Saturday, March 5, 2011

Al-Jazeera Video: On the road to Sirte

Al-Jazeera Video: Libya rebels battle Gaddafi loyalists

The Egyptian Revolution Continues: Egyptians raid state police offices


Protesters storm state security buildings, claiming documents on rights abuses are being destroyed.

Al-Jazeera

"Egyptian protesters have stormed several state security buildings, seizing documents and attempting to retrieve files kept on alleged human rights abuses in the country.

The 500,000-strong internal security services are accused of some of the worst human rights violations while attempting to suppress dissent against former president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Protesters stormed inside at least six of the buildings on Saturday, including the agency's main headquarters in Cairo's northern Nasr City neighbourhood, confronting and attacking some officers.

The protesters are demanding the agency be dismantled and its leaders be put on trial.

"We are inside, hundreds of us." Mohammed Abdel-Fattah, one of the protesters who barged into the Nasr City compound on Saturday, told the Associated Press.

"We are fetching documents and we are looking for detainees."

Around 2,500 people swept into the compound, according to state media.

Abdel-Fattah said they barged in from the back doors, and the military, which had cordoned off the building, could not stop them......"

الثوار يقتحمون مقر أمن الدولة بمدينة نصر

From Hossam El-Hamalawy

Roger waters of Pink Floyd endorses BDS


Roger Waters, the legendary musician and founder-member of the iconic band Pink Floyd, talks to Al Jazeera about his passionate campaign for the rights of the Palestinian people.
The rockstar is urging the Israeli government to "tear down the wall."More than 30 years after he wrote the globally-acclaimed album The Wall, Waters focuses on another wall - the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank - which has encroached  into Palestinian territory and has caused untold hardships for its people.

Jan25 Storming Mubarak’s Gestapo HQ إقتحام مقر مباحث أمن الدولة بمدينة نصر


From Hossam El-Hamalawy:

"Today we stormed the central office of State Security Police in Nasr City, one of Mubarak’s most notorious torture centers."

From Al-Jazeera:

مخاوف من ضياع مستندات مهمة
اقتحامات لمقرات أمن الدولة بمصر

"اقتحم متظاهرون مساء السبت مقر جهاز أمن الدولة المصري بمدينة نصر شمال القاهرة وصادروا محتوياته، وذلك بعد ساعات من اقتحام آخرين مقر أمن مدينة "6 أكتوبر" إحدى ضواحي العاصمة وطالبوا بالتحفظ على وثائق ومستندات المقر التي أحرق جزء منها، في وقت اعتقل فيه الجيش عددا من ضباط الجهاز في منطقة الفراعنة بالإسكندرية بعد اقتحام مقرهم.

فقد نجح مئات المتظاهرين في دخول مقر جهاز أمن الدولة بمدينة نصر وهو المقر الرئيسي للجهاز، وذلك بهدف حماية الملفات الرسمية من الحرق أو الإتلاف كما حدث في بعض المقرات على حد قولهم.

وقال أحد الشباب المقتحمين لمبنى مدينة نصر إنهم جمعوا كل الملفات وأجهزة الحاسوب والأقراص الممغنطة، داعين عددا من القضاة المستقلين -مثل المستشارين زكريا عبد العزيز ومحمود الخضيري- لاستلام هذه الملفات التي تثبت الظلم والطغيان بحق الشعب، على حد تعبيره.

وأضاف الشاب طارق زيدان أن المقتحمين يبحثون حاليا عن الأماكن السرية التي يوجد بها معتقلون، داعين أهاليهم إلى إبلاغهم بأسمائهم.

وكانت أعداد كبيرة من المصريين قد تظاهروا أمام مقرات عدة تابعة لجهاز أمن الدولة للمطالبة بحل الجهاز، ولدعوة المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة إلى تأمين تلك المقرات خوفا من أن يتلف ضباط الجهاز وثائقها.

وحاصر الجيش في وقت سابق مقر أمن الدولة في مدينة 6 أكتوبر بعدما تدفقت عليه أعداد كبيرة من المتظاهرين، وتحفظ على ضباطه وطلب منهم عدم المغادرة بسياراتهم خشية تهريبهم مستندات وملفات.

وقال شهود إن ضباطا يعملون في المبنى أضرموا النار في المقر، وإن الأمن منع سيارات الإطفاء من الوصول إليه.

وكان مصدر أمني مصري رفيع المستوى قال السبت إن وزارة الداخلية بدأت دراسة لإعادة هيكلة هذا الجهاز الذي يطالب محتجون بحله.
...."

Saudi Arabia bans protest rallies



Interior ministry vows to use all steps "to prevent attempts to disrupt public order" following recent Shia protests.

Al-Jazeera

"Saudi Arabia has banned all protests and marches following recent anti-government protests in the kingdom’s east, reports say.


State television on Saturday quoted the interior ministry as saying that security forces would use all measures to prevent any attempt to disrupt public order.

The ban on public demonstrations comes amid media reports of a huge mobilisation of Saudi troops in Shia-dominated provinces in order to quell any possible uprising.

According to The Independent [See this report by Robert Fisk], a British newspaper, 10,000 security personnel are being sent to the region by road, clogging highways into Dammam and other cities....."

A Portrait of a Revolutionary: Hossam El-Hamalawy

A GREAT CONTRIBUTION
By Yasmin

"Jadaliyya is hereby presenting the first installment in a interactive (see below) series called "A Portrait of a Revolutionary," featuring interviews with an Egyptian journalist and activist who was at the forefront of the Egyptian protest movement. Hossam's vantage point is quite unique, and his broad knowledge of the Egyptian political landscape as well as history positions him to provide an unparalleled account of the the context and developments that have led to the resignation of former Egyptian President, Husni Mubarak, and the aftermath.

Below is the second part of the interview. I opted for presenting it first, however, because it is in English (the first part is to be posted soon. Amon other issues, it deals with the role of the Egyptian Labor Unions and their role in tipping the scale during the last days before Mubrak's resignation. It is in Arabic).

This interview deals with the role of the army (then and now) in a quite candid and courageous manner that demystifies the halo that was created around that institution. The details that are brought to bear in the interview, and he analytical context in which they are lodged, are quite valuable for any observer/researcher.

I would like to make this a somewhat interactive interview by asking readers to pose their own questions to Hossam after watching the interview. I will relay the most productive questions, so please feel free to post your (clear/concise) questions under the comments, below).

The third part will be about the role and prospects of the political and economic elite, before, during and after the revolution. "

Portrait of a Revolutionary: Hossam El-Hamalawi (Part 2) from Jadaliyya on Vimeo.

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


This new poll asks:

Do you support the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in Jordan?

With over 2,400 responding so far, 81% said yes.

The Egyptian Revolution Has a Long Way to Become a Reality: عودة التصنيع المصري الإسرائيلي المشترك

Al-Jazeera

The economic integration is with Israel, not among Arab states! This is the Imperial diktat!

"قال مسؤول إسرائيلي اليوم السبت إن المصانع المصرية التي تستخدم منتجات إسرائيلية بموجب اتفاق تجارة برعاية أميركية، استأنفت عملها بعد تعطيلات أثناء الثورة التي أدت إلى إسقاط نظام الرئيس حسني مبارك.

وقال مدير قسم الشرق الأوسط بوزارة الصناعة والتجارة الإسرائيلية غابي بار "إن الإمدادات المتجهة إلى المصانع المصرية توقفت خلال الاضطرابات التي شهدتها الشهر الماضي والتي تخللها فرض حظر تجول وإضرابات عمالية وإغلاقات للبنوك والموانئ، وإن كل شيء عاد إلى مساره".

وأضاف "نلحظ بالفعل حاليا رغبة من جانب الشركات المصرية المهتمة جدا بمواصلة العمل على هذا النحو الذي يسمح لهم بالمنافسة في السوق الأميركية لأنهم يبيعون بإعفاء جمركي كامل".

وقال بار إن العمليات المصرفية لم تستأنف بعد بالكامل في مصر، وإنه ما زال هناك عمال مضربون في بعض المصانع.

وبدأ التعاون المصري الإسرائيلي المعروف باتفاقية المناطق الصناعية الموهلة (الكويز) عام 2005، وهو على غرار اتفاق مماثل بين إسرائيل والأردن يعود إلى أواخر تسعينيات القرن الماضي.

وتخشى إسرائيل أن تتأثر معاهدة السلام الموقعة بين البلدين منذ عام 1979 بعد سقوط الرئيس حسني مبارك، وكانت واشنطن قد دعمتها بإعفاء المنسوجات المصنعة في مصر بمكون إسرائيلي من رسوم الاستيراد الأميركية، إضافة إلى صفقة للتزود بالغاز الطبيعي المصري.

وتستورد إسرائيل سنويا نحو 1.5 مليار متر مكعب من الغاز الطبيعي المصري، وتقول المعارضة المصرية إن الغاز يباع بأسعار مخفضة بموجب عقد وقع عام 2005 بين الشركة المصرية وشركات الطاقة الإسرائيلية.

ويغطي الغاز المصري 40% من حاجة السوق الإسرائيلي منذ توقيع الصفقة بين البلدين عام 2005 والتي تقضي بتصدير غاز لإسرائيل بقيمة 2.5 مليار دولار طيلة 15 عاما قابلة للتجديد لخمس سنوات أخرى
."

A Middle East without borders?


The nation state is ripe for change and people power offers new opportunities for mapping the future of the region.

Mohammed Khan
Al-Jazeera

"The modern geography of the Middle East was carved out by British and French colonialists whose sole interest was in sharing the spoils of war between themselves and in maintaining their supremacy over the region in the early part of the 20th century.

The contours of the region, with its immaculately straight lines (see maps of Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Sudan) are much the same today as when they were first drawn up, despite decades of cross-border encroachment and conflict.

Never has an imported concept been so jealously guarded by ruling families and political elites in the Middle East as that of the nation state, together with the holy grail of international relations theory, state sovereignty.

The artificialness of the borders in question is not in doubt. Take a look at any map of the Middle East prior to the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France (when the division of the region was finalised with no consideration for the thoughts of the people that lived in it) and you will be hard pressed to find many physical boundaries between, say, Syria to the north-east and Morocco to the west.

What you may find, however, are free-flowing train routes spanning the region. A relic of the old Hejaz Railway, which connected Damascus to Medina, still stands (dilapidated) in the centre of the Syrian capital. It once transported pilgrims to the Muslim holy city in modern-day Saudi Arabia without the need for cumbersome visas and frustrating bureaucrats. But that was obviously some time ago.....

More precisely, the political convulsions that the region is undergoing right now have revealed glaringly the extent to which the problems and, potentially, the solutions to the Arab world's ills are remarkably similar. The political, economic and social suffocation that the people of Tunisia and Egypt have endured, before popular revolutions swept the countries' dictators from power, were near identical. The political, economic and social ailments suffered in Libya, Algeria, Bahrain, Yemen and now Oman are of the same vein.

Obviously, the causes of political unrest across these states are much more nuanced and cannot be reduced to generalisations. However, the future, unsurprisingly, is with the youth, the very demographic that is taking the lead in battling corruption and autocracy and one that is communicating, encouraging and helping others across borders in the spirit and language of togetherness.

Sure, this does not by itself denote that borders are now irrelevant. What it does suggest, however, is that political and economic issues and opportunities cannot be dealt with simply within the confines of borders any longer. The pent-up frustrations of the Arab youth, the economic inequalities, the demands for better representation extend across the entire region. A single voice is emerging in search of a single value: Freedom......

But, this would be to dismiss the thrust towards a common set of goals in the Arab world. Borders are increasingly irrelevant in this new equation. The means of mass communication, interdependency, pan-regional media, ease of access through improved infrastructure, the identification with a cause rather than a country, all suggest that the political awakening in the region may be conducive to a completely different set of political and economic realities.

The nation state as we know it, as it was imposed on the region by colonial powers, is ripe for change. The unleashing of people power has now opened up new possibilities for mapping the Arab world's future. While protesters across the region have been waving their respective national flags, the cause for which they are fighting and risking their lives extends well beyond their immediate borders."

Libya rebels repel Gaddafi forces


More than 30 people killed as opposition fighters force back government troops in western town of Az Zawiyah.

Al-Jazeera

"Anti-government fighters in the western Libyan town of Az Zawiyah have pushed back forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan president, following a fierce assault on the town.

Gaddafi's forces on Saturday encircled Az Zawiyah, which lies just 50km west of the capital Tripoli, manning checkpoints about 3km from the centre, according to reports....

National council

Elsewhere, following heavy fighting on Friday, anti-government forces were said to be in control of Ras Lanuf, a pipeline hub on the Mediterranean coast that houses a major refinery and petrochemical complex, according to reports form the AFP news agency.

The nearby town of Bin Jawad was also under anti-government control on Saturday, sources told Al Jazeera.

In Benghazi, Libya's second city which is in the hands of anti-government forces, the self-declared opposition national council, held their first meeting on Saturday.

"The national council's first formal meeting is starting this morning," Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for group, said.

The 30-member body is headed by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, a former justice minister who defected from Gaddafi's camp after protests against the Libyan leader's rule erupted two weeks ago. The meeting was held in secret.

"It's a safety issue," Gheriani said. "This guy [Gadaffi] still assassinates people."

'Call to arms'

Tony Birtley, Al Jazeera's correspondent reporting from Benghazi, said that resistance to Gadaffi's rule was strengthening.

"I think they're coming to the realisation that the outcome is in their own hands. They did think that Gaddafi would leave peacefully, they then thought that the international community would take steps and force him out," he said.

"I think the pendulum has swung now and they believe it is in their own hands.

"They are answering the call to arms, they are coming from all over eastern Libya, bringing their weapons, getting whatever training they can and moving on."....."

Real News Video: TRNN EXCLUSIVE: Pro-Gaddafi Forces Attack Brega

Jihan Hafiz speaks to resistance fighters in Brega, Libya


More at The Real News

Al-Jazeera Video: Oman protesters call for reform

Al-Jazeera Video: Libyan rebels vow to repel assault

Al-Jazeera Video: Zbigniew Brzezinski on Al Jazeera

Gaddafi fights to regain control


Forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader launch fresh attack on Az Zawiyah, close to Tripoli, but opposition fights back.

Al-Jazeera

"....By Saturday morning, his forces broke through opposition defences in the city of Az Zawiyah after they began renewed attacks at 6am local time, eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera.

The loyalist forces attacked residential areas in the city, firing heavy artillery from all sides, including from the sea. Tanks and armoured vehicles had broken through defences into Martyrs' Square, in the heart of the town, early in the day.

By 10am, the people of the town had retaken Martyrs' Square, after hours of intense fighting and a high number of casualties. At least 30 people were killed in fierce clashes in the town the previous day, but the death toll from the assault on Saturday morning was unclear.....

Dr Hamdi estimated more than 150 people had been injured on Saturday morning.

"A large number of people are gathered in the centre of the square after they pushed forces out of the city," Dr Hamdi told Al Jazeera.

Thousands of people were assembled at the square, he added, preparing to defend it from any further assaults by Gaddafi's forces....

"They have no mercy on civilians; the regime is attacking everything indiscriminately," Ahmed said.

Gaddafi's security forces were using ambulances to kidnap wounded people, Human Rights Solidarity, a Geneva-based organisation, told Al Jazeera.

"Now with all the artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, the fierce fighting is ongoing and people are massacred in a way that we didn't see in Iraq,” Abdul-Fatah Az-Zawi, another local, told Al Jazeera......"

سيف الإسلام يزور إسرائيل

EXPLOSIVE STORY!!!!!

From Al-Akhbar

"خاص بالموقع - نيويورك افادت مصادر دبلوماسية وثيقة الإطلاع على الجانب الحكومي الليبي أن سيف الإسلام، نجل العقيد معمر القذافي، قام قبل يومين بزيارة خاطفة إلى إسرائيل لطلب المساعدة لإنقاذ النظام. وحسب المصدر الذي تحدث إلى "الأخبار" شريطة عدم كشف هويته، فإن العلاقة بين سيف الإسلام وإسرائيل تطورت كثيراً خلال الأزمة الحالية وسط أنباء عن تولي شركات أمنية إسرائيلية نشطة في التشاد تجنيد مرتزقة وإرسالهم إلى ليبيا محققة مكاسب بمليارات الدولارات.
وطلب سيف الإسلام من قيادات أمنية إسرائيلية رفيعة مساعدات عسكرية في ميادين الذخائر وأجهزة المراقبة الليلية فضلا عن صور بالأقمار الصناعية. وفي المقابل، تعهد بتطوير العلاقات بين ليبيا أو ما قد يبقى منها تحت سلطته مع الكيان الإسرائيلي في المجالات السياسية والاقتصادية. وعرض مقابل إنقاذ ثرواته في الخارج صفقة بالتقاسم باستخدام النفوذ الإسرائيلي في الولايات المتحدة.

"
WHICH ARAB DICTATOR......
IS GOING TO BE NEXT??

The Martyr Mehdi Mohammed Zeyo.....
Who Blew Up His Car at the Gate of the Libyan Military Base in Benghazi....
He Made the Liberation of Benghazi Possible....
And Lit the Revolution.


SALUTATIONS!
TO THE BRAVE LIBYAN PEOPLE.


The Martyr Khalid Sa'id
Young Activist Brutally Murdered...
By Egyptian Police in Alexandria
.



Lighting the Way for Change.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Saudis mobilise thousands of troops to quell growing revolt


By Robert Fisk, Middle East Correspondent

"Saudi Arabia was yesterday drafting up to 10,000 security personnel into its north-eastern Shia Muslim provinces, clogging the highways into Dammam and other cities with busloads of troops in fear of next week's "day of rage" by what is now called the "Hunayn Revolution".

Saudi Arabia's worst nightmare – the arrival of the new Arab awakening of rebellion and insurrection in the kingdom – is now casting its long shadow over the House of Saud. Provoked by the Shia majority uprising in the neighbouring Sunni-dominated island of Bahrain, where protesters are calling for the overthrow of the ruling al-Khalifa family, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is widely reported to have told the Bahraini authorities that if they do not crush their Shia revolt, his own forces will.....

Like almost every other Arab potentate over the past three months, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia suddenly produced economic bribes and promised reforms when his enemy was at the gates. Can the Arabs be bribed? Their leaders can, perhaps, especially when, in the case of Egypt, Washington was offering it the largest handout of dollars – $1.5bn (£800m) – after Israel. But when the money rarely trickles down to impoverished and increasingly educated youth, past promises are recalled and mocked. With oil prices touching $120 a barrel and the Libyan debacle lowering its production by up to 75 per cent, the serious economic – and moral, should this interest the Western powers – question, is how long the "civilised world" can go on supporting the nation whose citizens made up almost all of the suicide killers of 9/11?

The Arabian peninsula gave the world the Prophet and the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans and the Taliban and 9/11 and – let us speak the truth – al-Qa'ida. This week's protests in the kingdom will therefore affect us all – but none more so than the supposedly conservative and definitely hypocritical pseudo-state, run by a company without shareholders called the House of Saud."

The Revolution is Far From Over: Violent clashes in Alexandria


Protesters lay siege to state security building, leading to violent standoff in which police fire on demonstrators.

Al-Jazeera

"Around 1,500 protesters have stormed Alexandria's state security headquarters after earlier clashes with police, gaining control of its lower floors and driving police officers to hide in the upper floors of the building, witnesses and protesters told Al Jazeera.

Hundreds of the protesters stormed the building on Friday night, after petrol bombs and gunfire were reported as emanating from within the building.

One witness said that demonstrators had smashed pieces of furniture on the ground floor of the building, adding that army troops were guarding the upper floors of the four-storey building.

Ahmed Hatem, a protester on the scene, said that the army had told demonstrators that they had orders to arrest the members of the state security agency, but that they would not do so unless they could guarantee that the arrests could be made safely.

Hatem said the army had been "rather cooperative with the demonstrators".

He said that security officers had used live ammunition and petrol bombs to try and disperse protesters, seriously injuring at least two people. The Associated Press, quoting a medic, put that number at three....."

The Lara Logan story. We've been manipulated! A witness account

Rape? Women? Stripped? What really happened to Lara Logan?


By Témoris Grecko
I witnessed part of the mob attack against CBS’s Lara Logan at Cairo’s Tahrir square on the evening of Friday, February 11th. I was struck when I read CBS’s February 15th communiqué describing the attack as a “brutal and sustained sexual attack”, and attributing her rescue to “a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers.” This account does not fit with what I, and others, witnessed.

The TV network’s communiqué, which came rather late, as noted by Richard Cohen in The Washington Post, was promptly interpreted by many in the international media to mean rape, and in these terms it became a debate that soon adopted racist and sexist overtones. Egyptian and Muslim men are portrayed as wild beasts and Islam as an inherently violent religion. Attractive women, many commentators have said, should avoid taking on risky tasks, and if they insist, then they had it coming.

I was buying tea from a vendor in Tahrir with two friends, Amr Fekry, a 26 year old Egyptian call center agent, and Andi Walden, a San Francisco political science student. Then we heard the noise and saw the mob coming. A blonde woman, neatly dressed with a white coat, was being dragged and pushed. It didn’t seem to me she was panicking, but rather trying to control the situation. They passed us in an moment. They were yelling “agent!, agent!”

I tried to run to intervene, but some Egyptians I didn’t know prevented me from doing it. There was nothing I could do and, as a foreign journalist, I’d surely end up being accused of being an agent too, and attacked. Fekry did go there and dissapeared into the crowd, 50 or 100 people strong.

Venezuela and Libya: it is not an April 11 coup, it is a February 27 Caracazo


by Jorge Martín
Marxist.com

"There has been a lot of discussion in Latin America about the events unfolding in Libya. This article explains the position of the IMT, which is one of support for the uprising of the Libyan people, while at the same time condemns any imperialist intervention. We also critically examine the position adopted by Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro....

....However, the case that is being made by both countries, and most prominently by Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, is undermined by the fact that they are perceived as being supportive of Gaddafi, instead of supporting the masses of the Libyan people who have risen up against his regime....

However, in the case of Libya, the situation is completely different. In Venezuela what we had was a reactionary movement against a democratically elected government attempting to implement progressive reforms and standing up against imperialism. In Libya we have a popular uprising against an oppressive regime which had made all sorts of deals with imperialism.

To a certain extent, it can be understood why there is confusion in Venezuela about the real nature of what is really happening in Libya. The Venezuelan people no longer trust the capitalist media, completely discredited by the role they played in the coup in 2002. Furthermore, the Venezuelan counter-revolutionary opposition is attempting to jump on the bandwagon of the Arab revolution, saying that "the next dictator to fall will be Hugo Chavez".

It is a matter of public record that the Venezuelan counter-revolutionary opposition receives funding, training and support of all kinds from Washington....

The only base of support on which the Venezuelan revolution can count are the masses of workers and youth in the Middle East and North Africa, and throughout the world, who feel sympathy and solidarity with the Bolivarian revolution because they would like a similar revolution to take place in their own countries. Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian revolution should come out clearly in favour of the revolutionary wave sweeping the Arab world, because it is part of the world revolution of which Latin America was for some years the advanced guard. This includes giving support to the Libyan people rising up against Gaddafi, while at the same time opposing any imperialist intervention.....

The only position a revolutionary can take in a situation like this is one of support for the revolutionary uprising of the Libyan people. If Hugo Chavez does not come out clearly in favour of the revolutionary masses of the Arab world then he would be making a serious mistake, one for which the Venezuelan revolution can pay dearly. Hugo Chavez is looking at the Libyan situation through Venezuelan lenses, making the wrong comparisons. The Libyan rebels cannot be compared to the Venezuelan opposition and the position that regime of Gaddafi finds itself in cannot in any way be compared to that facing Chavez......"

Latest by Emad Hajjaj



Bin Ali to Mubarak, "Water pipe (Shishah) everyday is getting boring!"

Mubarak responds, "be patient! Qat (reference to Ali Saleh of Yemen) and hallucinatory tablets (reference to Gaddafi) are on the way!"

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Muammar Gaddafi: Fighting for survival?

Al-Jazeera Video: Jordan protesters hold strong

Al-Jazeera Video: New Egypt PM addresses Tahrir rally

Al-Jazeera Video: Riz Khan - Walls of division



"Pink Floyd's Roger Waters talks to Riz Khan about his passionate campaign for the rights of the Palestinian people and why, more than 30 years after he wrote the globally-acclaimed album 'The Wall', he is focusing on another wall - the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank."

عندما هبّت الجماهير في «الجماهيريّة»: الأخضر يتخضّب


A VERY GOOD PIECE
By As'ad Abu Khalil

"سقط زعيم مهرّجي الطغاة، مهما طال الانتظار. مسرحيّة «الجماهيريّة» آيلة إلى السقوط في أي لحظة. الستارة ستُسدل على العقيد وأولاده. قُل قائد الثورة يحتضر، وما ينطق به هو وأولاده ما هو إلا حشرجة. طغاة العالم العربي يسقطون أو يترنّحون واحداً تلو الآخر. لا النفط سيحميهم، ولا الراعي الأميركي. لكن القذّافي نموذج فريد من طغاتنا. كلّهم مُنفّرون في شخصيّاتهم وغرابة أطوارهم. لم يُمنّ علينا بطغاة ظرفاء أو ذوي شخصيّات ساحرة أو آسرة. طغاتنا عقدٌ نفسيّة تمشي على صدورنا وتمنع عنّا الهواء
....
التهريج والانحناء سمتان من سمات طغاتنا منذ وصول السادات إلى السلطة، إن لم يكن قبل. لكن القذّافي كان أكثر إيلاماً، ربّما لأنه روّج لنفسه على أساس أنه ثوري ووحدوي ومُنظّر. وأنفق القائد ملايين على نشر صوره وملصقاته وعلى عبادة الغير له. عانى الطاغية القذّافي، مثله مثل الطاغية صدّام حسين، من عقدة عبد الناصر وأنفقا مليارات لتقليده. يمكن القول إنّ جيل الطغاة العرب، جمهوريّين وملكيّين، منذ حقبة السبعينيات، يعاني من عقدة جمال عبد الناصر.
.....
القذّافي كان يفرض على من يريد أن يقابله من الناشرين، المُتلقّين لعطاياه، إجراء مقابلات «فكريّة» طويلة جدّاً، أي فرض حوار يدور حول «الكتاب الأخضر»، من دون إبداء علامات السأم القاتل. ساعات من الحوارات المملّة عن تفاصيل «الكتاب الأخضر» وعن تفسيرات عجائبيّة لكاتبها المشعوذ. كتب ومقالات عن «الكتاب الأخضر»، نال كاتبوها عطايا جزيلة
.....
والخطيئة الكُبرى كانت في حرب القذّافي في تشاد: عندما طالب القذّافي مُتلقّي عطاياه في الساحتيْن اللبنانيّة والفلسطينيّة بإرسال مُقاتلين «متطوّعين»: لبّى الدعوة إنعام رعد (قد يكون أسوأ من تزعّم الحزب القومي في تاريخه) ووليد جنبلاط وجورج حاوي وأحمد جبريل. أيّ أنّ هؤلاء وافقوا على تحويل مُقاتلين مُنخرطين (نظريّاً على الأقل) طوعاً في حرب أهليّة بأفق وطني تغييري، إلى مرتزقة في خدمة الطاغية الليبي وحروبه العبثيّة
.....
ينتهي بنهاية عهد القذّافي جيل من الطغاة العرب. لا مكان بعد اليوم للتقليد النافر لجمال عبد الناصر. لن يطلع طاغية يظن أنّه، بأموال النفط، يستطيع أن يصبح زعيم العرب الأوحد. بمال النفط، تستطيع أن تشتري أقلاماً وإعلاماً وضمائر وأبواقاً، لكن لا تشتري جماهير (باستثناء الجماهير الطائفيّة). يستطيع الطاغية بشركات النفط أن يحيط نفسه بفريق من المستشارين الذين يقنعونه بعظمته وبقدرته على حكم العالم العربي على أقلّ تقدير، لكن شيئاً ما تغيّر عند الجيل العربي الجديد. ما عادت المقولات نفسها تنفع
.....
لم يسقط القذّافي بعد، لكن شعبه نجح إلى الآن في إظهار مدى كراهيته واحتقاره للطاغية. قد يكون مشهد تحطيم تمثال «الكتاب الأخضر» في بنغازي علامة الإشارة الى انطلاقة الثورة. القذّافي يردّد كلاماً ماضياً له، أنّ شعبه يحبّه ويفتديه بدمه (كما أخبر كريستيان أمنبور)، لكن طلال سلمان ذكر كلاماً له من بداية السبعينيات يصف فيه الشعب الليبي بـ«الحمير». لا شك أنّ لكلّ انتفاضة عربيّة توقيتها وشرارتها، والمسألة برسم التأريخ. يمكن تقريب وصف تحليلي لشرارات الانتفاضات العربيّة (في مقالة لاحقة)، والحالة الليبيّة ستتطرّق بالتأكيد إلى استدارات القذّافي وهذيانه المُتناقض مع سياساته التي ترسخت في عهد بوش. كما أنّ العائلة الحاكمة التي أسّسها شكّلت إهانة للشعب الليبي، وخاصة أنّه يُقال له منذ السبعينيات إنّه يعيش في «جماهيريّة»، وهي من المُفترض أن تكون أعلى مرتبة من الجمهوريّة. ناء الشعب الليبي بحمل عائلة حاكمة وأفكار العقيد البالية.
بقي القذّافي في الحكم لنحو أربعين عاماً أو أكثر قليلاً، ولم يترك وراءه إلا عذابات شعب خلاق. لم يبق من بنية الجماهيريّة المُتضعضعة إلا الاستخبارات وأجهزة القمع المُتسربلة بأسماء مُستقاة من مصطلحات الشعب والجماهير. حتى الجيش الذي أتى من خلاله إلى السلطة لم يثق به، وأضعفه العقيد ــ وهنا المفارقة لأنّه لم يترك ما يحميه في الحكم إلا عصابات العائلة وعصائبها. ولم ينس الحاكم الليبي، مثله مثل الحكام العرب، التلاعب بالعصبيّة القبليّة وتنميتها. هؤلاء يأتون إلى الحكم ولا يوقفون الزمن: يأخذونه إلى ماضٍ سحيق. التطوّر يخيفهم. قد تكون الانتفاضات العربيّة بداية لشيء أكبر. قد تبدأ ثورات حقيقيّة تطيح الموروث والموجود والمُبتدع. ولكن، متى يقتحمون «الباستيل» في العالم العربي؟ متى تُدكّ الأسوار بقوّة حتى لو خدشت مشاعر ليبراليّي اللاعنف في المنطقة؟
"

The son also slaughters


Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was brought in from the cold as his second son positioned himself as an agent of reform.

Omar Ashour
(lecturer in Middle East politics and Director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Program at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.)
Al-Jazeera

"....
Defending the status quo

When I visited Tripoli in March 2010 for a "national reconciliation conference", the conflicting statements given by Saif al-Islam and security officials surprised me. The head of Internal Security Forces, Colonel al-Tuhami Khaled, another principal suspect in the crimes currently being committed against Libyans, refused to call the process a "reconciliation". For him, it was "repentance from heresy".

Given the recent wave of uprisings, it is more evident than ever that any "reform" initiatives undertaken in the Arab world previously were aimed only at sustaining repressive dictatorships and escaping punishment for criminal abuse of power. The reform "debate" within these regimes boiled down to a struggle between different branches of the security-military apparatus over the best way to preserve the status quo.

Arabs, of course, have known for years that their rulers were beyond reform. That is why, in order to have a chance to catch up with the rest of the free, developed world, many of them are now risking their lives to remove those regimes. What is happening today in the Arab world is history in the making, written in the blood, sweat, and tears of the victims of decades of violent repression.

When asked by a journalist what I would like to say to Saif al-Islam if I were ever to meet him again, I replied: "I hope to see you in the International Criminal Court, beside Mubarak and Ben Ali." Millions of Arabs of my generation and younger would probably give the same answer if asked what should become of the men who controlled their present - and sought to destroy their future."

Oman's Sultan Qaboos: a classy despot


(The despot with former Israeli F.M. Tzipi Livni)

He may be a Britain-friendly, music-loving 'renaissance man', but Oman's Sultan Qaboos still tolerates no dissent

Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 March 2011

".......But there's another problem too. Even if Qaboos is a Britain-friendly, music-loving ruler with benevolent intentions he is none the less a despot. He doesn't tolerate criticism and his citizens have very few rights. They can't, for instance, hold a public meeting without the government's approval. Anyone who wants to set up a non-governmental organisation of any kind needs a licence. To get it, they have to demonstrate that the organisation is "for legitimate objectives" and not "inimical to the social order". On average, that takes two years – assuming permission is granted at all.

Here are a few other things, not from the sultan's harshest critics but from his friends in Washington, courtesy of the state department's latest human rights report:

• The law prohibits criticism of the sultan in any form or medium.
• The law does not provide citizens with the right to change their government.
• The sultan retains ultimate authority on all foreign and domestic issues.
• Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws.
• Police do not need search warrants in order to enter people's homes.
Libel laws and concerns for national security have been used to suppress criticism of government figures and politically objectionable views.
Publication of books is limited and the government restricts their importation and distribution, as with other media products.

And here are some more, from Reporters Without Borders:

• The state decides who can or cannot be a journalist and this permission can be withdrawn at any time
Censorship and self-censorship are a constant factor.
• Access to news and information can be problematic: journalists have to be content with news compiled by the official news agency on some issues
Through a decree by the sultan, the government has now extended its control over the media to blogs and other websites.

Merely mentioning the existence of such restrictions can land you in trouble....."

Mubarak regime source of sectarian unrest


Cam McGrath, The Electronic Intifada, 3 March 2011

"CAIRO (IPS) - Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak portrayed himself as a paradigm of stability in a country he once described as a "powder keg" of sectarian unrest. Yet far from promoting stability, his regime may have actually been the source of much of the religious strife it claimed to suppress.

Analysts say there is growing evidence that Egyptian security forces planned attacks on Christian churches and clergy, or allowed them to happen. The apparent purpose of the attacks was to reinforce the idea to sympathetic Western governments that without Mubarak, radical Islamist groups would gain a foothold in Egypt and wage a holy war on its Christian community......"

Distorting the Essence of the Great Arab Revolutions of 2011


(The "Palestinian" Ben Gurion)

It's Not About the West, Mr. Friedman

By ESAM AL-AMIN
CounterPunch

"“Orientalism is fundamentally a political doctrine willed over the Orient because the Orient was weaker than the West. . . As a cultural apparatus Orientalism is all aggression.”

~ Edward Said

.....But perhaps the greatest insult to the Arab revolutionaries is the last factor Friedman mentions as the source of inspiration to the Arab protesters, namely, the unelected Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Salam Fayyad

If anything Fayyad is viewed as a Western-imposed autocrat that could never be elected as a small town mayor. The only reason he is in power is due to the pressure applied on the president of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas (whose term by the way has already expired), by the U.S. and Israel. During the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt in January and February of this year, not once has Fayyad or any PA official said anything positive about the Arab revolutions in the streets. On the contrary, they continued to lament in the media the loss of Mubarak.

Since 2008 Fayyad has been coordinating with the Israeli occupation against his own citizens causing hundreds to be arrested and detained without charges, sometimes even tortured. In a speech before the pro-Israel think tank, the Washington Institute on Near East Policy (WINEP) in May 2009, Lt. General Keith Dayton, the former U.S. Security Coordinator in the West Bank, exposed the Palestinian PM when he said “I don't know how many of you are aware, but over the last year-and-a-half, the Palestinians have engaged upon a series of what they call security offensives throughout the West Bank, surprisingly well coordinated with the Israeli army.

He further admitted that during the twenty-two day Israeli onslaught on Gaza in 2008/2009, Fayyad’s security forces prevented Palestinians in the West Bank from organizing mass protests against the Israeli army, which ironically allowed for the reduction of the Israeli military presence in the West Bank in order to redeploy those troops to Gaza. Dayton added, “As a matter of fact, a good portion of the Israeli army went off to Gaza from the West Bank— think about that for a minute, and the (Israeli military) commander (of the West Bank) was absent for eight straight days.”

Moreover, in February 2010 Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak praised Fayyad for his security cooperation during a security conference in Herzliya. Incredibly he credited him with providing security for Israeli settlers in the illegal settlements in the West Bank. Barak told the conference, “The settlers are also saying that the security situation is better than ever, and that is thanks to the work of both sides."

In the Muslim World today there are two kinds of leaders despised by the public: autocrats and dictators supported by the West such as Egypt’s Mubarak and Tunisia’s Ben Ali, and agents who were directly installed by the West like Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai. At the height of the Tunisian and Egyptian demonstrations, the Palestine Papers released by Al-Jazeera and comprising hundreds of confidential documents from the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, portrayed Fayyad as another hireling for the West and Israel. In the Arab world he is neither respected nor inspiring.

One of the problems in Western media and political circles -as embodied by Friedman- is that great events somehow have to revolve around Western powerful elites in order for them to be meaningful. But the impressive Arab revolutions of 2011 are about the great awakening of the Arab people. It is their moment of glory. The sooner Western elites recognize this fact, the easier Orientalist stereotypes could be disposed of....."

Palestine and the Revolution

Lessons From Egypt

By MOUSTAFA BARGHOUTHI
CounterPunch

"....The uprisings are the product of a long cumulative evolution, lasting years, decades or perhaps even centuries in some areas, that eventually erupted into millions-strong grassroots protest movements of a magnitude unprecedented in the modern history of the Arab world, and perhaps in its entire history. Perhaps the only moment of similar size, scope and breadth is the first popular Palestinian Intifada, in its first year (1987-88). Sadly, the Oslo Accords undermined the magnificent initial results of this uprising and destroyed a historic opportunity to end the Israeli occupation. We should add that this Palestinian revolutionary moment was never sufficiently documented, first due to the differences in size and strategic importance compared to the Egyptian case, and second due to the lack of media coverage and unprecedented sophistication in communications technology that was available to Egypt today.......

Therefore, our most crucial task today is to tend to this infant, to take its hand and help guide it to a full and robust democratic system that derives its authority from the will of the people. Nothing is more important than protecting this newborn from Israeli or imperialist attempts to stunt it solely in order to perpetuate Israeli hegemony and the interests vested in this hegemony. Nothing is more important than to keep the doors open to the winds of change so that they can gather speed and spread, and break down more barriers.

Perhaps what we see today in the Arab world marks the beginning of a universal transformation whose time must inevitably come, because the current system of global hegemony and the globalisation of dominance is rife with contradictions that can only be resolved by revolutionary transformations on a global scale. In this turbulent world, we -- the Palestinians -- stand on the right side of history: the side that is fighting for freedom and human dignity. Our allies are the Arab and international forces of progress and change. As for those who are waging their bets on the adversary, they will reap nothing but disappointment."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - What now for Egypt?

DON'T MISS THIS PROGRAM FEATURING HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY

Al-Jazeera Video: Surgeon speaks about his experience in Libya

Al-Jazeera Video: Funerals held in Libya's Ajdabiya

Real News Video: Libya: Supporting Libyan Revolution, Opposing Foreign Intervention

Hamid Dabashi: If US intervenes in Libya, will be act of imperialism; Gaddafi defies democratic will of his people

A VERY GOOD VIDEO


More at The Real News

The lion wants his juice back

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"It's stalemate time in Libya. Like a lion resting under a tree, Muammar Gaddafi is surveying the odds of keeping power. He knows rebels have what it takes to defend Zawiya, Misrata and Brega, yet lack the means to attack. Having lost control of 80% of Libya's oil fields and refineries, he wants his juice back. Africa's ''king of kings'' knows Brega is key - and next time, he'll go for the kill....

.....Doomsday practitioners already visualize Algeria's oil production - 1.4 million barrels a day - soon going down the drain alongside Libya's. No wonder the head of oil research at Barclays Capital, Paul Horsnell, says things can potentially be worse than Iran 1979; "The world has only 4.5 million barrels per day of spare capacity." "

Live Blog - Libya March 4


(Talk about a popular uprising!)

By Al Jazeera Staff

AJE Live Stream

"Shadi Hamid, of the Brookings Doha Centre, tells Al Jazeera:

"Gaddafi has made it unequivocally clear that he is not going to step down. The pro-democracy forces in the east of the country want to move into Tripoli, [but] they don't have the fire power, they don't have the troops."

He adds that a "no fly" zone could shift the balance, but acknowledges that the move is not without its risks. "Bold action is often risky," he said.
....
...."

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Roots of the Arab Revolts and Premature Celebrations


By James Petras
03.03.2011

"Most accounts of the Arab revolts from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq and elsewhere have focused on the most immediate causes: political dictatorships, unemployment, repression and the wounding and killing of protestors.

They have given most attention to the “middle class”, young, educated activists, their communication via the internet, (Los Angeles Times, Feb. 16, 2011) and, in the case of Israel and its Zionists conspiracy theorists, “the hidden hand” of Islamic extremists (Daily Alert Feb. 25, 2011).

What is lacking is any attempt to provide a framework for the revolt which takes account of the large scale, long and medium term socio-economic structures as well as the immediate ‘detonators’ of political action. The scope and depth of the popular uprisings, as well as the diverse political and social forces which have entered into the conflicts, preclude any explanations which look at one dimension of the struggles.....

The very socio-economic structures and political conditions which detonated the prodemocracy mass movements, the unemployed and underemployed youth organized from “the street”, now present the greatest challenge: can the amorphous and diverse mass becomes an organized social and political force which can take state power, democratize the regime and, at the same time, create a new productive economy to provide stable well- paying employment, so far lacking in the rentier economy? The political outcome to date is indeterminate: democrats and socialists compete with clerical, monarchist, and neoliberal forces bankrolled by the U.S.

It is premature to celebrate a popular democratic revolution."

As Gaddafi Forces Launch New Attacks, Reports on the Ground From a Divided Libya



"Forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi have launched fresh air strikes on Libyan towns captured by anti-government opposition in a popular uprising over the past two weeks. Gadaffi has lost control of the eastern half of Libya and thousands of protesters are thought to have been killed by Gadaffi’s forces. We get reports from two journalists on the ground in Libya: McClatchy’s Nancy Youssef in Brega, and The Observer’s Peter Beaumont in Tripoli...."

Al-Jazeera Video: People & Power - Building Egypt's future

Al-Jazeera Video: Gaddafi's forces attack Libya's Brega

Al-Jazeera Video: Libya opposition prepares for 'battle'

Al-Jazeera Video: Airstrikes in Brega, Libya

Real News Video: Libya: Stand-Off Between Gaddafi And Protesters

Channel 4: Colonel Gaddafi warns of "bloody war" if there is outside interference in Libya

The end of the end of history


By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"......Arab nationalism, Arab nationalist solidarity, Arab nationalist al-Jazeera, Internet as a super al-Jazeera - it's all on, for all Arabs to see and do and practice themselves. And the West has no plan B - or any hint of Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton-style "orderly transition" for Bahrain, Yemen or Libya.

Yet the revolution has not even started.

The Sunni dynasty in Bahrain will keep playing an Arab Shakespearean drama. Following up on a 2009 WikiLeaks cable, King Hamad will keep "gradually shifting power" to his son, crown prince Salman, from the powerful Prime Minister Khalifa bin Sal Al-Khalifa. The prime minister is the king's uncle and the crown prince's great uncle. Meanwhile the Bahrain National Security Service, run by Sheik Khalifa bin Abdullah al-Khalifa, will keep getting its marching orders from the US Central Intelligence Agency.

The "strong tribal alliance" Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will use tanks, jets, mercenaries, whatever it takes, to prevent regime change in weak link Bahrain. After all the GCC - Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates - sits on 45% of global oil reserves, and they are not letting the loot go in the name of "democracy".

And even while al-Qaeda lies as moribund as Mubarak, and has absolutely no ideological or sociological influence over northern Africa, shrill imperial voices keep warning of Libya descending into the status of a giant Somalia. As if the "Egyptian doctor", Ayman al-Zawahiri, would materialize tomorrow in liberated eastern Libya and apply for a job as the new emir. Now that would be a real clash of civilizations."

Uncle NED Comes Calling


(John McCain and Joseph Lieberman in Tahrir Square, Cairo, pretending to support democracy in Egypt.)

by Philip Giraldi, March 03, 2011

"......Those who are aware of the insidious activities of the National Endowment for Democracy or NED, an ostensibly private foundation that spreads "democracy" and is largely funded by the government, will not be surprised to learn that it is already active in North Africa because it is almost everywhere. NED, which has a Democratic Party half in its National Democratic Institute, and a Republican Party half in its International Republican Institute, was the driving force behind the series of pastel revolutions that created turmoil in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism. Remember when the Russians and others complained about the activities of NGOs interfering in their politics? NED was what they were referring to.

Albright is in charge of the NED Dems while John McCain leads the NED GOP. Which is not to say that there is much in the way of adult leadership as neither Albright nor McCain in any way supervises NED’s activities. That is probably a good thing as neither has ever demonstrated anything like a gentle touch or a shred of compassion. NED has its own budget and is free of any real government or media oversight because it was carefully designed to be half Republican and half Democratic, while spreading democracy and human rights would seem to be objectives that are more-or-less consensus issues for most congressmen and not subject to much scrutiny......

The driving principle of NED is that Americans have a duty to spread democracy worldwide. Wrong.... "

How to Read Gates's Shift on the Wars


by Ray McGovern
CommonDreams

"....Without doubt, it was surprising when Gates inserted the following comment into the tenth paragraph of a speech last Friday at West Point:

“But in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General [Douglas] MacArthur so delicately put it.”.....

Yet, I would venture to suggest that – more likely – the timing of Gates’s conversion can be pinned on two other factors, a typically windsock reaction to recent polling on Afghanistan and an attempt to burnish his future wise-man reputation:

--U.S. public opinion has swung dramatically against the war in Afghanistan, with some polls showing that as many as 86 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans want a speedier U.S. pullout from the war.

--Gates has announced he will retire in the coming months. By abandoning his post on the bridge of the sinking pro-war ship now, Gates will let the next secretary of defense take the blame when the U.S. does not “prevail” in Afghanistan. Gates can point to his echoing of MacArthur’s warning....."

The historical narrative that lies beneath the Gaddafi rebellion

By Robert Fisk

"Poor old Libyans. After 42 years of Gaddafi, the spirit of resistance did not burn so strongly. The intellectual heart of Libya had fled abroad.

Libyans have always opposed foreign occupiers just as the Algerians and the Egyptians and the Yemenis have done – but their Beloved Leader has always presented himself as a fellow resister rather than a dictator. Hence in his long self-parody of a speech in Tripoli yesterday, he invoked Omar Mukhtar – hanged by Mussolini's colonial army – rather than the patronising tone of a Mubarak or a Ben Ali.

And who was he going to free Libya from? Al-Qa'ida, of course
. Indeed, at one point in his Green Square address, Gaddafi made a very interesting remark. His Libyan intelligence service, he said, had helped to free al-Qa'ida members from the US prison at Guantanamo in return for a promise that al-Qa'ida would not operate in Libya or attack his regime. But al-Qa'ida betrayed the Libyans, he insisted, and set up "sleeper cells" in the country.....

Talk of civil war in Libya – the kind of waffle currently emerging from Hillary Clinton's State Department – is nonsense. All revolutions, bloody or otherwise, are usually civil wars unless outside powers intervene, which Western nations clearly do not intend to do and the people of eastern Libya have already said they do not wish for foreign intervention (David Cameron, please note).

But Gaddafi went to war in Chad – and lost. Gaddafi's regime is not a great military power and Colonel Gaddafi is not General Gaddafi. Yet he will go on singing his anti-colonial songs and as long as his security teams are prepared to hold on in the west of the country, he can flaunt himself in Tripoli....."

Human Rights Watch Live Updates


(Brega, Libya, March 2, 2011) - Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director

".....After several hours of intense gun exchanges, rebel reinforcements came in from Ejdabiya and even Benghazi, arriving with heavier weapons such as anti-aircraft guns and artillery batteries. Rebels eventually gained the upper hand and pro-Qaddafi forces abandoned their positions, leaving Brega again solidly in rebel hands.

After inspecting the damage at the university and collecting evidence of the kinds of weapons pro-Qaddafi forces were using, we stopped to observe a celebration by several hundred civilians and armed rebels in the roundabout in front of the university. Protesters were tearing down a large billboard of Qaddafi, and I was talking to the CNN crew at the scene, when a fighter jet suddenly swooped low and fired a missile which landed ten meters away from us and the rest of the crowd. The large explosion that shattered the windshield of our parked car. Everyone ran away in terror, afraid the plane would return for a second bombing raid....."

Egypt: Stop Military Trials of Civilians


Halt Detention, Abuse of Peaceful Demonstrators
March 3, 2011

"Cairo) - Egyptian military authorities should stop using military tribunals to prosecute civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. The military should also halt detentions of peaceful demonstrators and end violence by soldiers against protesters and detainees, Human Rights Watch said.

Military courts have convicted dozens of civilians, all charged with criminal offenses, including possession of weapons, since the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took control of Egypt on February 11, 2011. Reports of military trials of civilians, in particular people accused of weapons offenses and other crimes, have surfaced in the past week. While there may be cause to detain and prosecute people suspected of committing crimes, military courts typically do not meet international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said. In at least one case, a military court convicted detainees without the presence of lawyers, although the court later dropped the charges....."

Gaza: Halt Morality Enforcement Campaign


Hamas Police Target Male Hairdressers
March 2, 2011

"(Gaza) - Police operating under the Hamas administration in Gaza should stop threatening male hairdressers who cut women's hair and forcing them to sign pledges to stop working, Human Rights Watch said today. Such attempts to stop hairdressers from working on the basis that their work violates "Islamic morality" have no basis in law and are therefore arbitrary, Human Rights Watch said.


Hamas authorities should discipline officers involved in the harassment, compensate the hairdressers for lost work, and publicly instruct police to protect the hairdressers' businesses from threats by armed groups, Human Rights Watch said.

"Police in Gaza should be protecting residents, not arbitrarily harassing people for absurd unwritten offenses like men cutting women's hair," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of allowing police to flout the law, it should punish police who exceed their authority."

Hamas authorities have not enacted legislation banning men from working as hairdressers, but in March 2010 a statement on the police force's website announced the ban "following instructions from Interior Minister Fathi Hammad." Until now the ban had not been enforced......"

A historic moment in the Arab world

In TED's first talk of 2011, Al Jazeera's director-general shares his view on the uprisings sweeping the region.

AN EXCELLENT TALK!

Wadah Khanfar



"As a democratic revolution led by tech-empowered young people sweeps the Arab world, Wadah Khanfar, Al Jazeera's director-general, shares a profoundly optimistic view of what's happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond.

In the first talk posted online from the TED 2011 conference in California, Khanfar describes the powerful moment when people realised they could step out of their homes and ask for change.

This talk was given on March 1, 2011 in Long Beach, California. TED 2011 is taking place between March 1 and March 4."

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

ثورة الشعب في ليبيا .. اليوم الرابع عشر .. د. عزمي بشاره

Part 1:



Part 2:

Intervention in Libya would poison the Arab revolution

Western military action against Gaddafi risks spreading the conflict and undermining the democratic movement

A VERY GOOD COMMENT

Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 March 2011

"It's as if the bloodbaths of Iraq and Afghanistan had been a bad dream. The liberal interventionists are back. As insurrection and repression has split Libya in two and the death toll has mounted, the old Bush-and-Blair battle-cries have returned to haunt us.

The same western leaders who happily armed and did business with the Gaddafi regime until a fortnight ago have now slapped sanctions on the discarded autocrat and blithely referred him to the international criminal court the United States won't recognise.

While American and British politicians have ramped up talk of a no-fly zone, US warships have been sent to the Mediterranean, a stockpile of chemical weapons has been duly discovered, special forces have been in action, Italy has ditched a non-aggression treaty with Tripoli and a full-scale western military intervention in yet another Arab country is suddenly a serious prospect.....

When more than 300 people were killed by Hosni Mubarak's security forces in a couple of weeks, Washington initially called for "restraint on both sides". In Iraq, 50,000 US occupation troops protect a government which last Friday killed 29 peaceful demonstrators demanding reform. In Bahrain, home of the US fifth fleet, the regime has been shooting and gassing protesters with British-supplied equipment for weeks.

The "responsibility to protect" invoked by those demanding intervention in Libya is applied so selectively that the word hypocrisy doesn't do it justice.....

The reality is that the western powers which have backed authoritarian kleptocrats across the Middle East for decades now face a loss of power in the most strategically sensitive region of the world as a result of the Arab uprisings and the prospect of representative governments. They are evidently determined to appropriate the revolutionary process wherever possible, limiting it to cosmetic change that allows continued control of the region........

Now the prospect of the regime's fall offers the chance for much closer involvement – western intelligence has had its fingers in parts of the Libyan opposition for years – when other states seem in danger of spinning out of the imperial orbit......

.....Those calling for western military action in Libya seem brazenly untroubled by the fact that throughout the Arab world, foreign intervention, occupation and support for dictatorship is regarded as central to the problems of the region. Inextricably tied up with the demand for democratic freedoms is a profound desire for independence and self-determination......

.....Military intervention wouldn't just be a threat to Libya and its people, but to the ownership of what has been until now an entirely organic, homegrown democratic movement across the region.

The embattled US-backed Yemeni president Ali Abdallah Saleh claimed on Tuesday that the region-wide protest movement was "managed by Tel Aviv and under the supervision of Washington". That is easily dismissed as a hallucinogenic fantasy now. It would seem less so if the US and Britain were arming the Libyan opposition. The Arab revolution will be made by Arabs, or it won't be a revolution at all."

Libyan government forces are moving east and re taking some towns from the rebels




The Guardian

مصادر ليبية معارضة: مفاوضات لترتيب مغادرة القذافي


AN IMPORTANT PIECE

عرب 48

"مصادر ليبية معارضة: مفاوضات لترتيب مغادرة القذافيعرب 48تاريخ النشر: 02/03/2011 - ساعة النشر: 20:05
قالت مصادر في المعارضة الليبية لموقع هيئة الإذاعة والتلفزيون السويسرية بالعربية أن المفاوضات تتكثّـف بعيدا عن أضواء الإعلام بين العقيد معمر القذافي وعواصم القرار الدولي، لترتيب مغادرته ليبيا.

لن يُقتل العقيد معمر القذافي في قلعته المُحصَّـنة بباب العزيزية ولن ينتحر، مثلما توقع مُحلِّـلون كُثر قبل إلقاء القبض عليه، وإنما سيأخذ عصا التِّـرحال ليستقر في المنفى، بعد استكمال المفاوضات الجارية بينه وبين واشنطن بالإشتراك مع عواصم أخرى، من بينها برلين ولندن وباريس. هذا ما أكّـدته للإذاعة قيادات ليبية معارضة تُقيم حاليا في الدوحة، التي تحوّلت هذه الأيام إلى أكبر تجمّـع لفصائل المعارضة الليبية، استعدادا لانهيار النظام الذي سيفتح لهم طريق العودة إلى بلدهم.

وقال زعيم، رفض الكشف عن هويته، إن المفاوضات الجارية ترمي لإعطاء الضمانات للقذافي وأفراد من عائلته ومعاونيه المقرّبين للإنتقال إلى المنفى في صربيا، التي أبدت حكومتها ترحيبا باستقباله، أو أبو ظبي. وأوضح المصدر أن الوسيطيْـن اللذين يُديران هذه المفاوضات، هما وزير الخارجية الأسبق عبد الرحمان شلقم، الذي تولى منصب مندوب ليبيا الدائم لدى الأمم المتحدة قبل أن ينشقّ أخيرا عن القذافي في جلسة تاريخية ومؤثرة بمقر الأمم المتحدة في نيويورك، وأبو زيد عمر دوردة، رئيس الإستخبارات الخارجية، وهو الذي شغل أيضا منصب مندوب ليبيا الدائم لدى الأمم المتحدة خلال فترة الحظر الدولي على بلاده (1992 – 1999).

وأضاف المصدر أن خيار الضربة العسكرية الجوية للتخلّص من القذافي، كان أحد الخيارات القوية المطروحة في مرحلة سابقة، إلا أن الأمريكيين تخلوا عنه أمام إصرار غالبية المعارضات الليبية في الداخل والخارج على "عدم تلويث الثورة بأي تدخّـل من الخارج وإبقائها صفحة ناصِـعة تُفضي إلى نصر يتحقّـق بقوة المقاومة الداخلية وحدها، أسوة بالثورتيْـن، التونسية والمصرية".

وأفاد سياسيون ليبيون أن مشروع القرار الخاص بليبيا، الذي عُرض على مجلس الأمن، كان مستوحىً من هذه الأجواء، إذ أنه استند على الفصل السابع من ميثاق الأمم المتحدة الذي يُبرِّر اللجوء إلى استخدام القوّة، إلا أنه حصر الأمر في الفقرة 41، التي تتحدث عن استخدام جميع وسائل الضغط عدا الوسائل العسكرية، مما دلل على استبعاد سيناريو توجيه ضربة جوية لقوات القذافي داخل مربّـعه في ثكنة العزيزية.

وأفاد معارض آخر، أكّـد أنه على إطِّـلاع على فحوى المفاوضات الجارية حاليا، أن الأمريكيين والغربيين عموما رفضوا أن تشمل الضمانات بالإمتناع عن الملاحقة القضائية رئيس المخابرات الليبية عبد الله السنوسي، وهو عديل القذافي، بسبب فظاعة الجرائم المنسوبة إليه، وفي مقدمتها إعدام 1200 من معارضي نظام القذافي في مجمع سجون أبو سليم القريب من العاصمة طرابلس في 1996. وقد يكون القذافي، الذي وافق على استبعاد السنوسي من الصفقة، خشي من رد فعل الأخير فعزله من رئاسة المخابرات وعيّـن في مكانهم نصور ضو القحص، الذي ينتمي إلى فخذ معمر القذافي في قبيلة القذاذفة.
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