2025 opens with truces, not a cessation of wars and a tightening of rights issues
The first month of 2025 brought a ceasefire announcement in Gaza after fourteen months of war that led to the killing of thousands, the displacement of tens of thousands, and the massive destruction of the Gaza Strip. But it also brought the launch of another Israeli attack in the West Bank, specifically in the city of Jenin. In contrast, our partners were also busy following the developments of the impact of the start of Donald Trump’s era on the region.
Developments related to the ceasefire on the southern Lebanese front and its extension by Israel also occupied a significant part of the productions of our partners in Lebanon, amid the prevention of thousands of residents from returning to villages in the border areas adjacent to Israel. Amid these regional developments, news of amendments approved by the Iraqi parliament to the personal status law that leave the door open to the marriage of minors was presented. The campaign launched by the independent media, not only in Iraq, later led to the freezing of these amendments, which indicates once again the role played by alternative media in human rights issues and other issues related to human rights.
In this context, Kholoud Al-Amiri wrote on the Iraqi “Al-Manassa” website under the title: Independent media resumes its battle against amending the Personal Status Law after its suspension:
“The decision of the Federal Supreme Court to suspend three controversial laws, most notably the amendment to the Personal Status Law, has delighted opponents from human rights organizations and independent media outlets that had previously led a campaign against it.
The aforementioned laws were approved in a surreal scene, with the hands of the supporting deputies clapping and the opponents threatening. In less than five seconds, the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament announced the approval of the amendments without counting the votes and left the hall amidst the chaos that followed the event.
The independent Iraqi media, which had previously supported the campaigns of objection to the amended texts led by organizations active in the field of human rights, feared the moment when the law was approved, and remained in its opposition position, while the partisan media considered the law a new victory in favor of the Shiite Coordination Framework that led the amendment, ignoring the objecting voices. In exchange for this, the Kurds and Sunnis agreed to the general amnesty law and the return of confiscated properties to the Kurds.
Before the amendment, there was a campaign by men who had separated from their wives and demanded custody that lasted for more than five years. At the time, the Federal Court rejected the amendment request, and the independent media and human rights organizations considered the step an important victory. However, the amendments returned to the parliament’s kitchen again and entered into a tripartite deal between the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis, where the Sunnis requested the approval of the general amnesty law and the Kurds voted to return their confiscated properties. The deal ended with the approval of the three laws amidst the outcry of the opposition.
Today, after the Federal Court rejected the amendment to the Personal Status Law, the media outlets opposing the marriage of girls at the age of nine and the deprivation of women from inheriting the husband’s property are resuming their battle to support the Federal Court’s decision and not pass the law that abolishes the civil law and grants clerics the authority of judges in cases of “marriage and divorce according to the will of religious sects.” The “Daraj Media” platform in Lebanon followed up on these controversial amendments.
As for the “Shareka Walaken” website, it described the matter as a legislative catastrophe.
On the Palestinian issue, our partners followed the repercussions of the war in Gaza and the expansion of attacks in the West Bank.
From the “Dooz” platform in Nablus, a report on the feeling of the people of the West Bank that they are facing a second Nakba after the cessation of the war on Gaza and the launch of the attack on Jenin under the title “The Iron Wall”.
As for the “Last Story” platform in Gaza, it addressed the repercussions of the war and the day after it, especially with regard to daily life, including the accumulated waste that threatens the survivors of the war with another kind of death.
In Lebanon, the Beirut Today platform followed the developments of the truce in Lebanon and Gaza and published a report from inside the Palestinian camps about the Palestinians’ reaction to the ceasefire in Gaza.
From Jordan, these worrying figures about the rise in unemployment in Jordan on the Sada Podcast platform.
From Iraq, the Makanati platform addressed several issues related to women, including a topic about the spread of drugs in Iraqi universities and the impact of this phenomenon on female students.
The Yalla platform also covered a television story about the Fine Arts Institute for Girls in Dhi Qar, southern Iraq, and the birth of a new generation of female artists in the visual arts, design, and theater.
And to Mosul, where Ezidi 24 presented a photo story about three female students who volunteered to make candles inside the Monastery of Saint Barbara in Karamles.
This is for January, more productions on the “Qareeb” website. As for February, the month before the fasting month of Ramadan, it will be busy for us and our partners as we will meet in Amman within the framework of the second regional meeting of the “Qareeb” project to discuss the challenges and developments facing media work in our region, especially the challenges facing alternative media in particular.