The Week - UK (2022-05-28)

16 NEWS Best articles: International

THE WEEK 28 May 2022

Some Western

sanctions are

welcome ones

Gazeta

(Moscow)

Think ordinary Russians are angry about the international sanctions targeting their countrymen’s

yachts? Think again, says Anastasia Mironova. Most of us are actually delighted by the efforts of

other countries to financially “disembowel our oligarchs”. Why? Because they’re still traumatised by

the economic chaos the oligarchs helped unleash following the collapse of the Soviet Union. True, a

minority of Russians used that period to acquire huge wealth, buying up state assets at knock-down

prices. But for most, the 1990s were a time of woe, when people were “killed in the alley for a fur

hat” or driven to suicide by poverty. So those who recall that period “rejoice” at the sight of oligarchs

getting their comeuppance. Likewise, ordinary Russians are “hooting triumphantly” at the exodus of

affluent liberals, the types who insisted the 1990s were “a time of opportunity” and that those unable

to profit had only themselves to blame. Had those well-fed groups shown more solidarity with those

who endured pain back then, ordinary Russians might feel more sympathetic. As it is? Not so much.

A “sheikh” up

of Hollywood’s

Arab fantasies

Al Jazeera

(Doha)

How refreshing to see an “unapologetically” Arab female character in a popular Disney series, says

Ahmed Twaij. Moon Knight, the company’s latest Marvel offering, features an Egyptian superhero

called Layla El-Faouly wearing a “commanding white and gold winged suit”. As an Iraqi brought

up in the West, I’m used to seeing Middle Eastern characters cast as “terrorists, misogynists or oil

sheikhs”, a “dehumanisation” of Arabs that only got worse in the wake of 9/11. A typical example

was the character Sayid Jarrah in the hit show Lost: an Iraqi former torturer for Saddam Hussein

played by a British-Indian actor “putting on an absurd accent”. Series such as Homeland, in which

Muslims were portrayed as a constant threat to the West, were more damaging still. By 2015, things

were so bad, one poll had 30% of US Republican voters in favour of bombing Agrabah, the fictional

city in Disney’s Aladdin. Moon Knight is different: it features Arabs in leading roles, is steeped in

Egyptian mythology and culture, and features songs by Abdel Halim Hafez, a celebrated musician

in the Arab world. Let’s hope it marks a turning point in the portrayal of Middle Eastern characters.

I know many people say Europe must “keep in touch with the brightest minds in the world”, but

when it comes to Chinese doctoral students, aren’t we being a little naive, asks Sandra Petersmann.

Many Chinese scientists head for Europe’s top-class research facilities. Germany alone hosts 60,

Chinese researchers – some on German-funded scholarships. The majority may simply want to learn.

But a significant number go on to use their expertise on behalf of China’s military. For example, a

Chinese physicist who spent three years at universities in Hamburg and Mainz now works at China’s

secretive Academy of Engineering Physics, where nuclear warheads are developed. Then there’s the

chemist who conducted years of research in Berlin and Liverpool, and now works for the China

Central Military Commission. Dozens of such cases were uncovered in a recent investigation. Given

that the EU has cast China as a “systemic rival”, how does such collaboration make sense? Even if

its supporters are not being swayed by lavish Chinese investment in their departments and projects,

it’s still time, surely, that this “political and moral grey area” was subjected to a transparent debate?

Why are we

helping Beijing

build its army?

Deutsche Welle

(Bonn)

RUSSIA

EGYPT

GERMANY

Shehu Shagari College of Education

in Sokoto, northern Nigeria, was once seen

“as an oasis of knowledge in a vast land of

aridity... a symbol of enlightenment and

civility”. Not any more, said Dare Babarinsa

in The Guardian (Lagos). Earlier this month,

Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a bright young

Christian student who’d done well in her

exams, wrote to fellow students on a

WhatsApp group saying “I thank Jesus for

my success.” From then on, “death stalked

her”. Enraged by her praise of Jesus, some

Muslim fellow students accused her of

making blasphemous remarks about the

Prophet Mohammed. Dragging her outside,

they beat her to death and set fire to her

body. When the suspects were arrested, a

mob went on a rampage in the town,

demanding their release and insisting death

was the deserved punishment for blasphemy.

Even if her killers are convicted, said Abimbola Adelakun in

Punch (Lagos), the real challenge lies “in confronting the world

that emboldened” them. Nigeria is a supposedly secular state,

yet it’s teeming with Muslim fundamentalists who justify violent

deeds on religious grounds. The extreme example is the jihadist

group Boko Haram, which terrorises much of the north. But

extra-judicial sectarian killings, often involving accusations of

blasphemy, also occur with sickening regularity, and are all too

often endorsed by religious leaders. And all too often brushed

aside by political leaders, said Ebenezer Obadare in Council on

Foreign Relations (New York). Of the main

party candidates running for president in next

year’s election, just one has condemned the

killing of Yakubu. The ex-vice president and

presidential hopeful Atiku Abubakar did

initially tweet his condemnation, but then

deleted it, saying his account had been

hacked. This is all the result of the way the

country is split, religiously and ethnically.

The Igbo population in the south is mainly

Christian; the Yoruba and ethnic groups in

the middle about 50% Christian, 50%

Muslim; the Hausa-Fulani in the north are

largely Muslim. Given the political hegemony

of the north, politicians are loath to provoke

northern Muslims and the conservative

religious establishment by highlighting

blasphemy cases.

The “ideological chasm” between north and

south has been the core issue threatening Nigeria’s unity since

independence in 1960, said Obadare. And “the grip of

conservative Islam on northern Nigeria is tightened by poverty

and illiteracy”: the World Bank estimates that 87% of poor

Nigerians live in the north. What’s more, Sharia law holds

sway in all 12 northern states, said Lasisi Olagunju in Nigerian

Tribune (Ibadan), and under Sharia, blasphemy is a serious

offence. It’s said “the quickest way to die is to be wrongly

accused of blasphemy in northern Nigeria. If you’re lucky,

you’ll get locked up by a Sharia court.” If not, you will meet

the fate of Deborah Yakubu.

Yakubu: killed for a WhatsApp message

Death in Nigeria: blasphemy, religion and murder