Monday, December 31, 2012
Al-Jazeera Video: ما وراء الخبر- احتمالات الأوضاع في سوريا
"
تناقش الحلقة تصريحات الأخضر الإبراهيمي المبعوث الدولي لسوريا بشأن مواجهة سوريا لاحتمالين إما الجحيم أو عملية سياسية. ما إمكانية التسوية بين الشعب والرئيس بشار الأسد؟ وهل موسوكو فعلا عاجزة عن إقناعه بالتنحي؟
تقديم: الحبيب الغريبي
تاريخ البث: 29/12/2012
الضيوف: سمير نشار, ليونيد سوكبانبن, غسان شبانة
"
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Video: Egyptian female activist protests nude in front of Egyptian embassy
"Today in the snowbound Stockholm the International women's movement FEMEN
and anti-islamist Egyptian activist Alia al-Mahdi have called to say NO to
Sharia constitution in Egypt! Before the decisive day of the referendum in Egypt
activists came to the Embassy of Egypt in Stockholm to support Egyptian heroes
who are resisting the sharia-dictatorial draft of the constitution of the
president Morsi. FEMEN calls people of Great Egypt to deny this religious
bondage of newly appeared prophet Morsi and to give the chance for Egypt for the
rightful democratic development."
Israeli-Arab politician who was on Gaza protest flotilla can stand in election
Haneen Zoabi candidacy was
barred for being on boat stormed by commandos, but supreme court rules ban
unconstitutional
An Israeli-Arab politician
who took part in a flotilla of ships attempting to breach the blockade of Gaza in 2010 will be able to
compete in the general election in three weeks, after the supreme court
unanimously overturned a ban on her candidacy.
A panel of nine judges overruled a decision by the central elections committee to disqualify Haneen Zoabi from seeking re-election as a member of the Israeli parliament. The committee's decision was based on her participation in the flotilla.
Following the supreme court's ruling on Sunday, Zoabi said the attempt to bar her from the election was "the result of political and personal persecution against me, against my party and against the Arab public as a whole".
But, she added, "this ruling does little to erase the threats, delegitimisation and physical as well as verbal abuse that I have endured … over the past three years."......."
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Syria - Is a diplomatic truce in sight for Syria?
"We ask if UN-Arab League mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi can help end the Syrian crisis after talks with opposition. Inside Syria, with presenter Adrian Finighan speaks to guests: Dr Yazan Abdallah, a Syrian political activist Dr. Abdallah is a member of Syria Dialogue -- a group calling for transitional change in Syria; Dimitri Babich, political analyst at Russia Profile Magazine; Radwan Ziadeh, member of the Syrian National Council; and Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center."
Real News Video: Freeing Political Prisoners a Critical Palestinian Demand
Palestinians united around demand for freedom for thousands of political prisoners in Israeli jails as detainees adopt the Irish tactic of hunger strike
Real News Video (with Transcript): Does Floating Hagel Balloon Show Obama's Posture Towards Iran?
Phyllis Bennis: Hagel has been a "realist" towards Iran which infuriates Neo-cons and AIPAC, but will Obama fight for him?
Saturday, December 29, 2012
The Shape of Things to Come
Russia: More of the Same
By Maysaloon
"Firstly the conundrum regarding Russia's "changing" position is not something I
give much importance to. The Russian and Iranian stance advocating "political
dialogue" is a game of double speak which only re-iterates the narrative that
Assad's regime has been propagating since the start of the revolution......
Rise of the Warlords
What I do want to talk about is something far more pressing, the shape of Syria after Assad goes. More and more of the discussion about Syria focuses less on the regime than on the security situation and the emergence of warlords in the country. But the creation of these warlords is not the only legacy that the Assad regime will leave Syria. The "day after" his regime falls, I have no doubt that we will continue to see car bomb explosions and kidnappings throughout the country. This will magnify the "Syrian catastrophe" that Assad's allies abroad will start to trumpet on about, but this should not dissuade Syrians from the path that they have chosen. I wrote at the start of the revolution that if Syrians wanted their freedom, then this will be a long and difficult path. Perhaps nobody expected the level of barbarism that Assad junior turned out to be capable of, but it was always naive for anybody to expect political reforms and sincere dialogue to emerge simply because of initially peaceful protests.....
What I do want to talk about is something far more pressing, the shape of Syria after Assad goes. More and more of the discussion about Syria focuses less on the regime than on the security situation and the emergence of warlords in the country. But the creation of these warlords is not the only legacy that the Assad regime will leave Syria. The "day after" his regime falls, I have no doubt that we will continue to see car bomb explosions and kidnappings throughout the country. This will magnify the "Syrian catastrophe" that Assad's allies abroad will start to trumpet on about, but this should not dissuade Syrians from the path that they have chosen. I wrote at the start of the revolution that if Syrians wanted their freedom, then this will be a long and difficult path. Perhaps nobody expected the level of barbarism that Assad junior turned out to be capable of, but it was always naive for anybody to expect political reforms and sincere dialogue to emerge simply because of initially peaceful protests.....
The Political Battle
Politically, it seems to me a fact now that the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood are the only opposition group that is organised and of any kind of size. I don't know how popular they are domestically, but the hysteria surrounding them is disproportionate to their political abilities and foresight. Some people seem to think that if they have any kind of strength in a future Syria then the country will become an Islamic state, which is utter nonsense. The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood are far more powerful, intelligent - relatively speaking - and organised than the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood could ever hope to be, and they have not had the easiest time governing in Egypt. Unlike during the age of dictatorship, it is no longer possible in many post-Arab Spring countries to govern without consent.....
Politically, it seems to me a fact now that the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood are the only opposition group that is organised and of any kind of size. I don't know how popular they are domestically, but the hysteria surrounding them is disproportionate to their political abilities and foresight. Some people seem to think that if they have any kind of strength in a future Syria then the country will become an Islamic state, which is utter nonsense. The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood are far more powerful, intelligent - relatively speaking - and organised than the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood could ever hope to be, and they have not had the easiest time governing in Egypt. Unlike during the age of dictatorship, it is no longer possible in many post-Arab Spring countries to govern without consent.....
We should also note that regimes which were labelled "anti-imperialist" have
been far more brutal and savage in their repression of the revolutions than the
"pro-Western" camp of countries such as Tunisia, Egypt or even Yemen. In Yemen
the Saleh regime, apart from being incomparably stupid and incompetent, was also
much more hesitant in fighting an armed population that was mobilizing the most
wonderful mass rallies on a weekly if not daily basis. In contrast, the
populations of countries that were nominally "anti-imperialist" were brutalised
almost from the start and this was because they had no weapons and there was
also nobody to restrain the Gaddafi and Assad regimes. This is something that
students of politics must not ignore; whatever attraction Arab anti-imperialism
once might have had, it is no more. ......."Hezbullah in Lebanon might still try to revive this sentiment, but the group's preferential treatment of Bahrain's revolution at the expense of Syria's has shattered the trust placed in it by many, including myself
Middle East: don't rely on the past to predict its future
As there's no model for
the war in Syria, it's impossible to forecast how the fallout will affect the
region
Recent reports from inside
Syria paint a grim picture on
both sides. In Aleppo, as my Guardian colleague Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
described in a vivid
report last week, the armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad
remains as split as ever, looting is commonplace and rivalries are multiplying.
In Damascus, the situation for Assad and his inner circle continues to
deteriorate. The president himself, suggest some accounts, is "isolated and
fearful", almost invisible and unwilling to venture outside. The operational
capacity of the forces closest to him to mount operations is also declining even
as Russia seems to be moving to distance itself from Assad, if not from Syria
itself.
In all likelihood, some end to the regime appears inevitable, if not
immediately, then in the not very distant future. The question now being posed
is: what happens next? And while the desire to predict and second-guess is
hard-wired into our natures, not least the nature of journalists and analysts,
it's probable that we will get it badly wrong.
What we can say about the Arab Spring is not where we may end up, but where we are now – and that is in the midst of a grand reshaping of all the regional assumptions that have stood for almost a generation.
If it is a truism in military circles that "generals are always preparing to fight the last war", then it is equally true in foreign policy circles. And if there is one overarching lesson of the Arab Spring it is that we should be attentive to the present and its challenges, not chained to notions of the past or bound by ideas of a future we cannot know."
The tools most commonly
used to try to explain complex situations such as conflict, including the
predilection for historical analogy to explain current events, are often deeply
misleading, as the impressive Kings
of War blog of the Department of War Studies at King's College, London
cautioned before Christmas. The reality is that the Middle East is not the
Balkans of the 1990s, nor is Egypt revolutionary Iran. "The
truth," the Kings of War concluded, "is we should probably not be surprised by
the things that surprise us.".....
What we can say about the Arab Spring is not where we may end up, but where we are now – and that is in the midst of a grand reshaping of all the regional assumptions that have stood for almost a generation.
Its dominant feature so far
has been the rise of a different kind of political Islam shaped, by and large,
by the Muslim Brotherhood
as an international phenomenon. For all that, it is still hard to generalise
about the different manifestations of the Brotherhood. Hamas, the Palestinian offshoot
in Gaza, is the way it is because it has been formed by its experience of armed
struggle, just as the Brotherhood in Egypt has been shaped by its
own history.
In Egypt, as Michael Wahid
Hanna argued in Foreign Policy in November, what this has produced is
an "ambush" style of decision-making under President Mohamed Morsi, an
approach that lacks consensus and consultation. While "not anti-democratic per
se," argues Hanna, this approach "depends upon a distinctive conception of
winner-takes-all politics and the denigration of political opposition. Winning
elections, by this perspective, entitles the victors to govern unchecked by the
concerns of the losers".
A second phenomenon has
been the increasing activism of the Gulf states, not least Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The various
axes of Qatari influence, money and assistance – some formal, some informal –
have become another key feature of the Arab Spring, not least in Libya and
Syria. Its motivation in supporting revolutions elsewhere has been described in
private, by at least one senior member of an Arab regime it has irritated, as a
cynical attempt by its royal rulers "to be in the kitchen but not on the menu".
That is, to inoculate themselves against internal threats.
A third key feature,
overlapping with the second, and perhaps the most serious, has been the
continuing rise of Sunni-Shia sectarian antagonism in the region. As Egypt,
Qatar and Turkey have emerged as the focus of an emerging and powerful Sunni
axis of influence, it has set them in opposition to an increasingly isolated
Iran, whose own attempts to build its influence in the region, not least through
its alliances with Hezbollah and Assad's
Syria, now appear at risk.....
If it is a truism in military circles that "generals are always preparing to fight the last war", then it is equally true in foreign policy circles. And if there is one overarching lesson of the Arab Spring it is that we should be attentive to the present and its challenges, not chained to notions of the past or bound by ideas of a future we cannot know."
392 people massacred in Syria in one of the deadliest days
link
(CNN) -- Russia's top diplomat and an international envoy to Syria warned Saturday that the Middle East nation's conflict is becoming more militarized and sectarian, further endangering the region.
The statements came on what may be the bloodiest day since the unrest's start 21 months ago: At least 392 people were killed Saturday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees said. The toll includes 201 people who a captured Syrian soldier said had been executed in Deir Balbah, outside of Homs, after Syrian forces won a battle there, an LCC spokesman said.
The Syrian government has not commented on the Deir Balbah allegations, and CNN cannot independently confirm casualty reports as Syria's government has severely restricted access to the country.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, held a meeting aimed at halting any such violence by bringing both sides to the negotiating table.
Brahimi warned the civil war was devolving into fighting between factions jostling for power, rather than an effort centered on bettering the lives of all Syrians. [Ibrahimi is stooge and a liar]
Real News Video (with Transcript): Fiscal Cliff: Going Nuclear and the Grand Betrayal
Bill Black: GOP threatens to use debt ceiling as leverage, creates conditions for more austerity measures by Obama
Thanks to Rabbi Marvin Hier and Simonwiesenthal for the award for my toons on Gaza slaughter, by Carlos Latuff
إيران وروسيا والثمن الكبير في سوريا
"في وقت يجمع فيه معظم المراقبين على استحالة بقاء الوضع السوري على حاله، أعني لجهة بقاء النظام القائم، وعلى رأسه بشار الأسد مهما طال أمد المعركة، فإن المشهد لا يزال يثير الكثير من الأسئلة المعقدة بخصوص المدى الزمني الذي ستستغرقه عملية إسقاط النظام، وهي أسئلة ما كان لها أن تطرح في ظل بسالة الثورة وتداعي قبضة النظام على أجزاء كبيرة من مساحة البلد لولا الدعم الإيراني والروسي الهائل للنظام، الذي يتجاوز الدعم العسكري إلى دعم تكنولوجي، فضلا عن الدعم الاقتصادي، ما يجعل التساؤل حول موقف هاتين الدولتين من الصراع وتداعياته عليهما مشروعا إلى حد كبير.
منذ شهور طويلة، قلنا إن سوريا قد أخذت تحاكي النموذج الأفغاني، من حيث تدفق المقاتلين الإسلاميين من الخارج، وبالطبع إثر تحول المعركة من انتفاضة سلمية إلى مسلحة على نحو شبه شامل، وإن بقيت الفعاليات السلمية قائمة بهذه الدرجة أو تلك. وقلنا إن الحشد مع الشيوعية في أفغانستان قد استبدل منه على نحو ما الحشد ضد الشيعة وإيران، بينما تؤكد معظم التحليلات أن إيران ستدفع ثمنا باهظا في هذه المعركة، تماما كما دفع الاتحاد السوفياتي ثمنا باهظا في حربه في أفغانستان، فضلا عن الثمن الذي ترتب على هزيمته المدوية فيها ممثلا في تفكك الاتحاد. وها هي روسيا وريث الاتحاد السوفياتي تكرر التجربة مع الفارق، إذ دفعت الكثير في المعركة، والأرجح أنها ستدفع أكثر بعد سقوط النظام.
وكما غاب العقل في الاتحاد السوفياتي بتورطه في المستنقع الأفغاني، وإصراره على استمرار المعركة سنوات طويلة رغم وضوح عبثيتها، الذي أدى إلى ما أدى إليه، فقد فقد العقل الإيراني رشده أيضا، ومعه الروسي، والنتيجة أن إيران لن تدفع فقط ثمنا باهظا على صعيد فشل مشروع تمددها الذي اشتغلت عليه ثلاثة عقود، ودفعت فيه كلفة باهظة (أعني تأثير الهزيمة على إنجازاتها في العراق ولبنان على وجه الخصوص)، فضلا عن الكلفة المالية التي دفعتها من أجل الحفاظ على بشار الأسد (بلغت حتى الشهر قبل الماضي 10 مليارات دولار حسب مصادر غربية)، بل ستضيف إلى ذلك خسائر أخرى تتمثل في حراك داخلي كبير يبدو أكثر من متوقع، ولا يستبعد أن ينتهي بثورة إيرانية تطيح بحكم المحافظين برمته.
لعل ذلك تحديدا هو ما يدفع إيران إلى القتال حتى الرمق الأخير من أجل إنقاذ ما يمكن إنقاذه، مثل المقامر الخاسر الذي يزداد تشبثا بالطاولة رغم استمرار خسائره (ينطبق ذلك على روسيا أيضا). ويتمثل بؤس تفكير إيران في إحجامها عن تقديم حل تقبله المعارضة السورية مقابل دفع الأوضاع دفعا نحو هزيمة مدوية سيكون ثمنها باهظا، تماما كما كان عليه الحال للاتحاد السوفياتي في أفغانستان.
واللافت هنا أن الغرب (خاصة أميركا) الذي يتحرك شرق أوسطيا على إيقاع الهواجس
الإسرائيلية ما زال يمنح إيران فرصة بالأمل بإبقاء الأسد، وهو يفعل ذلك لأن إيران
القوية، والمصرة على برنامجها النووي تشكل خطرا على الكيان الصهيوني، وحين يستدرجها
(أعني الغرب) نحو مزيد من التورط في المستنقع السوري، إنما يضرب عصفورين بحجر واحد،
إذ يدمر سوريا الدولة والكيان أكثر فأكثر بحيث تنشغل بنفسها لعقود، في الوقت نفسه
الذي يستنزف فيه إيران التي ستكون بعد سوريا أكثر جاهزية للتنازل عن برنامجها
النووي
......."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you agree with the accusations of demonstrators in Iraq that the Maliki government is sectarian?
With about 700 responding so far, 93% said yes.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - What is stoking Iraqi rage?
"In central Iraq, a number of arrests have provoked mass protests in two major cities. Will these latest protests lead to renewed sectarian violence? Guests: Saad al-Muttalibi, Anas al-Tikriti, Hiwa Osman."
Real News Video: Israeli Cmte Disqualifies Only Palestinian Woman in Parliament from Reelection
Noam Sheizaf on the elections committee that disqualified Hanin Zoabi, the only Palestinian woman in the Israeli parliament from re-election.
Real News Video (with Transcript): Report from Bahrain
Reese Erlich: The uprising against monarchy grows more intense, mostly ignored by Western media
Egypt's 'civil servants' told not to criticise president Morsi
Diplomats and journalists say they are being pressured to abandon their
opposition of the president
(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)
Ahram Online
"Some Egyptian diplomats and media personnel have complained that they are being pressured by their bosses into refraining from criticising Egypt president Mohamed Morsi.
Opposition forces have frequently accused Morsi of attempting to curb freedoms since the influential Muslim Brotherhood group propelled him into office in Egypt's first freely contested elections earlier this year.
“I was summoned into the office of the assistant (foreign) minister; he said we were all partners in making the (January) Revolution a success and now we should be sensible to help the president deliver the hopes and dreams of the Revolution," said a young diplomat about what he considered as an explicit warning by his boss.
"He added a few incoherent words about the national role of the foreign service, its independence and so on; then he asked me to be ‘careful’ and not to confuse my role as a diplomat with that of an activist."
According to this diplomat, who asked for his name to be withheld to spare the disclosure of the identity of his boss, other young diplomats were given the same warnings.
“One of them was told that his overt opposition to the president would undermine his chances to go a good post and another was told that the minister (of foreign affairs) is so angry with his ministry being looked at as disloyal by the president,” the same diplomat added.
During the past few weeks, some diplomats have declined to bow to orders issued by Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr to promote the president’s political choices, Ahram Online has learnt......"
Ahram Online
"Some Egyptian diplomats and media personnel have complained that they are being pressured by their bosses into refraining from criticising Egypt president Mohamed Morsi.
Opposition forces have frequently accused Morsi of attempting to curb freedoms since the influential Muslim Brotherhood group propelled him into office in Egypt's first freely contested elections earlier this year.
“I was summoned into the office of the assistant (foreign) minister; he said we were all partners in making the (January) Revolution a success and now we should be sensible to help the president deliver the hopes and dreams of the Revolution," said a young diplomat about what he considered as an explicit warning by his boss.
"He added a few incoherent words about the national role of the foreign service, its independence and so on; then he asked me to be ‘careful’ and not to confuse my role as a diplomat with that of an activist."
According to this diplomat, who asked for his name to be withheld to spare the disclosure of the identity of his boss, other young diplomats were given the same warnings.
“One of them was told that his overt opposition to the president would undermine his chances to go a good post and another was told that the minister (of foreign affairs) is so angry with his ministry being looked at as disloyal by the president,” the same diplomat added.
During the past few weeks, some diplomats have declined to bow to orders issued by Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr to promote the president’s political choices, Ahram Online has learnt......"
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Bahrain, a Brutal Ally
By ZAINAB al-KHAWAJA
N Y Times
(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)
"EARLIER this month, Aqeel Abdul Mohsen, 19, was shot in the face for protesting against Bahrain’s government. He was covered in blood, with the lower side of his face blown open, his jaw shattered, and a broken hand hanging awkwardly from his wrist. It’s one of those images that you wish you had never seen, and can never forget.
After more than 10 hours of surgery, and before Mr.
Abdul Mohsen regained consciousness, his hospital room was already under guard
by the police. Had he been able to speak, he might even have been interrogated
before going into surgery. Others have lain bleeding without medical attention
while government security agents asked questions like: “Were you participating
in a protest? Who else was with you?”
Bahrain, a small island nation off the coast of Saudi
Arabia, has been ruled by the Khalifa family for more than 200 years. It is
also home to
the headquarters of the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which patrols
regional shipping lanes, assists with missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and
monitors Iran as tensions in the region mount.
The oppressed people of Bahrain joined the Arab Spring
soon after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. With newfound hope,
Bahrainis took to the streets on Feb. 14, 2011. Rich and poor, Shiite and Sunni,
liberal and religious, they felt what it was like to speak freely for the first
time in the capital, Manama, at a traffic circle with a pearl monument at its
center. The Pearl Roundabout came to symbolize the Bahraini revolution.
But this newfound freedom didn’t last long....."
Brazilian cartoonist Latuff defends Egyptian counterpart El-Adl
Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff stands in solidarity with his Egyptian
counterpart Doaa El-Adl - who is to be questioned by the prosecutor general for
her latest cartoon on the constitution and MB regime
Ahram Online
"International political cartoonist Carlos Latuff has expressed solidarity with Egyptian cartoonist Doaa El-Adl, who is being questioned by prosecutor general Talaat Abdallah for critising Islamists in Egypt.
In his statement via Twitter, Latuff condemned the opression practiced against artists and journalists in Egypt. "Solidarity with cartoonist Doaa El-Adl who is charged with critising Islamists," he said.
Latuff drew the veiled Egyptian cartoonist holding her sharpened pencil like a spear to defend her from the attack by an Islamist, which Latuff drew waving his sword angrily at the young artist. "She is being harrassed by Islamists," he added.
Published in Al Masry Al Youm on 20 December, El-Adl portrayed Adam and Eve standing under the tree after they were kicked out of heaven because of their vote in the referendum.
Next to them is a happy angel telling them in Arabic, "If you had voted yes in this referendum the way I did, you would have enjoyed heaven." El-Adl's recent piece had followed another with an Islamist inside the poll box kicking out votes against the constitution......"
Ahram Online
"International political cartoonist Carlos Latuff has expressed solidarity with Egyptian cartoonist Doaa El-Adl, who is being questioned by prosecutor general Talaat Abdallah for critising Islamists in Egypt.
In his statement via Twitter, Latuff condemned the opression practiced against artists and journalists in Egypt. "Solidarity with cartoonist Doaa El-Adl who is charged with critising Islamists," he said.
Latuff drew the veiled Egyptian cartoonist holding her sharpened pencil like a spear to defend her from the attack by an Islamist, which Latuff drew waving his sword angrily at the young artist. "She is being harrassed by Islamists," he added.
Published in Al Masry Al Youm on 20 December, El-Adl portrayed Adam and Eve standing under the tree after they were kicked out of heaven because of their vote in the referendum.
Next to them is a happy angel telling them in Arabic, "If you had voted yes in this referendum the way I did, you would have enjoyed heaven." El-Adl's recent piece had followed another with an Islamist inside the poll box kicking out votes against the constitution......"
The "New" Yemen: When U.S. drones kill civilians, Yemen’s government tries to conceal it
The Washington Post
[Where are you Tawakkul Karman? Why are you totally Silent? Have they bought you with their Nobel Peace Prize? Just wondering.]
"Dhamar, Yemen — A rickety Toyota truck packed with 14 people rumbled down a desert road from the town of Radda, which al-Qaeda militants once controlled. Suddenly a missile hurtled from the sky and flipped the vehicle over.
Chaos. Flames. Corpses. Then, a second missile struck.
Within seconds, 11 of the passengers were dead, including a woman and her 7-year-old daughter. A 12-year-old boy also perished that day, and another man later died from his wounds.
The Yemeni government initially said that those killed were al-Qaeda militants and that its Soviet-era jets had carried out the Sept. 2 attack. But tribal leaders and Yemeni officials would later say that it was an American assault and that all the victims were civilians who lived in a village near Radda, in central Yemen. U.S. officials last week acknowledged for the first time that it was an American strike....."
[Where are you Tawakkul Karman? Why are you totally Silent? Have they bought you with their Nobel Peace Prize? Just wondering.]
"Dhamar, Yemen — A rickety Toyota truck packed with 14 people rumbled down a desert road from the town of Radda, which al-Qaeda militants once controlled. Suddenly a missile hurtled from the sky and flipped the vehicle over.
Chaos. Flames. Corpses. Then, a second missile struck.
Within seconds, 11 of the passengers were dead, including a woman and her 7-year-old daughter. A 12-year-old boy also perished that day, and another man later died from his wounds.
The Yemeni government initially said that those killed were al-Qaeda militants and that its Soviet-era jets had carried out the Sept. 2 attack. But tribal leaders and Yemeni officials would later say that it was an American assault and that all the victims were civilians who lived in a village near Radda, in central Yemen. U.S. officials last week acknowledged for the first time that it was an American strike....."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you support a political solution in Syria that includes allowing Assad to stay in power for a limited duration?
With almost 500 responding so far, 88% said no.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Saudi Arabia uses capital offence of ‘apostasy’ to stifle debate
24 December 2012
"A court in Saudi Arabia has decided to proceed with the prosecution of an online activist for apostasy, a charge which carries the death penalty, in what Amnesty International said is a new bid to stifle political and social debate.
On 22 December the General Court in Jeddah had Raif Badawi, 25, sign documents to enable his trial on apostasy charges to go ahead, after his case was passed to it by a District Court on 17 December.
Badawi – who founded “Saudi Arabian Liberals”, a website for political and social debate – has been in detention since June 2012 on charges including “setting up a website that undermines general security” and ridiculing Islamic religious figures.
Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.
“Even in Saudi Arabia where state repression is rife, it is beyond the pale to seek the death penalty for an activist whose only ‘crime’ was to enable social debate online,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Raif Badawi’s trial for ‘apostasy’ is a clear case of intimidation against him and others who seek to engage in open debates about the issues that Saudi Arabians face in their daily lives. He is a prisoner of conscience who must be released immediately and unconditionally.”......"
Monday, December 24, 2012
Senior Syrian official in US and co-operating with intelligence agencies
Guardian understands that US intelligence officials
helped Jihad Makdissi to flee, though details of journey are unknown
The Syrian government's former spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, is co-operating
with US intelligence officials who helped him flee to Washington almost one
month ago, the Guardian understands.
Makdissi became one of the
most prominent regime defectors in late November when he left Beirut after first
crossing from Syria. The
Guardian reported at the time that he had fled for the US, possibly in
return for asylum. This has now been confirmed.
The latest development comes after almost a month of debriefings, which have helped intelligence officials build a picture of decision-making in the inner sanctum of the embattled regime......"
Terror in a Christmas Tree
Israel Tries to Ban Non-Jewish Celebrations
Nazareth.
CounterPunch
"Israel’s large Palestinian minority is often spoken of in terms of the threat it poses to the Jewish majority. Palestinian citizens’ reproductive rate constitutes a “demographic timebomb”, while their main political programme – Israel’s reform into “a state of all its citizens” – is proof for most Israeli Jews that their compatriots are really a “fifth column”.
But who would imagine that Israeli Jews could be so intimidated by the innocuous Christmas tree?
This issue first came to public attention two years ago when it was revealed that Shimon Gapso, the mayor of Upper Nazareth, had banned Christmas trees from all public buildings in his northern Israeli city.
“Upper Nazareth is a Jewish town and all its symbols are Jewish,” Gapso said. “As long as I hold office, no non-Jewish symbol will be presented in the city.”.....
Apart from Upper Nazareth, the only other “mixed” place where Palestinian Christians are to be found in significant numbers is Haifa, Israel’s third largest city. Haifa is often referred to as Israel’s most multicultural and tolerant city, a title for which it faces very little competition.
But the image hides a dirtier reality. A recent letter from Haifa’s rabbinate came to light in which the city’s hotels and events halls were reminded that they must not host New Year’s parties at the end of this month (the Jewish New Year happens at a different time of year). The hotels and halls were warned that they would be denied their kashrut licences if they did so.
“It is a seriously forbidden to hold any event at the end of the calendar year that is connected with or displays anything from the non-Jewish festivals,” the letter states......."
CounterPunch
"Israel’s large Palestinian minority is often spoken of in terms of the threat it poses to the Jewish majority. Palestinian citizens’ reproductive rate constitutes a “demographic timebomb”, while their main political programme – Israel’s reform into “a state of all its citizens” – is proof for most Israeli Jews that their compatriots are really a “fifth column”.
But who would imagine that Israeli Jews could be so intimidated by the innocuous Christmas tree?
This issue first came to public attention two years ago when it was revealed that Shimon Gapso, the mayor of Upper Nazareth, had banned Christmas trees from all public buildings in his northern Israeli city.
“Upper Nazareth is a Jewish town and all its symbols are Jewish,” Gapso said. “As long as I hold office, no non-Jewish symbol will be presented in the city.”.....
Apart from Upper Nazareth, the only other “mixed” place where Palestinian Christians are to be found in significant numbers is Haifa, Israel’s third largest city. Haifa is often referred to as Israel’s most multicultural and tolerant city, a title for which it faces very little competition.
But the image hides a dirtier reality. A recent letter from Haifa’s rabbinate came to light in which the city’s hotels and events halls were reminded that they must not host New Year’s parties at the end of this month (the Jewish New Year happens at a different time of year). The hotels and halls were warned that they would be denied their kashrut licences if they did so.
“It is a seriously forbidden to hold any event at the end of the calendar year that is connected with or displays anything from the non-Jewish festivals,” the letter states......."
Joy to the world: A child is born!
If the shooting in Connecticut
is covered by the US press, others point out to the atrocities of the US drone
attacks.
"I write this essay from the heart of a grief-stricken nation. On December 14, just a few days before millions of Americans were to gather under their decorated holiday trees to celebrate Christmas, 26 people - 20 innocent young students and six adults - were senselessly murdered at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, just under 80 miles or two hours' drive from Manhattan where I live and where my children go to school.
Before driving to school to perpetrate this mass murder, the killer, 20-year-old Adam Peter Lanza, killed his own mother at their home. And after he was done, Lanza killed himself.
A vastly pervasive culture of violence animates this country - from the minutest aspects of its toy and entertainment industries all the way to the militant imperialism that sustains its delusional fantasies to rule the world. A myopic vision of this horrid crime at the Sandy Hook Elementary School will leave the larger frame of reference criminally neglected. ...."
جيوسياسة الثورة السورية والربيع العربي
"......
وقد التقت إرادة موسكو في استخدام الأزمة السورية للحفاظ على دورها الإقليمي، واستعادة جزء من دورها كقطب شريك للغرب في السياسة الدولية، مع إرادة الدول الغربية في استغلال الوضع ذاته لإعادة تعريف الدور الإقليمي لسوريا، سواء في ما يتعلق بتحالفاتها مع إيران أو بشكل أكثر بمركزها الإستراتيجي تجاه إسرائيل ليمدد في أجل الحرب ويزيدها عنفا.
فكما تحاول روسيا عبر الدعم الذي تقدمه للنظام السوري أن تقنع الغرب بأنه لا مستقبل لسوريا والمشرق دون التعاون معها ورعاية مصالحها في المنطقة، تسعى الولايات المتحدة عبر تمديد القتال إلى أن تخرج سوريا من المعركة مهيضة الجناح غير قادرة على أن تشكل أي تحد لإسرائيل أو لأي دولة أخرى إلى مستقبل منظور، وهو ما قامت به من قبل في العراق أيضا.
والحال هذه، لن تربح روسيا الرهان لأن سقوط النظام حتى لو لم يتحقق بالضربة القاضية، واضطررنا إلى انتقال ديمقراطي بدمج بعض ما يتبقى من النظام، فلن يكون لإيران -الحليفة الرئيسية لروسيا في الشرق الأوسط اليوم- في صراعها مع الغرب، أي حظ من النجاح في الإبقاء على علاقات إستراتيجية مع سوريا الديمقراطية.
| تأمل شعوب العالم أجمع أن تكون نهاية النظام الهمجي السوري القائم درسا لجميع الدكتاتوريات التي لا تزال تعتقد بأنها قادرة على البقاء ضد إرادة الشعوب ورغما عنها |
وفي المقابل ستعزز ثورة الحرية والكرامة العربية -بمقدار ما ستمكن الشعوب من قرارها الوطني- حركة التفاهم والتعاون والتفاعل بين الشعوب والدول العربية، وتفتح الطريق إلى إعادة صوغ النظام الإقليمي بما يزيد من استقلاليته وسيادة دوله تجاه النزاعات وإرادة تقاسم النفوذ فيه من قبل الدول الكبرى.
وكما كان مستحيلا استمرار نظام الأسد البدائي والهمجي دون التغطية الإقليمية والدولية، أي دون البيئة الجيوسياسية للحرب الباردة المحافظ عليها في المنطقة، سيكون لتحرر سوريا من نظامها الدكتاتوري وامتلاك الشعب حق تقرير مصيره بالفعل، أثر مباشر على تعديل خريطة القوى والتوازنات الإقليمية، وفي ما وراء ذلك على أمل شعوب العالم أجمع في أن تكون نهاية النظام الهمجي السوري القائم درسا لجميع الدكتاتوريات التي لا تزال تعتقد بأنها قادرة -ببث الخوف والذعر والإرهاب- على البقاء ضد إرادة الشعوب ورغما عنها."
The Myth of Dialogue with the Syrian Regime
By Maysaloon
"When Seumus Milne writes article after article lamenting the lack of 'dialogue' between the parties in Syria, he perpetuates a myth that the Assad regime, along with its Russian and Iranian backers, has been advocating a negotiated settlement all along. The truth could not be further from the reality, and there is a real danger that the story of the Syrian revolution is being re-spun into some nefarious Western plot to eliminate the 'last bastion of Arabism' as one anti-imperialist commentator described it......
Syrians should rightly be concerned with the extremist elements within the ranks of the rebels, but they do not need Milne to tell them that, and they certainly don't need his instructions on the best way to remove the regime that has killed tens of thousands of Syrians since last March. They should, also, be very concerned with lawlessness and sectarianism, but unlike Milne they have recognised that a state which mobilises its resources for mass murder and terror over a population is far more disturbing and serious than the crimes of extreme elements who are, after all, criminals anyway. Therefore, Milne has no right to claim some kind of moral parity between 'two sides', and he certainly has no right to paint the opponents of Assad, in all their colours and shapes, with the same brush as al Qaeda. For Iraq and Afghanistan he has always been alert enough to recognise the divide and rule tactics of an oppressor, or to know where one must lay the blame when extremism results in atrocities and instability. No such critical thinking appears to have been applied in Syria. In fact it does not seem to have occurred to Milne and other Western anti-imperialist writers that Assad, as an oppressor, is in the same boat as the imperialism they claim to oppose."
S&P cuts Egypt rating on political strife
"(Reuters)
- Standard & Poors' cut Egypt's long-term credit rating on Monday and said
another cut was possible if political turbulence worsened, undermining the
country's ability to make hard choices on public finances.
The agency reduced Egypt's long-term sovereign rating to 'B-' from 'B', but left its short-term rating at 'B' for both foreign- and local-currency debt.
"The negative outlook reflects our view that a further downgrade is possible if a significant worsening of the domestic political situation results in a sharp deterioration of economic indicators such as foreign exchange reserves or the government's deficit," S&P said."
The agency reduced Egypt's long-term sovereign rating to 'B-' from 'B', but left its short-term rating at 'B' for both foreign- and local-currency debt.
"The negative outlook reflects our view that a further downgrade is possible if a significant worsening of the domestic political situation results in a sharp deterioration of economic indicators such as foreign exchange reserves or the government's deficit," S&P said."
Zionism, anti-Semitism and colonialism
Zionist leaders consciously recognised that state anti-Semitism was essential to
their colonial project
Al-Jazeera
"....Herzl's strategy continues to be the strategy of Zionism and the State of Israel. Whereas state-sponsored anti-Semitism has disappeared, Israel must create it and conjure it up, as this is its major line of defence against any and all international criticisms and censure of its ongoing colonisation of Palestine.
While the four permanent members of the UN Security Council censured Israel last week for its plans to expand yet again its colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the US will surely veto a possible UN Security Council resolution condemning these colonial activities. Should this happen, we will immediately hear the Israeli and pro-Israeli chorus of condemnation of the international body as "anti-Semitic" yet again.
That this strategy has now run its course and no longer intimidates international actors has led to much panic in Zionist and Israeli circles. Israel and Zionism now understand well that when the world, including the United States (excepting Barack Obama), hears "anti-Semitism" as an argument to defend Israel, they understand it as an Israeli diversionary tactic to distract the world from Israeli Jewish colonialism and colonial-settlements on Palestinian land.
Make no mistake about it, anti-Semitism in Israeli discourse is and has been nothing short of camouflage for the continuation of Jewish colonisation of Palestine. Only the gullible continue to be fooled. "
Al-Jazeera
"....Herzl's strategy continues to be the strategy of Zionism and the State of Israel. Whereas state-sponsored anti-Semitism has disappeared, Israel must create it and conjure it up, as this is its major line of defence against any and all international criticisms and censure of its ongoing colonisation of Palestine.
While the four permanent members of the UN Security Council censured Israel last week for its plans to expand yet again its colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the US will surely veto a possible UN Security Council resolution condemning these colonial activities. Should this happen, we will immediately hear the Israeli and pro-Israeli chorus of condemnation of the international body as "anti-Semitic" yet again.
That this strategy has now run its course and no longer intimidates international actors has led to much panic in Zionist and Israeli circles. Israel and Zionism now understand well that when the world, including the United States (excepting Barack Obama), hears "anti-Semitism" as an argument to defend Israel, they understand it as an Israeli diversionary tactic to distract the world from Israeli Jewish colonialism and colonial-settlements on Palestinian land.
Make no mistake about it, anti-Semitism in Israeli discourse is and has been nothing short of camouflage for the continuation of Jewish colonisation of Palestine. Only the gullible continue to be fooled. "
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Al-Jazeera Video: Syrian activist speaks on deadly air strike near bakery
"At least 90 people were killed and scores of others injured in an air strike on a bakery in Syria's central Hama province, activists said.
Activists on Sunday told Al Jazeera that the death toll was likely to rise in the town of Halfaya, where the strike hit.
Mousab al-Hamadee, an activist in the suburbs of Hama, told Al Jazeera that Halfaya and nearby towns have witnessed heavy shelling since rebels began advancing in the province.
Al Jazeera spoke to Hamadee."
Al-Jazeera Video:
"قالت الشبكة السورية لحقوق الإنسان إن ثلاثة وتسعين شخصا قتلوا في غارة جوية استهدفت مخبزا في حلفايا بريف حماة. وقال ناشطون إن من بين القتلى نساءً وأطفالا وإن أعدادهم مرشحة للارتفاع. بينما أفادت الشبكة بأن حصيلة القتلى في سوريا حتى الآن بلغت مائة وثمانية وخمسين معظمهم في ريف حماة.
"
Dozens killed in air strike on bakery in central Syria
"(Reuters) - Dozens of people were killed and wounded in an air strike on a bakery in Syria's central Hama province on Sunday, activists said, with some reporting up to 200 dead.
"There is no way to really know yet how many people were killed. When I got there, I could see piles of bodies all over the ground. There were women and children," said Samer al-Hamawi, an activist in the town of Halfaya, where the strike hit. "There are also dozens of wounded people"
Halfaya was seized by rebels last week as part of a campaign to push into new territories in the 21-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad,
Another activist said residents picking through the bodies were still determining which were wounded and which were dead.
Hamawi, who spoke via Skype, uploaded a video of the scene, which showed dozens of dust-coated bodies lined up near a pile of rubble by a concrete building, its walls blackened.
The sounds of people screaming could be heard in the video, as some men rushed to the scene on motorcycles and other residents limped away from the area.
The authenticity of the video could not be immediately verified. The government restricts media access in Syria.
Activists said more than a thousand people had been queuing at the bakery. Shortages of fuel and flour have made bread production erratic across the country, and people often wait for hours to buy bread.
New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned army air strikes on bakeries earlier this year, arguing that in some incidents the military was not using enough precision to target rebel sites and in other instances may have intentionally hit civilians.
"We hadn't received flour in around three days so everyone was going to the bakery today, and lots of them were women and children," Hamawi said. "I still don't know yet if my relatives are among the dead.""
Political peddlers: Vending Tunisia
Tunisians are still frustrated
of the status quo while politicians act like street vendors peddling their
platforms.
|
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you support the call for civil disobedience in Iraq to protest the policies of PM Maliki?
With over 700 responding, 95% said yes.
Real News Video: Black: Too Big to Prosecute and It's Obama's Fiscal Cliff
Bill Black: Criminal money laundering goes unpunished and Fiscal Cliff was created by Obama
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Egyptian artists fear for their future in cultural backlash after Arab spring
Censorship could be as bad
as under previous regimes, as cultural figures feel the pressure
The Observer,
"Leading Middle Eastern cultural figures and academics have warned that the arts of the Arab spring are under threat because of increasing violence, censorship and lack of political vision.
The popular perception
that the region is experiencing unprecedented freedom of expression is
"simplistic and misleading", with many artists "wary of the increasingly violent
nature of the Arab spring", according to a study for the British Council by the
postwar reconstruction and development unit at York University. The report, Out
in the Open: Artistic Practices and Social Change in Egypt, Libya, Morocco and
Tunisia, found that the system of strict government censorship that has existed
for decades is "largely still in place"........
Writer Ahdaf Soueif, who documented the uprising in her book Cairo: My City, Our Revolution, said she opposed engaging with Mohamed Morsi's government about the future of the arts amid the protests about the president's attempted power grab. "Engaging with them on that level is wrong. They are in no way a government of the revolution."....."
"I think we are at a
brink point. The Muslim majority [in Egypt] could just react and suppress
artistic expression even more than Hosni Mubarak," Barakat said. The Egyptian
playwright Ahmed el-Attar said: "I'm afraid the country is sliding towards
fascism. So far culture has been kept on the side. The Muslim Brotherhood
don't yet have a cultural agenda. They're talking about focusing on historical
Islamic figures. I'm not sure that applies to the Salafis, who question the
notion of art itself."......
Writer Ahdaf Soueif, who documented the uprising in her book Cairo: My City, Our Revolution, said she opposed engaging with Mohamed Morsi's government about the future of the arts amid the protests about the president's attempted power grab. "Engaging with them on that level is wrong. They are in no way a government of the revolution."....."
Real News Video: Gaza's Children Haunted by Nightmare of War
UNICEF report indicates vast majority of Gaza's children are struggling to cope with war trauma and PTSD
The army and the constitution
Egypt's draft
constitution fails to achieve a key prerequisite of a democratic future for the
country: civilian supervision of the army
Khaled Fahmy , Saturday 22 Dec 2012
Ahram Online
"....I was looking forward to a constitution that clearly states that the minister
of defence would be a civilian, embodying the notion of public supervision of
the army. Instead, the constitution added a new article directly stating that
the minister of defence must be an officer of the Armed Forces (Article
195).
I hoped that the constitution would stipulate the right of an elected
parliament to oversee the army’s budget, but instead the constitution assigned
this sensitive duty to the National Defence Council which is membered by a
majority of military personnel (Article 197).I aspired for a constitution that clearly bans the trial of civilians in military courts, but instead Article 198 of the new constitution confirms this is possible.
I wanted the new constitution to clearly state that draft into the army is a national duty for the youth to serve the country and they can only be recruited to defend the homeland, in order to end the farcical practice of sending our drafted recruits to companies, restaurants and utilities run by the army for their own profit. But the constitution does not include any clause to this effect.
When we created a modern army at the beginning of the 19th century we were not able as a society to subject this genie to our will, and failed to curb its domination. In the 20th century, the lack of supervision by society of the army resulted in establishing a corrupt political regime that obstructed the transition to democracy and inflicted upon us a military defeat that is unlike any other in modern history.
After our revolution succeeded, we had hoped that we would write a constitution that avoided these mistakes and corrected these historic blunders for which we paid dearly. Instead, Hassaan and his colleagues in the Constituent Assembly gave us a retarded and oppressive constitution that fails to achieve one of our key and fundamental goals.
Therefore, despite Hassaan’s rant about humanity envying us for this document, we will not back down until we rescind this wretched constitution."
Al-Jazeera Video: حديث الثورة- التطورات السياسية والميدانية في سوريا
A VERY GOOD VIDEO
"تتناول الحلقة التطورات السياسية والميدانية في سوريا، حيث أعلن الثوار عن تحقيق تقدم في ريف حماة بوسط البلاد بعد سيطرتهم على ست بلدات في المحافظة.
تقديم : محمد كريشان
تاريخ البث: 20/12/2012
الضيوف: صفوت الزيات، ماجد كيالي، غسان شبانة
"تتناول الحلقة التطورات السياسية والميدانية في سوريا، حيث أعلن الثوار عن تحقيق تقدم في ريف حماة بوسط البلاد بعد سيطرتهم على ست بلدات في المحافظة.
تقديم : محمد كريشان
تاريخ البث: 20/12/2012
الضيوف: صفوت الزيات، ماجد كيالي، غسان شبانة
"
Friday, December 21, 2012
As the ANC Votes to Support BDS, A New Film Compares Life in Palestine to Apartheid South Africa
Democracy Now!
"As the African National Congress voted Thursday to support the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel known as BDS, declaring it was "unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel," we look at a new film that examines the apartheid analogy commonly used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Roadmap to Apartheid,” is narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning Alice Walker and puts archival footage and interviews with South Africans, alongside similar material that shows what life is like for Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and inside Israel. The documentary has just been released to the public after a year long film festival run, where it won numerous awards. We are joined by its co-directors, South African-born Ana Nogueira and Israeli-born Eron Davidson, both longtime journalists...."
"As the African National Congress voted Thursday to support the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel known as BDS, declaring it was "unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel," we look at a new film that examines the apartheid analogy commonly used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Roadmap to Apartheid,” is narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning Alice Walker and puts archival footage and interviews with South Africans, alongside similar material that shows what life is like for Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and inside Israel. The documentary has just been released to the public after a year long film festival run, where it won numerous awards. We are joined by its co-directors, South African-born Ana Nogueira and Israeli-born Eron Davidson, both longtime journalists...."
Real News Video: Backed by US, Muslim Brotherhood Tries to Reproduce Mubarak Regime
Amr Adly: Final round of constitutional referendum on Saturday - Muslim Brotherhood constitution may pass but will not stabilize Egypt
Real News Video: US Blocks UN Condemnation of Israeli Settlements
Vijay Prashad: Most European countries including UK support statement denouncing new settlements
Egyptians are being held back by neoliberalism, not religion
President Morsi claims the opposition is an anti-Islamist
elite. In fact, he is losing support because of his economic policies
".....But if Egyptians are, as results indicate, losing faith in the Brotherhood,
it isn't because the organisation is Islamist, but because it has so far been
rubbish at ruling. Many believe the Brotherhood has kept its promises to power,
but not to the people. Crucially, President Morsi's economic policy has deepened
the neo-liberalism that brought so much misery during the Mubarak era and was a
key component of the uprising against him.
This economic stamp is all over Morsi's policies, both before and as a part
of the proposed constitution – which was completed in a one-day marathon, by an
Islamist-dominated assembly, after Christian, liberal and female members walked
out. In early December he announced an end to fuel subsidies – so household
bills for gas cylinders and electricity, for example, are set to spike.
Meanwhile, an IMF loan of
$4.8bn currently being negotiated is conditioned on what has been described as
the biggest wave of austerity cuts since 1977 – when subsidies on staple foods
were removed in one crippling hit, prompting the "bread riots". Today the plan
is to reduce public spending, cut subsidies, increase tax on basic goods, and
devalue the Egyptian pound. This package was delayed because of
the current turmoil. But why should Egyptians swallow such a Shock Doctrine-style deal,
when one of the key tenets of the revolution was a call for social justice?
Meanwhile, the proposed
constitution reveals more of the Brotherhood's conservative economics. It has a
clause that pegs wages to productivity. It stipulates that only "peaceful"
strikes (whatever that means) are allowed. It keeps military interests intact
and invisible to public scrutiny – in a country where the army is thought to own
anything from 10% to 45% of the national economy (nobody knows for sure because
it's all so secret). It is all more evidence that Morsi is not, as he claims,
trying to "protect the revolution", but wants to protect the interests of an
entrenched elite at the expense of everyone else. Indeed, this year a Bloomberg
report referred to the wealthy, controlling echelons of this Islamist group as
the "Brothers
of the 1%".
Small wonder, then, that
the factory-dense city of Mahalla declared
itself an independent state, in protest at Morsi's anti-union laws. Since he
came to power there has been a wave of strikes; not just factory stoppages but
also health worker strikes and consumer protests at eroding public services. And
Egypt's rapidly growing independent unions have been mobilising
nationally against the constitution, using its trampling of social justices
as the hook......
But while his economic policy makes Morsi unpopular on the streets, it is
precisely what makes him acceptable to the west: power-serving economics coupled
with a foreign policy that doesn't rock any regional boats, crucially with
Israel. Using standard paternalistic filters, the US is banking on the idea that
the Brotherhood's religious credibility will underwrite its reactionary
politics, thereby maintaining the status quo. In this sense, the American
administration doesn't really care if it's a Mubarak or a Morsi in power, as
long as these interests are preserved......"
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Israel's colonial strangling of Bethlehem
Bethlehem has been "isolated
and fragmented" in a way that would devastate any town or community the world
over.
By Ben White
Al--Jazeera
"At the main checkpoint to enter Bethlehem there is a large
sign placed on the Separation Wall by Israel's ministry of tourism which says
"Peace be with you". An appropriate symbol for Israel's colonial strangling of
the "little town", this propaganda for pilgrims is a crude microcosm of Israel's
habit of talking "co-existence" while pursuing apartheid.
Over decades of Israeli military rule, more and more land around the city has been annexed, expropriated and colonised, with 19 illegal settlements now in the governorate. Eighty percent of an estimated 22 square kilometre of land confiscated from the north of the Bethlehem region was annexed to the Jerusalem municipality in order to expand settlements (see this briefing).
Beit Sahour, home of the Shepherds' Fields where it is said the angels announced the birth of Jesus, has been hit hard by Israel's colonial regime, losing 17 percent of its land to the expansion of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries. The Wall loops around 10 percent of the Bethlehem region's land, and the UN estimates that only 13 percent of the governorate is available for Palestinian use. In and around the city, there are over 30 physical barriers to Palestinian freedom of movement imposed by the Israeli military. Bethlehem has been isolated and fragmented in a way that would devastate any town or community the world over......"
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