S2018 E1 • Don't Kill Him in Damascus

A story filled with intrigue and suspense, the killing of Fathi Shaqaqi, founder of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, allegedly assassinated by Mossad.

Première diffusion : 17 janvier 2018

S2018 E2 • Lebanon: Living on the Blue Line

The personal stories of villagers in south Lebanon and the extreme measures they take to deal with the threat they see from across the border with Israel.

Première diffusion : 24 janvier 2018

S2018 E3 • The Palestinian Diaspora Orchestra

Musicians from all around the world revive the Palestine National Orchestra and perform in the occupied territories.

Première diffusion : 31 janvier 2018

S2018 E4 • Journalism is Not a Crime: The Story of Mahmoud Hussein

A look at the case of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein and his continued detention without trial in Egypt.

Première diffusion : 21 février 2018

S2018 E5 • The Great Population Exchange between Turkey and Greece

The lasting legacy of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Première diffusion : 28 février 2018

S2018 E6 • Syria: In the Ruins of a Dream

Five Syrians reflect on the devastation wrought on their homes, some of which took a lifetime to build.

Première diffusion : 14 mars 2018

S2018 E7 • May Ziade: The Life of an Arab Feminist Writer

Exploring Ziade's complex life, her effort to emancipate women, and her platonic relationship with poet Khalil Gibran.

Première diffusion : 21 mars 2018

S2018 E8 • Time Out: Lebanon's Golden Age of Basketball

After the civil war, the basketball court became a new battleground of sectarian divisions between Lebanon's top teams.

Première diffusion : 4 avril 2018

S2018 E9 • Egypt's Women Street Sellers

The stories of five Egyptian village women supporting their entire families by selling local produce in the markets.

Première diffusion : 9 mai 2018

S2018 E10 • Ryuichi Hirokawa: Witness from the East

While working on a kibbutz in 1967, a Japanese journalist discovers the hidden remains of a Palestinian village.

Première diffusion : 23 mai 2018

S2018 E11 • The Last Nomads of Morocco

Many of Morocco's nomadic communities living across the Atlas Mountains, like the Ait Atta tribe, are gradually changing their way of life from roaming herders to part settlers - or what sociologists call 'a sedentary lifestyle'. But such fundamental change comes challenges, as well as opportunities. Traditionally, nomads do not receive a formal education. However in the past decade, there have been moves to introduce what they call 'tent schools' to try and equip their children for the modern world. But for them to attend school, their families have to remain in one place all year. It might also mean that the children ultimately leave their parents' traditional nomadic way of life. 'They told us they'd provide education for our children if we settled in a particular place,' says nomad Daoud Ariba. Helping with that adjustment are social activists like Ali El Amine. It was his idea to bring the tent schools to the region, with help from international agencies and the Moroccan government. 'Our goal is to see nomads at all levels of education, in college and even university. We want them to get diplomas and not to stop at the primary level and then return to cattle grazing,' says El Amine who is also the President of Chems Association. In addition to providing tents, the association serves as a liaison between the nomads and local authorities. 'We try to integrate the children into charity groups and obtain financial support for them,' he says. While the tent schools are a first step towards settling the nomads, the schools' remote locations, harsh winters and heavy rains pose challenges for teachers and pupils. 'When I came here, I walked for two hours,' says teacher Abdallah al-Sahraoui. 'I got an idea about the area from the road condition. The road was difficult with dangerous bends. I had to walk up and slide down the mountain. I had to walk for two hours to reach the school.' The tough mountain terrain also poses risks. Teenager Ittou lost her leg after she suffered a snake bite in the middle of nowhere. 'My father came running and I told him I was bitten. He poured household bleach on the wound. But it did not work. He carried me on the back of a mule because of the lack of transportation,' she says. The nomads who settle also have to learn new skills, like basic building techniques. 'We were nomads living in tents, but now we've settled here,' says Mohamed Ait Trichet of the Tidakline Nomads Association. 'We're learning construction. We make clay brick to build our houses and other facilities.' The change for the Ait Atta is happening and there's hope that nomad communities that have been struggling below the poverty line will start to create a more viable way of life. Education has undoubtedly been the catalyst for change for the nomad tribes. Sedentarisation will take time and not all the nomads embrace the change. 'I don't see any difference between nomadic or non-nomadic children in terms of their capabilities and their potential', says teacher Mohamed El Bakri. 'But I see in their eyes the desire to learn and discover new things.' Morocco is not a wealthy country, but it wants to modernise and give its people the best chances in life. But if the process of change continues in this way, these proud people and their children really will be the last nomads of Morocco.

Première diffusion : 30 mai 2018

S2018 E12 • Paris, A Divided City: What does it mean to be French?

An investigation into the complex questions of identity and alienation in the under-privileged suburbs of Paris.

Première diffusion : 6 juin 2018

S2018 E13 • Lebanon: Single By Choice

When she catches up with long lost female friends, Tarfa Itani usually anticipates their first question: 'Are you married' 'I answer 'no',' says the thirty-something jewellery designer and boutique owner in Beirut. And then they usually follow-up with, 'Why, you're pretty' Her eyes sparkle as she talks to filmmaker Simon El Habre who is on his own personal quest to discover why, at 40, he hasn't yet found the woman he feels he wants to commit the rest of his life to. Finding time for a personal life has not been easy and though Itani's had several relationships, she hasn't yet found a life partner. She feels that women's expectations finding the perfect man are unrealistic, but also believes that many Lebanese women these days no longer feel pressure to see marriage as the be all and end all. It's not a burden or a responsibility. It's about companionship, love and beautiful moments together. It's unfair to link marriage to all these negative thoughts. Tarfa Itani, jewellery designer and owner of Falamank Boutique 'It's not a burden or a responsibility,' she says standing in her jewellery boutique where she supplies a growing Arab and international market. She's referring to social pressures and growing divorce rates. 'It's about companionship, love and beautiful moments together. It's unfair to link marriage to all these negative thoughts.' El Habre comes across a number of factors contributing to increasing numbers of single, thirty-plus women in Lebanon. Women outnumber men by more than 2 percent in the country of six million. It's a situation that becomes more pronounced as people enter their late thirties and early forties and is exacerbated by the sometimes rigid roles imposed by Lebanese society, across religious and cultural boundaries. Getting work has become an increasing problem following the end of the Lebanese Civil War, in 1990. Unemployment hovers around seven percent today, so many men now work abroad, marrying foreign wives. Educated Lebanese women, tied to the more traditional expectations of parents and extended family, have tended to remain in Lebanon. For 40-year-old Adriana Lubos who works in advertising, that's simply the way that it is. 'Men with qualifications leave Lebanon to get married, because there are no opportunities here for them to achieve their ambitions,' she says. To try and better understand the situation, Adriana has been writing a blog, candidly sharing her experiences with online dating and relationships. 'People usually marry in their early thirties. But if they reach their mid-thirties, something must be wrong,' she says. 'That's the rule and you become the exception. So you try to understand why.' Accurate statistics are hard to come by but informally Adriana believes that for every single, eligible man in Beirut, there may be six or more single women. After living on her own and forging her own successful career in local government - and becoming the first female president of her municipality - Fadia Abo Ghanem Maalouf has finally settled into marriage. But when she met her future husband, it wasn't all plain sailing. 'After we had many clashes, we suddenly fell in love. It's the most beautiful thing. Life is shared between two, not one.' In contrast to 10-hour work days and nights with as little as two hours sleep, Fadia has found fulfilment in a more traditional role. 'It's nice to go back home and find someone waiting for you, someone who loves you, is kind, respects you and completes your ambitions,' she says. El Habre concludes that, in today's Lebanon, perhaps being single is becoming the new norm. Women are taking more control of their lives in ways that much of society has not yet adjusted to. The consequences for Lebanon - and potentially the Arab world as a whole - may be an increasing shift away from traditional family structures. But, as yet, no one quite has the answers as to what will replace them.

S2018 E14 • Where's Turkey Headed? Karamollaoglu And Kalin

Millions of Turkish voters will head to the polls on June 24 to simultaneously elect a president and new members of parliament. It's the first time since the referendum last year when the people approved key constitutional amendments - giving more power to the presidency. Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) argue that a more powerful executive presidency makes Turkey more stable. But critics like Temel Karamollaoglu, presidential candidate and leader of the Saadet Party, warns that Erdogan is moving the country to a dictatorship and says the president is not doing enough to unite the Muslim world abroad. 'The new presidential system is going to lead Turkey to a dictatorship,' Karamollaoglu says. 'There is no doubt, because the parliament has no influence on the president. They can't control, they can't produce any values which will be effective, so the president, in fact, will decide whatever he thinks proper without consulting the parliament.' And although the people voted for the constitutional changes, Karamollaoglu believes that 'the public can make mistakes as well. It will be too late when they see, realise what the dangers are and what they will face.' 'We believe in separation of power ... The government should not have any influence on justice, on the courts. Today, the government directly controls and gives in fact orders to the courts. You can't have justice in a world like this,' he says. Asked about his chance to winning the presidency, he says, 'there are some rumours that certain tricks are prepared, but we don't know what will happen. When you take part in elections, you go there to win.' President Erdogan has been ruling Turkey for more than 15 years, and his spokesperson is confident that he will win another term - with increased powers. 'Those who claim that the new system will be some kind of an authoritarian autocracy, one-man rule, etc, they should study political history and look at examples of other presidential systems,' says Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesperson for President Erdogan. 'If you look at for example, how much power an American president has, it's not any different ... The presidential system cannot be called an authoritarian system. In fact, if you look at the model itself, the full separation of powers - judiciary, executive and legislative - that is fully separated in the presidential system.' According to Kalin, 'the judiciary used to be dominated by a kind of a more secularist type of judges and prosecuters in the past. Then what happend in the last five, six years was, the Gulenists infiltrated the judiciary ... they put their people in key positions of the judiciary - prosecuters and judges ... and they were controlling the judiciary. We have eliminated the Gulenists from the judiciary ... They are independent.' Some opinion polls suggest a tight race and some have suggested that Erdogan's AK Party might not achieve a parliamentary majority, but Kalin says there is no doubt about the election outcome. 'I think most of the criticism that you get from some western media outlets and commentators is based on a total misreading of the political realities in Turkey ... Erdogan has entered almost 14 or 15 general, local elections and referendums over the last 14, 15 years and he has won every single one of them,' he says. 'The vote on Sunday is not going to be any different according to the polls and to what we see on the ground ... We see the crowds on the streets, and their aspirations and their expectations from the government and from the leadership - it's very clear that he is set to win this election as well.' 'Just because he keeps winning doesn't make him an authoritarian person.' On this episode of Talk to Al Jazeera, Temel Karamollaoglu, the leader of the Saadet Party, and Ibrahim Kalin, the Turkish presidential spokesperson, discuss Turkey's upcoming election, Erdogan's foreign policies and challenges facing the country.

Première diffusion : 23 juin 2018

S2018 E15 • Jane Goodall: Chimpanzees, Humanity And All That Binds Them

Widely seen as the world's leading primatologist and conservationist, Jane Goodall has an unparalleled understanding of chimpanzees. Goodall's study of chimpanzees, human beings' 'closest living relatives on earth', began in 1960 when she travelled to Tanzania for this sole purpose. Her moment of international recognition came with the broadcast of the documentary 'Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees' across the United States. However, Goodall's career hasn't always been embraced by society. As discoveries were made establishing the real biological and behavioural similarities between chimpanzees and human beings, the resistance in both the press and general public grew, the main point of contention being how a woman - without a university degree - could make such claims about humanity. As science backed the facts Goodall continued to uncover, those issues were more or less laid to rest; but the peoples' trust in science and what studying chimpanzees could tell us about humanity, especially whether aggression was an innate trait or something learned, was a real political predicament. 'At that time, in the early 1970s, it was a political issue. Science was divided as to whether human infants are born with a clean slate, everything is learned from your culture, your society, from your mother ... I was saying, no, some things are inherited, it's instinctive - I know as a mother. When your child is threatened you get this surge of adrenaline and sometimes anger. It's not rational, but it's there,' Goodall recalls. 'It's mostly people who don't want to admit that animals have personalities, minds, and above all, emotions.' In light of an upcoming visit to chimpanzee sanctuary Ngamba Island, Goodall also recalls the maltreatment and abuse of primates at the Entebbe zoo when she first visited Uganda under then-president Idi Amin's rule. 'They [Entebbe zoo] had about eight or nine infant chimps whose mothers had been shot for bushmeat. They didn't have proper cages ... they had nothing to do. They were very disturbed. I managed to find [the chimps] a zookeeper from London Zoo. Gradually they built up proper cages ... and one of the things that she did was give them paper and paint brushes. Some of them paint fine shapes, circular shapes ... they began selling them, which raised money. That was the beginning of it. The island was created for orphan chimps whose mothers were either killed for bushmeat or they were poached, so the infants could be sent off and sold as pets or entertainment,' says Goodall. Although Goodall has never personally been threatened by those whose interests she may challenge, such as wildlife poachers, the resistance to understanding the interconnectedness of humanity, animals and the environment is something she has tirelessly worked to rectify. 'It is our society [the developed world] that were raiding the forests for timber and so forth. That's when I thought, unless we have new generations growing up to understand better our relationship with the natural world, then soon there will be nothing left, we will suffer. And I began my Roots and Shoots programme. Our Roots and Shoots groups work on three interrelated problems to help people, to help other animals - because we are animals too - and to help the environment,' says Goodall.

Première diffusion : 24 juin 2018

S2018 E16 • Seven Days In Beirut

In early 2018, a researcher at the Palestinian Return Centre in London, Pietro Stefanini, attends a conference where he sees a video by a young Palestinian man. In it, Ahmed Shehadeh speaks passionately about the 70-year ordeal he feels his family has faced living stateless in Lebanon. 'I challenge anyone to stay in a refugee camp,' he says, 'not for 70 years, because we were forced out of Palestine 70 years ago, but for just seven days'. Inspired by Ahmed's challenge, Stefanini takes time out from his day job and travels to the Burj Al Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut – a long-established shanty-like community where around 50,000 Palestinian refugees live – but without Lebanese citizenship. This film documents Pietro's stay, from Ahmed's meeting him at the camp entrance until he departs the alleyways and the maze of overhead electrical cables, notorious for falling and electrocuting residents. Students my age have graduated from college as doctors and engineers, but they're unemployed,' he says. 'I studied nursing but I can't find work. That's why we need different citizenship, Lebanese or anything, even if it's Somali or Indian. Ahmed was born in the camp but his grandfather, Abdullah Shehadeh, was forced out of Palestine during the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948, following the creation of the then new state of Israel. Palestinians refer to this as Al Nakba, 'the catastrophe'. He and his father and siblings went to the border with Lebanon and eventually came to Burj al-Barajneh. The camp was set up by the Red Cross in 1948 to accommodate the influx of Palestinian refugees from what's now northern Israel. As family patriarch, Abdullah is known as 'Hajj' and assembles his sons, daughters and grandchildren to greet Stefanini. He points mournfully to the picture of his wife of 62 years and says she's being treated in hospital. 'I wish she were here with us today,' he says, 'to tell you about Palestine, its natural wealth and heritage… She's been with me since 1956. The house is lifeless without her because she's my entire life,' he later says, breaking into tears. Hajj takes Pietro to a gathering of camp elders. A TV screen mounted on the wall plays archival footage of Israeli tanks during the 1948 war. 'Look at what Israel has done to us,' says Hajj, 'how they've displaced and forced us out of our land'. Stefanini takes in as much camp life as he can in his week-long stay. At 6am, he accompanies Hajj's eight-year-old great granddaughter, Janna, to her only educational option, a school for refugees run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The Palestinian children have to cross Beirut, travelling an hour or more to get an education. Our homes were demolished,' one woman explains. 'Our life was destroyed. We still have our keys because we hope we'll go back one day. Palestinian elder/refugee One evening, Pietro also meets Palestinian women, many of whom have lived virtually all their lives in the camp. Like Hajj Abdullah, they all still hope they'll one day be able to return to Palestine. One even wears the key to her childhood home around her neck. 'Our homes were demolished,' one woman explains. 'Our life was destroyed. We still have our keys because we hope we'll go back one day.' 'What strikes me most,' Pietro says, 'is that everyone I meet here is trying to find hope.' Stefanini also spends a day with Ahmed whose challenge brought him to Burj al-Barajneh. Ahmed studied to be a nurse but is ineligible to work in Lebanon. Instead, he makes what money he can running a small café, singing at weddings and teaching traditional dance, Dabkeh, to Palestinian children. 'Students my age have graduated from college as doctors and engineers but they're unemployed,' he says. 'I studied nursing but I can't find work. That's why we need different citizenship, Lebanese or anything, even if it's Somali or Indian.' 'Now I know to what depths of despair existence in this camp can bring a man,' Stefanini says quietly to himself. Later in the week Hajj Abdullah's wife is discharged from hospital. As younger family members wheel her into the house, the scars of the years of prolonged suffering are visible when Hajj bends over and tenderly kisses his wife. 'Welcome back my love. Welcome back. May God protect you.'be

S2018 E17 • Married At 14: Syria's Refugee Child Brides

Each year, childhood ends for an estimated 15 million girls around the world who marry before the age of 18, according to the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW). South Asia has the largest concentration of child brides, but early marriage is a global phenomenon. Girls living in poverty are more susceptible, and by marrying so young, research shows, girls perpetuate the cycle of poverty. UNICEF says they typically drop out of school and as a result, face poor job prospects. 'I couldn't go to school because of the war,' says Ola, a Syrian refugee who was married at 14 years. 'We had to stay at home, the schools closed. I studied only until 6th grade.' The Syrian war has created a vortex of conditions, such as displacement and poverty as well as fears about the so-called honour and safety of girls that have prompted families to marry off their daughters. 'I left Aleppo six years ago,' says Fatima, a Syrian refugee living in a camp in Jordan. 'We used to go to the school, then come home. I did my homework, went out with my friends ... If the problems stop, I think I will go back. Because of the the current problems, it's all terror and fear.' Jordan is now home to more than 650,000 Syrian refugees. UNICEF says there is an epidemic of child marriage among them and it's on the rise. From the onset of the Syrian war in 2011 to the present, child marriage has spiked from 15 to 36 percent in the kingdom. European countries such as Sweden and Germany, that have welcomed large numbers of Syrian refugees, are also grappling with a dilemma: permit child marriage or separate families. Child brides commonly face domestic violence, restricted movement and are often not given a voice when it comes to making decisions in the family. No matter the justifications families give, the ICRW says, child marriage is 'a violation of human rights and a form of violence against girls'. 'I wanted to be a doctor' Fatima found out she was engaged just shy of her 15th birthday. Her parents notified her that she was to marry another Syrian refugee. 'I wasn't even 15 years old, I was scared. I cried. First I told them I didn't want to [get married]. I am too young. Then they told me he was a good young man and that they knew him ... I was confused: should I agree or not They used to say 'do as you wish. Do what you like' , but because he was from a good family, a good hard-working man, I agreed.' Since fleeing their home in Aleppo six years ago, Fatima and her family have endured fear, hunger and now poverty. The war forced her to drop out of school when she was 10 years old. She says if her destiny had been different, she would have loved to have been a doctor. Instead, she is a 16-year-old wife and mother to a five-month-old daughter, with another baby on the way. 'I am pleased with my life. If I am content, it's no one else's business,' she says. But when asked about her daughter, Fatima says she would want her daughter to finish her education and not marry early. 'She should wait until she is 20 or 25. She would carry too much responsibility while she is young. I wish I could have finished school. I wanted to be a doctor, I never thought of marriage.' 'A woman's life is a lot better before marriage' Ola was 13 years old, when her parents first broached the topic of marriage with her. After a one-year engagement, she was married at 14. 'You are happy because of the white wedding dress.The girl thinks the man would love her and that she would live a life better than the one she had with her family. He would take her wherever she wanted to go. I thought he would love me more than my family,' Ola recalls her feelings when her parents told her about marriage. But once married, the relationship deteriorated quickly. 'He didn't have a job, he relied on his family abd I didn't know that he was dependent on his family. After the marriage we used to fight because he didn't work,' Ola says. 'They [his family] interfered in our affairs and there were problems ... They denied me everything, but they got to go out and do what they liked. I had to do the cooking, washing and cleaning, I lived in the kitchen ... It felt like being in a prison. I couldn't go out.' She considers herself lucky they couldn't have children. The 17-year old has spent the last year and a half navigating the Jordanian court system, trying to get a divorce, but her husband and his family have disappeared and her case has stalled. Ola says she regrets getting married so early, because she could have finished her education. 'No one should get married that early. You'd avoid a man telling you what to do all the t

Première diffusion : 30 juin 2018

S2018 E18 • Shahira: My Syrian Friend

In 1990, Lebanon emerged from a 15-year civil war politically fractured and under the control of the Syrian army. Syrian troops eventually withdrew in 2005 but many Lebanese remained deeply wary of their neighbour to the north and east. In the two decades that followed, Lebanon continued to be dogged by regional, religious and political conflict - and Lebanon's efforts to stabilise have been frustrated by factionalism, fraught relations with Syria, Israeli interventions and internal divisions arising from Iran and Syria's backing of the Shia Muslim movement Hezbollah in south Lebanon. After the Syrian revolution and subsequent war in 2011, many wondered whether Lebanon could withstand yet another regional conflict. Today, in a country roughly the same size as the US city of Los Angeles, Lebanon still hosts some 450,000 Palestinian refugees - and since 2011 roughly 980,000 Syrian refugees have fled over the border into Lebanon. Amid the humanitarian crisis, the Lebanese themselves feel torn between their long-standing resentment of Syria's prolonged military presence in their country and a desire to help their Arab neighbours. It's a dilemma that filmmaker Raghida Skaff explores in Shahira: My Syrian Friend, in which she tells the story of her strong personal relationship with a seven-year-old Syrian girl whose family find themselves in her village of Zeghrine 30km east of Beirut.be

Première diffusion : 4 juillet 2018

S2018 E19 • Malaysia Pm Mahathir Mohamad

'The time for change has come' - that was the message from Malaysia's new leader Mahathir Mohamad after his stunning victory over the ruling coalition in May. The 92-year-old veteran politician, who served as Malaysia's prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, returned to politics two years ago. He opposed the political force he was once a part of - the Barisan Nasional coalition, which had ruled Malaysia since its independence from Britain in 1957. The law must take its course and if the attorney general finds sufficient evidence of acts that are criminal then the attorney general takes the decision. One of our [election] promises was that we would honour the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judiciary, so I cannot interfere with what the attorney general wants to do. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia PM Malaysia is a diverse nation with millions of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians living side by side. But in recent years, many Malaysians have been frustrated with high-level government corruption and a rising cost of living. Prime Minister Mahathir accused his predecessor Najib Razak of stealing millions of dollars, and this may have led to Najib's defeat at the polls. Najib has denied corruption charges over the disappearance of millions of dollars from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund, as part of a graft probe while he was in office. The new government led by Mahathir has reopened investigations that were stifled while Najib was in office, setting up a special task force to deal with the allegations. So what are the implications of the 1MDB investigation And what's next for Malaysian politics In an exclusive interview, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, talks to Al Jazeera about his fight against corruption and for more transparency in government.

Première diffusion : 6 juillet 2018

S2018 E20 • Truck Attack In Nice

On July 14, 2016, 31-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel ploughed a rented 19-tonne truck through crowds out celebrating France's Bastille Day in Nice. He was shot dead by police at the scene but 86 people died and 458 others from 19 different countries were wounded. There have been 12 vehicular attacks since 2006, 10 of which occurred in the two-year period following this incident. Nice has the highest death toll. One of Bouhlel's first victims was Fatima Charrihi, a Moroccan woman wearing a headscarf. In fact a third of the victims that day were Muslim men, women and children - including four year-old Kylan al-Majri who had come out to enjoy the fireworks with his family. Truck Attack in Nice looks at the event through the eyes of three Muslim families who lost two young sons and a wife and mother. They re-tell their own versions of their ordeals on an evening that started with celebration and ended in violent tragedy, as they all struggle to come to terms with a loss that they simply cannot comprehend. The relatively high numbers of Muslim victims in Nice and in the similar Barcelona attacks a year later, challenge the common perception that this type of violence is somehow an expression of Islamic teaching or values. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been radicalised quickly through ISIL propaganda a few weeks before Bastille Day. He was known to French police for threatening behaviour, violence and petty theft but did not figure on the 'Fiche S', or France's high-security watch list. He was a loner whose neighbours said smelled of alcohol and behaved strangely. The 2016 attack in Nice followed those in 2015 on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and Bataclan nightclub and neighbouring restaurants in Paris. Each incident turned up the heat in the debate about the relationship between Islam and violence in French politics and society. In the months following Nice, politicians were campaigning for the French presidency. Marine Le Pen seized the opportunity to make political capital out what she and her party call 'the Islamisation of France', and former Prime Minister Francois Fillon spoke of what he called a new type of fear running through some parts of French society. 'This radical Islam is plaguing some of our fellow citizens. It challenges our common values. I won't allow this. I want strict administrative control of the Muslim religion before it takes root within the Republic,' he said. But the French Muslims families in this film see things quite differently. For them, it's not about Islam at all. 'Don't involve Islam in this issue,' said Tahar al-Majri, who lost his ex-wife and four-year-old son Kylan in the Nice attack. 'He ran down people aged four to 80. You can't kill people and say, 'God is Great'. God never tells us to kill people.' More from Al Jazeera World on: YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe

Première diffusion : 10 juillet 2018

S2018 E21 • Senegal's Sinking Villages

Global climate change and an engineering 'quick fix' have created an ecological disaster on Senegal's Atlantic coast. Doune Baba Dieye was once a vibrant fishing community on the Langue de Barbarie, a narrow, 30km peninsula that has protected the Senegalese port city of Saint-Louis from the Atlantic Ocean for centuries. But changing weather patterns and heavy rainfall in 2003 led to flooding inland and a rise in sea levels that have now submerged part of the south of the peninsula. Today, the southern part of the Langue de Barbarie is an island and the village of Doune Baba Dieye under more than a metre of water. But the impact of climate change would not have been so great had local authorities not tried to fix the problem. By 2003, as rain hit record levels, the Senegal River threatened to overflow its banks and to flood the commercially important Saint-Louis. As floodwaters upstream slowly wound their way down the river into the Atlantic, the authorities hastily dug a four-metre-wide trench through the Langue de Barbarie. They hoped the trench would disperse the floodwaters more quickly.

Première diffusion : 25 juillet 2018

S2018 E22 • Ready To Negotiate With Ilham Aliyev: Armenia Pm Nikol Pashinyan

'Take a step and reject Serzh' was the rallying cry of hundreds of thousands of Armenians who took to the streets earlier this year, forcing the resignation of Armenia's president-turned-prime-minister, Serzh Sargsyan, and clearing the way for the leader of the opposition, Nikol Pashinyan. What was Sargsyan's second term as PM, deemed by many to be a 'power grab', lasted only six days. Nicknamed the 'Velvet Revolution' for its non-violent nature, the protests marking Sargsyan's departure were a remarkable turning point for Armenia, with the promise of sweeping reforms under Pashinyan's interim administration. But the role doesn't come without challenges. Alongside the need to address internal disputes, such as oligarchs monopolising Armenia's politics and economy, the country is also in a delicate geopolitical situation, balanced between Russia and the West. Moscow provides economic and military support to Armenia, which has been geographically isolated by both Turkey and Azerbaijan, most pointedly with the building and recent inauguration of the Baku-Tiblisi-Kars Railway in 2017 after the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict saw an existing railway that went to Baku via Armenia shut down. Armenia fought a war with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the 1990s. Azerbaijan wants its internationally recognised territory back, putting the real risk of conflict on the cards and now, in Nikol Pashinyan's hands. One of Pashinyan's first official moves as PM was a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. Although he insists on a peaceful solution for the ongoing 'frozen conflict' between the two countries, Pashinyan insists that Azerbaijan may have more on its plate than a decades-old debacle with Armenia. 'I am sure that the Azerbaijani government is trying to distract the attention of its own people from its own domestic troubles and problems, to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. That is why I am saying that any aggressive move against Armenia is an aggressive move against democracy in our region,' says Pashinyan. 'We have real will and real desire to solve this conflict peacefully,' he continues. 'We are ready for negotiations. But I want to insist that we aren't going to make anything in the atmosphere of intimidation. It is important to create an atmosphere of peace'.

Première diffusion : 27 juillet 2018

S2018 E23 • Jean-pierre Bemba After Icc Acquittal: Set To Shake Up Drc Politics

The landmark conviction of Jean-Pierre Bemba for war crimes and crimes against humanity was overturned by panels of judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague last month. A majority ruling saw Bemba acquitted of all charges against him. The former rebel leader and vice president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spent nearly a decade in custody in The Hague. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison after sending his militia to the Central African Republic (CAR) to help put down a coup attempt, where they conducted a reign of terror. A rampage of looting and killing of civilians followed, including the mass rape of hundreds of women. But a majority of judges ruled on his appeal that he could not be held responsible for the actions of his fighters. His lawyers argued successfully his fighters were no longer under his command after they crossed the international border - an argument Bemba has maintained throughout his trials and incarceration. 'I have a lot of sympathy for all the victims ... I have a lot of sympathy for people in Central Africa ... if there are any victims, I'm very sad and I support them in their pain,' Bemba tells Al Jazeera. 'But I have been acquitted by a professional judge, an experienced judge, an honest judge and that is all. Justice has been served.' His militia, known as the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), has now been transformed into a political party opposing the rule of President Joseph Kabila. The electoral commission (CENI) has announced that a delayed election is due to take place in December. The election was due at the end of 2016, Joseph Kabila's end of term. In spite of this, Kabila has maintained his position and refuses, to date, to announce the presidential majority candidate who would run for his party. This has stoked concern that Kabila is seeking to change the constitution in order to run again or further delay the elections. 'I never heard from himself [Kabila] that he will hold elections, but I have also never heard that he will not hold elections ... I hope that he will respect the constitution,' says Bemba. Further to this, the current government has attempted to delegitimise Bemba's registration as a presidential candidate. However, the former vice president seems non-plussed by the actions being taken against him back home. 'You shouldn't be surprised that the government in place has said that I am not able [to register as a candidate],' responds Bemba to the claims. 'Those people in the majority of the government are not the right people, [they are not] able to talk about this.' Asked about his time in captivity, Bemba says, 'these 10 years [in prison] helped me to think deeply about not just myself but about my country. You are not the same person after 10 years. Congo has changed, Africa has changed ... the world has changed. I wrote a vision for Congo that I will soon give to the public.' Talking about Kabila and whether there should be any charges against him, Bemba says 'he has immunity as the former president. He is protected by the constitution.' 'President Kabila is an adversary in politics. The most important to me is what the people of Congo want. If I am doing politics, it's to solve the problems for the people of Congo ... Of course, I understand that some people maybe worry about it but they should not. I am just someone trying to find solutions for his country and for the people of his country.' Jean-Pierre Bemba talks to Al Jazeera in Belgium, the country which was the former colonial ruler in the DRC. Since it gained independence in 1960 there has never been a peaceful transfer of power. It's from here Bemba will leave this week to return to his homeland and register as a candidate in the presidential elections.

Première diffusion : 30 juillet 2018

S2018 E24 • Lessons From The Golden Era Of Andalusia

Every civilisation stamps its own mark on history - but the Islamic period of rule over the Iberian peninsula has many features which are not often widely known or appreciated. The Algerian academic Saadane Benbabaali has now retired from teaching at Paris University III. But partly because his ancestors came from what's now the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, he became passionate about the region and for fifteen years, led groups of students on his annual trips there. He came to believe that the period of Arab, Muslim rule there in what was called Al Andalus was arguably the only time in European history when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived relatively peacefully together – and produced a common culture and harmonious society. Furthermore, he believes that the period and place have powerful lessons for what he sees as today's fractured world. 'Today we need all those [Andalusian] philosophers, thinkers and Sufis, who like [the scholar] Ibn Arabi, made love the basis of human relationships,' explains Benbabaali. Origins of Andalusia and Al Andalus Arabs came to Spain in CE 711 under the command of Tariq ibn Ziyad, who landed with his army at a spot he named 'Jabl al Tariq' (the Rock of Tariq). The location is now known as Gibraltar. The Muslim armies eventually occupied most of present-day Portugal, Spain and parts of Southern France until their defeat and expulsion in 1492. The region came to be ruled by the leader Abdurahman of the Umayyid dynasty whose power base was in Baghdad. The 'Golden Age' of Al Andalus In Muslim Al Andalus, Jews and Christians had to pay Jizya, a tax levied on non-Muslim citizens living in Muslim lands in exchange for protection. Muslims also paid a tax called zakaat, one of the five pillars of Islam. Non-Muslims were allowed to practise their faith freely and this sense of relative unity made Al Andalus prosperous, culturally as well as economically. At this time, the region became a hub for social and cultural exchange, while advances in the arts, science, medicine and maths flourished and spread around the known world. The era also produced some of the most significant scholars, poets, musicians, philosophers, historians and thinkers of the medieval age - such as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes), Al Zarqali (Arzachel in Latin), Al Zahrawi (Abulcasis in Latin) and Ibn Firnas, among others. In the Arab, Muslim consciousness, this era is often thought of and referred to as the 'Golden Age'.

Première diffusion : 2 août 2018

S2018 E25 • Un Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al-hussein: ' My Job Is Not To Defend Governments'

In the four years since Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein became the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, attacks on people's safety and dignity have been reported all over the world. From Myanmar's campaign to drive hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya from the country, to the carnage wrought by the brutal wars in Yemen and Syria, human rights are under extreme pressure. Hussein is well-known as an outspoken critic of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. He himself has been criticised for pointing out where countries have failed to preserve human rights. Hussein is stepping down at the end of August and will be replaced by former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet. Before his departure, the outgoing human rights chief sat down with Al Jazeera to discuss areas where human rights are under extreme pressure and what should be done to protect these freedoms. On criticism by governments of the job he has done: 'The job of high commissioner is to effectively be the ambassador of human rights. It means that you have human rights law and you have obligations upon states to abide by the law, and where they don't do so you then have to defend the victims who either are deprived of their rights or discriminated against when it comes to their rights or they live in fear. 'My job is not to defend governments, they can do that themselves, my job was to defend the rights of everyone else, individuals. 'In that sense I knew early on that I was not going to have the backing of the permanent members of the Security Council. Actually, I would be concerned if I was on the outside and I'd see the high commissioner had gotten the support of the P5 because I would suspect he or she would not have done the job properly. 'I almost goes without saying that the permanent five enjoy a privileged status here in New York because of the use of the right to veto they have in the Security Council. 'But in Geneva, they don't. They're just one of 47 members of the human rights council if they're serving on the human rights council, so we in the human rights community look at their records the same we look at anyone else's records, and they don't like that.' On the refugee crisis 'The number of people on the move globally is in the range of about 4, maybe 4.5 percent. So 95 percent and above of people on this planet are static, they stay within their countries.' 'All this hysteria that we see, the panic, the trending toward the more extreme demagoguery is as a result of this small percentage of people that are actually moving across the planet.' '[The xenophobia] comes from recognition by politicians. Whatever the ills in society, whatever the miscues by previous governments, the inability of previous or present governments to cope with certain circumstances, then you pinpoint the problems on these communities that seem different, that seem alien, that seem to be vying for jobs, and you turn the hatred on them.' 'This is an old device, the sad part of it is that it works and people tend to out of fear adhere to it and politicians know it.' 'The cautionary tale to this is that the logical extension of it is a sour outcome. If you get chauvinistic nationalism, bigotry, some sort of racist undercurrent and it reaches a certain pitch, traditionally when we look at the historic record it's not easy to dismantle it.' 'What you tend to find is that conflict arises from it, because suddenly you're telling people that they're no longer special, that we're all endowed with the same rights and that we needed to be treated equally, wether on the basis of gender, ethnicity, whatever the circumstances may be.' On North Korea's human rights abuses 'Perhaps in the context of the immediate discussions, [the human rights record of North Korea] is not being mentioned, but I don't think it's easy for anyone to forget given severity of the human rights violations detailed in the Kirby commission's report and also by our office.' 'There is a fear that if the negotiations were to mature that somehow these issues would be downgraded, and that's a fear we have with regards to many conflicts that begin to wind down.' 'During the conflict there is a strong call for accountability thtat the perpetrators are punished but as we work through the peace agreements, people will say 'not now, not now, we'll deal with it later'. What we find though, is that later it becomes even more difficult.'

Première diffusion : 11 août 2018

S2018 E26 • The Journey From Agadir To Dakar

Filmmaker: Khalid Zairi Morocco's key natural resources include phosphates, zinc, manganese and iron ore. The mining industry is important to the national economy and its products highly sought abroad. Moroccan truck drivers Ibrahim Tabii and Abdelkabir Ainan risk their lives on dangerous roads and through disputed terrain to bring mineral material from Agadir to Dakar, a 3,000-kilometre journey that can take around two weeks. This is not like truck driving across the United States where long distances are common and hours are controlled by the federal law. It's not like driving in Europe with its tight regulation and vehicle monitoring systems measuring driver-time at the wheel. This is driving in Saharan Africa. There are no motorway service stations, no 24-hour SOS vehicle recovery and no spare parts at the end of a mobile phone. Driving hours are not obviously regulated and there are hardly any rest areas. The two drivers also have to pass through an area known as the Western Sahara. It has been a disputed territory between Morocco and what's called the Polisario Front since 1975. The UN has maintained a peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, a territory about the size of New Zealand, for 27 years. UN efforts have repeatedly failed to broker a settlement over the disputed territory, which the Sahrawi people, led by the PF says belongs to them. The Polisario Front, a formerly armed nationalist group signed a cease-fire with Morocco in 1991; but since the conflict has made this leg of the journey risky. When the two drivers reach the border with Mauritania, they're heavily delayed and by customs and immigration formalities and have no alternative but to wait in a makeshift bedroom until vehicle checks and done and visas issued. In the US, a driver can be at the wheel for up to 11 hours out of 14. In Europe, the rules are tighter, the daily maximum is normally nine hours but breaks have to be taken every four-and-a-half hours. Daily rest should be eleven hours. But this is the Moroccan Sahara. And laws protecting long-haul freight drivers do not seem to exist. 'I'm sleepy because we haven't rested. We're always under pressure from phone calls,' says Ibrahim. 'Even though we're entitled to rest for an hour after a four-hour drive, the manager doesn't allow it. We're forced to drive day and night. If you get the chance to sleep, it's for a maximum of two hours.' Unlike travelling in other regions of the world with better infrastructure, road conditions in Mauritania are generally poor, making travel difficult. Roadside assistance is non-existent and the country's size (larger than Texas and New Mexico combined) and harsh climate make road maintenance and repair especially problematic. Mauritania has only about 2,070 km (1,286 miles) of surfaced roads, 710 km (441 miles) of unsurfaced roads, and 5,140 km (3,194 miles) of unimproved tracks, according to countryreports.org. Drivers are advised to check the tide times, travel in convoy if possible and ensure adequate supplies of water and fuel are available. Local drivers tend to drive without regard to traffic signs or rules. 'Roadway obstructions and hazards caused by drifting sand, animals, and poor roads often plague motorists', according to Nasser Weddady, a Middle East and North Africa consultant based in Boston, Massachusetts. The two drivers also get seriously delayed at the border into Senegal, waiting for papers, getting information from their shipping agent, talking to their boss back in Agadir, and waiting for their passports. All the while, they're missing their families. Finally, after 3,000 kilometers and over two weeks on the road, the men reach Dakar and unload their trucks. But the return journey with a load of fresh mangos also has its problems and Ibrahim has to travel back to Morocco empty because of the refrigeration on his vehicle isn't working. Meanwhile, Ibrahim's reconsidering his career options: 'The only thing I've been thinking about is going home and returning the truck to its owner and quitting. You can't turn down a job in Africa when you're unemployed. I have to provide for my family so I try to put up with it but it's difficult. I'd rather go home, rest and find another job.' As for Abdelkabir, a 'steady salary is better than a big occasional one.'

Première diffusion : 14 août 2018

S2018 E27 • Sergio Ramirez: Ortega Is Facing A Bloody Reality Check

When Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega overthrew the country's Somoza dictatorship in 1979, Sergio Ramirez was standing by his side. Now, the poet and novelist is among Ortega's most vocal critics, saying the thirst for power has changed him. 'If someone says 'I'm staying no matter what' they have to crash into a wall of reality that usually gets stained with blood because that is not natural in a democratic system and that's what's happening in Nicaragua'. The Central American country has been in extreme disarray since April when students took to the streets in the capital, Managua, to protest the government's failure to handle forest fires in one of the country's most protected areas. Two days later, numbers swelled as plans to cut pensions and other social security reforms were announced and protests morphed into calls for the country's ageing leader to resign. 'I think that it's like the power of a dam that has been broken with the water ... people have suffered many grievances. All the fear that's been created, the social control in neighbours, much like Venezuela, much like Cuba,' he says. 'All these things began to create feelings of rejection and weariness ... a feeling of having had enough that was in the mouths of many people and was waiting to just explode.' Ortega responded with a brutal crackdown, allegedly using paramilitary groups to put down protests. He, and his wife and vice president blame the protests on so-called 'terrorists' and have refused calls for an early election to defuse the crisis. According to the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights, some 448 people have been killed since protests began, many are university students who have been a key force in the demonstrations. Ramirez is critical of Ortega's response, saying the levels of violence are worse than during the Sandinista revolution. 'These are unarmed casualties, people who are being persecuted, hunted by snipers, killed by machine guns, people who are burned to death in their homes, shot in the head in the middle of the street. It's something without precedents in the history of Nicaragua,' he says. Serving as vice president from 1985 to 1990, Ramirez split from Ortega to form his own party in 1995 after becoming disillusioned with the direction of Ortega's policies. 'The Sandinista Front sank in 1990 because of Ortega's insistence to turn away from the democratic rules and violently confront the then-President Violeta Chamorro who had been legitimately elected with street riots, barricades, destruction of public buildings, gangs armed with sticks taking over public buildings - Everything he condemns now is what he did to obstruct Mrs Chamorro's government,' he says. The country - already Central America's poorest - is suffering economic ruin from the crisis and thousands are fleeing to neighbouring Costa Rica to seek asylum. 'Can things ever go back to the way they were before April 18th Can Ortega rebuild consensus somehow In a peaceful matter, or based on fear ... [The] grievances against the same families who were Ortega's supporters make it impossible to rebuild the social fiber that existed before.' 'Maybe it's me being naive, but I think that this is the first time this country has the opportunity to resolve a dictatorial conflict through civic means. It's a historical opportunity for Nicaragua'.

Première diffusion : 18 août 2018

S2018 E28 • Yuval Noah Harari: Technology Is Humanity's Biggest Challenge

In 2014, Yuval Noah Harari's life changed completely. The little-known academic was thrust into the international literary spotlight when his book on the history of humans from the discovery of fire to modern robotics, Sapiens, was translated into English. Then-US President Barack Obama said the book gave him a new perspective on 'the core things that have allowed us to build this extraordinary civilisation that we take for granted.' It went on to sell more than eight million copies worldwide. 'I still see myself as a historian,' says Harari. 'I don't think that historians are experts in the past, historians are specialists in change and how things change and we learn the nature of change by looking at the past.' 'The real question is what is happening right now What can we learn from the past about the future changes And what we should be doing or thinking today' In his next book, Homo Deus, Harari delved into how the growth of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology could radically alter and divide human society, perhaps ending the species altogether. The same themes appear in his latest work, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, which collects essays, talks and responses to his readers. 'What I see today in the world is that people are overwhelmed by information, misinformation, by distraction and they don't realise often what the most important challenges are. I see my job as trying to bring more clarity to the public discussion.' 'There are three big challenges facing human kind in the 21st century,' says Harari. 'They are nuclear war, climate change and technological disruption, especially the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and bioengineering. This will change the world more than anything else. 'Nuclear war and climate change we can hopefully prevent, so these are changes we try to avoid. But technological disruption and especially AI and bioengineering are bound to happen. We still have some choice about what kind of impact AI and bioengineering engineering will have on the world, but they will change the world, maybe more than anything that happened previously in history. 'These are the main challenges. Anything else is a distraction'. In a broad-ranging interview, the Israeli historian and author talks to Al Jazeera about technology, Brexit and the biggest challenges facing humanity today.

Première diffusion : 24 août 2018

S2018 E29 • The Hundred Million Dollar Home

Located in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Al-Mohtaseb’s ancestral home is a short distance from the site where both Muslims and Jews believe the ‘father of the faithful’, Abraham, to be buried. What Muslims call the Ibrahimi Mosque and Jews the Cave of the Patriarchs are built on a cave some fifteen metres feet below ground and are where both faiths worship, albeit on different sides of a bullet-proof wall. The Israeli army now maintains round-the-clock checkpoints and barricades that restrict Palestinian movement, separating Hebron’s 270,000 Palestinians from around 1,000 illegal Jewish settlers. This puts Hebron on the front line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - and makes the land and property surrounding the shared holy sites highly valued assets for both sides. As with generations of his family before him, Abdulraouf Al-Mohtaseb has lived close to the Ibrahmi Mosque all his life, through the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars and subsequent Israeli occupation. But even he was surprised when potential buyers began offering him millions for his modest home and souvenir shop. He refused as a matter of principle as the bids gradually increased to a staggering 100 million US dollars. Still Al-Mohtaseb refused, earning him the nickname ‘the crazy man’ by some of the bidders. In The Hundred Million Dollar Home, filmmaker Resad Kulenovic tells the story of life in Hebron today through the eyes of Al-Mohtaseb and his son Mohammed. Both firmly abide by the principle that their home is their heritage and must never be sold: '[Hebron] is beautiful despite all the suffering,' father tells son. 'If people evicted every area they {the Israelis] besieged, it would be a disaster. We're staying until God guides us to a solution. That's our fate.' The film also includes the perspective of a former Israeli soldier who now works for ‘Breaking The Silence’ which enables Israeli army personnel to recount their experiences and educate the Israeli public about conditions in the Occupied Territories; as well as a Jewish inter-faith activist who emphasises the benefits of honouring the heritage of the three monotheistic religions, both for their similarities and their differences.

Première diffusion : 5 septembre 2018

S2018 E30 • India's Four Million Unwanted: Voices From Assam In The Field

In the state of Assam, a sliver of India squeezed between Bangladesh and Bhutan, four million people are at risk of becoming stateless. The local government has put together a draft list of those it considers to be 'legitimate' citizens and four million of Assam's 32.9 million people didn’t make the cut. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) lists those who can prove that they or their parents were in India before March 1971, when Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands fled civil war in Pakistan, many choosing to cross the border into India's Assam to escape the violence, which led to the formation of Bangladesh. India's government says that those who came then or since should go back to Bangladesh. But Bangladesh doesn't view those missing from the NRC list as Bangladeshi and says it won't accept them. 'People are scared,' says Sharifa Khatun, who comes from the remote village of Langia where, she says, she is among some 500 people who did not find their names on the list. 'Our names were struck off the list, our family is sad. Many can't stop their tears,' she says. 'Apparently if your name's not on the list then you are a foreigner. If you are tagged as a foreigner then you will become a Bangladeshi. They are scared they will be put away in jails.' Authorities say those who did not make the list will not be arrested or deported immediately but will have time to file for corrections before the final list is published by the end of the year. Most of those missing from the list say their Indian roots pre-date 1971, they can appeal the decision but many fear that without the proper paperwork, they will become stateless. An hour's drive from Langia is the town of Nagoan and there, another family is worried. Despite having Indian passports, some of the family's names are not on the list. 'We are from here. This is my village,' says Hasiban Nesa. My father and my grandfather were born here.' Hasiban says she thinks she is 103-year-old and has always lived in Assam. Although her name is not on the list, her son, Mohammed Rehman's name is and so he is considered Indian. 'They cannot send me away from this country. How can they chase me away My family lives here. My grandfather was buried in this land. No one can throw me out.' More than a third of Assam's population are Muslim and many feel the list is targeting them. Without citizenship, people cannot vote, work or go into higher education. 'They're going to ghettoise the people, it's simple,' says Mohammed. 'This is the ultimate goal [to put people in] a state of asphyxia - they will not be able to breathe economically.' Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power at both the state and national levels. Modi - who has been accused of exploiting ethnic and religious divisions in India to shore up his political base - came to power on the promise of expelling so-called 'illegal foreigners' and protecting the rights of indigenous groups. Critics say the Assam list is a way for Modi and the BJP - who face general elections next year - to further boost their support among India's Hindus. 'All the Muslims here feel this is an extension of the prevailing situation all over India,' says Mohammed. 'The ultimate aim is just to reduce the Muslim population ... and that can only happen if they make some sort of scheme of this sorts where the Muslim influence or population is curtailed. This is what we believe, that's what is happening,' he says. 'Any self-respecting nation must identify those who are not nationals of that country,' says Sudhanshu Mittal, a spokesperson for the NRC. 'We've had a huge amount of infiltration from Bangladesh and it's time we identify those who are not Indian nationals,' he says. 'Can you allow foreign nationals to influence the polity of a state No ... They have been there for generations but should they be altering the politics of Assam No. These are not Indian nationals and if they're not Indian nationals they have no business to be on the voter's list.' Al Jazeera travels to Assam state to meet the people now facing an uncertain future and to challenge those behind the exercise on why it is so necessary.

Première diffusion : 7 septembre 2018

S2018 E31 • Exclusive Interview: Bobi Wine: Defiant After Torture

Barely a year after his entry into politics, Robert Kyagulanyi - a pop star-turned-politician who also goes by the stage name Bobi Wine - is being hailed as the new face of Uganda’s opposition. Kyagulanyi has built a large youth following through his criticism of Uganda’s long-time leader President Yoweri Museveni - who has been in power for 32 years - both in parliament and through his music. The 36-year-old’s message of freedom and inclusivity, encourages young people to 'stand up' and take over the East African country from what he calls the government’s failed leadership. But Kyagulanyi’s rise to prominence has not been without difficulties. His appeal is considered a threat to Museveni’s hold on power, which is waning because of public anger over deteriorating public services, corruption and human rights abuses. On August 14, Kyagulanyi was arrested and charged with treason for allegedly throwing stones at Museveni’s presidential motorcade during a by-election campaign in August. 'In my opinion, it was more persecution than prosecution,' says Kyagulanyi, who claims he was tortured by Ugandan security forces while in detention. 'I feel humbled that my brutalisation attracted attention of friends across the world, but at the same time I feel indebted to the men and women who have endured similar torture over the years, in particular the people that were arrested together with me,' he says. After being released on bail nearly two weeks later, Kyagulanyi was rearrested last week while trying to leave the country to seek medical treatment in the United States for his injuries. Eventually Kyagulanyi was released and allowed to travel to Washington, DC to be treated in hospital. In an exclusive interview - his first for television since leaving hospital - Kyagulanyi discusses his detention, alleged torture by Ugandan security forces and what's next for Uganda with Al Jazeera. 'We've always wanted a free Uganda, but that Uganda should not come at the cost of torture, it should not come at the cost of murder or illegal executions, it should be got freely because our generation feels like the price has already been paid,' he says. 'I believe what can be done is not just to be done by me. What I have is the voice to raise the plight of Ugandans but I continue to call upon Ugandans, especially the young Ugandans to speak up. The more we unite, the stronger we become. 'Today the regime seems to be shaking, simply because Ugandans are more united and I continue to call upon Ugandans to stand, to be resilient and to continuously demand for the dignity that they deserve'.

Première diffusion : 11 septembre 2018

S2018 E32 • Israel's Hunt For The Red Prince, Ali Hassan Salameh

As the British mandate in Palestine drew to a close in the late 1940s, clashes intensified between Palestinian and Jewish militias. When the British left and the new state of Israel was announced in May 1948, the first Arab-Israeli War was fought. In the 1950s and 60s, tension continued and armed Palestinian ‘fedayeen’, many of them now refugees, mounted attacks into Israel which were met with equal force. Palestinian nationalists, including Yasser Arafat, formed the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) in 1959 - and the party became the dominant force in Palestinian politics – and in the PLO in particular - after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Ali Hassan Salameh rose to the top of the Fatah Party in the 1960s and 70s, to become one of Arafat’s most trusted men. He also founded the Black September armed group which killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. Munich Olympics 1972 'The Munich operation was meant to protest against the Palestinians’ exclusion from the Olympic Games,' explains Saqr Abu Fakhr, assistant editor at the Journal for Palestine Studies. 'Why should Israel alone be represented at this event It was also aimed at drawing attention to the Palestinian cause and the issue of prisoners inside Israel. However, its operations were not intended to kill but to take hostages and exchange them.' Unfortunately, the operation went badly wrong. Black September killed two Israeli athletes in the Olympic village and abducted nine others. They demanded the release if Palestinian prisoners within Israel and planned to leave Germany with the hostages whom they later intended to exchange. But Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir would not negotiate with the Palestinians and left the operations in the hands of the inexperienced Germans authorities. The Germans laid on helicopters at a military air base but secretly planned to foil Black September’s getaway. German snipers killed all but two of the Black September group – who in turn killed the nine Israeli hostages waiting in the helicopters wit grenades and machine guns. After the event, the Western media and Israel painted Ali Salameh as the mastermind of the Munich operation. As a leader of Black September he must have been involved. official Ghazi Al Husseini: 'He helped in different ways, like training, but he wasn't the ringleader. He didn't plan the Munich operation.' Munich put Ali Salameh at the top of intelligence agency Mossad’s hit list and they launched a series of missions to retaliate against the PLO, including an assault on its leadership in Lebanon. 'Mossad was able to take out thirteen Palestinians in Europe,' says Israeli journalist Ronan Bergman. 'And of course at the tip of that effort was Operation Fardan, Operation Spring Of Youth to be able to come to Beirut in the middle of the night and strike three Palestinian prominent figures in their houses was no less than a stab in the heart of the PLO.' But they failed to get to either Arafat or Salameh. Assassination of the Red Prince Ali Salameh was a charismatic figure who loved the good life. He married Miss Universe – but was also an astute politician and was assigned by Arafat to negotiate secretly not only with the PLOs political opponents – and enemies in the Lebanese civil war – but also to set up a secret back-channel dialogue with the Americans in Beirut. His contact was a CIA intelligence agent called Robert Ames. Ames understood the region, spoke Arabic and saw both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His dialogue with Salameh worked both ways but this was arguably the only time in recent history when the Americans showed sympathy for the Palestinian cause. The Israelis acted decisively and assassinated Salameh – the man they dubbed ‘The Red Prince’ – using a car loaded with heavy explosives, in Beirut in January 1979. Robert Ames died in the suicide bombing of the US embassy in Beirut four years later. Some believe that if Salameh were still alive at the time, he would have been able to pass intelligence to the Americans and thwart the attack. What’s more, if both Ames and Salameh had lived, the US relationship with the Middle East over the past forty years might also have followed a different course. More from Al Jazeera World on: YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe

Première diffusion : 12 septembre 2018

S2018 E33 • Venezuela's Exodus: Forced To Flee

Latin America is facing the largest refugee crisis in its history as hundreds of thousands of people flee Venezuela to escape severe economic hardship. Once one of the region's wealthiest countries, Venezuela has been hit hard by a drop in oil prices from 2014 onwards, with the economic situation worsening under the fiscal mismanagement of President Nicolas Maduro. Since Maduro took power following the death of the country's long-time leader, Hugo Chavez, in 2013, the Venezuelan bolivar has lost some 99.99 percent of its value against the US dollar on the black market. Few Venezuelans have access to official exchange rates, which have been controlled since 2003. The president blames the crisis on an 'economic war' against the socialist country by opponents, including the United States but for many of the country's 31.5 million people, the exact reason things went wrong is no longer important. The imploding economy has led to shortages of basic items such as food and medicine and, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 1.6 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2015. For those who remain, daily life is a struggle and hopes of a better life in Colombia, Brazil or elsewhere are never far from their minds. Three Venezuelans share their hopes, dreams and fears for the future with Al Jazeera: Olga Betancourt, 43, hairdresser 'The situation in the country has become so difficult. No matter how hard you work, the money is never enough to buy anything, including materials and tools to work with because they are extremely expensive. 'About a year and five months ago is when life began to become unbearable here ... I can't buy food, my mother needs special treatment for high blood pressure but she can't get it because it's too expensive. Her entire pension goes to pay for her medication. 'I will leave in two months if I can sell what I need to sell. It's not because I want to emigrate from my country, I want to move forward with my profession and help my mother with her treatment and food. It hurts me to leave my mother here all by herself because my brother went to Peru two months ago. 'I want to be able to work and have the means to survive and help my family. Some people say it's the government's fault, but we are also the ones to blame. We chose this president knowing that this could happen. 'Chavez was one thing, but Nicolas Maduro is a different story. I voted for him, but I regret it now. I've never seen a government as chaotic as the one we have today. It's destroyed Venezuelans, our children, the elderly, the hospitals, everything. 'Everything that is happening here is terrible. This sinks deeper and deeper every day and we're abandoned. I can't survive.' Antonio Jose Primero, 29, videogamer 'I feel trapped because I don't have the freedom to travel to other countries like Venezuelans used to. Also, I have an illness that is very difficult to treat. I have haemophilia but I don't have any information about if I would need medical insurance abroad - I don't know what treatment there would be for an immigrant. 'There is a shortage of the medicine I need, so I'm now getting it through humanitarian aid. It's no longer produced by a factory to buy, you can only sometimes get it through humanitarian aid. The dose I'm getting now isn't enough. 'I can't live a regular day-to-day life, I have to be very careful. I avoid going out because I'm scared of running out of medicine. This disease attacks your joints and produces internal bleeding. With the correct dose of medicine you can prevent the bleeding, but when we don't have it we become practically immobilised. We can spend days in pain, unable to sleep. 'I am walking with crutches because I have so much pain in my legs. Had I gotten the correct dose, I'd be in perfect shape right now. With the right treatment, you're a normal person, like someone who isn't sick. It's like having a shield. When you don't have the medicine, the body deteriorates terribly. You even run the risk of bleeding to death. 'I'd be happy if Venezuela went back to what it was before. I'd be happy if this crisis ends. It's impossible to live here now. You are really unhappy here. There are no opportunities, there is no future'.

Première diffusion : 15 septembre 2018

S2018 E34 • Pakistan Fm: ' War Is No Option. The Only Solution Is Dialogue.'

Pakistan's new government, headed by new Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has inherited challenging relations with two key countries, India and the United States. Observers are questioning how the country's new leadership will seek to reshape its foreign policy regionally and globally as it continues to battle the Pakistan Taliban, attempt engagement with India and address its aid and military relationship with the US. Despite Prime Minister Imran Khan's overtures to India to engage in dialogue, India cancelled the first planned talks between the two countries since 2015 that were meant to have taken place on the sidelines, this week, at the United Nations General Assembly. The cancellation of talks came hours after three policemen were killed by rebels in Kashmir. Citing the 'brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign ministry added that the release of a series of 20 postage stamps depicting a young Kashmiri rebel commander killed by Indian troops in July 2016 was 'glorifying a terrorist and terrorism.' Pakistan saw its relations with the US threatened one month after Prime Minister Imran Khan's election victory, on July 26, when the US Pentagon announced that it would be cancelling $300m in military and security aid to Pakistan, part of the $1.1bn suspended in January over allegations that the country was not acting against armed groups such as the Afghan Taliban. The US has alleged that, in the years since 9/11, Pakistan has been playing a double game, harbouring Osama bin Laden and maintaining relationships with elements of the Taliban and other armed groups. 'They were helping their own country,' Foreign Minister Qureshi responded. 'They were helping overcome a situation which was not of their own creation. Who were these people Who supported them Who trained them We forget history and at times we overlook that friends change. People that you support, some of the people, were called extremists. Weren't they invited to the US Weren't they entertained in the White House So, friends change. Circumstances change. We were just defending and protecting ourselves.' Though Foreign Minister Quereshi expressed that the US, as a global power, expects 'special treatment', Pakistan does hope 'to be friends' with the US, while exercising its option to cultivate relations with China and others: 'We want the US to be friends with Pakistan. We recognise that the US is an important global power, and they will continue to be a military, technological and economic power in the foreseeable future. They are looking at different options, they are looking at new friends in the region. We do have friends who have been consistent and very valuable. China is one of them. The others who recognise how important, how strategically located Pakistan is and to understand Pakistan's importance. So, we are not alone and everyone has options.' On Pakistan-India relations, Qureshi harkened back to Prime Minister Imran Khan's first public address, on July 26th, in which he said, 'You take one step towards peace, we will take two,' and pointed to Prime Minister Khan's subsequent requests for constructive, peaceful dialogue with India as part of the new government's approach. 'What we did.. we thought made sense. Two neighbours with outstanding issues, atomic powers. How do you fix things War is no option. There is no military solution. The only solution is a dialogue.' Qureshi acknowledged that another priority of the new government will be to address internal corruption, foreign debt and to the use of Pakistan's resources for 'human development, the most valuable asset of Pakistan, the people of the country, we haven't invested enough in education, in health.'

Première diffusion : 27 septembre 2018

S2018 E35 • China And The Pope: A Fresh Start?

fter decades of hostility, can two of the world's most opaque organisations start anew or is this path doomed to fail? A scramble for control and power within the churches serving China's estimated 12 million Catholics has kept relations between the Vatican and the "Celestial Empire" fraught for almost 70 years. China's crackdown on religious groups, especially of late, has not gone unnoticed as the Muslim minority Uighurs face life in internment and re-education camps, while Protestant churches are raided and closed down. It therefore comes as no surprise that many are wary about a pact between two of the world's most secretive organisations. An agreement, as launched by the governing Communist Party of China and leaders of the Vatican, provisionally resolves the issue of who gets to appoint bishops within the churches, with Pope Francis insisting on the final say.

Première diffusion : 27 septembre 2018

S2018 E36 • The Widows' Sanctuary In Lebanon

Filmmaker: Hala Mourad In the heart of Lebanon's second-largest city, Tripoli, is a 'Khan', an ancient guest house dating back to the period of Mamluk rule in the 14th century. The city fell to the Ottomans in 1516 and, under the Muslim charitable practice of 'Waqf', the Khan was donated to the community to house widows unable to support themselves. The Islamic philanthropic tradition of Waqf dates back to the Prophet Muhammad's time and is intended to be 'in perpetuity'. Waqf in Islamic law was developed in the medieval Islamic world, but bears a resemblance to English trust law. Every Waqf was required to have a waqif (founder), mutawillis (trustee), qadi (judge) in addition to its beneficiaries, with continuity being 'secured by the successive appointment of trustees or mutawillis.' Now called the 'Khanka', few Tripolitans may be aware of the guest house's existence, or its governance by the Ministry of Endowments. When this film was made, the Khanka had fallen into disrepair and its 12 rooms offered its residents only the most primitive accommodation. 'Everything leaks here,' says Khanka resident Um Fadi, a mother of three. 'We wake up in the morning to find our mattresses and clothes completely wet. My little daughter fell ill because of this problem.' While the widows depend on charitable donations for sustenance, some of them do menial jobs like cleaning apartments and cooking for meagre pay. Everything leaks here. We wake up in the morning to find our mattresses and clothes completely wet. My little daughter fell ill because of this problem. Um Fadi, Khanka resident Many of the widows have quite sad stories to tell. One of them, Um Ahmed al-Tahesh, had seven sons and two daughters, but moved to the Khanka when her husband died in the Lebanese civil war. 'I had a very good life. We lived well and I had a housemaid. My husband was killed in Beirut and my life was turned upside down,' she says. Her children have all grown up with their own families to care for but Um Ahmed doesn't mind her place in the Khanka. 'Yes, it's a small room, but at least it shelters me. I don't mind sleeping on a mattress on the floor.' Life in the Khanka can be lonely, isolated and uncomfortable for the widows and their families. But sometimes the residents are there by choice. When the ministry conducts an audit, it discovers that all but two of the residents, Um Ali Sikkari and Um Fadi, actually have family capable of supporting them. The rest are asked to leave. 'Any woman who has a house or another shelter will be discharged from the Khanka,' says supervisor Sheikh Nazih Musa. 'This Khanka is exclusively for widows who have no financial support and no place to stay in.' Charity in this part of the world has its limits and if the terms of the Waqf are breached, residence in the Khanka is unceremoniously terminated, regardless of one's age or time served. Since this film was originally made in 2016, the Ministry of Endowments announced that it would renovate the Khanka to better serve the needs of its residents in 2019.

Première diffusion : 3 octobre 2018

S2018 E37 • Immigration ' Not A Human Right': Hungary Fm On Eu Criticism

In an unprecedented move against a member state, the European Parliament has triggered Article 7 of the EU's governing treaty meant to protect its core principles: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including minority rights. The EU accuses the Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban of breaching those values by passing anti-refugee laws, manipulating the media, disregarding government corruption and removing independent judges. Hungary has taken a harsh stance on refugees and migrants since the 2015-2016 migration crisis. It was the first country to erect barbed wire fences at the borders and went on to pass laws aimed at deterring migrants from attempting transit through its territory or from seeking asylum in Hungary. The decision to trigger Article 7 followed Hungary's ongoing refusal to comply with mandatory migrant quotas put in place by the EU and came two weeks after Hungarian authorities stopped food distribution for rejected asylum seekers being held in transit zones on the country's border with Serbia. Budapest denies the accusations and defends its policies. But with EU Parliament elections scheduled to take place in May 2019, could the divisions that have been exposed lead to political change across the EU And what is next for Hungary and Europe 'We are not violating them [EU core values],' Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told Al Jazeera. 'The report which was pushed through the European Parliament has a list of 69 points, 69 accusations against Hungary out of which 13 points have been totally agreed upon by the European Commission and the government ... and there are 37 points which are qualified lies ...' he said, adding that the vote against Hungary involved 'cheating' because abstentions were not counted. Hungary could potentially get stripped off its EU voting rights, but according to Szijjarto, 'the Polish government and Czech prime minister have made it clear that they will veto any sanctions against Hungary.' He believes that the 'EU needs to undergo some reforms' and when asked about different visions for Europe and global governance, Szijjarto said 'when the French president speaks about multilateralism and then I look at his European policies, I am a little bit concerned because the measures he would like to see in the European Union would be rather unfavourable for Hungary ... And his [Macron's] vision for Europe when it comes to migration, social issues, taxation, economic issues is totally showing to another direction compared to our vision for the future.' Szijjarto said Hungary has been accused of being nationalistic many times. 'We are a country which will never give up the right to make the decision about the future of Hungary on our own. We will never give up the right to make a decision with whom we would like to live together in our country ... whom we would like to let enter the territory of our country - and whom we don't.' 'We will always be a nation of freedom fighters. We don't like colonialism. Sometimes when the French foreign minister or the French president speaks about Hungary, they speak as if we were a colony ... So, I think mutual respect is what is lacking from the global set of foreign policies currently.' In response to criticism of Hungary's tough stance on refugees Szijjarto said: 'We have sealed off the green border. So the only way you can enter the country is the legal way ... My question is whether … anyone could show me any point in international relations which could say that you have the right to wake up in the morning, pick a country you would like to live in and, in order to get there, violate a series of borders.' 'It's not a human right ... My question is how you can be a refugee and violate the borders of five or six safe countries.' Szijjarto denies allegations that Prime Minister Orban has selected judges friendly to his government and that the prime minister channelled public and EU development funds to projects run by family members and friends in Lake Balaton. 'It's simply a lie that the prime minister uses public funds for private reasons,' he said. 'It's simply a lie. I have to reject that and it's really a scandal that such kind of things can be said, to be honest.'

Première diffusion : 6 octobre 2018

S2018 E38 • Living With Multiple Sclerosis In Egypt

Thousands of Egyptians suffer from multiple sclerosis but are often wrongly diagnosed or can’t afford treatment. There are approximately more than 2.3 million people globally who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, an auto-immune disorder in which the body seemingly attacks itself. Researchers believe that MS causes the body's immune system to attack myelin, an insulating coating around the nerve cells. MS is more common in northern, cooler countries but now there are 120,000 registered sufferers in Egypt, who face a number of particular challenges. The condition can often be wrongly diagnosed and they're often unable to afford proper treatment or obtain the necessary medical, social, emotional or psychological support. Living with MS in Egypt follows a number of MS sufferers as they face up to these challenges in a society where their neurological condition is often poorly understood and inadequately treated.

S2018 E39 • Sudan: From Troublemaker To Peacemaker? Sudan's Fm

In October of last year, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order lifting some trade and economic sanctions against Sudan. It followed a US Department of State report that said Khartoum had improved its fight against armed groups. But the US still designates Sudan as a 'state sponsor of terrorism' - along with Iran, North Korea and Syria. Regionally, it's mediating a peace deal between the warring parties in South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011. Sudan has also been playing a role in the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen with troops on the ground and several fighter jets. Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, has been in power since 1989. He's the first head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for suspected war crimes. He dissolved his government last month amid a widespread economic crisis. But after almost 30 years as president, will Bashir seek another term in 2020 What's the state of human rights in Sudan Why is Omar al-Bashir mediating South Sudan peace talks Sudan's Foreign Minister Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed talked to Al Jazeera about his country's human rights record, the lifting of US sanctions, the war in Yemen, and Sudan's role as peacemaker in South Sudan. According to him, ending the conflict between warring parties in South Sudan is a matter of regional security and that recently improved relations between Sudan and Uganda are related to national and regional stability. 'Sudan is the most connected to South Sudan for so many obvious reasons ... Uganda is a neighbouring country that will benefit from peace and stability in South Sudan ... The new thing is that Sudan and Uganda started working together ... We found that if South Sudan is going to continue as is and the situation in South Sudan is going to deteriorate, we will be having a black hole in the region, another Somalia,' he told Al Jazeera. Sudan's position as a member of both the African Union and the Arab League makes it vulnerable to fraught relations between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile and potentially shifting political axes with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt on one side and Qatar and Turkey on the other. 'We are working with all the players in the region to ensure that the region is stable, Turkey included and Qatar included. And we hope, also, that this will not mean that Sudan is also taking sides in any dispute. We hope for the best for all of the region and we are doing our best to see that all the problems that are being faced by the states in the region will be resolved peacefully and amicably,' he said. Asked about rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and their reports of ongoing human rights violations in Sudan, including the suppression of peaceful protests, attacks on the media, torture and ongoing violence, he said: 'Democracy needs time to take root.' 'We have started a process of democratisation in our country. We have right now a constitution that everybody respects and accepts, opposition parties included. Some of the people who are right now fighting with us are all of the time voicing concern about respect of the Constitution. This has not been the case a few years ago before that constitution was put in place. This is a huge step taken forward, and then democracy will gradually take root.'

Première diffusion : 14 octobre 2018

S2018 E40 • Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Rendition And The West

Filmmaker: Bashar Ghannam Nearly seven years after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the British government apologised for handing over a Libyan dissident and his wife to Libya's intelligence in 2004, knowing that as an opponent of the government, they would be likely to be imprisoned and tortured. Fatima Boudchar was pregnant when she was tortured and kidnapped in Thailand in 2004, in a process that has become known as extraordinary rendition. It was carried out by MI6 and the CIA in collaboration with the Libyan External Security Organisation, the ESO. Her only 'crime' was that she was married to a Libyan opponent of the Gaddafi regime, Abdelhakim Belhaj. Belhaj was the former leader of an opposition group called the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) which Gaddafi accused of having links to al-Qaeda. He and his wife were planning to seek asylum in the UK. However, they were abducted in their transit in Thailand and taken to a CIA detention centre where they were tortured and later handed over to Libyan intelligence. 'I refused to be interrogated by them … and had nothing to do with al-Qaeda or any organisation outside Libya. My problem was with the Libyan security services' says Belhaj. This was not an isolated case and the subject of rendition is one that Western governments need to be accountable for. Until 2003, Gaddafi had been labelled by the West as the 'mad dog of the Middle East'. But after the US-led invasion of Iraq failed to unearth Saddam Hussein any weapons of mass destruction, Gaddafi seized an opportunity, not simply for redemption but complete rehabilitation, by claiming to possess WMDs and offering to surrender them. Sanctions against Libya were lifted, lucrative oil deals struck and collaboration between the CIA, MI6 and Libya stepped up in the so-called 'fight against terrorism'. This led directly to the rendition of Gaddafi's opponents like Belhaj and many others. After the US-led invasion of Iraq, Gaddafi sought better relations with the West [Michel Euler/AP] None of this may ever have come to light were it not for a large cache of documents found in Tripoli after the Libyan revolution in 2011. Thousands of papers were discovered in what looked to journalists and human rights organisations like the abandoned office of the former head of Libyan intelligence, Moussa Koussa. One of the most revealing finds was a letter from Sir Mark Allen, then head of MI6 counterintelligence, to Moussa Koussa. 'I congratulate you on the safe arrival of [Belhaj]. This was the least we could do for you and for Libya,' it read. Belhaj and another former member of the LIFG, Sami al-Saadi, were released from prison in 2010 and 2011 respectively. In 2012, the two men and their families decided to sue the British government for what they believed was its role in their arrest, imprisonment and subsequent torture. Al-Saadi accepted an offer of compensation by the British government of 2.2 million British pounds ($2.5m). But Belhaj rejected a financial settlement, maintaining that he and his wife instead wanted a full apology. Six years later, on May 10, 2018, the British government apologised for its role in their rendition and the couple's suffering. Human Rights Watch published a report in 2012 called, Delivered into Enemy Hands, which details the rendition process and cites a number of cases. Among them was that of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi who was rendered to Libya by the US in either 2005 or 2006. In 2009, he was found dead in his prison cell after allegedly committing suicide. But Human Rights Watch said al-Libi died because he was tortured. Human rights lawyer Cori Crider believes that despite the British government apology this isn't the end of the rendition issue. 'Right now, as we speak, in Yemen', she says, 'the United Arab Emirates is running black sites in which detainees are tortured and in which rape is used as a technique of torture; and these are people with whom the US and the UK are in coalition.' Editor's note: Al Jazeera wrote to the CIA to ask it to comment on allegations made in this film but did not receive a reply. It's also important to note that although the British government apologised for rendering Abdelhakim Belhaj and Fatima Boudchar to Libya, former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, and the former head of counter-intelligence at MI6, Sir Mark Allen, have not accepted any personal responsibility or admitted any wrong-doing in the case of Abdelhakin Belhaj and Fatima Boudchar.

Première diffusion : 17 octobre 2018

S2018 E41 • Beyond Tutus: Svetlana Zakharova On Ballet In Putin's Russia

Since the age of 10, Svetlana Zakharova has devoted her life to ballet. Originally from Ukraine, her extraordinary talent catapulted her to world fame as the prima ballerina of Russia's renowned Bolshoi Ballet. Considered one of the greatest ballerinas of her generation, Zakharova is often compared with Russia's iconic male ballet dancers, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. But her success has come at a price. 'At the age of 10, my childhood was over and I started a new grown-up life,' she told Al Jazeera. Zakharova gave up her childhood to practise the art form she says she was physically designed for, despite ballet being 'unnatural for a human body. The stretching, the turnouts and the training load.' 'You get used to living with pain,' she said. 'I sometimes ask myself if I made any sacrifices. But I don't know any other way of life ... I have no regrets. Even when I'm exhausted and tired, when I want to hide from everyone and everything, I never think about quitting.' In 2006, Zakharova became a member of Russia's Presidential Council for Culture and Art, and in 2008, she was elected to a term in the Russian parliament. 'I did not just join the parliament to do something I didn't know,' she said. 'I was in the Culture Committee, which was my territory. So I worked there for some time. But I did not come back after my convocation because, first of all, I gave birth to my daughter and I understood that it's impossible to be a ballerina, a parliamentarian and a mother at once.' 'Russia has always been strong in culture,' she said. 'In my opinion, if there's money to pay attention to the arts, all the other spheres are more or less in a good state.' Asked about relations between her native Ukraine and Russia, Zakharova said: 'Now, I am not related to Ukraine in any way ... I believe that our politicians will do what's right. I'm just really sad that our nations, that used to be as close as sisters, have such a wrong relationship now.' Given her previous support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Al Jazeera asked Zakharova about Russia's current trajectory. 'The most important thing for me is that everyone, not only the Russian president, but all the world leaders talk to each other and avoid war,' she replied. 'It's the most important thing, so that there are no dead children, no separated families, because nothing can be worse. But I'm not the person to answer this question. I live in my own closed world.'

Première diffusion : 20 octobre 2018

S2018 E42 • A Moral Debt: The Legacy Of Slavery In The Usa

Journalist James Gannon has inherited a controversial family legacy - that of a clear descendancy from General Robert E Lee, who led the Confederate Army against the Union during the American Civil war in the mid-19th century. Gannon grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, where an 18-metre high statue of his ancestor dominates the landscape in Monument Avenue, the city's grandest street. For over 100 years, Richmond has honoured Lee as one of its greatest heroes. Until recently. In 2015, 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof shot nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, North Carolina. Photographs of Roof draped in and posing with the Confederate flag emerged on a now defunct white supremacist website. Soon after, the city council in New Orleans voted for their Confederate monuments to be removed. Public consultations over Confederate memorials took place in Virginia, which once had the largest enslaved population in the United States. When a 'Unite the Right' rally to protest against the removal of a Robert E Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned into violent clashes in August 2017, it accelerated the national debate about what to do with the country's more than 1,500 monuments and publically-installed symbols memorialising the American Civil War. What happened that weekend in Charlottesville made Gannon consider the true legacy of his slave-owning ancestors. On a journey into his family's legacy, Gannon explores why people across the US are so divided on the subject of Confederate monuments and whether the oppression of enslaved people by his ancestors still has an effect on black lives in the US today. Travelling across Virginia and Maryland to meet key actors in the ongoing moral dilemma the US finds itself in regards to the Civil War and glorification of Confederate monuments, Gannon finds himself face to face with the debate for justice, reparations and the fight to tear these statues down.

Première diffusion : 26 octobre 2018

S2018 E43 • Richard Graham: Why Gaming Addiction Is On The Rise

The design of online games has reached a new level of sophistication, appealing to millions of people. There are more than 2.3 billion active gamers in the world this year, of which almost half spend money on games. A recent report by the international games market research company Newzoo estimates that the global games market will reach $137.9bn in 2018, with digital revenues accounting for 91 percent. As the gaming phenomenon grows, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified a new disease - gaming disorder. The WHO defines the disorder as 'a pattern of gaming behaviour with increasing priority given to gaming over other activities ... and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.' So what does gaming disorder really mean and how can it be treated 'What happens when we are immersed in a video game, is that the brain starts to activate the sort of exciting reward system, neurological pathways that are associated with excitement and pleasurable activities, and of course it makes us want to do it more and more,' children and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham told Al Jazeera. 'So game designers and perhaps social media platforms have learned how to activate those systems to keep us in game and on screen for as long as possible.' With many of his patients in the 14 to 15-year range, Graham said that many youths are facing increasing stress due to the pressure of school. One of the ways they try to escape the ordinary pressures of life is through technology - which then can become an unhealthy escape. 'Where we start to move into the territory of addiction is when what was once almost a healthy way of coping with stress starts to have a grip of its own. That person is no longer able to have control over their use and they feel compelled to keep increasing the amount of whatever is is - a substance or gaming,' Graham explained. 'The loss of control is absolutely key to an addiction. But also when they do try to stop, they do get that withdrawal reaction...' In the gaming and digital detox programmes that Graham runs, the withdrawal reactions can sometimes be extreme. According to him, there's 'such agitation and aggression the police could be called. Violence could erupt … the young person might also become acutely distressed and panicked and sometimes place themselves at risk of harm to themselves. And that was scary, and so a service was set up to provide a safe place to support people.' Real-time immersion into virtual realms is enhanced by the sheer volume of real-time players, the lure of competition and rewards such as high scores, or ranking within the game. This combination, according to Graham, intensifies the addiction: 'One then gets into large group or crowd experiences that I think amplify those trends even more. And the buzz of being part of something that's massive and online … [where players] are swept along in some astonishing crowd-like process to be online, and in game, for as much of the time as they could.' Graham said the 'digital economy', from social media to mass multi-player gaming is also driven by unbridled competition among companies and developers who are in 'a sort of arms race to get people more and more on screen to the point where it will affect everyone's health and well-being.' He recommends that developers consider functionality and the installation of features that allow players to pause, or to save their position without losing their rank, or rewards accrued during the game. 'For young people, it's incredibly distressing to get to a certain point in a game and then their parents say it's time to eat and they just don't want to stop, because they don't want to lose all of that, and a simple piece of functionality would actually make a huge difference if they could pause.' Families can run interventions, take their children for camping trips or walks in nature. Though not always immediately successful, this approach, said Graham, can provide enough time out of game for those suffering from the disorder to actually see what they've been missing. 'The interesting thing is that once you take that step, you sort of wake up to the fact that something else is going on around you, and there actually might be some impact on your life. Perhaps you are missing friends that no longer come and knock to see if you want to join them on a trip to the cinema … or that you realise that you're going to have to repeat your year

Première diffusion : 27 octobre 2018

S2018 E44 • We Are Still Here: A Story From Native Alaska

Every summer, Amira Abujbara boards a nine-seater plane at a tiny air taxi office. It is the same plane, with the same pilot, that she has flown in almost every year of her childhood. The 50-minute flight will take her over a snowy mountain range, a volcano and an elaborate tundra of blueberries and mushrooms, tea leaves and caribou moss, wildflowers and spider webs. She is heading to her mother’s childhood home and the place where she spends her summers – the remote Alaskan village of Iliamna. Without any roads connecting it to the outside world, this is her only way of going ‘home’. Iliamna, which is an Athabascan word meaning 'big ice' or 'big lake' sits on the shore of the lake that shares its name. The largest in Alaska, it spans more than 2,500 square kilometres, is pure enough to drink from and is home to the biggest sockeye salmon run in the world. Iliamna shares a post office, school, airport, medical clinic and two small stores with the neighbouring village, Newhalen. Together, they have fewer than 300 residents. It is a far cry from her father’s home country, Qatar, where Amira spends the rest of the year. Her father is Qatari and her mother is Dena’ina - a subset of the Athabascan Alaska Natives. Amira was born in Alaska and is registered as an Alaska Native. When her father married her mother he promised her parents that they would return regularly and so Amira and her sister spent their summers in Iliamna. Their grandmother ran a bed and breakfast for fishermen, so she would help make the beds, clean and prepare the meals for her guests. She learned how to subsistence fish – catching, smoking, brining and canning salmon during the summer months to store for the rest of the year. For the villagers, their home is a beautiful and fruitful land, but it is also a place of incredible hardships. Tiny villages are dwarfed by the vast wilderness that surrounds them, and while the region is rich in natural resources, many Alaska Natives struggle to remain above the poverty line. According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, over any five-year period between 1993 and 2013, an average of 11 percent of the state’s rural population moved into urban areas. Those aged 18 to 24 are the most likely to leave. But life in the city can be overwhelming for those used to the safety net of a tight-knit rural community. Then there are the alcohol and substance abuse rates: in Alaska, age-adjusted rates of alcohol-induced deaths are 71.4 per 100,000 for Alaska Natives and 12.1 for whites. Suicide rates for Alaska Natives are almost four times the national average, and Alaska Natives are far more likely to succumb to each of the state’s leading causes of death – cancer, heart disease and unintentional injury – than their white counterparts. In Alaska, Native children are nearly three times as likely as white children to die before their fifth birthday. The situation Alaska Natives face can, perhaps, best be summarised by a note in the minutes of a meeting of Newhalen residents. In a list of wishes for the community’s future, one states simply: 'To still be here.' But why is this community so at risk and will a proposed gold and copper mine, located close to the villages, endanger it further still Residents know it offers the promise of jobs, but there are fears it could ruin the salmon run, and with it, their way of life. We Are Still Here tells the story of a community fighting to preserve its culture and its connection to the land.

Première diffusion : 1 novembre 2018

S2018 E45 • 'shameful': What's Driving The Global Housing Crisis?

Despite an uneven global economic recovery since the 2008 financial crisis, adequate and affordable housing is increasingly out of reach to hundreds of millions of people, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha. In her latest report on global housing need, Farha wrote that the world's money markets have priced people out of cities, with speculators and investors treating housing as a 'place to park capital'. Farha, who presented her findings before the Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2017, said that 'housing has lost its social function and is seen instead as a vehicle for wealth and asset growth. It has become a financial commodity, robbed of its connection to community, dignity and the idea of home.' Leilani Farha spoke to Al Jazeera about the growing global housing crisis and the steep challenges ahead for the more than one billion people who do not have adequate housing. At an estimated global net worth of $163 trillion, the residential real estate market is equivalent to more than twice the world's total economy and dwarfs the approximate seven-trillion-dollar-value of all the gold ever mined, Farha told Al Jazeera. Housing is viewed as a way to 'grow wealth and that has changed the way in which housing operates', she said. 'It means ... you have investors, private equity firms, vulture funds, buying up housing. Who is their principle concern It's their investor and if they're using housing to satisfy their investor interests, what do they have to do with that housing if it's rental housing It's obvious, they have to increase the rents.' The right to adequate housing is enshrined in Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, which states that 'Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care.' Housing 'has tentacles into every other human right, practically. Housing is not just about four walls and a roof [but] about living in a place where you have peace, security and most importantly, dignity. And once you start playing with the idea of dignity, you can imagine what that means. It means living in a place with proper sanitation and basic services ... toilets, running water.' Adequate housing is also about 'security of tenure', Farha explained. 'You should not be fearful that you're going to lose your home [at any time].' Today, approximately 900 million people are living in 'informal settlements' without the security of tenure - entire communities that have grown up in slum-like conditions. These communities are often razed by profit-driven developers and governments with little notice and no offer of substitute housing. Forced eviction is 'considered a gross violation of human rights ... No community should be evicted unless there is absolutely no viable alternative.' The incidence of homelessness is also rising. 'If you look at North America, if you look at Europe, what are we seeing Rising rates of homelessness in the richest countries in the world. That, to me, is where we get into extremely shameful territory, extremely shameful. Why is that How is it acceptable that GDPs are increasing all the time ... and homelessness is rising all the time' 'I don't think that homelessness has been viewed as the human rights issue that it is. I don't think it's been given the urgency of political will, of social policy that it deserves and so, I think that's also part of the problem ... Once people lose their housing and become homeless, they often are open to any of a number of social ills,' Farha said. 'People are always like, 'Oh, the people who are homeless, they're all crazy; they all have psychological problems'. Many, many people who hit the streets are completely of sound mind. It's the trauma of being on the street that can trigger psycho-social disability ... The trauma of living on the street is what often leads people to do things like drugs.' Asked whether the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development, which includes solving the problem of inadequate housing, can be achieved by its target date, Farha said that 'we have to strive to reach that goal in 12 years. States have that obligation, they've made that commitment ... I think that huge strides could be taken ... [to] ensure accountability of governments to the people, that ensure equality, those sorts of things ... If that was guiding housing policy, maybe we would inch towards that 2030 deadline.

Première diffusion : 3 novembre 2018

S2018 E46 • Abraham Serfaty: Morocco's Mandela

Filmmaker: Mostafa Bouazzaoui For almost his whole political career, Abraham Serfaty was a thorn on the side of authorities in Rabat, both during the days of French rule and later, under the reign of King Hassan II. Described by his closest supporters as 'the Moroccan Mandela', Serfaty endured 17 years of imprisonment, torture and 13 years of exile for his political views, including his opposition to Morocco's position on Western Sahara. Part of the minority Jewish population in Morocco, he never embraced Zionism. After the 1967 war, he distanced himself from Israel and became a vocal advocate for the Palestinian resistance movement, a burning issue that dominated discussion on Arab streets at the time. Serfaty once famously told the media 'Conveying the image of a democratic Israel is a fantasy. You cannot be a democrat while oppressing another people. Zionism goes against democracy. I was 10 in 1936, when my father told me at the synagogue that 'Zionism goes against our religion.'' His unique identity allowed him to break taboos and inspire others, according to those who met him. 'He established a new concept of the Arab Jew who didn't renounce any element of his origins as a Moroccan and an Arab Jew,' explains university teacher Michelle Fay. 'One can be a hundred percent Jewish and a hundred percent anti-Zionist.' Together with Abdellatif Laabi, Serfaty developed an artistic journal called 'Souffles', meaning 'Breaths'. Printed in Arabic and French, it was a creative space for political expression that its authors felt had been silenced for so long by politicians and the monarchy. 'It gave a new orientation to both journalism and creativity in an era that was giving birth to new ideas in Morocco, Palestine and the world,' says Noureddine Saoudi, a former prisoner and teacher. As a champion of universal human rights and democratic principles, Serfaty sits alongside the likes of Che Guevara, Martin Luther King and Patrice Lumumba. A product of his environment, he belonged to the freethinking era of the 1960s and 70s; and of the post-independence period when many Arab countries were freed from colonial rule. There was a global movement to end authoritarian rule, war, poverty, racism and the nuclear threat in which primarily young people inspired by left-wing Marxist ideology, saw spreading political awareness as a duty. It's ironical, on reflection, that several figures who wrestled their countries away from foreign influence later used oppressive styles of government against their own people - like Hafez al-Assad in Syria, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. Years after Abraham Serfaty's death in 2010, the Arab Middle East is still grappling with many of the major issues that preoccupied him - searching for forms of government acceptable to people and politicians, free from outside influence, without media restrictions or powerful instruments of state.

Première diffusion : 7 novembre 2018

S2018 E47 • Amin Awad: No End In Sight For Mena Refugee Crisis

There are 68.5 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Of these, 25.4 million are refugees, and 68 percent of all the refugees come from just five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia. Even though they are hosted by several countries, many of them aim for one final destination: Europe. The European Union declared a 'refugee crisis' in 2015, and the 'crisis' intensified as thousands kept pouring into the continent. EU member states have failed to agree on a solution with increased political tension as a result. But whose fault is this crisis And are all countries in the world - all of them - doing enough to ease the situation, or are only a few carrying the burden Amin Awad, the director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Bureau of the UNHCR, talks to Al Jazeera. 'The international community have paid, to a certain extent, generously for the Syria situation ... Traditional donors like the European Union, the EU member states ... The Arab world, thanks to Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, plus Turkey, have received six million refugees, and others have contributed to the Syria cause,' says Awad. 'But we also have Iraq, we have Libya and we have Yemen. We have many other crises in Africa that are also facing problems and a shortage of funding. Not all funding appeals from the UN are met.' Asked about the prospect of a central processing centre for migrants hoping to start a new life in Europe, located somewhere strategic in Africa, such as Morocco which had been formerly proposed, Awad sees the move as a potentially positive action as opposed to one which sees Europe shirking its responsibilities. 'I think what the Europeans are trying to do is to share the burden of the hundreds of thousands - or millions - that have crossed over in the last few years,' he says. 'The way out of this [multiple transit centres in North Africa] is robust policies to govern the assistance given by sub-Sahara and North Africa in order to stabilise this population.' 'The second thing is,' continues Awad, 'the world has to come up with a comprehensive system to fight and contain smuggling and trafficking. Smugglers and traffickers are coordinating as gangs with those who are trading in arms and in drugs. Those people are working in the smuggling and trafficking of human beings share intelligence, resources, they exchange heavy weapons, and they are bent on controlling those three things: drugs, people and weapons. This is very destabilising for the world at large. And this is billions of dollars of trade.' 'If the world does not come up with a mechanism to control this and put it as one of the most important agenda items today to the top of the world agenda, the situation will get worse and worse.' According to Awad, 'there is a humanitarian disaster in the making [in Yemen]. The world is watching this. And one day the world will wake up and find out that we have gone through one of the worst famine crises of our time. The world has to act - not one region or another - internationally to contain this problem, to reverse the situation. There is a need for huge humanitarian intervention.' 'That war has to stop. Saudi Arabia and other countries have to come to the assistance of the Yemeni people now. What is being done now is not enough.' When asked about countries that may not contribute as generously as others are perceived to, Awad says there are many reasons why this occurs, not least of which is the way GDP is distributed for each respective world nation; but there could be a more fair way forward. 'There ought to be a new order to make these contributions more equitable,' he says. 'The number of countries that contribute, for example, to these crises is not more than 15. The countries that are capable and able of contributing are more than 15. So, it is left to a very small number of countries that cannot meet the demand of humanity. And the demands are increasing every year.'

Première diffusion : 10 novembre 2018

S2018 E48 • Who Killed Robert Kennedy?

Fifty years ago, United States Senator Robert F Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles just moments after he'd won California's Democratic presidential primary.

Première diffusion : 14 novembre 2017

S2018 E49 • Edward Said: 'Out of Place'

A look at the life and career of the influential post-colonial writer and champion of the Palestinian cause in the West.

Première diffusion : 14 novembre 2017

S2018 E50 • A New Lease of Life: Growing Old in the Arab World

Lebanese and Moroccans reflect on life after retirement, as they pursue their passions in art, music, and literature.

Première diffusion : 28 novembre 2018