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Al-Mada, Iraq, June 11The 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in October. Will the scenario we witnessed in the previous elections of 2018 be repeated? Will Iraqis boycott the election en masse?Some might ask: Why not encourage the practice of democracy that takes place in most countries of the developed world? Why not vote?Gentlemen, I, like all Iraqis, dream of real change, but what our politicians are practicing cannot be described as “democracy.” Our political system is not much different from a tragicomedy that is playing over and over in front of our eyes, on repeat. As soon as the elections are over, the exact same people will appear on our television screens, delivering the exact same speeches, ripe with the exact same buzzwords. “We came to save you” will be the gist of their remarks.But what the people of Iraq are desperate for are political leaders who possess the qualities of integrity, honesty and magnanimity; not people who seek to enhance their own power, protect their own interests, and abuse their political immunity to evade corruption.The foul odor of cronyism fills the hallways of our state institutions. From there, it spreads into the streets of our provinces, towns and cities, where local leaders fight over political titles, social prestige and power.During the previous elections, about half of eligible voters in Iraq chose not to vote. They were tired of begging for their most basic rights.I don’t know what the election results will look like. I also don’t know what turnout rates will actually be. But I do know that the people of Iraq are fed up. They cannot bear to suffer the same corrupt and inept leadership they’ve been dealing with for the past three years. – Ali HusseinTHE FIRST STATE OF THE JEWS: WHY IS IT A HIDDEN FACT?Al-Qabas, Kuwait, June 12Have you heard of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia? Probably not. That’s because the State of Israel has a vested interest in hiding the fact that this republic exists.The Jewish Autonomous Oblast, located in southeastern Russia, is the motherland of the Jews. Until this very day, a large portion of the local population is Jewish. Unfortunately, this fact has been obscured, in cooperation with the State of Israel, so that the Zionist dream of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine would continue to exist.Unlike what Zionists like to claim, Palestine was never the homeland of the Jewish people. The Jews could have easily established their homeland in their allocated autonomous region, where they wouldn’t harm anyone or rely on the continuous support of Uncle Sam.For the record, this independent republic has an area of over 40,000 square kilometers. That is, it is close to the size of Switzerland. It also has an extremely low population density. Therefore, it could have served as an ideal homeland for the Jews. Instead of usurping Palestinian lands, Zionists could have built their nation at a place already allocated to them.But this fact has been obscured so that the world would stand by Israel’s side as it steals Palestinian lands.Another important question: Why did Zionists prevent the secession of this republic from Russia? How come the Jewish Autonomous Oblast didn’t seek independence, just like other territories such as Chechnya?I think the answer is clear: No one wanted attention diverted away from Palestine. The Zionists wanted to keep their options hidden so that the territorial occupation of Palestine could continue to take place to this very day. – Fakhri Hashem Sayed RajabTHE PROBLEM OF WASTE IN OUR STREETSAkhbar el-Yom, Egypt, June 10One of the oldest problems in our streets, roads and highways is the problem of trash. Everywhere you look, you see car owners dumping waste on the sides of the roads. Household trash fills up every empty and non-empty plot of land around us. And the worst part? Rules against littering are never enforced, and no tickets or fines are ever issued.Yet this is a real problem. The cluttering of roads with trash leads not only to pollution and environmental degradation but also to the loss of human life through avoidable accidents. In my view, the crime of dumping waste on our roads deserves the same penalty as manslaughter. Those who litter are no different from the criminals who take the law into their own hands.New roads and intersections are being built to help alleviate the problem of traffic congestion in our cities. Yet our highways get continuously blocked by piles of rubbish that accumulate on a daily basis. Not to mention the enormous costs associated with clearing this waste, which must then be transported to a landfill. The result, other than the horrible smell and the eyesore, is increased rates of accidents and injuries.The solution, in my opinion, is to confiscate cars that litter. If a driver is spotted dumping household waste on the side of the road, his or her car must immediately be seized by the police. Also, the media must play a larger role in publicizing the penalties that would be imposed on those who dump their trash in public locations.It doesn’t really help us to have the president of the republic arrive at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new road, intersection or bridge, when that road, intersection or bridge gets immediately clogged up with trash as soon as the presidential motorcade leaves.It’s time to do something about this problem, which has rendered our towns and cities almost impossible to drive in. – Mahmoud SamehFEAR AND ANXIETY AMONG DENMARK’S SYRIAN REFUGEESAl-Ittihad, UAE, June 12Getting through an entire night of sleep has always been a difficult task for Syrian refugee Sabriya, but now sleep has become almost impossible. The possibility that the Danish government will send her back to Syria is extremely unsettling.If her attempt to appeal the revocation of her residency permit fails, Sabriya will have to choose between “voluntarily” returning to the country from which she fled or moving into a deportation center until further notice.It doesn’t matter that the Syrian regime killed Sabriya’s husband and bombed her family’s home. It also doesn’t matter that she has no one to return to in Syria, and that all of her family members have been separated from each other. The Danish authorities have determined that it is currently “safe” for Syrian asylum-seekers to be repatriated.Indeed, Danish authorities have revoked more and more residency permits granted to refugees in recent years. Policy experts said the government’s decision reflects a long-standing effort to make Denmark less attractive to asylum-seekers. There are fears that foreigners could become a burden on the Danish social welfare system and harm social cohesion.Experts on Syria, including a large majority of those consulted by the Danish authorities, rejected the notion that Damascus and its surrounding areas are considered safe in any way. More than a decade into the Syrian civil war, over a million Syrian lives have been lost. Lisa Blankenberg, senior adviser at Amnesty International, noted that if Syrians returned to government-controlled areas, they would be subject to interrogations, torture and potentially death.So far, 400 cases of Syrians, including minors, have been rejected by the Danish immigration authorities. Rejecting cases does not result in immediate expulsion, for the simple legal reason that Syrians cannot be forcibly returned as long as diplomatic relations between Copenhagen and Damascus are severed. – Dominic SujilTranslated by Asaf Zilberfarb.
Voices from the Arab press: Will Iraqis boycott the next election?
The 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in October. Will the scenario we witnessed in the previous elections of 2018 be repeated? Will Iraqis boycott the election en masse?
