Saturday, March 2, 2013
Egypt: Officials Turn Blind Eye to Port Said Police Abuses
Witnesses Describe Port Said Killings by Police
"(Cairo) – The newly appointed investigative judge looking into the January violence in Port Said should fully examine police responsibility for unlawful killings during the episode, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), the Alkarama Foundation, and Human Rights Watch said today. Forty-two people, including two police officers, died after a court, on January 26, 2013, recommended sentencing 21 Port Said residents to death for killings after a soccer match a year earlier. The confirmation of this sentence and verdict against the remaining 52 defendants is scheduled for March 9.
Evidence gathered by the four groups indicates that the police began shooting when they came under fire on January 26, but continued shooting after the threat against them receded, killing and wounding a number of protestors and bystanders. The police also used lethal fire on the following two days, when the threat to life was unclear at best. After days of mass protests in Port Said over the killing of the protesters, Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki on February 18 appointed an investigative judge, Abdel Aziz Shaheen, to look into the incident. No charges have been brought against any police officer.“President Mohamed Morsy should publicly acknowledge that the police’s right to use lethal force is not unlimited, even when they come under attack, and order the police to limit any use of force to what is strictly necessary,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “A lack of police reform, Mubarak-era laws that effectively give the police a free hand to use lethal force, and the lack of accountability mean we are seeing this kind of excessive response again and again.”....."
اصدقاء سورية ام اصدقاء اسرائيل؟
اصدقاء سورية ام اصدقاء اسرائيل؟
عبد الباري عطوان
Cartoon by Khalil Bendib
"لم يكن مفاجئا ان يرفع متظاهرون في حي العسالي جنوب دمشق وبلدة معربة في درعا موطن الشرارة الاولى للثورة السورية لافتات تقول 'انتهت كذبة اصدقاء الشعب السوري.. كش ملك' او 'اصدقاء الشعب السوري يجتمعون فقط لكي يحددوا مكان وزمان المؤتمر الذي يليه'.
حالة الغضب هذه سببها قرار الاجتماع الاخير لأصدقاء الشعب السوري في روما بتخصيص مبلغ مقداره 60 مليون دولار لمساعدة المعارضة السورية المسلحة، وتزويدها بأسلحة غير فتاكة.
خيبة امل هؤلاء الغاضبين في الداخل السوري مفهومة، ومطالبتهم الشيخ معاذ الخطيب بمقاطعة هذه الاجتماعات مفهومة ايضا، فإذا كانت اولوية هؤلاء التصدي للطائرات وصواريخ سكود التي تقصف مدنهم واحياءهم وحماية ارواحهم، فإن اولوية اصدقاء سورية، والغربيين منهم على وجه الخصوص، هي حماية اسرائيل وأمنها ومستوطنيها.
ان تقديم امريكا ستين مليون دولار كمساعدات للائتلاف الوطني السوري والمعارضة بشكل عام هو ابشع انواع الاحتقار والاهانة، وما كان على السيد الخطيب ان يقبل بها، وان يردها غير شاكر لمانحيها تفضلهم على السوريين.
امريكا وروسيا تختلفان على كل شيء فيما يتعلق بالملف السوري، ولكنهما تتفقان بقوة على هدف واحد، وعدو واحد، هو الجماعات الاسلامية الجهادية، وجبهة النصرة على وجه الخصوص، وهي الجماعات التي يتسع نفوذها على الارض، وتسيطر على المدن الواحدة تلو الاخرى، وتملأ الفراغ الناجم عن انسحاب او هزيمة القوات النظامية.
تختلفان على بقاء الاسد او اختفائه، على صلاحيات الحكومة الانتقالية ورأسها واعضائها، تختلفان على التسليح ونوعية الاسلحة، ولكنهما تتفقان على ان النصرة واخواتها هي الخطر الاكبر، سواء اثناء وجود النظام او بعد سقوطه.
فليس صدفة ان تعتقل قوات الامن التركية خلية من احد عشر شخصا قالت انها تنتمي الى تنظيم القاعدة، وكانت تخطط لشن هجمات على السفارات الامريكية والاوروبية في انقرة واسطنبول، وهي اي تركيا، التي سمحت بمرور مئات المجاهدين العرب عبر اراضيها لقتال النظام الديكتاتوري في دمشق.
مؤتمر اصدقاء سورية في روما اطلق شرارة الحرب لتصفية الجماعات الجهادية، وبموافقة روسية وايرانية ايضا، وان كانت الدولتان الاخيرتان لم تشاركا في اعماله، والحال نفسه ينطبق على النظام السوري الذي ظلّ يكرر دائما انه يواجه مؤامرة خارجية ويحارب جماعات ارهابية.
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ليس صدفة ان يتزامن انعقاد هذا المؤتمر في روما مع الكشف عن تدريب قوات سورية في قواعد عسكرية اردنية لمنع الاسلاميين من الوصول الى الحكم في سورية، ولمنع استيلاء هؤلاء على الاسلحة الكيماوية التي في حوزة النظام واستخدامها ضد اسرائيل في مرحلة لاحقة، تماما مثلما حدث في افغانستان والعراق وليبيا (اقتحام القنصلية الامريكية في بنغازي وقتل السفير وثلاثة دبلوماسيين)، حسب تحليلات الصحف الامريكية.
هناك تطابق غريب بين طريقة تدريب هؤلاء السوريين ونظرائهم في اجهزة امن السلطة الفلسطينية، فالمدربون امريكيون، وقواعد التدريب واحدة (الاردن) وطريقة اختيار هؤلاء تتبع المعايير نفسها، فقد اكدت صحيفة 'التايمز' البريطانية ان هؤلاء يتم انتقاؤهم بعناية فائقة، وبعد تمحيص امني مكثف للتأكد من خلفياتهم 'المعتدلة'، اي ان يكونوا غير اسلاميين متطرفين، ومستعدين لتنفيذ الأوامر حرفيا.امريكا مترددة في تزويد الجيش السوري الحرّ بالاسلحة الحديثة والفتاكة، لانها لا تريد التورط في حرب، مباشرة او غير مباشرة في سورية اولا، وحتى لا تقع هذه الاسلحة في ايدي الجماعات الاسلامية الجهادية (النصرة، الفاروق، صقور الشام، احرار الشام، لواء الحق، الطليعة الاسلامية، حركة الفجر الاسلامية).
هذا التردد جعل الادارة الامريكية اقرب الى الموقف السوري الايراني من موقف الائتلاف السوري المعارض وداعميه في دول الخليج والسعودية وقطر على وجه الخصوص، وهذا ما يفسر الضغوط المكثفة التي تُمارس حاليا على الشيخ الخطيب رئيس الائتلاف للجلوس الى طاولة المفاوضات مع ممثلي النظام السوري، للتوصل الى حل سياسي في ظل استمرار النظام ورأسه لمرحلة انتقالية يتبلور طول مدتها او قصرها في الحوار المرتقب.
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الشيخ الخطيب الغى اجتماعا لائتلافه كان مقررا في اسطنبول الجمعة لتشكيل حكومة موازية في المناطق 'المحررة'، بطلب من مؤتمر روما، فكيف يشكل حكومة ثورة في الوقت الذي تتواصل فيه المساعي من اجل تشكيل حكومة ائتلافية انتقالية؟
امام امريكا خياران: الاول ان تظل سورية تحت حكم اوتوقراطي قمعي،والثاني نظام جهادي اسلامي يريد اقامة دولة اسلامية كخطوة اولى لقيام دولة الخلافة الاسلامية.
امريكا لا تريد ايا من الخيارين، وتفضل خيارا ثالثا، اي نظاما ديمقراطيا معتدلا لا يشكل خطرا على الامن الاسرائيلي، ويشكل درعا لدول الخليج في مواجهة ايران وطموحاتها السياسية والعسكرية في الهيمنة على هذه المنطقة. وقد يكون هذا الخيار صعب المنال.
باختصار شديد يمكن القول ان قواعد اللعبة تتغير بسرعة في سورية وحولها، وكذلك اولويات الاطراف المشاركة فيها، والعنوان الرئيسي الذي يتقدم على غيره من العناوين هو مستقبل اسرائيل وليس مستقبل سورية، ولهذا يبدو غضب الداخل السوري على امريكا ومؤتمر اصدقاء سورية مبررا، وان كان غضبا عفويا صادقا لا يرتكز على فهم لقواعد اللعبة ونوايا بعض لاعبيها الخبيثة.
الشعب السوري دفع ويدفع ثمن هذه اللعبة من دماء ابنائه وارواحهم، ونحن هنا لا نريد تكرار تحديد المسؤولية واتهام النظام مثل الببغاوات مثلما فعلنا طوال العامين الماضيين من عمر الأزمة، فهذا تحصيل حاصل، وانما نريد الحديث عما يُطبخ لسورية والمنطقة بأسرها من طبخات مسمومة."
عبد الباري عطوان
"لم يكن مفاجئا ان يرفع متظاهرون في حي العسالي جنوب دمشق وبلدة معربة في درعا موطن الشرارة الاولى للثورة السورية لافتات تقول 'انتهت كذبة اصدقاء الشعب السوري.. كش ملك' او 'اصدقاء الشعب السوري يجتمعون فقط لكي يحددوا مكان وزمان المؤتمر الذي يليه'.
حالة الغضب هذه سببها قرار الاجتماع الاخير لأصدقاء الشعب السوري في روما بتخصيص مبلغ مقداره 60 مليون دولار لمساعدة المعارضة السورية المسلحة، وتزويدها بأسلحة غير فتاكة.
خيبة امل هؤلاء الغاضبين في الداخل السوري مفهومة، ومطالبتهم الشيخ معاذ الخطيب بمقاطعة هذه الاجتماعات مفهومة ايضا، فإذا كانت اولوية هؤلاء التصدي للطائرات وصواريخ سكود التي تقصف مدنهم واحياءهم وحماية ارواحهم، فإن اولوية اصدقاء سورية، والغربيين منهم على وجه الخصوص، هي حماية اسرائيل وأمنها ومستوطنيها.
ان تقديم امريكا ستين مليون دولار كمساعدات للائتلاف الوطني السوري والمعارضة بشكل عام هو ابشع انواع الاحتقار والاهانة، وما كان على السيد الخطيب ان يقبل بها، وان يردها غير شاكر لمانحيها تفضلهم على السوريين.
امريكا وروسيا تختلفان على كل شيء فيما يتعلق بالملف السوري، ولكنهما تتفقان بقوة على هدف واحد، وعدو واحد، هو الجماعات الاسلامية الجهادية، وجبهة النصرة على وجه الخصوص، وهي الجماعات التي يتسع نفوذها على الارض، وتسيطر على المدن الواحدة تلو الاخرى، وتملأ الفراغ الناجم عن انسحاب او هزيمة القوات النظامية.
تختلفان على بقاء الاسد او اختفائه، على صلاحيات الحكومة الانتقالية ورأسها واعضائها، تختلفان على التسليح ونوعية الاسلحة، ولكنهما تتفقان على ان النصرة واخواتها هي الخطر الاكبر، سواء اثناء وجود النظام او بعد سقوطه.
فليس صدفة ان تعتقل قوات الامن التركية خلية من احد عشر شخصا قالت انها تنتمي الى تنظيم القاعدة، وكانت تخطط لشن هجمات على السفارات الامريكية والاوروبية في انقرة واسطنبول، وهي اي تركيا، التي سمحت بمرور مئات المجاهدين العرب عبر اراضيها لقتال النظام الديكتاتوري في دمشق.
مؤتمر اصدقاء سورية في روما اطلق شرارة الحرب لتصفية الجماعات الجهادية، وبموافقة روسية وايرانية ايضا، وان كانت الدولتان الاخيرتان لم تشاركا في اعماله، والحال نفسه ينطبق على النظام السوري الذي ظلّ يكرر دائما انه يواجه مؤامرة خارجية ويحارب جماعات ارهابية.
' ' '
ليس صدفة ان يتزامن انعقاد هذا المؤتمر في روما مع الكشف عن تدريب قوات سورية في قواعد عسكرية اردنية لمنع الاسلاميين من الوصول الى الحكم في سورية، ولمنع استيلاء هؤلاء على الاسلحة الكيماوية التي في حوزة النظام واستخدامها ضد اسرائيل في مرحلة لاحقة، تماما مثلما حدث في افغانستان والعراق وليبيا (اقتحام القنصلية الامريكية في بنغازي وقتل السفير وثلاثة دبلوماسيين)، حسب تحليلات الصحف الامريكية.
هناك تطابق غريب بين طريقة تدريب هؤلاء السوريين ونظرائهم في اجهزة امن السلطة الفلسطينية، فالمدربون امريكيون، وقواعد التدريب واحدة (الاردن) وطريقة اختيار هؤلاء تتبع المعايير نفسها، فقد اكدت صحيفة 'التايمز' البريطانية ان هؤلاء يتم انتقاؤهم بعناية فائقة، وبعد تمحيص امني مكثف للتأكد من خلفياتهم 'المعتدلة'، اي ان يكونوا غير اسلاميين متطرفين، ومستعدين لتنفيذ الأوامر حرفيا.امريكا مترددة في تزويد الجيش السوري الحرّ بالاسلحة الحديثة والفتاكة، لانها لا تريد التورط في حرب، مباشرة او غير مباشرة في سورية اولا، وحتى لا تقع هذه الاسلحة في ايدي الجماعات الاسلامية الجهادية (النصرة، الفاروق، صقور الشام، احرار الشام، لواء الحق، الطليعة الاسلامية، حركة الفجر الاسلامية).
هذا التردد جعل الادارة الامريكية اقرب الى الموقف السوري الايراني من موقف الائتلاف السوري المعارض وداعميه في دول الخليج والسعودية وقطر على وجه الخصوص، وهذا ما يفسر الضغوط المكثفة التي تُمارس حاليا على الشيخ الخطيب رئيس الائتلاف للجلوس الى طاولة المفاوضات مع ممثلي النظام السوري، للتوصل الى حل سياسي في ظل استمرار النظام ورأسه لمرحلة انتقالية يتبلور طول مدتها او قصرها في الحوار المرتقب.
' ' '
الشيخ الخطيب الغى اجتماعا لائتلافه كان مقررا في اسطنبول الجمعة لتشكيل حكومة موازية في المناطق 'المحررة'، بطلب من مؤتمر روما، فكيف يشكل حكومة ثورة في الوقت الذي تتواصل فيه المساعي من اجل تشكيل حكومة ائتلافية انتقالية؟
امام امريكا خياران: الاول ان تظل سورية تحت حكم اوتوقراطي قمعي،والثاني نظام جهادي اسلامي يريد اقامة دولة اسلامية كخطوة اولى لقيام دولة الخلافة الاسلامية.
امريكا لا تريد ايا من الخيارين، وتفضل خيارا ثالثا، اي نظاما ديمقراطيا معتدلا لا يشكل خطرا على الامن الاسرائيلي، ويشكل درعا لدول الخليج في مواجهة ايران وطموحاتها السياسية والعسكرية في الهيمنة على هذه المنطقة. وقد يكون هذا الخيار صعب المنال.
باختصار شديد يمكن القول ان قواعد اللعبة تتغير بسرعة في سورية وحولها، وكذلك اولويات الاطراف المشاركة فيها، والعنوان الرئيسي الذي يتقدم على غيره من العناوين هو مستقبل اسرائيل وليس مستقبل سورية، ولهذا يبدو غضب الداخل السوري على امريكا ومؤتمر اصدقاء سورية مبررا، وان كان غضبا عفويا صادقا لا يرتكز على فهم لقواعد اللعبة ونوايا بعض لاعبيها الخبيثة.
الشعب السوري دفع ويدفع ثمن هذه اللعبة من دماء ابنائه وارواحهم، ونحن هنا لا نريد تكرار تحديد المسؤولية واتهام النظام مثل الببغاوات مثلما فعلنا طوال العامين الماضيين من عمر الأزمة، فهذا تحصيل حاصل، وانما نريد الحديث عما يُطبخ لسورية والمنطقة بأسرها من طبخات مسمومة."
Friday, March 1, 2013
WikiLeaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning Says He Wanted to Show the Public the “True Costs of War”
Democracy Now!
"For the first time, 25-year-old U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning has admitted to being the source behind the largest leak of state secrets in U.S. history. More than a thousand days after he was arrested, Manning testified Thursday before a military court. He said he leaked the classified documents to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks in order to show the American public the "true costs of war." Reading for more than an hour from a 35-page statement, Manning said: "I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general." At the pre-trial hearing at Fort Meade military base in Maryland, Manning pleaded guilty to reduced charges on 10 counts, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But even if the judge accepts the plea, prosecutors can still pursue a court-martial on the remaining 12 charges. The most serious of those is "aiding the enemy" and carries a possible life sentence. We are joined by Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a lawyer to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. He just returned from attending Manning’s hearing...."
"For the first time, 25-year-old U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning has admitted to being the source behind the largest leak of state secrets in U.S. history. More than a thousand days after he was arrested, Manning testified Thursday before a military court. He said he leaked the classified documents to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks in order to show the American public the "true costs of war." Reading for more than an hour from a 35-page statement, Manning said: "I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general." At the pre-trial hearing at Fort Meade military base in Maryland, Manning pleaded guilty to reduced charges on 10 counts, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But even if the judge accepts the plea, prosecutors can still pursue a court-martial on the remaining 12 charges. The most serious of those is "aiding the enemy" and carries a possible life sentence. We are joined by Michael Ratner, president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a lawyer to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. He just returned from attending Manning’s hearing...."
Bahrain: No Progress on Reform
Official Impunity, Imprisoned Activists Undermine Claims
"(Manama) – Bahrain’s rulers have made no progress on key reform promises, failing to release unjustly imprisoned activists or to hold accountable high-level officials responsible for torture, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference in Manama.
In addition, a draft association law adopted by the
government significantly undermines what few rights independent nongovernmental
associations have under the country’s current law, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Rights Watch made the assessments after meeting with high-ranking
officials and with political prisoners.
“All the talk of national dialogue and reform mean nothing so long as the country’s most prominent human rights and political activists remain unjustly imprisoned while officials responsible for torture and murder remain in their positions,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The minimum one should expect after the gross abuses by security forces during the 2011 uprising is recognition at the highest level of the security and defense forces, including the Interior and Defense Ministers, that they bear the responsibility for the failures of their forces – failures they have acknowledged – and will account for them.”......"
“All the talk of national dialogue and reform mean nothing so long as the country’s most prominent human rights and political activists remain unjustly imprisoned while officials responsible for torture and murder remain in their positions,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The minimum one should expect after the gross abuses by security forces during the 2011 uprising is recognition at the highest level of the security and defense forces, including the Interior and Defense Ministers, that they bear the responsibility for the failures of their forces – failures they have acknowledged – and will account for them.”......"
£1bn pledged in aid to Syria fails to materialise
Gulf countries and other states including the UK pledged the money at a donor conference in Kuwait last month
Some $1.5bn (£1bn) in aid pledged to Syria has largely failed to
materialise, the UN said on Thursday, as the number of refugees who have fled
the country reaches one million.
Gulf countries and other
states including the UK pledged
the money at a major donor conference in Kuwait last month. About $1bn was
earmarked for neighbouring countries hosting refugees, with $500m for
humanitarian aid to Syrians displaced internally by fighting.
But with the situation on the ground worsening dramatically since early this year, and with violence reaching unprecedented levels, the UN said it had received little of the $1.5bn promised. The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had received nothing. The UN refugee agency said it had got 30% of $496m pledged......"
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Khatib's plea to Assad
DECISIVE WORDS FROM MR. FLIP FLOP KARZAI:
"....Speaking at the Friends of Syria meeting in Rome, through a translator he said: "Bashar al-Assad you have to behave as a human being for once in your life. Enough killing, enough slaughtering, enough arresting. Bashar you need to make one reasonable decision in your life time to save this country."...."
"....Speaking at the Friends of Syria meeting in Rome, through a translator he said: "Bashar al-Assad you have to behave as a human being for once in your life. Enough killing, enough slaughtering, enough arresting. Bashar you need to make one reasonable decision in your life time to save this country."...."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you support arming the Syrian opposition?
With about 700 responding so far, 87% said yes.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Real News Video: Is a Third Intifada On the Way?
Thousands of Palestinians protest the killing of an activist after interrogation in Israeli prison, as the cause of prisoner rights spreads throughout the Occupied Territories
Palestinian teenagers become symbols of protest ahead of Obama visit
Two Palestinian boys shot by Israeli
soldiers have become latest victims after protests over Arafat Jaradat's death
in custody
"Two Palestinian teenagers
shot and critically injured by Israeli soldiers have become the latest totems in
a wave of violent protest across the Palestinian
territories.
The Israeli army has confirmed that live ammunition was used in Monday's clashes with Palestinian protesters and that two were shot with 0.22 calibre bullets – ammunition known to cause fatalities.
Udi Sirkhan, 16, was shot in
the head outside an Israeli military outpost near Bethlehem amid clashes after
the burial
of Arafat Jaradat, whose death in Israeli custody on Saturday sparked the
protests.
As surgeons at Israel's Hadassah hospital
worked to remove a bullet from his brain, Sirkhan's grandfather Fathi Ramadan
told journalists that the teenager had been walking home from work when he was
hit. The Israeli military said Sirkhan was attempting to torch an army post.
The moments leading up to
the shooting of 13-year-old Mohammed Khaled Qurd were captured on film. Footage
obtained by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem shows Qurd standing more
than 50 metres from a heavily fortified Israeli outpost. At least one Molotov
cocktail is seen flying towards the Israeli line but Qurd, standing with a small
group of rock-throwers, was some distance from where the firebomb was
thrown........"
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The "Resistance" Myth is Dead
AN EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT COMMENT
By Maysaloon
"......The basis of the argument by these pseudo-intellectuals is that a select few know what is best for the many, and that injustice by a local ruler is preferred to injustice by an invader. A consistent and principled human being can and should reject this thesis. There is no grade to injustice, no measurable point where it is acceptable to submit to it and another where it must be fought against. Such a thesis is not only illogical but a regression of human thought and development. To quote Orwell's totalitarian "Big Brother" in 1984, "freedom is slavery" and the citizen becomes truly free, and truly liberated, when they not only accept slavery under Big Brother's auspices, but love it and accept it with all their heart. This horrific vision of society for the people of the Middle East was not apparent so long as the "resistance" axis kept the worst of its excesses hidden, and focused its efforts on foreign threats. However, when the ugly violence upon which these regimes rely was brought to bear on the Syrian people, the truth can no longer be denied - the "resistance" myth is dead.
Some might be terrified to contemplate this evident truth, and others will surely deny it because it has not yet become fully apparent to them. This rotting carcass that has weighed down our region for decades must no longer be allowed to exist, and in its place a new tree of thought must be nurtured, one which is based on principles and a consistency to the truth. It is not possible for somebody to speak about the liberation of the Palestinian people, or the sovereignty of Middle Eastern "states" without at first clearly articulating the primacy of the human being and her rights as the principle goal of such states. The Arab Spring, for all its imperfections, is not just a revolution against despots and tyrants, but against the ideologies that had justified repression in the name of a greater good. These ideologies must be fought and challenged with as much ferocity as Gaddafi or Assad's killing squads, or Mubarak's secret police."
By Maysaloon
"......The basis of the argument by these pseudo-intellectuals is that a select few know what is best for the many, and that injustice by a local ruler is preferred to injustice by an invader. A consistent and principled human being can and should reject this thesis. There is no grade to injustice, no measurable point where it is acceptable to submit to it and another where it must be fought against. Such a thesis is not only illogical but a regression of human thought and development. To quote Orwell's totalitarian "Big Brother" in 1984, "freedom is slavery" and the citizen becomes truly free, and truly liberated, when they not only accept slavery under Big Brother's auspices, but love it and accept it with all their heart. This horrific vision of society for the people of the Middle East was not apparent so long as the "resistance" axis kept the worst of its excesses hidden, and focused its efforts on foreign threats. However, when the ugly violence upon which these regimes rely was brought to bear on the Syrian people, the truth can no longer be denied - the "resistance" myth is dead.
Some might be terrified to contemplate this evident truth, and others will surely deny it because it has not yet become fully apparent to them. This rotting carcass that has weighed down our region for decades must no longer be allowed to exist, and in its place a new tree of thought must be nurtured, one which is based on principles and a consistency to the truth. It is not possible for somebody to speak about the liberation of the Palestinian people, or the sovereignty of Middle Eastern "states" without at first clearly articulating the primacy of the human being and her rights as the principle goal of such states. The Arab Spring, for all its imperfections, is not just a revolution against despots and tyrants, but against the ideologies that had justified repression in the name of a greater good. These ideologies must be fought and challenged with as much ferocity as Gaddafi or Assad's killing squads, or Mubarak's secret police."
Billionaires for Austerity: With Cuts Looming, Wall Street Roots of "Fix the Debt" Campaign Exposed
Democracy Now!
"With $85 billion across-the-board spending cuts, known as “the sequestration,” set to take effect this Friday, a new investigation reveals how billionaire investors, such as Peter Peterson, have helped reshaped the national debate on the economy, the debt and social spending. Between 2007 and 2011, Peterson personally contributed nearly $500 million to his Peter G. Peterson Foundation to push Congress to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — while providing tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Peterson’s main platform has been the Campaign to Fix the Debt. While the campaign is portrayed as a citizen-led effort, critics say the campaign is a front for business groups. The campaign has direct ties to GE, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. Peterson is the former chair and CEO of Lehman Brothers and co-founder of the private equity firm, the Blackstone Group. For more, we speak to John Nichols of The Nation and Lisa Graves of the Center for Media and Democracy......."
"With $85 billion across-the-board spending cuts, known as “the sequestration,” set to take effect this Friday, a new investigation reveals how billionaire investors, such as Peter Peterson, have helped reshaped the national debate on the economy, the debt and social spending. Between 2007 and 2011, Peterson personally contributed nearly $500 million to his Peter G. Peterson Foundation to push Congress to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — while providing tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Peterson’s main platform has been the Campaign to Fix the Debt. While the campaign is portrayed as a citizen-led effort, critics say the campaign is a front for business groups. The campaign has direct ties to GE, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. Peterson is the former chair and CEO of Lehman Brothers and co-founder of the private equity firm, the Blackstone Group. For more, we speak to John Nichols of The Nation and Lisa Graves of the Center for Media and Democracy......."
Guardian Video: Syrian rebels 'shoot down' helicopter near Aleppo
"Amateur footage purports to show the moment Syrian rebels fire at a government helicopter near Aleppo on Monday. The helicopter can be seen burning in the sky before crashing to the ground, reportedly at Menakh air base, 25 miles north of Aleppo. This footage has not been independently verified by the Guardian."
Syria: Unlawful Missile Attacks Kill More Than 140
Recent Escalation of Tactic Threatens Civilians
Human Rights Watch
"(Kilis) – The Syrian government launched at least four ballistic missiles that struck populated areas in the city of Aleppo and a town in Aleppo governorate during the week of February 17, 2013. The attacks killed more than 141 people, including 71 children, and caused immense physical destruction.
The extent of the damage from a single strike, the lack of aircraft in the area at the time, and reports of ballistic missiles being launched from a military base near Damascus overwhelmingly suggest that government forces struck these areas with ballistic missiles. Human Rights Watch visited the four attack sites, all in residential neighborhoods. Human Rights Watch found no signs of any military targets in the vicinity of any of the four sites, which would mean that the attacks were unlawful.
“I have visited many attack sites in Syria, but have never seen such destruction,” said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch, who visited the sites. “Just when you think things can’t get any worse, the Syrian government finds ways to escalate its killing tactics.”
Human Rights Watch compiled a list of those killed from cemetery burial records, interviews with relatives and neighbors, and information from the Aleppo media center and the Violations Documentation Center, a network of local activists....."
Human Rights Watch
"(Kilis) – The Syrian government launched at least four ballistic missiles that struck populated areas in the city of Aleppo and a town in Aleppo governorate during the week of February 17, 2013. The attacks killed more than 141 people, including 71 children, and caused immense physical destruction.
The extent of the damage from a single strike, the lack of aircraft in the area at the time, and reports of ballistic missiles being launched from a military base near Damascus overwhelmingly suggest that government forces struck these areas with ballistic missiles. Human Rights Watch visited the four attack sites, all in residential neighborhoods. Human Rights Watch found no signs of any military targets in the vicinity of any of the four sites, which would mean that the attacks were unlawful.
“I have visited many attack sites in Syria, but have never seen such destruction,” said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch, who visited the sites. “Just when you think things can’t get any worse, the Syrian government finds ways to escalate its killing tactics.”
Human Rights Watch compiled a list of those killed from cemetery burial records, interviews with relatives and neighbors, and information from the Aleppo media center and the Violations Documentation Center, a network of local activists....."
المعارضة السورية تشارك في مؤتمر روما
FLIP FLOP AGAIN!
MR. FLIP FLOP KARZAI
"غير الائتلاف الوطني لقوى المعارضة والثورة السورية رأيه وقرر المشاركة في مؤتمر أصدقاء سوريا الذي سيعقد في روما الخميس المقبل، مبررا ذلك بتلقيه وعودا أميركية بريطانية بدعم الشعب السوري، في حين شككت واشنطن في دعوة النظام السوري للحوار
...." Syria opposition agrees to attend Rome summit
"غير الائتلاف الوطني لقوى المعارضة والثورة السورية رأيه وقرر المشاركة في مؤتمر أصدقاء سوريا الذي سيعقد في روما الخميس المقبل، مبررا ذلك بتلقيه وعودا أميركية بريطانية بدعم الشعب السوري، في حين شككت واشنطن في دعوة النظام السوري للحوار
...." Syria opposition agrees to attend Rome summit
Monday, February 25, 2013
Al-Jazeera Video: Empire - Iraq to Mali: The changing calculus of war
Hosted by Marwan Bishara
"It has been 10 years since the US-led invasion of Iraq, which marked a turning point in the West's so-called war on terror. The pretext of the Iraq war was security and freedom, but the bombastic and openly pronounced objective was no less than remaking the greater Middle East region. For the US, Iraq became a quagmire and a humiliation - a strategic and moral failure that the country has spent the last four years trying to forget. As Africa now becomes the new front line in the 'war on terror', Empire asks: have the Europeans learned from America's mistakes?"
"It has been 10 years since the US-led invasion of Iraq, which marked a turning point in the West's so-called war on terror. The pretext of the Iraq war was security and freedom, but the bombastic and openly pronounced objective was no less than remaking the greater Middle East region. For the US, Iraq became a quagmire and a humiliation - a strategic and moral failure that the country has spent the last four years trying to forget. As Africa now becomes the new front line in the 'war on terror', Empire asks: have the Europeans learned from America's mistakes?"
Obama’s Israel Trip
Ignore the Hype. It’s Four More Years of Settlement
Growth
By Jonathan Cook
CounterPunch
"......Meanwhile, Israel has repeatedly undermined Abbas’s rule, and kept his PA close to collapse, by turning on and off one of its major sources of income — tax monies Israel regularly collects on behalf of the Palestinians and is supposed to pass on.
As a result, Abbas is trapped between various pressures impossible to reconcile: the need to keep Israel happy, to maintain legitimacy with his own people and to foster a shared political agenda with other Palestinian factions.
The sticks that Israel wields force Abbas to keep the door open to negotiations even as most Palestinians recognise their utter pointlessness. Likewise, his constant need to appease Israel and the US serves only to widen differences with Hamas.
The Palestinians are stuck in a political and diplomatic cul-de-sac, unable to move forward either with the development of their national struggle or with talks on viable statehood. Whatever Obama’s intentions, the reality is that this will be another four years of diplomatic failure."
Third Intifada?? Israel fears new Palestinian uprising could erupt
"SE'EER, West Bank (Reuters) - Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air on Monday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner whose death in an Israeli jail has raised fears in Israel of a new uprising.
Arafat Jaradat's death on Saturday and a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates have raised tension in the occupied territory after repeated clashes between stone-throwers and Israeli soldiers in recent days.
Israeli troops, on high alert, took up positions outside Jaradat's home village of Se'eer, in likely earshot of the bursts of automatic fire from the half-dozen masked Palestinians in full battle dress.
"We sacrifice our souls and blood for you, our martyr!" mourners chanted.
The sounds and fury were reminiscent of the seven-year Intifada, or uprising, that started in 2000 after Israeli-Palestinian peace talks failed.
Israeli Homeland Minister Avi Dichter cautioned that another uprising could begin if confrontations with Palestinian protesters turned deadly...."
Egypt: Amend Draft Demonstrations Law
Bill Restricts Right to Assembly, Invites Abuse
"(New York) – The government-proposed draft law in Egypt concerning public demonstrations would severely limit the right to peaceful public assembly and is open to abuse by police, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the president and the Justice Ministry.
The letter outlines concerns with the draft law in light of Egypt’s human rights obligations and international legal standards, and urges the government to make amendments. The Justice Ministry drafted the “Law on the Protection of the Right to Peacefully Demonstrate in Public Places.” The cabinet approved the final draft on February 12, 2013, and submitted the bill to the Shura Council, Egypt’s legislative body, on February 17.“This law as drafted would severely restrict one of the key human rights that determine Egyptians’ ability to continue to call for bread, freedom, and social justice,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments have a right to regulate demonstrations, but not to ban them for spurious reasons or to keep them out of sight and sound of every government building.”....."
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Prisoner was tortured before dying in Israeli jail, says Palestinian Authority
Death of
30-year-old man sparks violent clashes in Hebron that leave three Palestinians
and one Israeli soldier injured
"A Palestinian prisoner whose death in Israeli custody fanned violent clashes
across the West Bank over the weekend was tortured before he died, the
Palestinian Authority has said.
The results of an autopsy conducted in Tel Aviv were revealed at a press conference in Ramallah on Sunday evening after a day of angry protests across West Bank and Gaza in which dozens were injured.
The findings contradict claims by the Israeli prison service that Arafat Jaradat died on Saturday from a cardiac arrest. A Palestinian doctor's investigations found that while Jaradat's arteries were clear, his bruised and bloody body suggested he had been beaten in the days before his death.
The 30-year-old, a petrol station worker and father of two, was arrested on 18 February in relation to a stone-throwing incident in November during which an Israeli was slightly injured.
Aside from an old back injury inflicted by a teargas canister, his relatives insist he was healthy when he was arrested.
Just a few days later, he died in Megiddo prison..
Kameel Sabbagh, a lawyer who attended Jaradat's last hearing on Thursday, has claimed that he had advised the Israeli Judge that his client had been tortured and should be examined by the prison doctor. According to Sabbagh, this did not happen.
"He had serious pains in his back and other parts of his body because he was being beaten up and hanged for many long hours while he was being investigated," Sabbagh told Ma'an news agency. Sabbagh's notes from the court hearing describe his client as "extremely afraid" of returning to his cell.
A rumour that he had been beaten to death during an interrogation spread quickly through Hebron on Sunday where hundreds of protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers for the second day running in the streets kilometres from Jaradat's home.
"When the soldiers came to arrest him last week, they told him say goodbye to your wife and your babies, you won't be seeing them again,"....."
Israel demands Palestinian Authority curb protests
"(Reuters) - Israel on Sunday demanded the Palestinian Authority stem a surge of anti-Israeli protests ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to the region next month.
A senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave no indication the Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, would issue any call for calm, and blamed Israel for the spike in unrest.
The death in an Israeli jail of a Palestinian detainee on Saturday and an on-going hunger strike by four inmates have fuelled tensions in the West Bank, where stone-throwing protesters clashed again with Israeli soldiers on Sunday.
Some 3,000 prisoners held a one-day fast on Sunday after the detainee's death, which Israel said was caused by a heart attack, an explanation challenged by Palestinian officials.
"Israel has conveyed to the Palestinian Authority an unequivocal demand to calm the territory," an Israeli government official said, adding the message was delivered by one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top aides.
As an apparent incentive to Palestinian leaders to intervene, Israel pledged to proceed with this month's transfer to the Authority of around $100 million in tax revenues that it collects on its behalf........"
Democracy Tastes Bitter as Poverty Bites
"- On a recent Friday, coppersmith Alaa Moussa parked himself in the same spot where two years earlier he had stood defiantly with a handwritten banner addressed to then president Hosni Mubarak. His petition that cold February morning in 2011 had listed the key demands of Egypt’s 18-day uprising: “bread, freedom, dignity”.
His new message for President Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood reflected the growing desperation among the nation’s poor and unemployed. It simply stated: “bread, bread, bread.”.....
The President’s supporters argue that it could take years to purge institutions and repair the economic damage from the Mubarak regime’s 29-year rule. Critics, however, accuse Morsi of mismanaging the economy and putting the Muslim Brotherhood’s political agenda ahead of fiscal prudence.
“The Muslim Brotherhood is only interested in the poor when they need votes,” says Shahin. “They have no experience running a country or setting economic policy, and their failures at both are destroying Egypt.”
Deteriorating economic conditions have created a backlash not just against the Islamists, but against the democratic process itself. Many Egyptians who supported the 2011 uprising have begun questioning its outcome.
“Of course I’m disappointed,” says Umm Farouk. “The revolution was supposed to make our lives easier. Everything is going backwards.”"
في معنى أن تكون سوريا محافظة إيرانية
"صدم رئيس "مركز عمّار الإستراتيجي" لمكافحة الحرب الناعمة ضد إيران -هكذا- مهدي طائب، وهو رجل دين بارز مقرب من مرشد الجمهورية الإسلامية خامنئي، الرأي العام العربي والعالمي عندما صرح بأن سوريا تعتبر المحافظة الـ35 من المحافظات الإيرانية، بل إنها أهم في نظره من محافظة الأهواز التي تحتوي على 90% من الاحتياط النفطي الإيراني. والسبب، حسب ما ذكر، أن إيران لو فقدت الأهواز واحتفظت بسوريا فبإمكانها أن تستعيدها لكنها لو خسرت سوريا فلن تستطيع أن تحتفظ بطهران.
هذا بالتأكيد اعتراف خطير. وهو يعني أن السيطرة على سوريا تشكل الركيزة الرئيسية لنظام إيران وللخامنئية التي تقوده، وأن الحفاظ على هذه السيطرة وأداتها، نظام الأسد، شرط للحفاظ على الجمهورية الإسلامية وحكم النخبة الدينية التي قامت عليه. وهذا يعني أن علينا أن نتوقع صراعا مريرا مع إيران الخامنئية وليس مع الأسد فحسب، قبل أن نحرر بلادنا من حكم الطغمة القاتلة ونتحرر مما يحتمل أن يتحول إلى احتلال أو استعمار إيراني بالمعنى الكلاسيكي للكلمة.
......
مرض القومية المتطرفة، المقنعة برداء الدين، لن يحل أي مشكلة من مشاكل إيران، ولن يخلص نظامها من أزمته، ولكنه سيجر على شعوب المنطقة جميعها، وأولها الشعوب الإسلامية والعربية والإيرانية، القتل والدمار والخراب. والخيار الوحيد لإنقاذ شعوبنا من خطر العنصرية القومية هو التحالف بين جميع الشعوب الإيرانية والإسلامية لتحطيم نظم القهر والقمع والاستبداد والعمل لتشكيل إطار إقليمي للتعاون والتضامن والأمن الجماعي يضع حدا لأوهام ومشاريع الهيمنة والسيطرة الإمبريالية، المحلية والعالمية، التي تحولت في عصرنا إلى مشاريع سطو مسلح على مصائر الشعوب ومصادرة لمستقبلها وأمل فتيانها وشبابها وأحلامهم الإنسانية.
"
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