Arabic press review: Egypt school re-enacts Sinai atrocity to instil 'patriotism'

Playtime and patriotism

An Egyptian school has used pupils to re-enact the Sinai mosque attack which killed more than 300 people, causing outrage on social media, Arabi21 reported.

The school in Koum al-Nur, Dokhaliya, dressed pupils as terrorists in black clothes and masks, and worshippers in white robes stained with fake blood.

The "attackers" also held the flags of Israel, Iran, Turkey and Qatar.

Images of the re-enactment were circulated on social media, leading to heavy criticism.

Many comments by Egyptians focused on the use of the flags, saying the school was trying to convince children the countries were "enemies of Egypt".

The head-teacher Yahia al-Adgham defended the re-enactment, saying: "It was in good intention and its purpose was to instil patriotism in children." 

Libya in IS sights

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State group "caliph", has ordered the remnants of IS to focus on Libya to compensate for losses in Iraq and Syria, according to al-Sharq al-Awsat.

The Saudi newspaper quoted documents it said had been found in IS locations in different parts of Libya, including letters from Baghdadi to 13 of his top supporters.

The documents contained orders for southern Libya to be used as a new base to target Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.

The newspaper said some of the documents date to the end of last year, while others date back to only a few weeks.

Thousands of unaccompanied Syrian children in Jordan

The number of unaccompanied Syrian children in Jordan has reached 3,264, according to the Jordanian newspaper, al-Ghad.

The newspaper said Jordan intends to develop a law that protects the children’s rights.

The UNHCR's child protection officer, Zeina Jadaan, said: "The issue of unaccompanied and separated children continues to be a major challenge to the child refugees’ protection and care programmes."

Israel blocks Swiss visit to Gaza

Israel has blocked Switzerland's representatives from visiting Gaza after a series of meetings between Swiss diplomats and the leaders of Hamas, according to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper.

The Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, ordered the ban after a meeting between the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and Swiss ambassador Julian Toni in Gaza on Tuesday.

Arabic press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.