Category: Jonathan Lahdo

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Resignation

11/15/2017

By Jonathan Lahdo
Jonathan Lahdo is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying business and international studies.

Just over a year ago, Michel Aoun was elected president of the Republic of Lebanon, ending a 29-month presidential vacuum in the Middle Eastern nation. Under Lebanon’s complicated sectarian system of government, the presidential position is reserved for a Maronite Christian, and it can take much deliberation in parliament before a consensus is reached as to who shall assume the post. Nevertheless, Aoun’s election marked the first time since the end of the country’s civil war that a Maronite Christian leader with a popular support base was elected president. [1]

Since then, Lebanon has seen a period of relative stability. Aoun’s close ties to Hezbollah have served well in the fight against ISIS, though they were not viewed favourably by Saad Hariri, the Prime Minister. The position of Prime Minister is reserved for a Sunni Muslim, and the appointment of Hariri, a vocal opponent of the Shiite Hezbollah, represented not only a concession on his part, but also a reduced role in Lebanese affairs played by one of his greatest supporters in the region, Saudi Arabia. [1]

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Saudi Arabia’s Historic Decision to Allow its Women to Drive

10/18/2017

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By Jonathan Lahdo
Jonathan Lahdo is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying business and international studies.

These past two weeks have seen many firsts for the Gulf Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On September 23rd, the country celebrated the 87th year of its founding with many festivities and performances that were enjoyed for the first time by a mixed audience of both men and women. [1] The Kingdom’s residents also witnessed for the first time in 30 years a musical concert aired on national television; the country’s cultural channel, Al Thakafiyah TV, aired the concerts of the world-renowned Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, and has more such programming planned. [2] Neither of these events, however, compare to the country’s groundbreaking announcement on September 26th that women would be given the right to drive. [3]

Prior to this announcement, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world that had a ban on women driving, making it unique even within the context of its neighbors in the Middle East, which are infamous for laws that discriminate against women. [4] The issue, however, is not one that was silently accepted in the period before this recent decision. Throughout the country’s history, numerous women have protested the archaic law by driving themselves. In a recent example, a woman named Loujain Hathloul was arrested and detained for 73 days in 2014 after attempting to drive from the United Arab Emirates into Saudi Arabia. [5] Of course, this was far from the first instance of protest seen in the nation. Fawziah al-Bakr, a Saudi university professor, was one of the 47 women to participate in the Kingdom’s first protest against the ban in 1990. Her reaction to the lifting of the ban was overwhelmingly positive: “It is amazing … Since that day, Saudi women have been asking for the right to drive, and finally it arrived … We have been waiting for a very long time.” [5]

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The Legality of Trump’s Strike on Syria

5/27/2017

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By Jonathan Lahdo
Jonathan Lahdo is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying business and international studies.

On Tuesday, April 4th, the world was taken aback by news of a chemical attack in Syria that killed scores of innocent civilians. It has now been estimated that over 80 were killed in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in the north-west of the country by exposure to deadly chemical weapons. [1] According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), at least two different chemical weapons were used, one of which caused symptoms very similar to those of sarin gas, though their tests remain inconclusive and the exact chemicals used have not yet been determined. [2]

Aside from the details of the horrific events, one main question remained: Who was responsible for these attacks?

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Erdogan’s Proposed Constitutional Reforms

4/11/2017

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By Jonathan Lahdo
Jonathan Lahdo is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying business and international studies.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, has stirred much controversy in the media recently, frequently being likened to a dictator and criticised for his statements and governmental proposals due to his interest in significantly realigning the power distribution in the Turkish government.

Erdogan first served as Prime Minister of Turkey in 2002, the year after his party, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi [Justice and Development Party] or AKP, was formed. He went on to become the country’s first directly elected president in 2014. The role at the time was largely ceremonial, restricted by many factors, though his current proposed reforms seek to change that. [1]

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Qatar: Possible Advancement in an Overlooked Human Rights Issue

3/22/2017

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By Jonathan Lahdo
Jonathan Lahdo is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying business and international studies.

As a region, the Middle East often finds itself under scrutiny due to human rights abuses that span the entire spectrum, from well-known examples like censorship and restrictions on freedom of speech to some that are less prominent from the rest of the world’s perspective.

The Gulf Emirate of Qatar is a pertinent example in recent history of a Middle Eastern state in which human rights abuses that had previously been ignored by most mainstream media outlets were brought to the surface. Namely, the issue was the treatment of migrant labourers working on the construction of the stadium for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar. At least 1,200 migrant workers died during the three years after Qatar was awarded the World Cup bid. [1] This highlights the lack of action being taken on the part of the Qatari government to protect these migrant workers that are exploited by their employers, often forced to live in squalid conditions and have their wages withheld and passports confiscated. [2]

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The Roundtable

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Resignation

Saudi Arabia’s Historic Decision to Allow its Women to Drive

The Legality of Trump’s Strike on Syria

Erdogan’s Proposed Constitutional Reforms

Qatar: Possible Advancement in an Overlooked Human Rights Issue

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