MERIP
Media Resource List, April 21, 2006
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on
the following topics:
- Egyptian pro-reform judges suffering consequences of support
for clean elections
- Palestinian economy
MONA EL-GHOBASHY
Mona El-Ghobashy teaches
political science at Columbia University. She is the author
most recently of " Egypt's
Paradoxical Elections ," Middle East Report
238 (Spring 2006), "The Metamorphosis of the Egyptian
Muslim Brothers," International Journal of Middle
East Studies 37 (2005), and " Egypt
Looks Ahead to Portentous Year ," Middle East
Report Online , February 2, 2005. She commented today:
"Egyptian judges have been waging a high-profile campaign for
clean elections and a new law for the judiciary. Last
week, the government reacted with its most dramatic response
yet, referring two leading reformist judges to appear before
a disciplinary board on April 27 that can either censure
or dismiss them. All eyes are now trained on how the many
judges and the Egyptian public will react to this latest
escalation. Will the majority of pro-reform judges maintain
their momentum for a new law ensuring real independence,
or will they splinter into squabbling factions? And will civil
society organizations and other segments of the public continue
to actively rally around reformist judges as they
did for all of 2005, or is Egyptian society too worn
down by threats of avian flu and recent flare-ups
of sectarian tensions to muster much support?"
LEILA
FARSAKH
Leila Farsakh is assistant
professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts,
Boston. She has worked with the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Palestine Economic
Policy Research Institute in Ramallah. She has published articles
and studies on the Palestinian economy and the Oslo Process,
international migration and regional integration. She is author
of Palestinian Labor Migration (Routledge, 2005).
She commented today: "The economic situation in the Gaza
Strip has never been so dire, with poverty touching 75 percent
of the population and unemployment rates at over 37 percent.
Hamas's economic plan seeks to end the strangulation of the
economy by fostering trade relations with Arab and Muslim
countries and tackling the problem of corruption. It remains
to be seen how it will succeed, given that Israel continues
to control the entry and exits of goods and persons and the
PA coffers are empty."
Background
:
+
Mona El-Ghobashy, "Egypt's
Paradoxical Elections," Middle East Report
238 (Spring 2006)
El-Ghobashy explains the
role of Egypt's judges in the campaign for a cleaner vote
in 2005 and why judges orchestrated an uncharacteristically
high-profile, media-savvy campaign for full supervision of
elections.
+
Leila Farsakh, "Under
Siege: Closure, Separation and the Palestinian Economy,"
Middle East Report 217 (Winter 2000)
Farsakh analyzes the performance
of the Palestinian economy since the Oslo accords of 1993,
especially the effects of Israeli occupation and PA failures.
Provides a longer view on the current crisis.
-------------
Return
to archive index
For more
information, contact Michelle Woodward, MERIP Media Coordinator,
at (202) 223-3677, or merip.media@merip.org.
Media Resource Lists are an initiative of the MERIP Media
Outreach Program.
The Middle
East Research and Information Project (MERIP), 1500 Massachusetts
Ave, NW, Suite 119, Washington, DC 20005, Tel: (202) 223 3677,
Fax: (202) 223 3604, www.merip.org
|
