Archive
Cronyism/Nepotism “is” Corruption
Kurdistan24 Kurmanci, owned by Masrour Barzani, according to the US Department of Justice and funded by the U.S. Department of State, has announced recently that Treefa Aziz is the new KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) representative to the United States.
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31969-PM-Masrour-Barzani-appoints-new-envoy-to-US
She is replacing Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, whose nieces I was privileged to teach. I will miss Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman. She dedicated efforts toward a turbulent long decade, soundly, consistently.
Recently, activist Shnyar Anwar Hassan has brought to the public’s attention that Ms. Treefa Aziz’s father, a dentist named Ahmad Golam Aziz, was criminally charged for raping an unconscious patient.
The Washington Post link:
If this is untrue, I deeply apologize to the Aziz family. Of course, I will retract anything I become cognizant upon which is untrue, publicly, with an apology.
But, the above disturbs me more than a little.
What disturbs me more however, is reports that Treefa Aziz is a relative to Ahmad Aziz, Deputy Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. Radaris seems to confirm this relationship.
Radaris link: https://radaris.com/~Ahmed-Aziz/1686289949
If the second point “is” true, I have bigger concerns then.
Corruption is not solely bribes and kickbacks. It is a high prevalence of Nepotism and Cronyism, wherein qualifications (hard work and experience) mean little, and the ordinary citizen is disappointed, enraged. A government can blacklist, punish and reward, not based upon merits, but as a personal patronage system, wherein who you know and how much you lie and cajole, are the primary heuristics.
A Yes-Man environment.
Such a high prevalence of Cronyism and Nepotism – corruption – leads to massive migrations, such as with Belarus recently. It strains resources of recipient nations, bolsters Islamophobia.
Voice of America here: https://www.voanews.com/a/iraqi-kurds-cite-work-graft-as-reasons-that-belarus-beckons/6325962.html
A high prevalence of Nepotism and Cronyism – corruption – also leads to internal instability, which often is met via repression. Such examples of repression also raises Islamophobia. And if this cycle persists, insurgency is the inevitable outcome as history shows. Therefore.
I kindly remind President Joseph Biden of his campaign slogan, returning integrity to The White House.
I really don’t feel the above, if true, is an example. It may be construed by some, as hypocrisy.
It is what I have witnessed while employed in Kurdistan for 3 years, and coincides with my thorough research on the qualifications of administrators and teachers, within the region’s private education sector.
I don’t think anyone who sincerely cares for the Iraqi and Kurdish children, the Iraqi nation, would see otherwise. I wouldn’t accept this status quo for my own children. I wouldn’t allow it if I were leadership.
I ask Mr. Biden respectfully to adopt a zero-tolerance policy even to those who step near or inside the White House. A tough anti-corruption, aggressive transparency combination, upon those who deal with a House of Integrity please.
If the above is flawed, untrue. again, I sincerely apologize to the Aziz family, and would absolutely retract, and correct publicly, with an apology. If’ I hit the bulls-eye, I leave the following:
“Corruption is a cancer: a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity; already-tight national budgets, crowding out important national investments. It wastes the talent of entire generations. It scares away investments and jobs.”
#corruption #Cronyism #nepotism #Kurdistan #Iraq #Bayansamiabdulrahman #KRG #TreefaAziz #Favoritism
Sands National Academy: Financing Terrorism, Money Laundering, Academic Fraud, Human Trafficking – Khilda, Jordan
Sands National Academy (SNA) in Khilda, Jordan, is an English-based international school, that claims to offer Jordanian students a pathway toward prestigious university studies abroad. SNA claims to cooperate with Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) for its British curriculum, which is attached to Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. CAIE claims on its website, to “work with governments” worldwide, to “create educational change and prepare schools and students for the modern world.” https://www.eskadenia.com/SubDefault.aspx?PageId=95&NewsId=2630
However, the operators and founder of its recognized school, SNA, since 2005, have been regularly documented, indirectly and directly, for human trafficking, financing terrorism, nepotism and cronyism, money laundering, employment rights violations, and academic fraud.
Sands National Academy: Financing Terrorism, Money Laundering, Academic Fraud, Human Trafficking – Khilda, Jordan
أكاديمية ساندس الوطنية: تمويل الإرهاب ، وغسل الأموال ، والاتجار بالبشر ، والاحتيال الأكاديمي
The following unquestionably details, how “some” private Middle Eastern English-based educational institutions (businesses), are downright unscrupulously corrupt. It also seriously challenges whether the United States, the United Kingdom, and others, who cooperate with such businesses, are sincerely opposed to terrorism, corruption, and crime, or simply disingenuously manipulating such causes, solely for oil and private educational profits.
Ultimately, endangering naive expat teachers, innocent students, and defrauding desperate parents.
Sands National Academy (SNA) in Khilda, Jordan, is an English-based international school, that claims to offer Jordanian students a pathway toward prestigious university studies abroad. SNA claims to cooperate with Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) for its British curriculum, which is attached to Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. CAIE claims on its website, to “work with governments” worldwide, to “create educational change and prepare schools and students for the modern world.” https://www.eskadenia.com/SubDefault.aspx?PageId=95&NewsId=2630
أكاديمية ساندس الوطنية (SNA) في خلدا هي مدرسة لتعليم اللغة الإنجليزية في الأردن تدعي أنها تتعاون مع Cambridge International Assessment Education والمجلس الثقافي البريطاني تدعي Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) أنها تعمل مع الحكومات في العالم لإحداث تغيير تعليمي وإعداد المدارس والطلاب للعالم الحديث. "
However, the operators and founder of its recognized school, SNA, since 2005, have been regularly documented, indirectly and directly, for human trafficking, financing terrorism, nepotism and cronyism, money laundering, employment rights violations, and academic fraud.
ومع ذلك. شارك مؤسسو ومديرو Sands National Academy في تمويل الإرهاب وغسيل الأموال والمحسوبية والمحسوبية والاتجار بالبشر وانتهاكات حقوق التوظيف.
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/why-choose-us/find-a-cambridge-school/?Location=Jordan&City=Khalda (Cambridge Assessment listing of Sands National Academy)
Now read the following:
FINANCING TERRORISM AND MONEY LAUNDERING تمويل الإرهاب وغسل الأموال
Currently , the Sands National Academy (SNA) chairman is Jameel Anz, former director of Foursan Group, who is also a senior president of Arab Bank. Arab Bank’s affiliation with SNA goes further, as explained later with the Foursan Group, under the title “NEPOTISM AND CRONYISM” below.
رئيس أكاديمية الرمال الوطنية جميل عنز. وهو أيضا رئيس البنك العربي. البنك العربي شركة اسمها مجموعة فرسان مرتبطة أيضا. تمتلك مجموعة فرسان الآن أكاديمية ساندس الوطنية
Nevertheless, Arab Bank, in 2005, was found guilty of money laundering. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/8/17/arab-bank-fined-24m-for-laundering
مع ذلك. في عام 2005 ، أدين البنك العربي بتهمة غسل الأموال.
Then, in 2014, Arab Bank was also found guilty of 24 counts of financing terrorism in a United States court. The guilty verdict was thrown out in exchange for monetary compensation to over 700 victims of 24 acts of terrorism. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-arab-bank-decision-idUSKBN1FT26Z
ثم ، في عام 2014 ، أدين البنك العربي بارتكاب 24 قضية تمويل الإرهاب في محكمة أمريكية. كان هناك أكثر من 700 ضحية.
Even after this verdict in 2014 however, Arab Bank continued to finance terrorism abroad, according to the Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/leaked-docs-arab-bank-was-involved-in-potential-terrorist-financing-until-2016/
حتى بعد إدانة أكاديمية ساندز الوطنية ، استمرت في تمويل الإرهاب.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING الاتجار بالبشر
In 2016, the local Jordanian NGO Tamkeen, documented a complaint of human trafficking against SNA (pages 91-93). https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://tamkeen-jo.org/upload/Tamkeen_Fields_walled.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjsxa3bgIL1AhXcR_EDHWVvCxEQFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2Tp3Vkoadna_ibuqe9JOs4
في عام 2016 ، اتُهمت أكاديمية ساندس الوطنية بالاتجار بالبشر من قبل منظمة غير حكومية في عمان ، الأردن.
NEPOTISM AND CRONYISM المحسوبية والمحسوبية
In 2017, Foursan Group took over Sands National Academy. Foursan Group’s founders are LEITH and NASHAT AL MESRI. It is salient to note, the current chairman of Arab Bank is SABIH AL MESRI.
في عام 2017 ، سيطرت شركة تسمى مجموعة فرسان على أكاديمية ساندز الوطنية. أصحاب مجموعة فرسان هم نشأت الليث المصري. ومن الجدير بالذكر أن رئيس مجلس إدارة البنك العربي هو صبيح المصري.
In addition, the Public Relations representative for Sand’s National Academy (SNA) is RAWAN Al MESRI. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rawan-almasri-048466112/?originalSubdomain=jo .
بالإضافة إلى ذلك ، فإن ممثل العلاقات العامة في أكاديمية ساندز الوطنية (SNA) هو روان المسر
The Islamic advisor for SNA is IMAN AL MESRI. https://www.linkedin.com/in/%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A-246585151
كما أن المستشار الإسلامي لـ SNA هو إيمان المسري.
In summation:
– Yes, the Mesris in Foursan Group and Arab Bank are related.
– Yes, Arab Bank, Foursan Group, and Sands National Academy, are closely connected together. One could aver they are the same.
– And yes. There is a relationship with the Mesris in Arab Bank, Foursan Group, and Palestinian billionaire, MUNIB AL MESRI, the preceding once arrested in Israel for organizing events with Hamas.. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-shutters-pa-backed-conference-in-east-jerusalem-top-businessman-arrested/
في الجمع. ميسريس البنك العربي ومجموعة فرسان هي عائلة واحدة. البنك العربي ، مجموعة فرسان ، وأكاديمية ساندس الوطنية هي نفسها. مجموعة فرسان المسريس في البنك العربي مرتبطة بالملياردير الفلسطيني منيب المصري.
Interesting to briefly mention also, Arab Bank chairman SABIH AL MESRI, was once detained by Saudi Arabia for corruption charges.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-corruption-saudi-jordan-masri-idUSKBN1ED10H
ومن المثير للاهتمام أيضًا أن نذكر أن رئيس البنك العربي صبيح المصري اعتقل مرة واحدة في المملكة العربية السعودية بتهمة الفساد.
In regards to the “wasta” of SNA (Wasta is a term employed in the Middle East meaning favoritism based upon personal relationships). Foursan Group founders have affiliations with the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Foursan’s board members are part of King Abdullah Hussein II’s Economic Policy Council.
فيما يتعلق بالواسطة. مؤسسو مجموعة فرسان مرتبطون بمؤسسة الحسين للسرطان ومجلس الملك عبدالله الحسين الثاني للسياسات الاقتصادية.
It is important to point out that the King of Jordan has been accused numerous times of corruption, just recently in the Pandora Papers. https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/jordan-king-abdullah-luxury-property/
من المهم أن نذكر أن الملك عبد الله الثاني ملك الأردن قد اتُهم بالفساد مرات عديدة. مؤخرًا ، في أوراق باندورا.
In addition, Palestinian billionaire MUNIB AL MESRI , also a former confidant of Palestinian Liberation Organization leader, Yasser Arafat, is the uncle of former Jordanian Prime Minister, TAHER AL MESRI.
الملياردير الفلسطيني منيب المصري هو أيضا عم رئيس الوزراء الأردني السابق طاهر المصري.
HIKMAT AL-MESRI, who was the former Deputy Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament, is the brother of Arab Bank chairman SABIH AL MESRI. And SABIH AL MESRI and MUNIB AL MESRI are cousins.
https://www.4san.com/teamhttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Bank
http://www.all4palestine.com/ModelDetails.aspx?gid=8&mid=91&lang=en
حكمت المسري ، نائب رئيس مجلس النواب الأردني السابق ، هو شقيق رئيس البنك العربي صبيح المسري. وصبيح المسري ومنيب المسري أبناء عمومة.
SOMETHING ELSE TO MENTION
In 2017, Foursan Group hired the Sharia Review Bureau to review their financial transactions so that they follow Sharia laws of Islam. It gives credence to my past belief, the school should not be classified an international school, but an Islamic school.
https://www.islamicfinancenews.com/foursan-group-picks-srb-as-shariah-advisor.html
في عام 2017 ، عينت مجموعة فرسان مكتب المراجعة الشرعية لمراجعة معاملاتهم المالية ، بحيث تتبع أحكام الشريعة الإسلامية. هذا يعني أنها ليست مدرسة دولية. إنها مدرسة إسلامية.
ACADEMIC FRAUD الغش الأكاديمي
SNA also offers an American curriculum through the International Accreditation Agency (IAO). On the IAO web page, it also lists Sands National Academy as one of its accredited, quote, “Islamic” schools. https://v2.iao.org/institutes-accreditation/jordan-amman/sands-national-academy-jordan/
تقول أكاديمية ساندس الوطنية إنها معتمدة من قبل وكالة الاعتماد الدولية (IAO)
In 2015, the IAO was shut down after discovering its owners were an IT Pakistan agency named AXACT Corporation, which sold fake diplomas, according to the New York Times.
https://www.bircham.net/iao-international-accreditation-organization.html#:~:text=Later%2C%20in%202015%2C%20the%20International,fake%20diplomas%20and%20diploma%20mills.&text=IAO%20resurfaced%20in%202017.
https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2015/05/authorities-shut-down-a-global-network-of-fake-universities/
في عام 2015 ، قامت منظمة الاعتماد الدولية (IAO) ببيع شهادات مزورة ، وفقًا لصحيفة نيويورك تايمز.
EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS VIOLATIONS نتهاكات حقوق العمل
The founder of Sands National Academy is Nehad Kanaan of Tinley Park , Illinois. In a 2011 complaint by teachers at SNA against Kanaan (in Arabic within the link below), the teachers accused Mr. Kanaan of the following:
مؤسس أكاديمية ساندز الوطنية هو نهاد كنعان من تينلي بارك ، إلينوي. في شكوى عام 2011 من قبل المعلمين في الجيش الوطني الصومالي ضد كنعان ، اتهم المعلمون السيد كنعان بالآت
- Violating Jordanian labor laws مخالفة قوانين العمل الاردنية
- Purposely disregarding policies and orders of the Ministry of Education رفض الاستماع لوزارة التربية والتعليم
- Salary deductions without notice or reason ستقطاعات الراتب بدون إشعار أو سبب
- Work duties on weekends without pay واجبات العمل في عطلة نهاية الأسبوع بدون أجر
- Abuse and treatment depicted as slavery سوء المعاملة والرق
https://jfranews.com.jo/article/21314
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE خبرة شخصية
In my personal experience, unfortunately and briefly employed at SNA through the conduit of a recruiting agency called Nell Program, in 2016 (https://www.nellprogram.com/):
في تجربتي الشخصية ، لسوء الحظ وظفت لفترة وجيزة في SNA من خلال قناة وكالة توظيف تسمى Nell Program ، في عام 2016 (https://www.nellprogram.com/):
My salary was occasionally deducted without notice or warning, and I was not paid my last month’s salary. A copy of my contract was never returned, though Mr. Kanaan promised this after I signed the contract at the beginning of my employment with SNA.
تم خصم راتبي من حين لآخر دون سابق إنذار ، ولم أتقاضى راتبي عن الشهر الماضي. لم يتم إرجاع نسخة من عقدي أبدًا ، على الرغم من أن السيد كنعان وعد بذلك بعد أن وقعت العقد في بداية عملي مع SNA.
I also witnessed a child assaulted, choked by a hall monitor. Another math teacher bragged about stepping on a student’s face for insulting Palestine, while held down by other students, and also bragged about his personal relationship with an underage female student.
كما شاهدت طفلاً يتعرض للاعتداء والخنق من قبل مراقب القاعة. وتفاخر مدرس رياضيات آخر بالدوس على وجه طالب لإهانة فلسطين ، بينما يتأرجح من قبل طلاب آخرين ، كما يتفاخر بعلاقته الشخصية مع طالبة قاصر.
A Biology teacher and her supervisor also argued with me, maligning me as an Israeli spy, because I simply disagreed that the FBI’s most wanted terrorist, Ahlam Al Tamimi, was not a heroine for killing innocent Jewish children. Killing children is wrong, period, for any cause. https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wanted_terrorists/ahlam-ahmad-al-tamimi
جادلتني أيضًا معلمة أحياء ومشرفتها ، وسبّوا عليّ كجاسوسة إسرائيليّة ، لأنني ببساطة لم أوافق على أن الإرهابيّة المطلوبين لدى مكتب التحقيقات الفدرالي ، أحلام التميمي ، لم تكن بطلة لقتل أطفال يهود أبرياء. قتل الأطفال خطأ ، فترة ، لأي سبب.
Overall, it was a very toxic environment that had a religious, fundamentally dangerous, overtone. There was a prevailing bigotry, akin and occasionally worse, than racism I’ve witnessed and experienced in America, present there at SNA. I also can not and will not support, the authenticity of its grading policies.
بشكل عام ، كانت بيئة شديدة السمية ذات طابع ديني خطير للغاية. كان هناك تعصب سائد ، شبيه وأحيانًا أسوأ من العنصرية التي شاهدتها وعشتها في أمريكا ، موجودة هناك في SNA. كما أنني لا أستطيع ولن أدعم صحة سياسات الدرجات الخاصة بها.
CONCLUSION
SNA is an example of why more salient and effective quality assurance policies toward international institutions abroad, by departments and ministries of education in Western nations, must be clearly implemented. Agencies as Cambridge Assessment International Education, the British Council, are insufficient in their over-reliance on foreign government ministries to oversee schools, or are simply corrupted by the profit incentive alone. Both can be clearly assumed from above.
هناك حاجة إلى سياسات أكثر فاعلية للإشراف على المدارس الدولية مثل أكاديمية ساندز الوطنية. هذه المدرسة هي مثال جيد على الفساد. وهذه المدرسة تعرض المعلمين أحد الطلاب للخطر.
The above suggestion is also unquestionably necessary and beneficial in order to prudently guarantee, a safe environment for students and teachers, while bolstering employment, human rights. Most importantly, to responsibly guarantee that private international schools in the Middle East are not “indirectly or directly,” affiliated with activities classified as criminal, corrupt, or terrorist in nature, while simultaneously legitimized by relationships with agencies in the West.
آمل في بيئة آمنة للمعلمين والطلاب. لا أشعر أن أكاديمية الرمال الوطنية واحدة. أشعر بالخوف والأسف على الطلاب الذين يذهبون إلى المدرسة. المدارس المرتبطة بالإرهاب أو السلوك الإجرامي سيئة وغير آمنة للجميع. آمل أن يتم شيء ما.
It is okay to make a profit. But it is not okay to compromise one’s integrity and place others in danger, doing so. The above microcosm, and others I have documented for 13 years as a teacher in the Middle East, compels me to be very deeply concerned about the education the youth in the Middle East are exposed to daily. They deserve better!
إن أبناء الأردن يستحقون الأفضل.
*Disregard the above if you’re not human or sincere. No brain is required to conclude schools as SNA are potentially dangerous, and sketchy at best. You don’t have to be a spy to know the above, you just need to have a brain and know how to use Google. Most importantly, you need to sincerely care about education and the youth in the Middle East. *
https://www.sandsacademy.edu.jo/ (Sands National Academy Website)
A Collective Consciousness and TJP Production 
