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Geopolitics

ARABICA - A Daily Shot Of What the Arab World is Saying/Hearing/Sharing

ARABICA - A Daily Shot Of What the Arab World is Saying/Hearing/Sharing
Kristen Gillespie


A R A B I C A
ارابيكا

THE CITY
BBC Arabic features an in-depth report from the central Syrian city of Hama, which had been the site last Friday of the largest demonstrations in the past four months of unrest. "Witnesses said about 30 buses full of armed police officers and soldiers entered the city on Monday morning." The officers were reportedly carrying lists with names of people they were to arrest. As they began to raid houses, "a group of young people took to the streets, set up roadblocks and threw stones at security forces." They responded by "firing indiscriminately and using tear gas." At least 16 people were wounded in the clashes.

THE DEFECTOR
Here, a man who says he is Sergeant Imad al-Setouf (he shows his official ID) issued a video statement explaining why he defected from Syrian military intelligence. Bashar al-Assad's thugs took part in killing, stealing, raping and torturing, al-Setouf says. "I was a witness from the beginning of the protests to what the security apparatus was doing," he says.

THE DAUGHTER
A Syrian girl in the northwest province of Idlib talks about how her father was shot dead by the army in the village of Jabal Zawiya. When asked by the man filming her what her message is to the government, she replies, while surrounded by other children, "the people want the regime to fall" and then bursts into tears.

EGYPT AFTER
Egypt's Attorney General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud is challenging the decision of a criminal court in Suez to release seven police officers, including some of high rank, on bail after being charged with killing 17 protesters. The officers are accused of firing live rounds into crowds of protesters in Suez. Mahmoud is petitioning the court to keep the officers in custody. Following the court's ruling, angry family members of the victims attempted to storm the courtroom and clashed with guards. The trial will resume on Septemer 14th.

TUNISIA AFTER
Reuters Arabic reports on the 15-year sentence for deposed Tunisian President Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali for possessing weapons and drugs with intent to sell the drugs. Last month, a court trying Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabulsi, sentenced both of them to 35 years in jail for plundering public funds.

SAUDIA ARABIA STATUS QUO
The Saudi government approved a measure giving a raise to health professionals serving in the military, as well as a higher housing allowance. It is the latest of several decrees issued by King Abdullah to boost salaries and find jobs to help preserve stability in the country.


July 4, 2011

photo credit: illustir

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Society

How Colombia's "Prosperity Preachers" Squeeze The Masses, With The State's Blessing

In traditionally Catholic Colombia, Protestant preachers have learned to effectively combine marketing and religion to make themselves enormously wealthy. And thanks to political lobbying and religious freedom, they are exempt from the law and taxes.

Image of a man in a suit, Esteban Acosta, a self-proclaimed apostle, giving a speech at ​La Unción Christian Community Church, a big screen behind him projecting his speech.

Esteban Acosta, a self-proclaimed apostle, giving a speech at La Unción Christian Community Church, in Cartagena, Colombia.

Karem Racines

CARTAGENA — Outside the La Unción Christian Community Church, in this coastal city in Colombia, hundreds of believers gather to tour the city and bring their “message of salvation” to others. On a white crane, there are six speakers, microphones, recording equipment and about ten people identified as "STAFF".

A drone flies over and records the scene. When everything is ready, Pastor Esteban Acosta goes up to the platform and leads the chants.

The followers, of different ages and economic backgrounds, look animated, holding posters and colored balloons. They are spread out between the current location of the church and its new location, being built across the street. In the old structure, the prized Cartagena land, which cost "a million dollars in credit" according to the pastor, there is room for 2,000 people.

In the new temple, with tinted windows and a marble floor, another 2,000 people will fit. Everything is financed by the "generous contributions" of the parishioners.

Esteban Acosta, a self-proclaimed apostle, and his wife, pastor Lisbeth Bello, convince their followers to make donations in exchange for religious favors, while they amass fortunes to afford a life of luxury. They use marketing strategies and a repetitive message with a simple promise: the more money they give to God through them, the more progress they will have on earth as a reward. They call it the "prosperity gospel."

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