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I am a Dutch journalist, writer and photographer and cover topics such as human rights, poverty, migration, environmental issues, culture and business. I’m currently based in The Hague, The Netherlands, and frequently travel to other parts of the world. I have also lived in Tunisia, Egypt, Kuwait and Dubai.
My work has been published by Al Jazeera English, BBC, The Atlantic's CityLab, Vice, Deutsche Welle, Middle East Eye, The Sydney Morning Herald, and many Dutch and Belgian publications.
I hold an MA in Arabic Languages and Cultures from Radboud University Nijmegen and a post-Master degree in Journalism from Erasmus University Rotterdam. What I love most about my work is the opportunities I get to ask loads of questions. Email: [email protected]
They Think That At That Cliff Edge Lies Victory
The Arab Tyrant Manual Podcast brings you up to date with everything related to authoritarianism and liberty in the Arab world.
In this edition, Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash discuss the state of the Arab world and the prospects for this year. "And more importantly, the prospects for resistance."
2019 will suck, but we’re going to fight through every step of the way.
They talk about the fact a lot of Arab regimes are now seeking to renormalize the relations with Assad’s regime, which was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 because it was unusually repressive. "Now Assad’s repression is within the range of the new normal in the Arab world."
They think that the reason why Gadhafi and Mubarak etc. lost power is that they were not repressive enough. Imagine that.
"Assad standing next to Sisi and Mohamed Ben Salman and Mohamed Ben Zayed. Make no mistake. This Arab order is a mere shadow of its former self. They’re not heading towards victory, they’re heading towards a cliff edge. The tragic thing is that they think that at that cliff edge lies victory.”
About the Gulf monarchs, they say: “They’re becoming basically a global symbol of repression, greed and corruption.”
There’s this attitude among these Gulf leaders that everything and everyone can be bought with money. They encounter enough corruptible people like politicians to keep it going.
They also talk about the sharp increase in political dissidents and activists from the Gulf States to seek asylum abroad.
Yemen is another topic. A generation of Yemeni kids will grow up in starvation, without education and as child soldiers who are expected to fight.
Yemen is going to be awash with radicalised, traumatised people. It’s like creating Afghanistan on your border.
El-Baghdadi ends with a piece of advice: “If you’re a young man or woman in the Arab world right now, do not give the autocrats a reason to arrest you.”
