Two days ago, I attended a seminar on the legal background and implications of President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Council. Two prominent Palestinian experts - Dr. Ahmed Khalidi and Dr. Anis al-Qassem - concluded that Abbas's decision is legally grounded. Khalidi, who is considered the father of the Palestinian constitution, said that the reality created by Abbas cannot be changed by legal means, and that the only way to confront the street's discontent with the PA's excesses is through political means. Mohammed Najeeb al-Rashdan, a prominent Jordanian lawyer participating in the symposium, said that this behavior reflects the usual behavior of Arab regimes, which deal with the law and the constitution selectively and interpret it to serve their interests.

Outside, it was snowing for the first time this year in Istanbul. I had mixed feelings about it. Where I grew up, snow was not a frequent visitor, and we celebrated its arrival with joy. But since the Syrian tragedy began in 2011, snow has brought death to refugees stranded in the mountains of Lebanon or near the Turkish border. Thousands of mud tents were flooded when the snow melted, turning into a furious river of mud that swept through what was left of Syria. My friend Hussam al-Ghali, who is in charge of a coalition of Lebanese nongovernmental organizations working with Syrian refugees, sent me terrifying news about hundreds of families hit by Storm Norma this week.

When Pakistan's Indus TV asked me about my assessment of the past year and my expectations for the current year, the question struck a chord with me. I said I was optimistic that this year would bring freedom and justice for the Palestinian people, even though the past year has been full of violence and gloom. But not violence you can understand or live with, but violence that leaves you disoriented and stunned. Killing dissidents is not uncommon in our region, but for Jamal Khashoggi to be murdered inside a diplomatic building, his body dismembered, dissolved in acid, and his remains dumped into the sewer - that is beyond imagination.

Just two days ago, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi caused quite a stir with his interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, in which he admitted to cooperating with Israel in targeting Egyptian citizens in the Sinai Peninsula in the east of the country. Sisi did not deny his responsibility for the 2013 Rabaa massacre, in which more than 1,000 protesters against his military coup were killed. He also denied reports by several human rights organizations-including Human Rights Watch-that Egypt holds more than 60,000 political detainees in its prisons. During the interview, Sisi appeared nervous and sweaty, prompting activists on social media to liken him to a student in an exam hall. Worse, Egyptian authorities asked the channel not to broadcast the interview, a request that CBS took advantage of to promote the interview and attract more viewers, opening up a debate about Sisi's legitimacy even before the interview aired.

As the Gulf states turn to Israel, they simultaneously beat the drums of war against Iran and impose a blockade on Qatar - a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - leaving the question unanswered: Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, who rarely appears in the media, was seen last year giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a tour of his palace. Meanwhile, his officials claim that Oman is doing this for the benefit of the Palestinian people!

The only event that could have brought some joy to our hearts was the announcement that the war in Yemen was over. The Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government held peace talks and agreed to de-escalate the situation, but nothing happened on the ground. After a month of stalling, Houthi drones attacked a military parade in the southern Yemeni province of Lahj on Thursday, killing a number of people.

In Sudan, the country is caught between protesters demanding the fall of the government due to corruption and mismanagement, and supporters of the regime who claim that the deteriorating living conditions are caused by foreign conspiracies. The latter accuse the protesters of being foreign agents who want to push Sudan into chaos and despair.

In Syria, after nearly eight years of civil war, half a million dead and half the population displaced, the international community has recognized and renewed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a legitimate ruler. Turkey is preparing to intervene militarily against Kurdish groups in northern Syria, following US President Donald Trump's announcement to withdraw his troops from there. Suddenly, US National Security Advisor John Bolton accused Turkey of planning to commit massacres against the Kurds, while Trump again announced that the withdrawal of troops would take longer than expected.

Even in Israel, the prime minister has dissolved parliament and called elections amidst accusations of corruption, and is struggling mightily to stay on the political scene. The mud reminds me of a short story by Anton Chekhov, about a young maid who works hard and doesn't get enough sleep. As she falls asleep, screams prevent her from enjoying a dream in which she is immersed in liquid mud. Eventually, she discovers that the screams are coming from the child she has been assigned to take care of. She kills him and falls into a deep sleep.
Source: Middle East Monitor