From Saddam Hussein's execution to Iran 's Nuclear program, 2007 has been a horrific year for the Middle East. It also was a busy year for the media. Four major events dominated the news.
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2007 was a tumultuous year in the Middle East. Not a single day passed by without a major event developing in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon or on the Israeli Palestinian front. Northern Africa witnessed terrorist attacks claimed by Al Qaeda and Middle Eastern media outlets followed developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan closely. Here is a look at some of the major stories of the year: the expected and the unexpected.
The year began with media frenzy over the execution of Saddam Hussein which happened on December 30, 2006 but lasted through the month of January 2007 and beyond. While officially released footage of the event stopped short of showing the actual execution, an amateur video shot using a camera phone surfaced early in January. The amateur footage, unlike the official footage, included sound-- witnesses could be heard taunting Saddam at the gallows. A week later, another video surfaced on the Internet, which showed Saddam's body with a large neck wound. The video appeared to have been taken by a camera phone as well. Reactions to Saddam's death were varied. Although some strongly supported the execution, particularly those personally affected by Saddam's actions as leader, most commentators in the Arab media were incensed by the showing of the video and the timing of the execution which happened on Eid El Adha.
In January also, Iraq was in complete chaos. President George W. Bush ordered the deployment of another 30,000 American troops in what was termed as the "surge". But the violence continued, and the monthly death toll in Iraq rose 15% in March, hitting a pinnacle when on August 14, 572 people in Qahtania, northern Iraq were killed in multiple suicide bombings. A month later, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was killed in a bomb attack in the city of Ramadi. He was an important US ally because he led the "Anbar Awakening", an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that rose up against Al Qaeda. A month later, on September 17, the Blackwater story broke when the Iraqi government announced it was revoking the license of the American security firm after the firm’s involvement in the death of eight civilians, including a woman and an infant.
Yet by December, violence in Baghdad had fallen by about two thirds and Iraq's Anbar province, once the epicenter of the Sunni insurgency, had been largely pacified.
2007 may be remembered as the year in which Iraq turned the corner.
This was the year when Iran faced maximum international pressure over its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad’s regime continued its uranium enrichment program despite the passage of three resolutions demanding that it cease. The media had a field-day covering the confrontation between presidents Bush and Ahmadinejad. The media frenzy reached it peak at the end of September when Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, under intense attack for the invitation — opened the event with a 10-minute verbal diatribe against his guest.
But in December, America's own intelligence agencies concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. At a stroke, this crucial finding eased the pressure on Teheran.
2007 opened with Lebanon in crisis. Opposition protesters camped outside the prime minister's office, demanding the government's resignation. Opposition ministers walked out of the Cabinet, and parliament was not able to convene again for nearly a year.
2007 culminated in a crisis over the presidency that has left Lebanon without a head of state since late November, when former President Emile Lahoud's term expired. Then there was the standoff at Nahr el Bared which lasted for more than a hundred days. Thousands of Palestinian refugees were forced to flee their homes during the ensuing fighting between the Lebanese army and Fateh el Islam, an Al Qaeda inspired group. The whole event surrounding Fateh el Islam, its membership, its supporters and how the organization managed to establish itself in Lebanon was surrounded by mystery. This mystery increased with the recent assassination of Brigadier General Francois Al Hajj who was in charge of operations during the assault on Nahr el Bared. When 2007 draws to a close, Lebanon will still have a vacant president seat to fill.
In 2007, there was a change of attitude by the Bush Administration towards the Palestinian Israeli conflict. We witnessed intensified shuttle diplomacy by Secretary Rice which culminated in the Annapolis Peace Conference in November. This conference differed from previous Middle East peace conferences in several respects:
This was the first time both sides (Israeli and Palestinian) entered a conference with a common understanding that the final state of Palestinian-Israeli peace will be a two-state solution.
It was also the first time Palestinians spoke for themselves, instead of being part of a delegation, such as the Arab League.
However, this was the most politically fragmented that the Palestinians have been going into a conference, which brings me to the biggest surprise of the year: Hamas’ coup d’etat in Gaza. In June Hamas fighters basked in triumph after taking complete control in Gaza surprising media outlets throughout the region.
In a stark demonstration of the new facts on the ground, a masked Hamas fighter sat down at the desk of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, and declared an end to the western-backed authority in the Gaza strip. What will 2008 have in store in the Middle East? Unfortunately a peaceful one is probably not on the horizon.