Friday, April 12, 2013
AFTER 6 YEARS OF SILENCE, RIVERBEND SPEAKS AGAIN! Iraq: Ten Years On...
By Riverbend
"We are learning that those amenities we took for granted before 2003, you know- the luxuries – electricity, clean water from faucets, walkable streets, safe schools – those are for deserving populations. Those are for people who don’t allow occupiers into their country......."
"We are learning that those amenities we took for granted before 2003, you know- the luxuries – electricity, clean water from faucets, walkable streets, safe schools – those are for deserving populations. Those are for people who don’t allow occupiers into their country......."
Sectarianism and the New Egypt
Rise of the Salafis
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
".......Lamentably, the Brotherhood has adopted a similar tone. Essam El-Erian, vice chairman of the Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party echoed, “Egypt of Al-Azhar, Al-Awkaf [religious endowments], Salafists, Muslim Brotherhood and Sufis will preserve Sunni Egypt …” The Coptic Christian minority has also voiced alarm over recent developments affecting their community and the level of discourse.
Under intense pressure and despite an economy in shambles, Minister Zaazou announced this week the suspension of all incoming flights from Iran pending reconsideration of the tourist program.
Capitulating to the extremist, sectarian, bigoted policies of Salafist parties will only further alienate Mursi from the historically open, tolerant Egyptian people and inevitably herald his downfall.
This is the unfortunate state of the new Egypt.
Or … is it the old?"
Mohamed Morsi backs Egyptian military after malpractice allegations
President promotes three major-generals
and says he rejects any 'insults' against armed forces, after investigation
leaked
Egypt's president, Mohamed Morsi, has
promoted several generals in a show of untrammelled support for the embattled
military, who have been strongly condemned following this week's leak of a
top-level investigation that made damning allegations about military
malpractice.
Officers allegedly killed,
tortured and abducted Egyptians during the 2011 uprising, according to the
investigation commissioned by Morsi last year. The suppressed report, sections
of which have been obtained by the Guardian, also alleged that senior army
doctors were ordered
to operate without anaesthetic on wounded protesters at a military hospital
in Cairo during protests against military rule in May 2012.
The seriousness of the allegations has led to demands for Morsi, Egypt's first elected civilian president, to bring the officers responsible to account. But such a move would risk outraging the army, with whom Morsi has a delicate relationship.
Standing alongside members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who ruled Egypt between the removal of Hosni Mubarak and Morsi's election, the president said: "Any insult against the armed forces is an insult against all of us, and we reject any kind of insults … I announce this to the whole world: we appreciate the great role that the armed forces has been playing in maintaining the safety and security of this country."......"
Egypt: Release Report on Abuse of Protesters
Morsy Should End Secrecy, Victims’ Families Have Right to Truth
"(New York) – President Mohamed Morsy of Egypt should immediately release the report by a fact-finding committee he created to investigate police and military abuses against protesters from January 2011 to June 2012. The committee submitted its report to the president in December, but the president has not made it public.
The media recently published leaked sections of the report highlighting police use of live gunfire against protesters in Alexandria and Suez, and the military’s role in the use of force against protesters and enforced disappearances. In January 2013, the public prosecutor’s office indicated that it was investigating 14 incidents included in the report.“Releasing the fact-finding report would be the Egyptian government’s first acknowledgment of two years’ worth of police and military abuses,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Victims’ families have the right to know the truth about their loved ones’ deaths. Even if certain information can’t be made public in the interests of justice, all Egyptians need to know what happened.”......"
Egyptian police brutality against Suez protesters - leaked document
The full
chapter on violence in Suez, where 24 people were killed, from a high-level
report commissioned by president Mohamed Morsi. Full
story here
مطلوب تحقيق في ديون السلطة
مطلوب تحقيق في ديون السلطة
رأي القدس
"نشعر بحالة من الصدمة بعد ان تناهى الى اسماعنا ان حجم ديون السلطة الفلسطينية في رام الله قد بلغت اربعة مليارات دولار، وان العجز في ميزانية هذا العام بلغ نصف مليار دولار.
الشعور بالصدمة مرده ان الشعب الفلسطيني الذي يتحمل هذه الديون، التي باتت عبئا ثقيلا على كاهله وربما على اجياله القادمة، كان مضللا بل ومغيبا بالكامل عن هذه القضية الحساسة، حيث اعتقد معظم الفلسطينيين، ونحن منهم، ان الاموال التي تنثرها السلطة وحكومتها يمينا ويسارا هي من اموال الدول المانحة، وليست ديونا تكبل ايدي الشعب الفلسطيني وتكسر ظهر ارادته.الرئيس محمود عباس ورئيس وزرائه سلام فياض كانا يجريان مقارنات بدت منطقية في نظر الكثير، بين احوال الفلسطينيين الاقتصادية المزدهرة في الضفة الغربية، ونظيرتها المتدهورة في قطاع غزة، ولم يذكر هؤلاء مطلقا ان سبب هذا الازدهار هو استدانة المليارات من بنوك ومؤسسات اجنبية، وليس نتيجة عبقرية اقتصادية للحكومة ورئيسها الخبير القادم من صندوق النقد الدولي.
نحن لا ننحاز هنا الى سلطة حماس فلنا عليها مآخذ كثيرة، ابرزها التعاطي مع اهل القطاع بقبضة حديدية، وانتشار المحسوبية، والتدخل الفج في الحياة الشخصية للمواطنين، وامور اخرى عديدة ليس هذا مجال مناقشتها، ولكننا ننحاز الى الشعب الفلسطيني ومستقبله وارتهانه لاصحاب هذه القروض وضغوطهم، ونحن نعرف كيف استولت شركة قناة السويس على اهم شريان حيوي واقتصادي على الارض المصرية، بسبب بذخ الخديوي اسماعيل، وعجزه عن تسديد الديون التي تراكمت بشكل مرعب.
السلطة الفلسطينية التي اقترضت هذه الاموال من بنوك ومؤسسات مالية اجنبية فعلت هذا من وراء ظهر الشعب الفلسطيني، ودون التشاور معه، ومن اجل الحفاظ على وجودها، ودفع رواتب موظفيها، وتغطية نفقاتها الباهظة الناجمة عن تصرفها كدولة شبه عظمى تملك عشرات السفارات في الخارج تقدم القليل للشعب الفلسطيني وقضيته.
نحمد الله ان ازمة استقالة الدكتور نبيل قسيس او اقالته، هي التي فتحت اعيننا على هذه الديون، ورفعت الغطاء عن الكثير من الخطايا المالية، والا لاستمر الشعب الفلسطيني في البقاء في الظلام.
السيد سلام فياض يجب ان يستقيل، ليس لانه لا يريد تنفيذ اوامر رئيسه الرئيس عباس في اعادة الدكتور قسيس الى منصبه وزيرا للمالية، وانما لانه اغرق الشعب الفلسطيني بالديون، وهو ما زال تحت الاحتلال.الدكتور سلام فياض ورئيسه محمود عباس يتحملان معا هذه الكارثة، ويجب ان يستقيلا معا، لانهما دعما الاحتلال الاسرائيلي عمليا باعفائه من مسؤولية تحمل اعباء الاحتلال على مدى اكثر من عشرين عاما. اي منذ توقيع اتفاقات اوسلو.
نطالب بتحقيق فلسطيني مستقل في ازمة الديون هذه، وكيف تراكمت بالطريقة التي نراها حاليا، دون معرفة الشعب الفلسطيني او استشارته، ولماذا غابت الشفافية في هذا الملف الخطير، وتضليل الشعب الفلسطيني. مثلما نطالب في كل الاحوال بحل هذه السلطة التي باتت تعزز الاحتلال دون ان تقاومه باقتراض اموال لا تستطيع سدادها، وكيف تفعل وهي باتت محترفة تسول.
"
رأي القدس
"نشعر بحالة من الصدمة بعد ان تناهى الى اسماعنا ان حجم ديون السلطة الفلسطينية في رام الله قد بلغت اربعة مليارات دولار، وان العجز في ميزانية هذا العام بلغ نصف مليار دولار.
الشعور بالصدمة مرده ان الشعب الفلسطيني الذي يتحمل هذه الديون، التي باتت عبئا ثقيلا على كاهله وربما على اجياله القادمة، كان مضللا بل ومغيبا بالكامل عن هذه القضية الحساسة، حيث اعتقد معظم الفلسطينيين، ونحن منهم، ان الاموال التي تنثرها السلطة وحكومتها يمينا ويسارا هي من اموال الدول المانحة، وليست ديونا تكبل ايدي الشعب الفلسطيني وتكسر ظهر ارادته.الرئيس محمود عباس ورئيس وزرائه سلام فياض كانا يجريان مقارنات بدت منطقية في نظر الكثير، بين احوال الفلسطينيين الاقتصادية المزدهرة في الضفة الغربية، ونظيرتها المتدهورة في قطاع غزة، ولم يذكر هؤلاء مطلقا ان سبب هذا الازدهار هو استدانة المليارات من بنوك ومؤسسات اجنبية، وليس نتيجة عبقرية اقتصادية للحكومة ورئيسها الخبير القادم من صندوق النقد الدولي.
نحن لا ننحاز هنا الى سلطة حماس فلنا عليها مآخذ كثيرة، ابرزها التعاطي مع اهل القطاع بقبضة حديدية، وانتشار المحسوبية، والتدخل الفج في الحياة الشخصية للمواطنين، وامور اخرى عديدة ليس هذا مجال مناقشتها، ولكننا ننحاز الى الشعب الفلسطيني ومستقبله وارتهانه لاصحاب هذه القروض وضغوطهم، ونحن نعرف كيف استولت شركة قناة السويس على اهم شريان حيوي واقتصادي على الارض المصرية، بسبب بذخ الخديوي اسماعيل، وعجزه عن تسديد الديون التي تراكمت بشكل مرعب.
السلطة الفلسطينية التي اقترضت هذه الاموال من بنوك ومؤسسات مالية اجنبية فعلت هذا من وراء ظهر الشعب الفلسطيني، ودون التشاور معه، ومن اجل الحفاظ على وجودها، ودفع رواتب موظفيها، وتغطية نفقاتها الباهظة الناجمة عن تصرفها كدولة شبه عظمى تملك عشرات السفارات في الخارج تقدم القليل للشعب الفلسطيني وقضيته.
نحمد الله ان ازمة استقالة الدكتور نبيل قسيس او اقالته، هي التي فتحت اعيننا على هذه الديون، ورفعت الغطاء عن الكثير من الخطايا المالية، والا لاستمر الشعب الفلسطيني في البقاء في الظلام.
السيد سلام فياض يجب ان يستقيل، ليس لانه لا يريد تنفيذ اوامر رئيسه الرئيس عباس في اعادة الدكتور قسيس الى منصبه وزيرا للمالية، وانما لانه اغرق الشعب الفلسطيني بالديون، وهو ما زال تحت الاحتلال.الدكتور سلام فياض ورئيسه محمود عباس يتحملان معا هذه الكارثة، ويجب ان يستقيلا معا، لانهما دعما الاحتلال الاسرائيلي عمليا باعفائه من مسؤولية تحمل اعباء الاحتلال على مدى اكثر من عشرين عاما. اي منذ توقيع اتفاقات اوسلو.
نطالب بتحقيق فلسطيني مستقل في ازمة الديون هذه، وكيف تراكمت بالطريقة التي نراها حاليا، دون معرفة الشعب الفلسطيني او استشارته، ولماذا غابت الشفافية في هذا الملف الخطير، وتضليل الشعب الفلسطيني. مثلما نطالب في كل الاحوال بحل هذه السلطة التي باتت تعزز الاحتلال دون ان تقاومه باقتراض اموال لا تستطيع سدادها، وكيف تفعل وهي باتت محترفة تسول.
"
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Mubarak forces 'had official approval' to fire live rounds at Suez protesters
Latest leak shows high-level sanction
for violence in which 24 protesters died – and raises hopes of jailing
perpetrators
Patrick Kingsley and Louisa Loveluck in Cairo
guardian.co.uk,
" Senior interior ministry officials sanctioned the use of live ammunition against protesters in Suez during the opening days of Egypt's revolution, according to a leaked fact-finding report commissioned by the president.
guardian.co.uk,
" Senior interior ministry officials sanctioned the use of live ammunition against protesters in Suez during the opening days of Egypt's revolution, according to a leaked fact-finding report commissioned by the president.
Under the watch of the interior ministry's most senior representative in the region, police fired indiscriminately at crowds from the roof of a police station, according to the report, and senior police officers allowed their deputies to remove weaponry from official stores without presenting identification. The report also describes how a military officer ordered plainclothes police to carry firearms through the streets even after police had been officially evacuated from the city.
These are the latest
revelations from a tranche of a report commissioned by the president, Mohamed Morsi, that has
been leaked to the Guardian. The new material covers the events of January and
early February 2011 in Suez, the first large city to hold major
protests against the rule of the then president, Hosni Mubarak.
Earlier leaks documented
allegations that the
military were involved in torture, killings and forced disappearances during the
uprising......."
Egypt's government must work for its people
President Morsi's administration has
gifted the army with a constitution that indemnifies it
The report
leaked to the Guardian on the Egyptian military's dealings with protesters
during and after the revolution has been sitting on the Egyptian president's
desk since January.
Last May, when Morsi was making his case to be elected president for "all Egyptians", he promised to deal with the issue of what had happened to thousands of our young people during the previous year. The year when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) was "protecting the revolution and overseeing the transition to democracy" – as they described it – had been a year of escalating massacres, trials, torture and disappearance......
An elected government, after a revolution, should be keen to put in place some form of transitional justice; to be seen caring for those who'd made sacrifices for the revolution. Instead, this government has gifted the army with a constitution that indemnifies it. And on the watch of this elected president more people have been killed, maimed, disappeared and tried than in the year of the military......"
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you support the resumption of the "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinians?
With about 1,000 responding so far, 83% said no.
Sharif Kouddous & Lina Attalah on Egypt’s Media, Sectarianism & State Violence From Mubarak to Morsi
Democracy Now!
A VERY IMPORTANT REPORT
"New revelations have emerged in Egypt that members of the Army participated in the forced disappearance, torture and killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Despite the allegations, President Mohamed Morsi has declined to prosecute any officers since he assumed power from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after his election in June. The disclosures come amidst growing sectarian violence in Egypt between Muslims and Coptic Christians. We discuss the latest with Democracy Now! correspondent and Nation Institute fellow Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Lina Attalah, chief editor of Egypt Independent, a Cairo-based English-language newspaper and website....."
A VERY IMPORTANT REPORT
"New revelations have emerged in Egypt that members of the Army participated in the forced disappearance, torture and killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Despite the allegations, President Mohamed Morsi has declined to prosecute any officers since he assumed power from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after his election in June. The disclosures come amidst growing sectarian violence in Egypt between Muslims and Coptic Christians. We discuss the latest with Democracy Now! correspondent and Nation Institute fellow Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Lina Attalah, chief editor of Egypt Independent, a Cairo-based English-language newspaper and website....."
Syria: Aerial Attacks Strike Civilians
59 Unlawful Attacks Documented in Northern Syria
Human Rights Watch
"(Aleppo) – The Syrian Air Force has repeatedly carried out indiscriminate, and in some cases deliberate, air strikes against civilians. These attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war), and people who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.
The 80-page report, “Death from the Skies: Deliberate and Indiscriminate Air Strikes on Civilians,” is based on visits to 50 sites of government air strikes in opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo, Idlib, and Latakia governorates, and more than 140 interviews with witnesses and victims. The air strikes Human Rights Watch documented killed at least 152 civilians. According to a network of local Syrian activists, air strikes have killed more than 4,300 civilians across Syria since July 2012.“In village after village, we found a civilian population terrified by their country’s own air force,” said Ole Solvang, a Human Rights Watch emergencies researcher who visited the sites and interviewed many of the victims and witnesses. “These illegal air strikes killed and injured many civilians and sowed a path of destruction, fear, and displacement.”......"
Download the full report
In Egypt, satire can't just be a laughing matter
Comics such as
Bassem Youssef are attacked by thin-skinned Islamist leaders – but satire's job
is to lampoon the powerful
"......Youssef's satire lassos the powerful, while the powerful lash out against the vulnerable. Several Muslim Brotherhood officials and some from the ultra-conservative Salafi movement are on record blaming women for sexual violence at a time when street sexual harassment and assaults are at epidemic levels. Islamists also face little if any legal blowback for astounding bigotry and incitement against Egypt's Christians. This at a time when Christians feel increasingly at risk: just this Sunday, two died in fighting outside the Coptic church's headquarters in Cairo, after Muslims attacked Christians mourning a sectarian attack the day before.
We always knew religious fundamentalists were humourless but who knew they were so thin-skinned. The revolution has taught us much."
Guardian Video: Syria's air force targeting civilians, says Human Rights Watch
"A Human Rights Watch report says that the Syrian air force is indiscriminately targeting civilians with air strikes. The NGO says more than 4,300 civilians have been killed in Syria as a result of air strikes in the country since July 2012, and those involved in attacks are guilty of war crimes."
Egyptian doctors 'ordered to operate on protesters without anaesthetic'
Exclusive: Leaked presidential report recommends an
investigation into the highest echelons of the army leadership
Patrick Kingsley and Louisa Loveluck in Cairo
guardian.co.uk,
Senior Egyptian army doctors were ordered to operate without anaesthetic on
wounded protesters at a military hospital in Cairo during protests against
military rule, according to an investigation commissioned by president Mohamed
Morsi. The report into military and police malpractice since 2011 also alleges
that doctors, soldiers and medics assaulted protesters inside the hospital.
The new chapter contains testimony from doctors and protesters about the treatment of injured demonstrators at the Kobri el-Qoba military hospital in Cairo in May 2012.
It alleges that a senior military doctor ordered subordinates to operate on wounded protesters without anaesthetic or sterilisation and reports that doctors, nurses and senior officers also beat some of the wounded protesters. It also claims that a senior officer ordered soldiers to lock protesters in a basement......"
Patrick Kingsley and Louisa Loveluck in Cairo
guardian.co.uk,
The findings, which relate
to the army's behaviour during the
Abbassiya clashes in May 2012, are the latest leak to the Guardian of a
suppressed report investigating human rights abuses in Egypt since the start of the
2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Earlier leaks alleged that the
military were involved in torture,
killings and forced disappearances during the uprising.
The new chapter contains testimony from doctors and protesters about the treatment of injured demonstrators at the Kobri el-Qoba military hospital in Cairo in May 2012.
It alleges that a senior military doctor ordered subordinates to operate on wounded protesters without anaesthetic or sterilisation and reports that doctors, nurses and senior officers also beat some of the wounded protesters. It also claims that a senior officer ordered soldiers to lock protesters in a basement......"
In Palestine, 'death' by a thousand micro jobs
Microwork centred on the internet can allow Palestinians to work from their jail cells, offering them subsistence wages.
By Mark LeVine
Al-Jazeera
"......Welcome to "m2Work", the latest bright idea pyramid scheme to help Palestinians build a viable economy to ensure Palestinians remain safely in their cages while the occupation continues unabated and the space of Israel/Palestine continues its march towards a neoliberal dystopia..........
Virtual jobs for a virtual Palestine.......
Embracing occupation
Whether or not the microwork programme actually produces actual jobs with sustainable incomes or enables the exploitation of more Palestinian sweatshop labour for the internet age is an open question...............
Desperate Palestinians might take up microwork just as they have been compelled to do the macrowork of building the very settlements, cobbling the boots of the very soldiers and farming the stolen agricultural land that dispossesses them. But the World Bank's call for Palestinian "youth and women [to] embrace microwork for jobs and income" is little more than the latest morally bankrupt idea from an international community that has for generations used the rhetoric of jobs, progress and development to mask a reality of ever-greater exploitation of the world's poor, in Palestine and across the developing world. It would be nice if the World Bank supported the development of an m2Work app, or even just a comic, to expose this reality."
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Grand Betrayal has Arrived
Bill Black: President Obama's bargain with Republicans opens the door to Wall
St.'s dream - the privatization of Social Security
Israeli Journalist Amira Hass Sparks Furor at Home for Defending Palestinian Right to Resist
Democracy Now!
"Amira Hass, the only Jewish-Israeli journalist to have spent almost 20 years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank, recently suffered a torrent of hate mail and calls for her prosecution after she wrote an article defending the right of Palestinians to resist violent occupation. In the article, Hass defended the throwing of stones by Palestinian youth at Israeli soldiers, calling it "the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule." Hass said Israelis remain in denial about "how much violence is used on a daily basis against Palestinians. They don’t like to be told that someone has the right to resist their violence." Hass joins us to discuss the reaction to her piece and her response to the latest regional visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Despite vows to revive peace talks and free up the Palestinian economy, Hass says the Obama administration wants to preserve the status-quo of occupation......."
"Amira Hass, the only Jewish-Israeli journalist to have spent almost 20 years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank, recently suffered a torrent of hate mail and calls for her prosecution after she wrote an article defending the right of Palestinians to resist violent occupation. In the article, Hass defended the throwing of stones by Palestinian youth at Israeli soldiers, calling it "the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule." Hass said Israelis remain in denial about "how much violence is used on a daily basis against Palestinians. They don’t like to be told that someone has the right to resist their violence." Hass joins us to discuss the reaction to her piece and her response to the latest regional visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Despite vows to revive peace talks and free up the Palestinian economy, Hass says the Obama administration wants to preserve the status-quo of occupation......."
Brotherhood turns back on Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud
Asia Times
"Post-revolution Egypt is maintaining the very policy of isolating Gaza first espoused by former dictator Hosni Mubarak. Overwhelmed by persistent political deadlock at home, the ruling Muslim Brotherhood approaches matters concerning Palestinians with utmost caution and is offering little to help the Hamas government overcome the Israeli blockade........"
Asia Times
"Post-revolution Egypt is maintaining the very policy of isolating Gaza first espoused by former dictator Hosni Mubarak. Overwhelmed by persistent political deadlock at home, the ruling Muslim Brotherhood approaches matters concerning Palestinians with utmost caution and is offering little to help the Hamas government overcome the Israeli blockade........"
Egyptian army's role in torture and disappearances – leaked document
Part of a leaked copy of the highest-level
inquiry into the deaths of nearly 900 protesters in Egypt's uprising. The
report, which remains unpublished, concludes that the country's armed forces participated
in forced disappearances, torture and killings
Egyptian protesters are still waiting for justice over army violence
Human rights
campaigners condemn 'political deal' protecting army despite Mohamed Morsi's
promise of retribution
Throughout his campaign for
president last summer, Mohamed Morsi promised
justice for the civilians martyred around the time of the Egyptian
revolution.
For it was not just during the 2011 uprising but for months afterwards that accounts emerged of abuse by the military. Soldiers were involved in several bloody crackdowns following the fall of Hosni Mubarak, when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) took control of the country.........
To critics, the constitution appeared to close a long-planned deal between
the Brotherhood and the armed forces that allowed the military a "safe exit" in
exchange for chaperoning a transitional period that delivered a civilian
government dominated by the Brotherhood.
"I was naive in being excited," said Heba Morayef, of Human Rights Watch, adding that she believed Morsi had "no political will" to prosecute the police, much less the armed forces. "The military is back to where it was under Mubarak, except their privileges are now enshrined in the constitution … It was a very well-planned and well-executed political deal.""
"I was naive in being excited," said Heba Morayef, of Human Rights Watch, adding that she believed Morsi had "no political will" to prosecute the police, much less the armed forces. "The military is back to where it was under Mubarak, except their privileges are now enshrined in the constitution … It was a very well-planned and well-executed political deal.""
Egypt's army took part in torture and killings during revolution, report shows
Leaked document
shines light on crimes including forced disappearances during uprising against
Hosni Mubarak
Egypt's armed forces
participated in forced disappearances, torture and killings across the country –
including in the Egyptian Museum – during the 2011 uprising, even as military
leaders publicly declared their neutrality, according to a leaked presidential
fact-finding report on revolution-era crimes.
The report, submitted to the president, Mohamed Morsi, by his own hand-picked committee in January, has yet to be made public, but a chapter obtained by the Guardian implicates the military in a catalogue of crimes against civilians, beginning with their first deployment to the streets. The chapter recommends that the government investigate the highest ranks of the armed forces to determine who was responsible.
More than 1,000 people, including many prisoners, are said to have gone missing during the 18 days of the revolt. Scores turned up in Egypt's morgues, shot or bearing signs of torture. Many have simply disappeared, leaving behind desperate families who hope, at best, that their loved ones are serving prison sentences that the government does not acknowledge.
The findings of the
high-level investigation, implicating Egypt's powerful and secretive military,
will put pressure on Morsi, who assumed power from the Supreme Council of the
Armed Forces after his election last June and has declined
to prosecute any officers, despite allegations that some participated in
abuse......."
OP-ED: Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and Democracy: A Sputtering Start
"- The governing programme of Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood has been disappointing. His commitment to genuine democracy has been faltering, and his efforts at inclusion and political tolerance have been wanting.
Morsi’s actions against the Egyptian comedian Basim Yousif belie his initial statements supporting tolerance, inclusion, and freedom of expression. Humor is the backbone of a mature democracy; muzzling the voices of dissent is an omen of a budding dictatorship.
These actions unfortunately confirm the suspicions of many Arab secularists, liberals, and non-Muslim Brotherhood citizens that once the MB reaches power through elections, they would scuttle democracy and replace it with their version of theocratic rule or divine hukm......."
Egypt: Address Recurring Sectarian Violence
Ensure Effective Investigation, Amend Discriminatory Laws
"(New York) – Egyptian authorities should bring to justice those responsible for the sectarian violence that left five Christians and one Muslim dead on April 5, 2013, in the town of Khosus, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should also investigate police failure to intervene effectively to prevent an escalation of violence outside the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo on April 7, after a funeral service for the Christians killed at Khosus.
Clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians, Egypt’s largest religious minority, are rarely properly investigated and punished.
“President Mohamed Morsy needs to acknowledge the deep and longstanding problem of sectarian violence in Egypt and take decisive steps to address it before it escalates further,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “For years people have been getting away with sectarian murder and he should break that cycle of impunity. Then he should reform laws that discriminate against Christians’ right to worship.”......."
Deir Yassin Massacre - Documentary ذكرى مجزرة دير ياسين في ذكرها 63
A rare footage. A survivor tells the story.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
اقحام الاردن في المفاوضات
اقحام الاردن في المفاوضات
رأي القدس
"يبدو ان المفاوضات التي يسعى وزير الخارجية الامريكي جون كيري الى احيائها بين الجانبين الفلسطيني والاسرائيلي بدأت تدخل مراحل جدية توحي بان هناك مشروعا جرى اعداده بشكل محكم في الغرف الامريكية المغلقة.
هناك تطوران رئيسيان يؤكدان هذه الحقيقة لا بد من التوقف عندهما بتمعن:
' الاول: تسريب اوساط فلسطينية انباء لهذه الصحيفة تقول ان المملكة الاردنية الهاشمية ستشارك في اي مفاوضات مقبلة حول القدس المحتلة وبعض القضايا الاخرى، بعد توقيع اتفاق بين عاهلها والرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس باعطائها الوصاية الكاملة على المقدسات الاسلامية.' الثاني: تلميح تسيبي ليفني وزيرة العدل في حكومة بنيامين نتنياهو الاسرائيلية ومسؤولة ملف المفاوضات الى استعدادها للتراجع عن الشرط الذي وضعه نتنياهو بان يعترف الفلسطينيون بيهودية دولة اسرائيل.
ايجاد دور للاردن في مفاوضات السلام الفلسطينية الاردنية هو تطور جديد ومفاجئ، فقد جرت العادة ومنذ ان بدأت قبل عشرين عاما، ان تكون هذه المفاوضات ثنائية، ودون مشاركة اي طرف ثالث، فما الذي تغير، وما هي الطبخة الجديدة التي تستدعي حدوث هذا التغيير؟
هناك انباء تتردد بشكل متسارع حول ارتكاز مشروع التسوية الجديد على ايجاد صيغة لعودة الاوضاع الى ما كانت عليه قبل الاحتلال الاسرائيلي في حزيران (يونيو) عام 1967، اي ان تعود الضفة الغربية للاردن في اطار كونفيدرالي شكلي وان يعود قطاع غزة للحكم الاداري المصري.الطرف الفلسطيني، والرئيس محمود عباس على وجه الخصوص، يتكتم على المشروع المذكور، ويبقي جميع اوراقه قريبة الى صدره، ومثلما فاجأنا بالذهاب الى العاصمة الاردنية عمان وتوقيع اتفاق الوصاية الاردنية على الاماكن الاسلامية المقدسة، يمكن ان يفاجئنا بتوقيع اتفاق سلام مع الاسرائيليين دون العودة الى اي مرجعية فلسطينية.من الواضح ان الرئيس عباس اقر بفشله في التوصل الى حل الدولتين، وقيام الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة التي من المفترض ان تكون قد تجسدت قبل 15 عاما وفق اتفاق اوسلو الذي تفاوض عليه في العاصمة النرويجية. وافضل تعبير عن هذا الفشل هو اقحامه الاردن في المفاوضات والقفز الى مشروع الكونفيدرالية قبل تحقيق شرطها الابرز وهو تحرير الارض الفلسطينية وقيام الدولة المستقلة فوقها.
الفعاليات الفلسطينية داخل الاراضي المحتلة وخارجها، وحركة فتح على وجه الخصوص، كلها مطالبة ان تتحرك للضغط على السلطة ورئيسها لمصارحتها بالامر وكشف ما هو موضع بحث، والاسس التي سيتم على اساسها استئناف المفاوضات، وتفاصيل المشروع الامريكي الجديد.
الشعب الفلسطيني هو اساس كل السلطات والقول بان كل ما يتم التوصل اليه من اتفاقات سيعرض عليه في استفتاء عام، هو قول مضلل، فنحن نعلم جيدا كيف يتم التزوير سواء المباشر منه او غير المباشر."
رأي القدس
"يبدو ان المفاوضات التي يسعى وزير الخارجية الامريكي جون كيري الى احيائها بين الجانبين الفلسطيني والاسرائيلي بدأت تدخل مراحل جدية توحي بان هناك مشروعا جرى اعداده بشكل محكم في الغرف الامريكية المغلقة.
هناك تطوران رئيسيان يؤكدان هذه الحقيقة لا بد من التوقف عندهما بتمعن:
' الاول: تسريب اوساط فلسطينية انباء لهذه الصحيفة تقول ان المملكة الاردنية الهاشمية ستشارك في اي مفاوضات مقبلة حول القدس المحتلة وبعض القضايا الاخرى، بعد توقيع اتفاق بين عاهلها والرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس باعطائها الوصاية الكاملة على المقدسات الاسلامية.' الثاني: تلميح تسيبي ليفني وزيرة العدل في حكومة بنيامين نتنياهو الاسرائيلية ومسؤولة ملف المفاوضات الى استعدادها للتراجع عن الشرط الذي وضعه نتنياهو بان يعترف الفلسطينيون بيهودية دولة اسرائيل.
ايجاد دور للاردن في مفاوضات السلام الفلسطينية الاردنية هو تطور جديد ومفاجئ، فقد جرت العادة ومنذ ان بدأت قبل عشرين عاما، ان تكون هذه المفاوضات ثنائية، ودون مشاركة اي طرف ثالث، فما الذي تغير، وما هي الطبخة الجديدة التي تستدعي حدوث هذا التغيير؟
هناك انباء تتردد بشكل متسارع حول ارتكاز مشروع التسوية الجديد على ايجاد صيغة لعودة الاوضاع الى ما كانت عليه قبل الاحتلال الاسرائيلي في حزيران (يونيو) عام 1967، اي ان تعود الضفة الغربية للاردن في اطار كونفيدرالي شكلي وان يعود قطاع غزة للحكم الاداري المصري.الطرف الفلسطيني، والرئيس محمود عباس على وجه الخصوص، يتكتم على المشروع المذكور، ويبقي جميع اوراقه قريبة الى صدره، ومثلما فاجأنا بالذهاب الى العاصمة الاردنية عمان وتوقيع اتفاق الوصاية الاردنية على الاماكن الاسلامية المقدسة، يمكن ان يفاجئنا بتوقيع اتفاق سلام مع الاسرائيليين دون العودة الى اي مرجعية فلسطينية.من الواضح ان الرئيس عباس اقر بفشله في التوصل الى حل الدولتين، وقيام الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة التي من المفترض ان تكون قد تجسدت قبل 15 عاما وفق اتفاق اوسلو الذي تفاوض عليه في العاصمة النرويجية. وافضل تعبير عن هذا الفشل هو اقحامه الاردن في المفاوضات والقفز الى مشروع الكونفيدرالية قبل تحقيق شرطها الابرز وهو تحرير الارض الفلسطينية وقيام الدولة المستقلة فوقها.
الفعاليات الفلسطينية داخل الاراضي المحتلة وخارجها، وحركة فتح على وجه الخصوص، كلها مطالبة ان تتحرك للضغط على السلطة ورئيسها لمصارحتها بالامر وكشف ما هو موضع بحث، والاسس التي سيتم على اساسها استئناف المفاوضات، وتفاصيل المشروع الامريكي الجديد.
الشعب الفلسطيني هو اساس كل السلطات والقول بان كل ما يتم التوصل اليه من اتفاقات سيعرض عليه في استفتاء عام، هو قول مضلل، فنحن نعلم جيدا كيف يتم التزوير سواء المباشر منه او غير المباشر."
عن تعديل مبادرة السلام العربية
عزمي بشارة
"
أخشى أن هناك من يفكر ان يعدل المبادرة لتعجب أميركا واسرائيل بدل
أن يلغيها:
1. الاصل هو حالة الصراع والحرب مع اسرائيل.
2. مبادرة السلام العربية اقترحت حلا للصراع. بغض النظر عن موقفنا من هذا الحل، المبادرة تعترف بإسرائيل، او تعد باعتراف عربي شامل بإسرائيل مقابل الانسحاب إلى حدود 67.
3. اسرائيل اخذت الاعتراف بها ورفضت الباقي.
4. يجب ان يكون الاستنتناج فشل المبادرة فشلت والعودة إلى الاصل، وليس تعديل الباقي ليعجب اميركا واسرائيل.
5. اسرائيل سوف تبقى على رفضها، و"المبادر" العربي يحاول أن يستدر اعجابها وموافقتها. هذه ليست دبلوماسية ولا سياسة عربية، بل انحطاط سياسي ودبلوماسي وانتصار لموقف الرفض الاسرائيلي ومنطق القوة.6. ما يحزنني هو أن إسرائيل تثبت كل يوم رأيها العنصري أن هؤلاء العرب لا يفهمون الا لغة القوة. وأن العرب لا يدركون أن إسرائيل هي التي تفهم لغة القوة، ولا تعتبر المبادرات العربية المنطلقة من الضعف والعجز سببا لكي تغير موقفها، بل لزيادة التعنت.
1. الاصل هو حالة الصراع والحرب مع اسرائيل.
2. مبادرة السلام العربية اقترحت حلا للصراع. بغض النظر عن موقفنا من هذا الحل، المبادرة تعترف بإسرائيل، او تعد باعتراف عربي شامل بإسرائيل مقابل الانسحاب إلى حدود 67.
3. اسرائيل اخذت الاعتراف بها ورفضت الباقي.
4. يجب ان يكون الاستنتناج فشل المبادرة فشلت والعودة إلى الاصل، وليس تعديل الباقي ليعجب اميركا واسرائيل.
5. اسرائيل سوف تبقى على رفضها، و"المبادر" العربي يحاول أن يستدر اعجابها وموافقتها. هذه ليست دبلوماسية ولا سياسة عربية، بل انحطاط سياسي ودبلوماسي وانتصار لموقف الرفض الاسرائيلي ومنطق القوة.6. ما يحزنني هو أن إسرائيل تثبت كل يوم رأيها العنصري أن هؤلاء العرب لا يفهمون الا لغة القوة. وأن العرب لا يدركون أن إسرائيل هي التي تفهم لغة القوة، ولا تعتبر المبادرات العربية المنطلقة من الضعف والعجز سببا لكي تغير موقفها، بل لزيادة التعنت.
"
Monday, April 8, 2013
Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013): Tariq Ali on Late British PM’s Legacy From Austerity to Apartheid
Democracy Now!
"Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87. Thatcher was Britain’s first female prime minister, serving three terms in office. Known as the "Iron Lady," Thatcher became synonymous with austerity economics as a close ally of President Ronald Reagan. She famously declared to critics of neoliberal capitalism that, "there is no alternative." Her long-running battle with striking British miners dealt a major blow to the union movement in Britain and ushered in a wave of privatizations. On foreign policy, Thatcher presided over the Falklands War with Argentina, provided critical support to the Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet, and famously labeled Nelson Mandela a "terrorist" while backing South Africa’s apartheid regime. We go to London to discuss Thatcher’s legacy with Tariq Ali, British-Pakistani political commentator, writer, activist and editor of the New Left Review......"
"Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87. Thatcher was Britain’s first female prime minister, serving three terms in office. Known as the "Iron Lady," Thatcher became synonymous with austerity economics as a close ally of President Ronald Reagan. She famously declared to critics of neoliberal capitalism that, "there is no alternative." Her long-running battle with striking British miners dealt a major blow to the union movement in Britain and ushered in a wave of privatizations. On foreign policy, Thatcher presided over the Falklands War with Argentina, provided critical support to the Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet, and famously labeled Nelson Mandela a "terrorist" while backing South Africa’s apartheid regime. We go to London to discuss Thatcher’s legacy with Tariq Ali, British-Pakistani political commentator, writer, activist and editor of the New Left Review......"
"The Kissinger Cables": Three Years After "Collateral Murder," WikiLeaks Explores U.S. Diplomacy
Democracy Now!
"The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has just published "the Kissinger cables," 1.7 million U.S. diplomatic and intelligence documents from 1973 to 1976 that include many once-secret memos written by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. While the documents have been available to the public at the National Archives, WikiLeaks has created a searchable online database to allow anyone in the world to quickly search them. WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange reportedly did most of the work creating the database from his refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London. WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson joins us to discuss the documents’ release. Hrafnsson also comments on the recent anniversary of the release of the "Collateral Murder" military video, which shows U.S. forces killing 12 people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters employees, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. After the video’s release, Hrafnsson met with family members of the victims in Iraq........"
"The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has just published "the Kissinger cables," 1.7 million U.S. diplomatic and intelligence documents from 1973 to 1976 that include many once-secret memos written by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. While the documents have been available to the public at the National Archives, WikiLeaks has created a searchable online database to allow anyone in the world to quickly search them. WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange reportedly did most of the work creating the database from his refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London. WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson joins us to discuss the documents’ release. Hrafnsson also comments on the recent anniversary of the release of the "Collateral Murder" military video, which shows U.S. forces killing 12 people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters employees, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. After the video’s release, Hrafnsson met with family members of the victims in Iraq........"
Leftist opposition figures slam IMF Egypt loan, call for state-led economy
At Cairo conference, opposition figures and left-leaning economists decry
current government's commitment to free trade, call for ending Egypt's
'neo-liberal' agenda
"This conference aims to provide effective, alternative solutions to improve
Egypt's economic situation," Popular Current founder Hamdeen Sabbahi said in
opening remarks at the conference, which was held under the banner 'Saving
Egypt's economy: Towards an alternative programme.'
Speakers at the conference called for a larger government role in economic planning and activity and for abandoning Egypt's 'neo-liberal' agenda.
The veteran Nasserist opposition figure added that Egypt's current economic predicament, including high unemployment and public debt, were the result of erroneous policies adopted in order to meet the conditions of a proposed $4.8 billion IMF loan, which is sought by the government of President Mohamed Morsi.
Sabbahi was flanked by celebrated journalist and political commentator Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who expressed his faith in Egypt's ability to surmount the current crisis. "Our history shows us that we can fulfil our hopes," Heikal said.
Other speakers, however, did not appear to share his optimism.
Former supply and domestic trade minister Gouda Abdel-Khaleq, for one, lamented what he sees as the absence of change in government thinking regarding the economy since the revolution........"
Ahram Online, Monday 8 Apr 2013
"Prominent political opposition figures and economic experts weighed in on
Egypt's economic future at a Sunday conference organised by the opposition
Popular Current movement in Cairo.
Speakers at the conference called for a larger government role in economic planning and activity and for abandoning Egypt's 'neo-liberal' agenda.
The veteran Nasserist opposition figure added that Egypt's current economic predicament, including high unemployment and public debt, were the result of erroneous policies adopted in order to meet the conditions of a proposed $4.8 billion IMF loan, which is sought by the government of President Mohamed Morsi.
Sabbahi was flanked by celebrated journalist and political commentator Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who expressed his faith in Egypt's ability to surmount the current crisis. "Our history shows us that we can fulfil our hopes," Heikal said.
Other speakers, however, did not appear to share his optimism.
Former supply and domestic trade minister Gouda Abdel-Khaleq, for one, lamented what he sees as the absence of change in government thinking regarding the economy since the revolution........"
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Hamas Shaves Heads Of Gaza Youths With Long Hair
link
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Police in Hamas-ruled Gaza have started grabbing young men with long or gel-styled spiky hair off the streets, bundling them into jeeps, mocking them and shaving their heads, two of those targeted and a rights group said Sunday.
It is the latest sign that the Islamic militants are imposing their strict practices on the population.
Hamas has been slowly forcing its fundamentalist interpretation of the religion on already conservative Gaza since it overran the territory in 2007, but the new crackdown on long hair and tight or low-waist pants — in several cases accompanied by beatings — appears to be one of the most aggressive phases of the campaign so far.
The crackdown began last week, and two of those targeted told The Associated Press said they were rounded up in separate sweeps in Gaza City that included more than two dozen young men.
House painter Ayman al-Sayed, 19, had shoulder-length hair before police grabbed him and shaved his head Thursday.
"The only thing I want to do is leave this country," said al-Sayed, who despite his ordeal defiantly wore stylish but outlawed narrow-leg tan khakis Sunday. "I am scared. They just take you from the street without reason. I don't know what they are going to do next."
Hamas officials played down the campaign — a stance adopted in the past that allows the group to distance itself from a controversial crackdown while at the same time instilling fear in those it targeted.
Ziad al-Zaza, the deputy prime minister of Gaza, said the head-shaving "was a very limited, isolated behavior of the police and is not going to continue."
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights called on Hamas to investigate the "arbitrary detentions and violations of civil rights of civilians."
The hair crackdown came just days after the Hamas-run parliament in Gaza passed an education bill mandating separate classrooms for boys and girls from the age of nine.
The Whole World Moves Forward, Except for the Arabs; Why?
Analysis by Tony Sayegh
(Scroll down for more new posts)
This is to be considered work in progress and not a finished analysis. I just wanted to initiate a real discussion in the Comment section about this important subject.
I know that some will consider some of the opinions expressed "orientalist" and will hate me for that. But let us face it, something is terribly wrong with us Arabs. We go from bad to worse and never learn from the past. If I take the Palestinians as an example, it can safely be said that the spirit and the acts of resistance in Palestine in 1936 were by far more established and advanced than they are today, 77 years later!
What other people than the Arabs were so gullible that the British used them to fight the Ottomans with a "promise" of independence, to be rewarded with the Sykes-Picot agreement, partitioning of the Arab world, British and French colonialism and granting of Palestine to world Jewry and the dispossession of the Palestinians?
And yet after all this we see Syrian "revolutionaries" begging the same France and Britain for military help to depose the dictator in Damascus! Nothing was learned?
No other people are more willing to kill each other and destroy their own countries as much as the Arabs. Look at Iraq and Syria as examples. It is so easy to initiate sectarian and religious hatred among the Arabs that all Israel has to do is to start the flames and the Arabs will destroy themselves by themselves. Israel is now gloating that Syria will not be a threat for at least the next 20 years, since it is already fragmented into 3 mini states. The same goes for Iraq.
No other Fascist regime burned and destroyed the country as the price to be paid for its ouster. Compare Syria under the Assads and Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu. The ruthless internal security apparatus in Syria was modeled after that of Ceaușescu But when the people of Romania rose against the dictator, the Romanian army stood with the people and against the dictator, who was later executed. In Syria, the army of the regime is destroying its own cities using jets, heavy artillery and missiles!
Muslims get infuriated when Israel fires on mosques and yet in Syria (and Iraq before) mosques are routinely shelled and destroyed by both sides who call themselves Muslims! Ancient and historical mosques that were preserved in Syria for hundreds of years are being shelled and destroyed today!
During the Iraq-Iran war, Henry Kissinger enunciated the US policy as simply letting both sides destroy each other; when one side began to fall, the US would help just enough so that it stayed in the fight for the longest possible duration. Is this not what is happening in Syria today? And yet, Syrian "revolutionaries" are begging the US to interfere! USrael is laughing its head off about such stupidity and naivety.
I will add more to this analysis later, but I would like to read your comments first.
I am not going to give a diagnosis nor prescribe a cure. I will make some observations about conditions that are contributing to the Arab backwardness and them remaining largely irrelevant to modern history.
To start with, and this is crucial, the Arabs have mostly failed in establishing modern states with constitutions that guarantee and safeguard the rights of all citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity. This has perpetuated the status quo where a few elite, from the military or with the active support of the military, act as if the country is their private estate and the citizens are just squatters on that estate. A citizen who is treated that way, will not act to defend that state which does not belong to him. This explains the demise of all the Arab militaries, regardless of how much is spent on them. They are not made up of citizen soldiers.
A modern constitution would establish independent branches of government, including the judiciary and a free press. A look at today's Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood illustrates this. As soon as a MB president was elected, he wasted no time to ram through his own variant of a constitution which gave him dictatorial powers. He also appointed one of his cronies as an attorney general. As soon as that was accomplished, the crackdown on free speech and dissent started. The small margins of free expression in the press are now being seriously threatened.
All of this is just the beginning. Without resistance, the MB aim to control all aspects of the state and society. So Egypt has just replaced one dictator with another. This also illustrates another problem which afflicts all Arab countries. The longer a dictator is tolerated, in the name of stability and as a result of fear, the higher the price the country pays down the road. Syria today illustrates this point. If 40 years ago Syrians were willing to pay the price to get rid of the first Assad dictator, there would not have been a second Assad dictator and the country could have been saved from total destruction. The Assad dynasty has had over 40 years to control every aspect of the military, the economy, civil society, etc. It is like a cancer that has already invaded all organs of the body.
And here is a lesson for the Egyptians: Do not let up in your resistance to the MB. Given more time, they would be that much harder to remove. They do not believe in democracy nor elections. They used elections to rise to power and they have no intention of abdicating that power.
To be continued.
(Scroll down for more new posts)
This is to be considered work in progress and not a finished analysis. I just wanted to initiate a real discussion in the Comment section about this important subject.
I know that some will consider some of the opinions expressed "orientalist" and will hate me for that. But let us face it, something is terribly wrong with us Arabs. We go from bad to worse and never learn from the past. If I take the Palestinians as an example, it can safely be said that the spirit and the acts of resistance in Palestine in 1936 were by far more established and advanced than they are today, 77 years later!
What other people than the Arabs were so gullible that the British used them to fight the Ottomans with a "promise" of independence, to be rewarded with the Sykes-Picot agreement, partitioning of the Arab world, British and French colonialism and granting of Palestine to world Jewry and the dispossession of the Palestinians?
And yet after all this we see Syrian "revolutionaries" begging the same France and Britain for military help to depose the dictator in Damascus! Nothing was learned?
No other people are more willing to kill each other and destroy their own countries as much as the Arabs. Look at Iraq and Syria as examples. It is so easy to initiate sectarian and religious hatred among the Arabs that all Israel has to do is to start the flames and the Arabs will destroy themselves by themselves. Israel is now gloating that Syria will not be a threat for at least the next 20 years, since it is already fragmented into 3 mini states. The same goes for Iraq.
No other Fascist regime burned and destroyed the country as the price to be paid for its ouster. Compare Syria under the Assads and Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu. The ruthless internal security apparatus in Syria was modeled after that of Ceaușescu But when the people of Romania rose against the dictator, the Romanian army stood with the people and against the dictator, who was later executed. In Syria, the army of the regime is destroying its own cities using jets, heavy artillery and missiles!
Muslims get infuriated when Israel fires on mosques and yet in Syria (and Iraq before) mosques are routinely shelled and destroyed by both sides who call themselves Muslims! Ancient and historical mosques that were preserved in Syria for hundreds of years are being shelled and destroyed today!
During the Iraq-Iran war, Henry Kissinger enunciated the US policy as simply letting both sides destroy each other; when one side began to fall, the US would help just enough so that it stayed in the fight for the longest possible duration. Is this not what is happening in Syria today? And yet, Syrian "revolutionaries" are begging the US to interfere! USrael is laughing its head off about such stupidity and naivety.
I will add more to this analysis later, but I would like to read your comments first.
I am not going to give a diagnosis nor prescribe a cure. I will make some observations about conditions that are contributing to the Arab backwardness and them remaining largely irrelevant to modern history.
To start with, and this is crucial, the Arabs have mostly failed in establishing modern states with constitutions that guarantee and safeguard the rights of all citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity. This has perpetuated the status quo where a few elite, from the military or with the active support of the military, act as if the country is their private estate and the citizens are just squatters on that estate. A citizen who is treated that way, will not act to defend that state which does not belong to him. This explains the demise of all the Arab militaries, regardless of how much is spent on them. They are not made up of citizen soldiers.
A modern constitution would establish independent branches of government, including the judiciary and a free press. A look at today's Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood illustrates this. As soon as a MB president was elected, he wasted no time to ram through his own variant of a constitution which gave him dictatorial powers. He also appointed one of his cronies as an attorney general. As soon as that was accomplished, the crackdown on free speech and dissent started. The small margins of free expression in the press are now being seriously threatened.
All of this is just the beginning. Without resistance, the MB aim to control all aspects of the state and society. So Egypt has just replaced one dictator with another. This also illustrates another problem which afflicts all Arab countries. The longer a dictator is tolerated, in the name of stability and as a result of fear, the higher the price the country pays down the road. Syria today illustrates this point. If 40 years ago Syrians were willing to pay the price to get rid of the first Assad dictator, there would not have been a second Assad dictator and the country could have been saved from total destruction. The Assad dynasty has had over 40 years to control every aspect of the military, the economy, civil society, etc. It is like a cancer that has already invaded all organs of the body.
And here is a lesson for the Egyptians: Do not let up in your resistance to the MB. Given more time, they would be that much harder to remove. They do not believe in democracy nor elections. They used elections to rise to power and they have no intention of abdicating that power.
To be continued.
The Latest Sectarian Fragmentation in Egypt: Egyptian Christian funeral ends in violent clashes, killing one
Mourners at funeral for four Christians
killed on Saturday attacked as they leave cathedral, while police stand
by
"Police and armed civilians have laid siege to the seat of the Coptic church in Cairo, killing one person and injuring at least 21, as a funeral for four Christians killed in sectarian clashes on Saturday descended into chaos.
Thousands of mourners were
attacked as they tried to leave Egypt's largest cathedral,
forcing them back inside the cathedral precinct and sparking a siege that lasted
all afternoon and stretched into the night. Police fired teargas over the
cathedral walls and stood by as unknown men armed with birdshot, knives and
petrol bombs scaled nearby buildings to attack those inside the church
grounds.
On Saturday, at least four Christians and one Muslim were killed in sectarian clashes that broke out north of Cairo after children allegedly drew a swastika on Islamic property. On Sunday Christians gathered in Cairo to remember the dead in a service that ended by further escalating sectarian tensions......"
Israeli journalist is accused of inciting violence after backing Palestinian stone-throwers
Amira Hass receives hate mail for
claiming Palestinian schools should teach children how to 'resist
occupation'
"A prominent Israeli journalist, Amira Hass, has been subjected to a wave of hate mail and calls for prosecution for incitement to violence since writing an article defending the throwing of stones by Palestinian youths at Israeli soldiers.
Hass, who has lived in and
reported on the occupied Palestinian
territories for 20 years, argued that "throwing stones is the birthright and
duty of anyone subject to foreign rule", and suggested that Palestinian schools
should offer "basic classes in resistance".
The opinion piece,
published in the liberal Israeli daily Haaretz, for whom Hass works,
drew outraged reaction on the internet and from media commentators. The Yesha
Council, which represents settlers, and the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel filed complaints with
the police and the Israeli attorney general, and demanded that Hass be
investigated for incitement to violence and terrorism....."
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