and mission, become part of it. This process must involve families, children, adolescents and the youth so that they may take an active part in the life of the ecclesial base communities.

With reference to the present political state of the country, also in view of the presidential elections scheduled for October, the bishop tells us that, although, on the one hand, during the last fifteen years a certain amount of progress has been made in human rights, the reduction of poverty and increased empowerment of the people, on the other, Mons. Odelir said regretfully: “we cannot ignore the enormous increase in corruption at the highest levels of the state through the channelling of public money to large private companies”.
The bishop continues: “Brazil urgently needs serious reforms: political, financial, legal and educational, just to mention a few. We also need to grow very much in the awareness and practice of the sort of democracy that is not only representative but also participatory.
The Bishop of Chapecó states that the option for the poor, a characteristic of the Brazilian Church, is still also a challenge. It is an option which, as the Brazilian bishops remind us, “must be solidly manifested in visible gestures, especially the defence of life, the rights of the most vulnerable and the excluded as well as by permanently accompanying them in their efforts to be the subjects of social change and transformation”.

Missionary Diocese

Speaking of his dream for the diocese, it is his desire “to form Christian missionary disciples and communities of faith that are increasingly alive and witnesses of a world that is more human, more just and more fraternal; to combat all exclusion and promote life, with particular attention to the poorest”.

This attitude “helps us to go beyond being concerned with what is close to us and to look beyond”. The diocese has already had positive experiences through the project with sister churches in Nicaragua and north-east Brazil. “It is my dream that we may soon recommence this missionary project, bringing our contribution to Brazilian Amazonia”, the missionary bishop adds.
Mons Odelir concludes by remembering his words the day he entered Chapecó as its bishop: “The mission is carried out by the feet of those who set out, the knees of those who pray and by the hands of those who help… for we are all missionaries”.

Bernardino Frutuoso

Brazil. Being Abandoned.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Fights between rival gangs for territorial control. People’s fear. An absent State. Daily life in Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro.

One morning the inhabitants of Rocinha – the largest favela in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and one of the largest in Brazil -, were woken up by shots and screams. Dozens of gang members armed with rifles and guns, descended on the favela, while the Pacific Police Unit (UPP) did nothing to stop them. They were the men of Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, also known as Nem, and they tried to force Nem’s former bodyguard Rogério Avelino da Silva, alias ‘Rogério 157’ to flee the favela. ‘Rogério 157’ had reportedly broken from the ranks of Nem’s ADA gang (Amigos dos Amigos gang) (‘Friends of Friends’ gang, in English) and joined forces with the CV (Red Command) in an apparent attempt to assert greater control over the local drug trade. Last December Rogerio Avelino da Silva was arrested. But the fighting between the rival gangs continues.

Rocinha favela’s drug trade control has been divided into two factions: ADA controls the drug traffic in the lower part of Rocinha, while CV has taken control over the main sales areas in the upper part of the favela. The 100 thousand residents of the area live in constant fear. “We know what is like being unable to get back home from work because of the shootings”, says one of the inhabitants of Rocinha.
At the beginning of October, the Caixa Econômica Federal bank agency located in the favela was forced to suspend its services due to the violence in the region. When shootings are constant, the ATMs cannot be replenished and the electric transformers which are damaged by the shots cannot be repaired due to the lack of security for the maintenance teams. “Inhabitants feel abandoned. When gang clashes erupt, the residents in the favela may not have electricity even for two or three days, while taxis-motorbikes and school bus services are suspended. Schools and hospitals close. We all remain prisoners in our area while criminals are free to do whatever they want”, adds another resident.

The inhabitants of this favela feel that the police and the State are not able to protect them, and they are convinced that things would become even worse if the Vermelho Command (‘Red Command’) prevailed, since CV is an even more scary and violent criminal group than ADA is. Five hundred and fifty men belonging to the Military Police battalions and to the Pacific Police units are currently patrolling not only the favela but also the Lagoa-Barra highway that surrounds it. According to the latest report released by the Military Police, clashes have left ten people dead; 27 adults and seven minors have been arrested; 19 rifles, three machine guns, five carbines, 21 pistols, 39 grenades and more than two tons of drugs have been seized. Even the Armed Forces, with 950 men, intervened in Rocinha to stop violence during the most critical moments: between 22 and 29 September; and on 10 and 11 October.

However, according to Ignacio Cano, the coordinator of the Centre for Violence Analysis at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, “Authorities are reacting and facing violence as always, that is in an impulsive and uncoordinated way. Without clear planning, the presence of the Army is ineffective, it is just an attempt to make it appear that the federal government is doing something”.
“Police patrolling in Rocinha should go on for at least three months in order to be effective”, according to José Vincente da Silva Filho, ex-national security secretary. “Police intervention should be systematic, there is currently a lack of cooperation and coordination between the police and the National Force. Today, Rocinha still represents a social failure”, he says.

Ignacio Cano agrees with the former secretary of national security: “The State should resume the implementation of the pacification project of the favelas and start to focus on social issues”. In the meantime, the federal government is preparing social programs aimed at reducing violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. These programs, will mainly focus on young people in order to provide them with medical assistance and proper nutrition and in order to encourage their involvement with the practice of sports. However, nobody knows when these social initiatives can become reality.
In an open letter, Archbishop Orani Tempesta, and the bishops of the diocese of Rio de Janeiro, deplored the ‘social catastrophe’ in the city. “We, as shepherds, cannot help suffering because of the so many precarious situations in the favelas, where there is no respect for life, and no respect for others”. In the letter, the bishops urged the society to intervene in order to provide security in the favelas where reality is ‘shocking’. “We want to promote the culture of life. We urge all Christians to be witnesses and to spread the idea that a new era is possible. Evil can be defeated by good. The culture of death can be defeated by spreading the culture of life”, they declared in the letter. Thus, the bishops invited parishes, Catholic communities and movements to “open their doors and go out, as a good Samaritan Church, as a Church on mission, searching for those who are suffering because of violence”. The letter ends with a request for effort from everyone to find quick solutions in order to reduce people’s suffering. (A.M.)

The Opposition, Internal and External.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Iran does have a domestic and clandestine opposition, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The MEK combine Communist and Islamist ideas and they started challenging the Islamic Republic since its early days.

They set off a bomb in the Iranian Parliament in 1981, killing at least 70 people. Iraq exploited their services to target the Regime in Tehran. They remain a threat and could be one of the vanguards for a deeper U.S. intervention in Iran. They could play the same role that Kurds and Shiites (early on) had in facilitating the American takeover of Baghdad in 2003. Conveniently, the U.S. lifted the MEK from the U.S. government list of terrorist groups in 2012. Trump’s stalling and criticism of the nuclear deal are efforts to apply the pressure where the intelligence services have identified the greatest weakness; the economy. The shadow hanging over the Deal and the prospect of more sanctions are exacerbating political risk for all companies from oil to aerospace. This both encourages the Iranian conservatives, who could turn sour on the Iran deal, resuming nuclear research while also having a lever effect on political and social tensions.

President Rohani won the 2016 elections, defeating less pragmatic elements. The West – especially the Western media immediately interpreted and presented the Iranian protests that erupted in January 2018 as a Persian version of the ‘Arab Spring’ or call for democracy. Certainly, that’s how the U.S. leadership interpreted them. Democracy remains the pretext, and Trojan horse, to encourage American covert, or open, intervention. If the cause of freedom isn’t sufficient, there’s been enough talk for years that Iran poses a threat to Israel and that, a ‘democratic Iran’, would not. Moreover, Trump could obtain strong consensus – just as he did in the moving of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The so-called Christian Zionists – encouraged by the prospect of an apocalyptic conflict – like Vice-President Pence, would support a war against Iran. They long for the cold war between Tel Aviv and Tehran to escalate to a hot war.

Should Trump scrap the nuclear deal by next June, as he warned, he would reopen the ‘file’ dealing with Iran’s pursuit of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Without a binding agreement, Iran’s only chess move is to resume – or pretend accordingly – to put pressure on the U.S. The Washington establishment, Saudi Arabia and Israel would come in chorus to demand an attack against Iran’s nuclear research facilities in Bushehr. If not, Israel will act, as it did in 1981 against the Osirak nuclear facility Iraq was developing. The consequences of a direct Israeli attack against Iran are incalculable. Yet, one of the results would surely be to draw the United States into a wide regional conflict, aimed at pushing Iran, its proxies and allied militias back – terminating its support for Hezbollah once and far all. That purpose would draw Prince Mohammad bin Salman even more than King Salman, into the conflict.

The latter appears to have associated his Kingdom’s security to that of Israel. After all, as the Saudi led embargo against Qatar has shown, the Israelis and the Saudis share Iran as an enemy. That’s one of the main reasons why Trump has not ordered U.S. troops out of Syria. They are both a threat to Asad’s forces and a deterrent to his Hezbollah allies against taking pre-emptive steps against Israel. Yet, they also serve as a deterrent against Israel from provoking its enemies into a conflict. The presence of U.S. troops reminds Tel Aviv that American troops are also at risk from its actions. There’s little doubt Syria remains the key ‘front’ of any military effort against Iran. That’s why, Israel has been arming various Islamist rebel organizations in the Syrian Golan according to the Israeli ‘Haaretz’ daily. Israel has also targeted installations, in Syrian territory, thought to be used by Iranian forces or its Syrian allies. If Israel claimed to have a neutral stance over the outcome of the Syrian conflict in 2011, it now worries about the victory of the sad regime, which until a few months ago, was enjoying much better prospects of outright victory – that is maintaining sufficient clout to maintain authority over a centralized Syrian State. Israel wants to prevent a consolidation of the Shiite axis that goes from Tehran to the Mediterranean. Tehran insists on Syria maintaining territorial integrity.
As for Europe, it needs Iran because it acts as an insurance policy against ISIS or Wahhabi inspired extremism.

Iran is complex. It’s an Islamic Republic that is its legal and political institutions are inspired by the Sharia. Yet it’s also nationalist in the Western sense of the term. Unlike the Arab countries of the Middle East that rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, Iran has kept virtually the same borders for the past two thousand years. Its recent history is ‘unique’ in the Middle Eastern context. Iran has experienced rapid and deep changes in the past four decades. In 1979, Iran became an Islamic Republic. Until then, the Shah’s Iran, had been the biggest US ally in the Middle East. If the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran is Islam, other religions are allowed, including Christianity and Judaism. Then, there are also millions of Iranians, who do not practice any religion.

Alessandro Bruno
Middle East Analyst

Syria. All The Games.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Whatever tensions exist between Israel, the USA and Iran, they will play out in Syria first. The strategy will focus on preventing Iran from deploying of missiles in Syria and Lebanon, aimed against Israel.

In effect, Israel will consider any provocation, real or fabricated arising from Syria as being directed from Tehran. In turn, Tel Aviv will seek to further consolidate its occupation of the Golan. The resulting framework is such that anything could escalate tensions with Iran in Syria, which Israel could use to articulate any type of action. Regardless of how aggressive its stance, Tel Aviv will always be able to present it to the world and its American clients/allies as defensive or preventive with limitless abandon.
The scenario represents the culmination of Bernard Lewis’s design, as described earlier. The recent events and ever clearer alignment of Israeli and American objectives in the Middle East, will no doubt deepen the current destabilizing efforts, reaching Iran, using ‘leverage’ from Syria. Of course, the defensive measures that Israel and the U.S. will take could well include a Ukraine, or Arab Spring like (Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen) plan to play the ‘democracy’ card, encouraging revolts in Iran to bring down its role as an autonomous power in the Middle East. The Israeli-American alliance considers Iran to be the last obstacle to Israeli supremacy across the region. Such is the scenario that contains within it the seeds of a major conflict. Iran, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia and of course Israel have been fighting a proxy war in Syria. Indeed, describing the Syrian conflict as a ‘civil war’ misleading.

It’s an international war by proxy, the last of a series of mistakes that can be traced back to 1979 and the Iranian Revolution. The United States lost what was their second most important ally – Iran – after Israel in the Middle East. After trying to play the Islamic Republic and its main Arab enemy, Iraq, against each other in a war that lasted from 1980 to 1988, in 2003 Bush II eliminated Saddam Hussein secular Sunni power, handing power over a new Iraqi government, dominated by Shiite and Kurdish forces. The Americans achieved what seemed impossible in the 1980’s, align Syria and Iraq together with Iran, creating a virtual ‘Shiite crescent’ of political, economic and military influence. Now, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has brandished like a hunter at an African safari a trophy: the piece of an Iranian reconnaissance drone, which it shot down in the Israeli side of the occupied Golan. It was a Colin Powell moment that is a deja-vu from his infamous Niger yellowcake speech before the UN General Assembly in 2003. That’s when then Secretary of State tried to convince the world that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to build the casus belli against his regime. It’s unlikely the world – except for the U.S. and a handful of others – has swallowed Netanyahu’s Powell ‘impression’. Yet, nobody will have any power to stop Israel from obstructing Iranian ambitions.

Iranian Drones and Israeli Jets

The downing of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet returning from a mission over Syria (and a related incident involving an Iranian drone downed in the Israeli Golan) has raised the stakes for Iran, Syria, Israel and Lebanon. Increased the tension between Israel, the regime Damascus, Iran and other regional allies. Clearly, Israel now would prefer to keep Syria in chaos to allowing Damascus to regain control and restore to stability.
Tel Aviv calculates that this strengthens Hezbollah. Should Iran and Israel end up in a direct clash, the first shots, or the ‘Sarajevo’ moment will occur in Syria.

The evidence from Syria hints that rather than spontaneous, external powers steered and stirred the revolt against the Asad regime. Indications are that Libya and Egypt, if not Tunisia, were also ‘revolts’, planned many miles away from Tripoli or Cairo. Therefore, there’s little doubt that Tehran can expect similar manoeuvrings to fuel an uprising to bring down the Islamic Republic. Such an attempt may have already occurred as thousands of Iranians took to the streets in January 2018 in a similar pattern to what happened in 2009 with the Green Revolution. There’s one problem, however, with such a plan. However flawed, the Islamic Republic of Iran has strong institutions and a budding democracy. In other words, the people can express grievances and aspirations through official channels. And they can vote.
Iran has endured one major revolution and a series of coups and revolts in the 20th century. The Islamic and most important revolution, however, has been gradually turning Iran into a more sophisticated, if complex, country. Few realize, much less Trump, that Iran is closer to achieving democracy than most of its Middle Eastern neighbours. In many ways, Iran even boats greater economic diversity than its Arab neighbours.

Years of sanctions have forced the country to be more self-reliant, developing many import substituting industries. The very fact that the Iranian military air force and airline (Iran Air) have remained operational, despite a ban on imports of spare parts, is but one example. Iran’s universities have continued to provide high quality education. Such is the context against which young Iranians, Iran’s Millennials, took to the streets in late December and early January.
They are not different than their western peers, they are as versed in social media and educated in a wide range of subjects. They are also politically active. That may seem surprising, considering Iran has no political parties per se. Yet, there are budding political currents. The Islamic Revolution was not monolithic; neither is the Islamic Republic. In the crudest terms, the Iranian Parliament features elected officials, espousing views that range from the conservative to the moderate and progressive. But, they can be reduced further to pragmatists and conservatives. President Hassan Rohani can be considered the leader of the pragmatists, those interest in advancing a gradual evolution of the current system toward greater democracy. Although, in a different post, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (he establishes who can and cannot run for the presidential election) is an arch-conservative. (A.B.)

Ethiopia. A Divided Country.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Ethiopia is passing through a period of turmoil due to ethnic tensions. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has just resigned. The new prime minster will be elected this month. The role of the Army.

The country has a population of 105,350,000 people. 34.4% of them are Oromos, 27% are Amharas, 6.2% are Somalis, 6.1% are Tigrays; the others belong to smaller ethnic groups. As far as religion is concerned, 43.5% of Ethiopians are Ortodox, 33.9% are Muslim, 18.5% are Protestant and 2.7% belong to traditional religions, 0.7% are Catholics and 0,6% belong to other cults.

The ethnic issue has important consequences, since Ethiopia is a federal parliamentarian republic divided into nine ethnically based states (Afar, Amhara, Binshangul Gumuz, Gambela Hizboch, Harari Hizb, Oromiya, Somali, Tigray, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples) and two self-governing administrations, Addis Ababa (the federal capital) and Dire Dawa.This issue influences even the top levels of public administration. The political life of the country is led by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of former rebel forces that in 1991 toppled a military junta (the Derg) that had ruled the country since 1974. In the May 2015 elections EPRDF got 501 out of 547 seats in parliament. Also the EPRDF is divided along ethnic lines since it is composed of four parties with an ethnic characterization.

Within the EPRDF the leading element is the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a group composed of Tigray people which basically controls the security apparatus. The other members of the coalition are the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the South Ethiopian People’s Democratic Front (SEPDF). According to some analyst, TPLF leadership is split between some members that want to keep the control of the state apparatus in the hands of Tigrays and a group that think that prefer a more cooperative style of government.

State of unrest

Since November 2015 Oromo and Amhara political activists have been protesting in their states and in the area of Addis Ababa, which is autonomous but is completely encircled by Oromiya. They contest the discrimination they allegedly suffer from the institutions and in particular the “illegal occupation” of land of the state. The protests in many cases degenerate into clashes, also due to the heavy-handed approach of the security forces. Some government officials have even accused foreign countries (such as Egypt) of supporting the protesters to destabilize Ethiopia. But they have never provided conclusive evidence of that.A state of emergency imposed on 9th October 2016 and lifted on 4th August 2017 succeeded in reducing the strength of protests, but not in stopping them completely. After August 2017, demonstrations regained momentum and a three-day strike was organized in Oromiya and Amhara from 12th to 14th February 2018.

On 15th February 2018 Ethiopian prime minister and EPRDF leader Hailemariam Desalegn resigned from both roles. The reason he gave was that he intended to meet the people’s demand for democracy and development. He will manage current affairs until a new premier is chosen, probably during the annual congress of the EPRDF, scheduled for March 2018. This episode was a sign that the EPRDF leadership is trying to cope with the increasing ethnic tensions and at least a part of it believes that force is probably not the solution. But there are some who thinks differently. On 16th February the government (including OPDO and ANDM) reintroduced the state of emergency for six months, hoping to eliminate the problem of unrest in Oromiya and Amhara states.

Turmoil at the top

Desalegn was in charge since 2012. A member of the Welayta ethnic group and the chief SEPDF, he was apparently accepted as leader by the different factions of EPRDF. But his position was considered by some observers as weak, because he lacked a strong political base. His inability to cope with the popular discontent apparently forced him out after months of speculation. But it can’t be ruled out that he chose to quit to avoid being considered the only one responsible of the situation. In fact, his policies were supported by the coalition.

But this transition is not a guarantee of democratic change. The imposition of a new state of emergency might indicate that within the EPRDF some are not ready for appeasement. In any case, Desalegn’s exit is considered the opening of a phase of uncertainty for the African country by different observers, including EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.
The solution of the ethnic issue is for the most part in the hands of the Ethiopian political leadership. The actual uncertainty might lead to a shift in the sharing of powers within the EPRDF. During the first phase of the protests the Oromo and Amhara components of the coalition were sidelined by grassroots movements such as Querroo (“Youth”). This group apparently has strong support within the Oromo youth. These movements considered OPDO and the institutions in Oromiya (including the police) to be lackeys of the TPLF.

But in October 2016 Lemma Megersa (OPDO) was named president of Oromiya. Megersa and a new wave of leaders seem to have given a new impulse to OPDO political action. The Oromo party distanced itself from TPLF and supported some of the requests of the protesters.
Apparently, within the TPLF leadership the idea of choosing an Oromo premier gained ground. The idea seems to be to share the power to preserve EPRDF rule. In February 2018 OPDO chose a new president: Megersa stepped down (but remained president of Oromiya) and his deputy, Abiy Ahmed, became the new chief of OPDO.
Some analysts think that Ahmed is a more appealing leader and was chosen by Oromo politicians to became the new Ethiopian premier in the EPRDF congress in March 2018. A new sharing of power within the EPRDF could reduce the ongoing ethnic tensions, but it is not a guarantee of democratic development for Ethiopia. In fact, it will not necessarily change the power structure in the African country, centered on the EPRDF and the security forces that support it.

And it is not certain that this new agreement will solve definitively the issue of ethnic tensions. If an Oromo Prime Minister is named and no political compensation is provided for Amharas, the members of this ethnic group could start agitating even more.
Some sort of backlash from Tigray leaders is not to be ruled out. Those Tigrays, especially in the high echelons of the armed forces that do not accept a sharing of power with other ethnic groups could resist the ongoing process, even organizing a coup. The scenarios so far presented do not solve the problem of the mistrust among the different peoples of Ethiopia. At this moment it is difficult to say if the political class will be able to do that.

Andrea Carbonari

Iran And The Conflicts In The Middle East.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Nobody appears to have any clear plans for Syria. Indeed, the ignorance extends to the entirety of the Middle East. But, it’s clear that the reason why U.S. troops remain in Syria is Iran.

The Americans have tried to justify their considerable effort to shape events in the Region since the end of World War II, but they produced more ‘rhyme’ than ‘reason’. They have often repeated the same mistakes; especially, since the 1970’s, when they decided to encourage an Islamic political revival to contain a growing influence of the Soviet Union. This is the prism through to observe the U.S. administrations’ encouragement of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt at the expense of socialists and communists in the universities that culminated in the assassination of President Anwar Sadat.

That need to contain the USSR also prompted such experiments as the mujahedin in Afghanistan. It was the trap that became one of the main reasons of the Soviet demise a mere decade later. The Americans’ failure to help their Iranian ally, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, can also considered a deliberate effort to fuel chaos in the region after the Iranian monarch revealed ambitions that Washington considered too nationalistic for American interests.
In hindsight, of course, the experiments failed miserably. The mujahedin paved the way for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Egypt and other Arab States were forced to confront a political opposition that exploited the mosque as a base to spread its ideas, while Shiite movements – only partly inspired by the Iranian Revolution – rose against the social and political status-quo in Lebanon.

The Anglo-American invasion, which Washington directed and produced, is the fruit of similar disruptive efforts. What few realize is that Iraq was merely the first target. The ‘intellectuals’ that inspired the administration of George W. Bush, the likes of Bernard Lewis, Richard Perle, William Kristol and even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw the need for a reshaping of the Middle East. The 1996 paper, ‘A Clean Break : A New Strategy for Securing the Realm’ was at the origin of the Iraq invasion of 2003. With communism having been defeated, the goal became to spread western values, ‘democracy’, to the Middle East. The idea was that with more democratic neighbours, Israel could feel more secure. The problem was how to convince the American public to go along with such a plan. The paper outlined the need for a ‘Pearl Harbor’ like event to cement American sentiment against the dictatorships of the Arab world and Muslims in general.
The attacks of September 11 provided that narrative. And Iraq fell accordingly. The destruction came, but democracy has fallen a little short of the target; stability remains a chimera. Nevertheless, Iraq and Syria are bit sideshows to the main event: Iran. Syria’s instability is not an accident. The United States and its main ally, Israel, (and not necessarily in that order) want to sustain the chaos in Syria to block Iran. The Iranian nuclear program is just one of Tel Aviv’s concerns. It’s not even the most important one, but it’s an important pretext around which to engage the United States into a mutual anti-Iranian strategy. Prime Minister Netanyahu has found a willing ally in the White House, who will put Israel’s interests above those of the United States vis-à-vis Iran.

The Iran Nuclear Deal and Its Discontents

Many American corporations praised the 2015 5+1 Nuclear Agreement signed by Tehran and the Five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council (plus Germany). Boeing signed a $30 billion agreement with Iran Air to sell dozens of airliners, while American oil majors like ExxonMobil (whose former CEO is U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson) were eager to help Iran develop its oil fields and petroleum refining capacity. In other words, apart from having found a way to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Washington had opened a lucrative market, which had been off limits for over 35 years. While on January 12, 2018 Trump has reviewed and given the Deal six more months, he warned that when the deal comes up again for renewal he will ‘pull the plug on it’ if the other partners don’t fix its “terrible flaws”. He wasn’t specific, but Iranian media are reporting Trump plans to block the Boeing aircraft sale, which adds authority to his threat about the nuclear deal. The EU, for its part, has no interest in the hard line; and China, which imports much of its hydrocarbons from Iran, will find it difficult to change the terms of the nuclear deal. But, there is a logic to Trump’s madness.

George W. Bush started the process in Iraq (and Afghanistan) and Obama, unwittingly, could extricate the U.S. from the region. Yet, for reasons beyond the scope of this dossier to discuss, Trump is intent on dismantling whatever symmetries were left in the Middle East. He seems to be going about it stages. The declaration concerning the recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital on December 6, 2017 did much to endear the Knesset and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s administration, even at the cost of alienating the Palestinian partners in the ‘peace process’. More importantly, the Jerusalem Declaration has heralded a new Israeli-American security partnership aimed both at blocking Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons and at obstructing Iran’s reach in the region through Hezbollah (in Lebanon) and the government of Bashar al-Asad in Syria. Therefore, as far as Tel Aviv is concerned, Syria, even more so than in the past decades, has become the ‘gateway’ to Iran. (A.B.)

Morocco. Between Islamic Radicalization And Narco-Jihadism.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

After the phenomenon of Moroccan foreign fighters joining the ranks of the Islamic State, now the jihadist threat comes mainly from the Sahel, where Al-Qā’ida in the Islamic Maghreb has consolidated its power and where it is exploiting the networks of Moroccan drug trafficking to self-finance.

Morocco is considered one of the main exporters of foreign fighters. Tunisia ranks second as biggest foreign exporter, with a flow of about 1,500 fighters to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State between 2012 and 2016, out of a total of 8,000 men from all of North Africa.
Until 2014, the Moroccan authorities ignored the phenomenon of jihadists leaving the country to fight against the Assad regime and defend the ‘Sunni cause’. But, after the defeat of the Islamic State, many Moroccan foreign fighters are now returning home. This could lead to serious repercussions in the country and threaten its political balance that has already been put to the test in recent years. After the entry into force of the anti-terrorism law of 2015, several people have been arrested for joining terrorist organizations inside and outside Morocco.

The attacks in Spain last August, led to the intensification of cooperation between Madrid and Rabat on the management of terrorism and the elaboration of joint policies for the dismantling of terrorist cells.
Rabat is also intensifying the capillary control of mosques and that of Imams’ preachings. Today, the activity of mosques and Imams, as well as the Ulama Council are under the direct control of the king, in line with the policy already started by Hassan II which aimed at the re-establishment of the monarchy’s control over religious issues. Therefore, policies of control of places where indoctrination processes can take place were already implemented before the birth of the Islamic State and its call to jihād.

A strong message against extremism is undoubtedly represented by the decision, taken by the Supreme Council of Ulama, last year in February, to abolish the death penalty for apostasy from Islam. This is the first time in a Muslim country that individuals who leave Islam are not supposed to face the death penalty: a policy against extremism and the massacres of the Islamic State in order to defend a moderate Islam that accepts religious plurality. The decision to make the Department for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) independent from the Ministry of Justice was also very important. The DGAPR manages a structure in which 3,600 jihadists are detained and has elaborated a protocol to de-radicalize and monitor the de-radicalization phases of other prisoners, while encouraging their reintegration into society.

Finally, there is a great deal of attention to Moroccans who have emigrated to countries such as France, Spain and Italy, through the creation of Islamic organizations that manage mosques and constitute a point of reference for the community. In 2015, Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the main security agency responsible for anti-terrorist operations, was created in order to dismantle terrorist cells. The BCIJ, in these two years, has identified 47 terrorist cells linked to the Islamic State and another 5 linked to Al-Qā’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and to al-Nusra (an affiliation of Al-Qā’ida in Syria). Moreover, from 2015 to date, 698 people have been arrested on charges of participation in terrorist organizations inside or outside the country.
The Islamic State is not the only catalyst for fighters; on the contrary, the number of those who join other terrorist organizations that are gaining ground in North Africa is growing. These terrorist organizations whose self-financing is based on drug and weapon trafficking, are constantly looking for young people to hire. Al-Qā’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), is a jihadist terrorist organization founded in 2007 through the merging of Al-Qā’ida and the Salafita Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). In line with the principles of Al-Qā’ida, its primary objective is to destabilize governments and establish shari’a as the sole law of the State.

At this time the main jihadist threat, for Morocco and other countries, comes from the Sahel, where AQIM controls territories, such as those in Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Tunisia, Nigeria, Libya, in that desert space which is no man’s land. The organization is responsible for a series of terrorist attacks, including the one in Mali (November 2015), Burkina Faso (January 2016) and Ivory Coast (March 2016). AQIM in Morocco controls the drug trafficking that stretches from Rif (the northern region of Morocco where half of the world’s hashish is produced, 15 thousand tons, with a $10 billion annual turnover) to the rest of North Africa and Europe. These militias, so-called narco-jihadist, have transformed Ceuta and Melilla (two Spanish enclaves in the north of Morocco) into the jihad gate to Europe and into nerve centers for the recruitment of followers and the export of drugs and weapons. And so, from that, it is clear that Morocco is an integral part of the dynamics of international terrorism, but with a substantial difference compared to other countries: the country is not theatre of attacks but it has become a breeding ground for Europe’s jihadi terrorists, one of the main recruiting places because of increasing youth unemployment and the marginalization of some areas of the country.

Moroccan jihadism, therefore, is based not only on an ideology but also on the ramification of criminal organizations and it exploits the narco-trafficking networks towards the European markets that pass mainly through Spain and Italy. AQIM is the demonstration that Al-Qā’ida, in its principles and tactics, is not dead but has fragmented into regional organizations and Morocco and its network of drug trafficking have become strengths for self-financing and recruiting of followers.

Altea Pericoli

Chad. At The Heart Of The People.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

A tiny group of Christians in a predominantly Moslem environment, determined to forge ties of friendship and dialogue in a society that still bears the wounds of thirty years of civil war. A Comboni Missionary community tells its story.

Abéché town is on the doorstep of the desert in eastern Chad. Just l.1% are Christians, Catholics and Protestants, in a Moslem ocean and a score of Catholic communities spread out in six regions. We are three Comboni priests: Father Bernard from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Father David from the United States, and Father Filippo, Italian. We assist a parish of over 400,000 square kilometres. The catholic community furthest to the north, Fada, in the Sahara desert, is 480 kilometres from the one furthest south, Tissi, a place well known in these parts as the meeting-point of three borders: Chad, Sudan and Central African Republic, as well as the tensions between the nomadic groups that move between them. Our territory is so vast that, even four years after our arrival, we are still discovering new places and, more importantly, new Christian communities.

It takes days of travelling to reach the communities; endless kilometres and hours and hours of dirt roads that run between the Sahara desert and the Sahel, the strip of land that goes across the continent, separating it from Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa. Journeys are physically hard not only because of the jolting over rough roads but also due to repeatedly digging the jeep out of the sand or pushing it across rivers. When we reach our destination, we are hosted in the homes of the people or in a small room attached to the chapel with a sleeping bag for a bed. We drink tea seated on a mat and talk about life, the families and the community, dreams and disappointments. We organise meetings with the leaders to see the state of the community. We visit the people in their homes to be close to them. Without waiting for an invitation, we simply go to where the people live and soon gain their trust: a glass of water and then we get down to business. After that we pray with the family and continue our mission.

Fruits of the Gospel

All our Christians come from the south and just one small area of the Guera region to the north. None of the original people of this sacred Moslem land are Christian and we are not looking to convert them. We prefer to build bridges of friendship, encounter and collaboration. We are well aware that it is not just numbers that build up the Kingdom of God but the passion and the dreams that, together we have within us as we work among various ethnic groups, cultures and religions.

Among our Christians we find teachers, nurses, doctors, soldiers and students as well as many businessmen. They spend a few years with us and then leave. In an effort to ensure the continuity of our service, we have learned to work as a team. If anyone leaves, others take over the work. On our part, we are often tempted not to be fully committed since we never know how long we can stay. Consequently, we take the opportunity to transmit the message that we are called to give ourselves with passion and without reserve. The fruits ripen when we listen and really commit ourselves: some become catechists or trainers of the youth, others take care of the sick and the imprisoned while others cultivate the community field, act as librarians or prepare the food for meetings, courses or celebrations.We first came to Abéché in September 2013 with Father Abakar, a Comboni priest from South Sudan, to build a bridge across the Moslem ocean and journey together with our small Christian communities. We give one hand to the Moslems, the other to the Christians; like grains of millet called to become salt to the earth and light to the world, bearing the still-open wounds of thirty years of hatred and war. Within this humanity pierced to the heart and divided between Islam and the West, we try to proceed with hope, building bridges of encounter and collaboration.

We have schools and cultural centres run together by Christians and Moslems, literacy classes for women and girls of all ethnic groups and religions, small income-generating projects like sewing, an oil press and a restaurant. Above all, we have friendly and respectful dialogue with our neighbours and collaborators, meetings with religious authorities on festive occasions and the celebration of peaceful cohabitation between young Christians and Moslems.All of this is possible when the Christian communities are accompanied and encouraged to see the interreligious encounter as an opportunity for growth and development, both of the individual and of the community. It also requires confidence in God: confidence and the prayer of others that moves us to pray. This is why we give ourselves to reaching the Christian communities no matter where they are and helping to train their leaders. When they are well trained and accompanied, lay people will carry out wonderful work of catechesis, liturgy, the formation of the youth, schools, cultural centres, justice and peace committees and dialogue with Islam.

Gazing at the one God

When we came here in 2013, we very carefully started to get to know what God had done through the Jesuit missionaries who had been there for the past 60 years, and especially through the lay people who, in very difficult places, live out their confidence in God and organise themselves into vivacious and courageous communities. All of them need to be visited and supported so as to feel part of a family.

Despite the distances and the desert, we are the people of God on a journey, faced with the great challenge of taking in hand our Church at all levels. It is the lay people who organise the communities through meetings and groups of leaders. It is they who organise Sunday prayer and, in some communities, daily prayer. They follow up the youth and the elderly who wish to become Christians, they direct the choirs and readers. Importantly, they collect funds to build chapels and fences, to bring water to difficult places or to build huts for community schools. They also try very hard to support us missionaries who have been sent to them.Each community contributes its quota to help with fuel for our jeep. We may say that, little by little, with pride and dignity, our Christians are meeting the needs of their missionaries. They are also very happy to support their communities. In the past, things were brought from outside and this created beggars. Now, much is provided from within and the people are proud of this and stand on their own two feet. This was how Jesus of Nazareth worked.

Our communities are not composed of people who just stand around like spectators; the Justice and Peace Committee of Abéché is doing everything it can to restore dignity to the young child-shepherds who look after flocks of goats, camels and cows in the desert. These are the slaves of the 21st century, stolen from their families in the south to provide prestige to the powerful in a country where those with the biggest herds are most important among the people. In Chad, we had traffickers of children and migrants going to Libya arrested. We watch the slave routes and rescue children who escape from their tormentors and restore them to their families. We organise awareness meetings and endeavour to let people know their rights.Caritas has taken over the service of prayer and accompaniment for prisoners and families in greatest difficulty, the small income-generating projects and the literacy classes for women. We want to accompany the disabled meet their thirst and search for dignity. In all this we have at heart the dream of lending a hand to the fallen, to help them to their feet again.

The Rewnodji women (the good journey women) have organised a bank of cereal seeds to respond to the times of drought and also a course of professional training for the youth: information technology, electricity and hydraulics.In this way, in eastern Chad the Gospel sits well with the accompaniment of small Christian communities and the encounter with Islam. It is a matter of faces and stories of people who truly want to turn a new page, leaving behind war and divisions to open a new era of peaceful co-existence: the true challenge to Chad both now and for the future.
The longer we stay here, the more we feel we have reached the heart of the people. We feel we are within the heartbeat of a people longing for peace at last, for justice and liberty; a people who have understood that these goals will be reached only by turning our gaze towards the one God. It matters little whether we pray to Him like Jesus or like Mohammed.

Filippo Ivardi

The Threat Of Cybercrime In Africa.

The rapid development of technology improves lives and enables more efficient operations in the private and public sectors. The challenges that have emerged as a direct consequence, however, can also undermine progress and expose users to illicit activities online.

Before 2000, Africa hosted only 4.5 million Internet users. Since then, telecommunications markets have been liberalised and affordable mobile technologies have become increasingly available. Today, there are close to 400 million users online on the continent.

According to a 2016 report by the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, it is estimated that Africa’s e-commerce industry will be worth US$75 billion by 2025. But while mobile technologies transform African societies by providing a major form of connectivity, they have also turned Africa into both a source and a target of illicit online activities. According to one report, in 2012, the number of targeted cyberattacks in Africa increased by 42% from previous years. As opportunity increases on the continent, so too do the associated risks.
Africa has become more vulnerable to general online security threats, intellectual property infringement and the theft of personal data. Indeed, it is estimated that 80% of all personal computers on the continent are infected with viruses and other malicious software.

Today’s cybercriminals no longer require users’ consent or knowledge to access valuable pieces of personal data. Cybercrime is, across the board, becoming bolder and more advanced; not only in how victims are targeted, but also the amount of money sought. In 2016, Serianu ranked the sectors most vulnerable to cybercrime on the continent, and placed banking and government at the top.
In West Africa, for example, two distinct groups of cybercriminals have emerged, namely the ‘Yahoo Boys’ and the ‘Next-Level Cybercriminals’. The two are distinguished by their structure and type of crimes they commit. While the Yahoo Boys mostly operate traditional advance-fee scams, the Next-Level Cybercriminals engage in more complex attacks against corporations and involve tax scams, with connections both in Africa and outside the continent.

As cybercriminals target victims both inside and outside their national boundaries, African countries have struggled to build the technical and financial capacity needed to target, monitor and thwart illicit online activities. There are simply not enough trained professionals, and historically there is little political will in many countries to tackle the issue. This stems from a combination of factors, including insufficient budgets and a tendency to overlook the ‘invisible’ threat. The cybersecurity infrastructure on the continent is in itself weak, with factors like outdated or pirated software leaving African countries vulnerable to serious security risks.

Cybercrime is a global phenomenon, with certain reports contending that it now surpasses drug trafficking as a criminal revenue source. Its impact is particularly pervasive in Africa, given the lack of cohesive cybersecurity policies and inadequate IT infrastructure.
In 2014, it was reported that cybercrime activities were increasing at a more rapid rate in Africa than anywhere else in the world. Again, this points to criminal networks taking advantage of the continent’s weak IT infrastructure to proliferate threats from ransomware, social media scams and new malware.
In South Africa alone, 73% of adults reported having experienced cybercrime, at an estimated cost of US$337 million to the economy. Of particular concern is the increase of mobile malware, rising in tandem with the continent’s liberalisation of telecommunications markets and widespread availability of mobile technologies.

A fundamental problem in combatting cybercrime – in Africa, and elsewhere – is a general lack of understanding about what cybercrime really is, and of cyber law enforcement mechanisms. This creates a low risk of prosecution, which incentivises criminals and increases the challenge ahead. Nonetheless, the increasing financial impact of cyberattacks has fuelled an acknowledgment among both the private and public sectors that there is a need for effective responses – even if, for now, attempts to tackle the threat of cybercrime remain inadequate.

Mark Shaw, Director and Laura Adal, Senior Research Analyst,
Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

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