Since Washington Pulls Both Strings: Egypt army chief calls on US to pressure Islamists. What Does This Say About "Egyptian Sovereignty"?

Egyptian armed forces chief El-Sisi slams US for insufficient support to Egyptian people, urges Obama administration to pull strings with Brotherhood to end sit-ins

AFP, Saturday 3 Aug 2013

"Egypt's armed forces chief chief General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has lashed out at the United States, urging Washington to do more to pressure the Muslim Brotherhood to end its protest encampments.


The United States provides $1.3 billion in mostly military aid to Cairo [Including training of Egyptian officers, like Sisi himself who went to US Army War College in Pennsylvania!] every year, but El-Sisi effectively accused President Barack Obama's administration of turning its back on Egypt.In a rare interview with the Washington Post, the commander – who led the military coup that ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi one month ago – warned of police action to disperse the protests.
"You left the Egyptians, you turned your back on the Egyptians and they won't forget that. Now you want to continue turning your backs on Egyptians?" El-Sisi said, according to excerpts of the Post's Thursday interview, published on Saturday.
"The US administration has a lot (of) leverage and influence with the Muslim Brotherhood and I'd really like the US administration to use this leverage with them to resolve the conflict," he said......."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

Do you support the continuation of the sit-ins of pro-Morsi supporters? 

With over 3,000 responding, 91% said yes.

Al-Jazeera Video: حديث الثورة.. ردود الأفعال الدولية تجاه أزمة مصر

Al-Jazeera Video: تدشين "حركة الميدان الثالث"

Egypt: Evidence points to torture carried out by Morsi supporters

2 August 2013

"Evidence, including testimonies from survivors, indicates that supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi tortured individuals from a rival political camp, said Amnesty International.
Anti-Morsi protesters told Amnesty International how they were captured, beaten, subjected to electric shocks or stabbed by individuals loyal to the former President. Since mass rival rallies began in late June, as of 28 July, eight bodies have arrived at the morgue in Cairo bearing signs of torture. At least five of these were found near areas where pro-Morsi sit-ins were being held.
“Allegations that torture is being carried out by individuals are extremely serious and must be investigated as a matter of urgency,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The apparent use of torture for reprisal attacks is unacceptable. People should not take the law into their own hands. Political leaders have a responsibility to condemn these criminal acts and call on their supporters to renounce such human rights abuses. The Egyptian government must not, however, use these crimes, carried out by few, as a pretext to collectively punish all pro-Morsi supporters or use excessive force to disperse their sit-ins.”
Mastour Mohamed Sayed, 21, told Amnesty International he and a group of 20 others were attacked by a group of Morsi supporters near the pro-Morsi sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya on 5 July.  His assailants wore balaclavas and some were armed with knives or machine guns. Some escaped but Mastour Mohamed Sayed and a few others were captured.
“I felt terrorized by the guns pointed at me…They grabbed me...They called us ‘infidels’….We were then driven to the sit-in… I was dragged on the ground. We were eventually held under a podium…I was beaten with bars, and given electric shocks. I lost consciousness a few times,” he told Amnesty International. 


While he was detained, Mastour Mohamed Sayed said he believed he heard a woman detainee being sexually assaulted and beaten. 


“My hands were tied behind my back, and I was blindfolded, but I could see a bit from underneath the blindfold… I could hear the girl screaming when she was given electric shocks. I could also hear a woman ordering her to take off her clothes. At that stage, I said that this was haram (forbidden), and was hit on the head. I then saw two bearded men go into the room and heard the girl screaming more…” 


Afterwards, Mastour Mohamed Sayed saw blood on the floor of the same room. He said his captors asked why he and other detainees supported General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. He was allowed to leave the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in the following morning, but his identity card was not returned to him.
Amnesty International has found that the capture and torture of suspected anti-Morsi protesters most frequently occurs during or in the immediate aftermath of violent clashes between the two camps........."

The epic Arab trek between God and gun

August 03, 2013 12:21 AM
By Rami G. Khouri

The Daily Star "Hold on to your seats, for the four most powerful and influential Arab countries – Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – are all experiencing significant, sometimes violent, internal changes that touch on the most basic elements of identity, power and national authority. What happens in those countries in the years ahead will shape the Middle East for generations perhaps, creating new patterns of stable statehood on the way. Saudi Arabia is not experiencing the upheavals of Iraq, Syria and Egypt, but its new internal dynamics portend historic changes underway in that country and throughout the Gulf – because some citizens no longer accept blindly to follow the rules of the foundational tenets of Saudi-Wahhabi doctrine. The worsening carnage in Syria, the sharp increase in bombings and ethnic cleansing in Iraq in the past few months, and the confrontation between the armed forces and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are stark reminders of where the modern Arab world stands today on its road to modern statehood. Syria, Iraq and Egypt embody the leading political challenges the Arab world faces: how to shape a stable and equitable pluralistic society; how to achieve an acceptable balance of authority among military and civilian forces; and how to assert religious values in daily and public life without falling into the trap of theocratic autocracy or artificially imposed secularism from above. That these three historical Arab powerhouses all are experiencing deep conflict or uncertainty is the inevitable consequence of our recent history since the 1950s. We are today dealing with the national wreckages, social carcasses and political diseases of several generations of security-based state-building that provided a thin veneer of stability, but never buttressed this with the durable substance of genuine citizen-anchored nationhood. The surge in killings in Iraq – over 1,000 people died in July – is most troubling for revealing the combination of weak state security capabilities in the face of resurgent attacks by groups that largely kill their victims on the basis of their sectarian identity. The inability of the Iraqi state to protect its prisons or defend its own citizens is bizarrely juxtaposed against the determination of much of the Iraqi state’s and society’s determination to send troops and support the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. This completes a linkage between Iranian, Iraqi, pro-Assad Syrian, Hezbollah and Hamas-Islamic Jihad parties that have been working together for some years to maintain their collective regional interests. The battle in Egypt brings into the open an important fault line that has been lying beneath the region for the past century: This is simply about whether individuals and society are shaped by the divine promise of religious values, or by the post-1770s temporal handiwork of civic-political-national institutions that have been hijacked by security agencies in the modern Arab world. God or the gun, in fact, is really only basic choice that Arab citizens have faced in recent generations, and it is both unfair and unworkable. The big tragedy is that faced with opportunities that they have had to date in the Middle East and South Asia, religious and military leaders have proven to be fully and embarrassingly incompetent at promoting productive, just and stable societies. Egypt now reveals the determination of tens of millions of typical Arab citizens seeking that elusive middle ground between gun and God, which is simply pluralistic citizenship and accountable governance under the rule of law. Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt offer different examples of the hard, slow quest for this goal. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states offer another example, which defines citizenship primarily as consumerism, with unaccountable governments spending hundreds of billions of dollars to provide their nationals with every possible material need......"

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

Bread, Freedom, Dignity??

كيري من الضفة إلى قطاع غزة

".....
وبالفعل كانت المشكلة دائماً بالنسبة إلى وزير خارجية أميركا هي انتزاع تنازلات جديدة من الفلسطينيين والعرب لإقناع نتنياهو بقبول التفاوض، ولا سيما عندما يأتي الأمر إلى المساس بما يحفظ ماء الوجه بالنسبة إلى المفاوض الفلسطيني. وهذا ما جعل نتنياهو يصل إلى تثبيت الموقف الأميركي وتعزيزه أكثر فأكثر من ناحية السعي لفرض الاعتراف الفلسطيني والعربي بيهودية الدولة.
محمود عباس وبعد تمنُّع أو تشرُّط بأن العودة إلى المفاوضات مرهونة بوقف الاستيطان، بمعنى وقف مشاريع استيطان جديدة، علماً أن ما حدث من استيطان في الضفة الغربية وتهويد القدس ومنطقتها كاد يصل إلى حدّ التشبع، ولكن مع ذلك لم يقبل نتنياهو التنازل الشكلي بوقف الاستيطان، فكان لا بدّ من أن يأتي التراجع من محمود عباس. وهذا ما حصل وليس لأحد أن يلف ويدور ويقول عكس ذلك.

أما المأساة بل المهزلة فهي اشتراط محمود عباس أن تتقدّم أميركا بتعهد خطي بأن تكون "حدود 1967" مرجعية للمفاوضات، وليس نتنياهو، علماً بأن أميركا هي التي صاغت قرار 242، وهي التي أعلنت مراراً وتكراراً أن "حدود 1967" مرجعية المفاوضات مع إجراء تعديلات وتبادل أراضٍ، فما الذي سيزيده التعهد الخطي عدا الاستناد إلى وهم من جانب محمود عباس فيذهب إلى المفاوضات متخلياً حتى عن شرط وقف الاستيطان؟
....
من هنا فإن إنجاز جون كيري لا يشكل في حقيقته إنجازاً ما دام الذي يفاوضه هو محمود عباس، صاحب الأريحية في التنازلات الفلسطينية، وصاحب اليد الحديدية من خلال الأجهزة الأمنية المؤمركة المصهينة في ضرب المقاومة وفي إجهاض أي نضال شعبي، وقد أعلن، أو تعهد، ألاّ تندلع انتفاضة شعبية ضدّ الاحتلال بوجوده.
......
فالأجواء التي تشيعها عملية المفاوضات تغطي هجمات أجهزة الأمن المتكرّرة على التحركات الشبابية في الضفة الغربية، كما تتستر على الاعتقالات التي تمارسها قوات الاحتلال دون توقف تحت سمع سلطة رام الله وأجهزتها وبصرهما، لا أصمّهما ولا أعماهما الله.
إن احتمال اندلاع انتفاضة في الضفة الغربية شكل قلقاً مستمراً للإدارة الأميركية ولحكومة نتنياهو، لا سيما خلال السنة الأخيرة. وهذا القلق شاركهما فيه، بالضرورة، محمود عباس، ومن هنا سهل العودة إلى التفاوض، إضافة إلى ما تقدّم، بعد عسر دام عدّة سنوات
.....
من هنا يجب أن تبقى الأعين مفتحة على ما سيجري من مفاوضات سريّة في واشنطن حدّد لها مدى تسعة أشهر. كل ما تقدّم يتطلب الإدانة الحازمة عالية الصوت لقرار محمود عباس العودة إلى المفاوضات، كما يتطلب تحركات شعبية ضدّها.
ولكن يجب أن تعلو الإدانة وتشتدّ أكثر عندما يحصل هذا التوافق على إطلاق المفاوضات في وقت يجري فيه تفريغ النقب من سكانه العرب الأصليين ومصادرته كله عملياً، مما يشكل جريمة لا تقلّ خطورتها عما يجري من استيطان في الضفة الغربية وتهويد للقدس.

وهكذا بدلاً من أن يُغلق الباب في وجه نتنياهو وتآمر إدارة أوباما معه في عملية الإبادة التي يتعرض لها أهل النقب ومصادرة أراضيهم وتهجيرهم، وبدلاً من أن تنتفض الضفة الغربية نصرة لأهلنا في النقب ومناطق الـ48، تأتي المفاوضات لتغطي الجريمة، وبدلاً من أن يدعم قطاع غزة ليشتعل نصرة للنقب يصار إلى ردم الأنفاق وحصاره.
"

Tunisian tensions escalate amid Arab spring's unravelling

Assassination of key opposition figures in revolution's success story adds to region's ongoing crisis of legitimacy, yet some are still optimistic

Eileen Byrne in Tunis, Chris Stephen in Tripoli and Peter Beaumont
The Guardian, Friday 2 August 2013 

".....What was supposed to be the success story of the Arab spring, sparked in December 2010 in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia's growing crisis has become inextricably entangled in the Arab spring's wider unravelling as dreadful events across north Africa and through the wider Arab world have fuelled each other.

Only six months ago – before the murder of Chokri Belaid, an opposition colleague of Brahmi killed in a strikingly similar attack, it had seemed as if Tunisia was on the last leg of its transition to democracy from the authoritarian regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.....

Inspired by the Egyptian army's coup against the Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, Tunisian protesters are calling for the dissolution of their Islamist-dominated assembly.....

The Tunisian crisis comes not only against the background of the coup in Egypt but in the context of a worsening security situation in neighbouring Libya, which too has seen a recent assassination of an opposition political figure in Benghazi and attacks on Muslim Brotherhood offices in the country.....

In Bahrain, where protests were put down with Saudi Arabia's assistance, what advances there had been in political and human rights have been driven back by almost daily raids and arrests. Syria's uprising has turned into a bitter and bloody civil war with strong sectarian overtones that is destabilising neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq.

But it is Egypt that remains the source of the greatest concern despite its army-backed government on Thursday urging Morsi's supporters to abandon their Cairo protest camps, promising them "a safe exit" if they gave up without a fight. That offer seems to be a carrot after a far more chilling warning on Wednesday, when the interim government said it was ready to take action to end two weeks of sit-in protests by thousands of Morsi supporters at two sites – raising the possibility of a further potentially bloody showdown."

The Flawed Logic of the Peace Talks

Another Dead End in the Middle East

By Jonathan Cook
CounterPunch

"......Regarding the peace process, Kerry has previously warned that there is “a year, a year-and-a-half, or two years and it’s over”. But what would “over” actually entail?

For one thing, someone will have to be blamed and all past evidence suggests that the someone in question will be the Palestinians. For another, Netanyahu will be able to argue that, just as Kerry feared, the peace process is dead. No Palestinian leadership, he will claim, will ever be capable of making peace.
That may prove a tempting moment for Israel to carry out the much-longed-for annexation of Area C, the bulk of the West Bank and the site of the settlements. With as few as 100,000 Palestinians left in Area C after decades of ethnic cleansing, Israel can offer them citizenship without threatening the state’s hallowed Jewishness.

Not only would such a move satisfy Netanyahu’s hunger for more Palestinian land, but it would solve another problem, this time for Europe and the US. They would no longer have to fret about boycotting the settlements; annexation would mean there were no more settlements to oppose."

Al-Jazeera Video: حديث الثورة.. سيناريوهات فض اعتصامي النهضة ورابعة

OP-ED: Bahrain Declares War on the Opposition

The special session of the Bahraini National Assembly held on Sunday Jul. 28 was a spectacle of venom, a display of vulgarity, and an unabashed nod to increased dictatorship

By Emile Nakhleh

"WASHINGTON, Aug 1 2013 (IPS) - The special session of the Bahraini National Assembly held on Sunday Jul. 28 was a spectacle of venom, a display of vulgarity, and an unabashed nod to increased dictatorship.


Calling the Shia “dogs”, as one parliamentarian said during the session, which King Hamad convened, the Al-Khalifa have thrown away any hope for national reconciliation and dialogue.

The 22 recommendations approved during the session aimed at giving the regime pseudo-legal tools to quash dissent and violate human and civil rights with impunity. All in the name of fighting “terrorism”......"

Egypt: Do Not Forcibly Disperse Sit-Ins

Respect Right to Protest, Protect Right to Life

"(New York) – Egypt’s civilian government should order a halt to any immediate plans to disperse the two Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo by force and deal peacefully with any problems arising. The authorities should respect the rights of all to peaceful assembly.

On July 31, 2013, the government authorized the interior minister to “take all necessary measures” to “confront violence and terrorism” in the sit-ins, but did not elaborate what those measures would be. In dealing with protests, Egypt’s security forces have regularly resorted to excessive use of force, killing at least 137 people in the past month alone.

“To avoid another bloodbath, Egypt’s civilian rulers need to ensure the ongoing right of protesters to assemble peacefully, and seek alternatives to a forcible dispersal of the crowds,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The police’s persistent record of excessive use of force, leading to dozens of deaths this month, and the density of the sit-ins mean that hundreds of lives could be lost if the sit-in is forcibly dispersed.”

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Egyptian authorities are required to protect and ensure the right to assemble peacefully. This means they must facilitate demonstrations and ensure they can take place peacefully......"

Ambitious men in uniform. Is Pakistan the Model for the "New" Egypt??

The generals who deposed the Muslim Brotherhood are keener on power than they let on. Will Egypt return to military rule?

A GOOD PIECE, WELL WORTH READING

The Economist

"ONCE reluctant to appear in the media, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s top general (pictured), is now very much seeking the limelight, perhaps because he would like to run for president. A recent video of him addressing army officers appeared to be shot for public consumption and duly went viral. His spokesman has said that although the general was not yet standing for office there was nothing to prevent him from so doing if he retired from the army.

Egypt’s press has started comparing Mr Sisi to Gamal Abdul Nasser, the hero-general who eventually became president after deposing the country’s last monarch in 1952. Protesters who helped the army to end the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood last month have plastered the streets with posters of the army chief. Many see him as a font of the dignity and security which they feel Egypt has lacked since Nasser’s time. “It is very clear he is entertaining the idea of the presidency,” says Robert Springborg, an expert in the Egyptian armed forces at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California......

Mr Sisi’s image is tainted by the uproar he caused in 2012 when he was the military spy chief and publicly defended members of the army who had subjected female protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to virginity tests “to protect the girls from rape as well as to protect the soldiers and officers from rape accusations”.

At the war college in America, Mr Sisi expressed a belief that the army must be above politics.......

Looking east

For inspiration the generals seem to look to Pakistan, where officers feed off a vast business empire and pay lip service to Islam and helping the poor—while in reality they line their own pockets and rule from behind a protective shield with the help of pliable civilian leaders. And if the civilians get uppity, the army simply resets the political clock....."

Democracy and hypocrisy

The West’s failure to condemn the shooting of unarmed Islamists in Cairo was craven and shortsighted

The Economist

"REMEMBER the opprobrium heaped on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, in June for using tear gas and water-cannon against his people? Imagine the outrage if Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to fire live ammunition into demonstrators on the streets of Moscow. But over the weekend, when Egypt’s generals set about killing scores of protesters, the West responded with furrowed brows and pleas for all sides to refrain from violence. Such meekness betrays not only a lack of moral courage, but also a poor sense of where Egypt’s—and the West’s—real interests lie.....

In any case, even supposing that the Brothers wanted to return to politics, it is unclear whether the army would let them back in. The generals now know that the West has given them more or less a free hand to do as they will. The army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has claimed that marches on July 26th gave him a “mandate” to confront “potential terrorism”. Already, the new government is resurrecting the hated arms of Hosni Mubarak’s security state.

The liberal Egyptians who teamed up with the army to oust Mr Morsi will come to regret their enthusiasm. Certainly, the Brothers ruled Egypt badly. They set about consolidating their own power and neglected the economy. They were chaotic and partisan. But Islamists make up a large part of the Egyptian population. The only way they can be excluded from politics is if the security forces hold much of the power. And if that happens, Egypt will not function as a free country......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Rights groups worried about violent crackdown in Egypt

"Egypt's military government has warned supporters of overthrown president Mohammed Morsi to end their sit-ins for everyone's safety. Increasing support for the police is fuelling concerns about the possibility of a violent crackdown. Rights groups are worried that more violence is inevitable. Amnesty International says dispersing the crowds of protesters by force would be a recipe for disaster. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports from Cairo."

Al-Jazeera Video: تعالي لهجة التعبئة في القنوات التلفزيونية المصرية

It Became Necessary to Destroy the Revolution in Order to Save it! By Khalil Bendib

 "When it comes to shooting his own people, El-Sissi is no sissy." 
Isn't This True of ALL Arab "Leaders"??

Al-Jazeera Video: الشارع الفلسطيني لا يهتم بعودة المفاوضات

Al-Jazeera Video:وسائل الإعلام المصري تشن حملة ضد البرادعي

As Edward Snowden Wins 1-Year Asylum in Russia, NSA Program Tracking Real-Time Internet Use Exposed

Democracy Now!

"National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has been given one year temporary political asylum in Russia. Snowden has reportedly already left the Moscow airport where he has been holed up for over a month. On Wednesday, The Guardian newspaper revealed details about another secret NSA program based on leaked documents provided by Snowden. The program, XKeyscore, allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals giving NSA analysts real-time access to "nearly everything a typical user does on the internet." To discuss these latest developments, we’re joined by Spencer Ackerman, national security editor at The Guardian....."

A Good Video Exposing the Hypocrisy of the Founder of Tammarud: فضيحة محمود بدر مؤسس حركة تمرد قبل وبعد الفلوس

Middle Out Economy

Adam Zyglis, Cagle Cartoons, The Buffalo News

قائد الشمال العسكري الإسرائيلي: الجيش السوري منشغل بتدمير نفسه

عــ48ـرب

"في حفل بمناسبة مرور سبع سنوات على الحرب العدوانية الأخيرة على لبنان، قال القائد العسكري لمنطقة الشمال في الجيش الإسرائيلي يائير غولان، يوم أمس الأربعاء، إن أسلحة الجيش السوري التي كانت موجهة ضد إسرائيل باتت موجهة ضد سوريين، وأن الجيش منشغل بتدمير نفسه. وقال أيضا إن إيران تبني قوة في لبنان بمستوى مشاركة لم يسبق لها مثيل.
وفي غياب أعضاء كنيست ووزراء، وهو ما أثار احتجاجات في المكان، شارك في الحفل نائب رئيس الأركان غادي آيزنكوط، وعدد من كبار الضباط، وجنود شاركوا في الحرب.
وقال غولان إن "حزب الله مسلح بشكل جيد، ومدرب بشكل أفضل وحذر أكثر، ويواجه تحديات داخلية، ويحارب في سورية، ولا يزال يشكل ركنا مركزيا في محور الشر، وينظر إلى إسرائيل على أنها شيطان يجب إزالته من العالم، ولكن مرتدع جدا".
وأضاف غولان أن الجيش السوري الذي كان يعتمد عليه حزب الله منشغل اليوم بتدمير نفسه.
وتابع أن الجيش السوري يدمر نفسه باستخدام كافة أنواع الأسلحة التي كانت موجهة في السابق ضد إسرائيل، ويقتل بها اليوم سوريين مدنيين في غالبيتهم.
وقال أيضا إن أيدي دول في المنطقة، ودول عظمى أخرى، في المستنقع الدموي السوري، ولا تبدو في الأفق المنظور نهاية للمعاناة الإنسانية التي تحصل هناك.

ونقلت "معاريف" عنه قوله إن "إيران موجودة هنا أكثر من أي وقت مضى، وعلى الحدود مع إسرائيل. فهي تبني في لبنان قوة بمستوى مشاركة لم يسبق لها مثيل، وهي موجودة في سورية على مستوى الإستشارة والتسليح والتوجيه والتأثير". 
"

Israeli army recruitment plan aims to incite Christian-Muslim tensions

Jonathan Cook

The Electronic Intifada

Nazareth

31 July 2013

"Leaders of Israel’s Palestinian minority have accused the Israeli authorities of intensifying efforts to push Christian and Muslim communities into conflict, as part of a long-running divide-and-rule strategy towards the country’s Palestinian citizens.

The allegations have been prompted by a series of initiatives to pressure Christian school-leavers into the army, breaking the community’s blanket rejection of the Israel army draft for the past 65 years.

Leaders from the Palestinian community, Christian and Muslim, who have spoken against this new enlistment effort have been called in for investigation by Israel’s secret police. In an Orwellian inversion, they have been accused of “incitement to violence.”

The issue first came to prominence last October when the defense ministry quietly staged a conference close to Nazareth, the effective capital of Palestinians in Israel, to promote military service among Christians......

The logic of Israel’s moves to recruit the Christians and Druze was explained in 1965 by Shmuel Toledano, the prime minister’s Arab affairs adviser: “The communal frameworks of religious and linguistic groups should be fostered, except for the Muslim, and the individuality of each and every separate community should be consolidated.”

Recent events highlight that this policy formulated in the state’s early years – to use sectarian differences to isolate the largest Palestinian community, of Muslims, from their Christian and Druze compatriots – holds to this day.

With Palestinian communal solidarity seen as a serious threat to the state’s Jewishness, Israel would prefer to push Muslims, Christians and Druze into open conflict."

Palestine’s South African Moment: Discussion with Haidar Eid

AN EXCELLENT PIECE!
By Ebbe Bertelsen
Palestine Chronicle

Haidar Eid

"In the winter months of 1987 a popular uprising erupted in Palestine. In what is known as the First Intifada, the Palestinian people rebelled against twenty years of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and forty years of apartheid, racial discrimination and humiliation in Israel. For six years mass demonstrations, strikes and university protests swept the country. Within these six years the iconic images of stone throwing boys facing military tanks went around the world. Haidar Eid is an active member of the Palestinian campaign for academic and cultural boycott of Israel and a professor of English Literature and Cultural Studies at al-Aqsa University in Gaza; he explains the significance of the First Intifada:


“Until the First Intifada the Palestinian question was completely marginalized in the international community. The uprising shattered the myth that Israel has the most moral army in the world. Here we had the world’s fourth strongest military literally breaking the bones of Palestinian children.”

In the last years of the Intifada secret negotiations began between the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (the PLO) and the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. This process ended with a famous handshake on the lawn of the White House and the signing of what are known as the Oslo Accords. For Haidar Eid the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 was a political hijacking of the popular uprising:

“Unfortunately the right wing leadership of the PLO hijacked the outcome of the First Intifada. They thought they had no other option than to negotiate. They had an ideology of defeat, working around the idea that we should accept the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a future Palestinian state, even though these areas only compromise 22% of historical Palestine.”

The consequences of the Oslo Accords were, according to Eid, devastating for the Palestinian resistance for at least a decade. Two interlinked processes, which Eid terms as NGO-ization and Oslo-ization drained the Palestinian liberation movement and created the idea that, the two-state solution is the only feasible way to move forward. The greatest misunderstanding of the Oslo Accords was the framing of Israel and Palestine as two equal states fighting a territorial battle. It was no longer a question of how Palestine could be liberated from a settler-colonial oppressor but rather of the conditions under which Israel would accept an independent Palestine. Eid explains this dramatic shift:

“The Oslo Accords were part of a process of convincing the slave of his own enslavement. Oslo was a process of coming to accept the white master and ultimately defending his right to enslave the native!”....."

Real News Video: Peace Talks Resume Between Israel and the Palestinians, But Little Hope of Imminent Breakthrough

Phyllis Bennis and Shir Hever discuss the timing of the talks, U.S and European interests in resuming them, and the imbalanced power between the negotiating sides

Bahrain's new crackdown on dissent

Restricting freedom under the guise of fighting terrorism

By Brian Whitaker

"Bahrain has announced wide-ranging new “security” measures which the prime minister says will give the authorities more power to “combat the scourge of terror and maintain security and stability”.

Khalifah ibn Sulman al-Khalifah, who is an uncle of the king and has served as prime minister for 42 years, claims the move is “in tune with the wishes of the people” though it is widely viewed as an attempt to crack down further on political dissent.

Laws or decrees will be issued to implement the following 22 recommendations from a special meeting of the National Assembly:

.....

However, Reuters points out that there have been calls for mass demonstrations on August 14 – Bahrain’s independence day – and the regime has threatened that anyone taking part will face the "force of the law". This may explain why the new measures are being rushed through now.

Human rights organisations have been swift to condemn the crackdown. .....

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights views the move as an attempt by the authorities “to legalise human rights violations” and says that terrorism charges against dissenters have been “the go-to accusation of the authorities in Bahrain”......

Meanwhile, there are reports that Mohammed Hassan, a blogger who often worked as an assistant for visiting foreign journalists, was arrested early on Wednesday when police raided his home in Sitra. A computer and telephone are said to have been seized.

The reason for his arrest is unclear. He closed down his blog and stopped using his Twitter account on April 29. "

Bahrain king toughens anti-terrorism laws, rights groups cry foul

"(Reuters) - Bahrain's King Hamad has toughened penalties in anti-terrorism laws before planned anti-government protests this month, approving proposals that have alarmed human rights groups which fear a crackdown on the demonstrations.
King Hamad, whose Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa dynasty has ruled the U.S.-allied Gulf state since 1783, has struggled to contain unrest that has persisted since the initial repression of pro-democracy protests by majority Shi'ite Muslims in early 2011.
Inspired by the mass demonstrations in Egypt that led to the army's overthrow of an Islamist president last month, a protest movement in Bahrain has called for rallies on August 14.
At an extraordinary session of parliament on Sunday, lawmakers agreed to recommendations including stripping those who commit or call for "terrorist crimes" of their nationality and preventing any protests in the capital Manama.
The king, whose island state is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, endorsed the proposals and on Wednesday issued two decrees enacting tougher laws, the Bahrain News Agency said.
The amendments prescribe a jail sentence of not less than 10 years on "anyone who carries out a bombing ... or attempts to carry out a bombing for terrorism purposes".
The penalty increases to death or life imprisonment if the bombing results in any death or injury, while anyone who puts or carries anything that resembles explosives or firecrackers in public places will receive prison terms.
"Perpetrators of dangerous terror crimes" can also have their citizenship revoked, the amendments say.
For those convicted of collecting money for a "terrorism purpose", the sentence is life imprisonment or a minimum 10-year sentence, in addition to a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 dinars ($265,300 to $1.33 million), the state news agency said.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said it was concerned that the changes heralded a new crackdown by the authorities.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International had also criticized the lawmakers' proposals for harsher anti-terrorism penalties, some of which the king has now made law.
Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said on Thursday that Bahrain's government had spent the last two years cracking down on peaceful protests.
"Now it's planning a whole new set of draconian restrictions, effectively creating a new state of emergency, while peaceful protesters from the last round are sitting in prison with long sentences," he said in a statement.
HRW said revoking citizenship on the basis of unfair trial convictions violated Bahrainis' rights under international law.
Many Shi'ites complain of discrimination in jobs and have been calling for a constitutional monarchy. The government denies discriminating against Shi'ites.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said on Wednesday authorities had arrested prominent blogger Mohamed Hassan."

Egypt's Decision to End Pro-Morsi Sit-Ins Will Only Lead to Bloodshed

"(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The Egyptian government’s decision to mandate security forces to end all pro-Morsi sit-ins in Greater Cairo, considering recent violence against protesters, is a recipe for further bloodshed, said Amnesty International.

“Given the Egyptian security forces’ record of policing demonstrations with the routine use of excessive and unwarranted lethal force, this latest announcement gives a seal of approval to further abuse,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. “The authorities as well as the security forces should start with an approach that avoids the use of force and is based on ‘methods of persuasion, negotiation, and mediation,’ as recommended by international standards.”

In a televised statement made earlier today, the Egyptian cabinet said that pro-Morsi sit-ins in Greater Cairo are now considered a “threat to national security.” However, they failed to specify what measures they would take to minimize violent confrontation and the potential loss of life and serious injury.
Last week, Egyptian security forces cracked down on a protest near the pro-Morsi sit-in in Rabaa al-Adawya. Live fire was used, resulting in the death of 80 people. In recent weeks, there have also been violent acts including torture and the use of live weapons by pro-Morsi supporters.
“Security forces should not resort to the use of firearms unless there is an imminent threat of death or serious injury," said Hadj Sahraoui. “The use of violence by some protesters should not be a pretext to prevent others from exercising their right to peaceful protest. It is a human right that the Egyptian authorities have an obligation to uphold. The decision to disperse any assembly should only be taken as last resort. Any reports of violence should be investigated in an impartial and independent way.”"

Al-Jazeera Video: Doubts emerge over Egypt's protester numbers

"The massive number of people protesting against Egypt's president was used as justification for his removal by the military. Both Mohammed Morsi's opponents and supporters suspected of wildly exaggerating the size of their respective protests to lend legitimacy to their causes. Al Jazeera's Sami Zeidan reports."

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

"I Have Been Given a Mandate by the (Egyptian) People to kill You, Together With Your Family!" 

Pro-Morsi rallies no longer acceptable: Egypt Cabinet

Cabinet extends mandate to interior ministry to confront 'acts of terrorism and road-blocking', says pro-Morsi sit-ins at Rabaa and Nahda Square 'threat to national security'

Ahram Online

"Egypt's Cabinet says it will take "all legal measures necessary to confront acts of terrorism and road-blocking" in an apparent warning to supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who have been camping out in two Cairo sit-ins since the president's ouster.


"The Cabinet has reviewed the country's security situation and has concluded that the dangerous situation in Rabaa and Nahda Squares, including the terrorist acts and road-blocking that has occurred, is no longer acceptable as it constitutes a threat to the country's national security," El-Din added."Based on the mandate given by the people to the state, and in preservation of the country's higher interest, the Cabinet has delegated the interior ministry to proceed with all legal measures to confront acts of terrorism and road-blocking," said interim information minister Dorreya Sharaf El-Din in a Cabinet statement Wednesday evening.
Egypt's interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim announced on 27 July that the police and the army were working in coordination to discuss a suitable day for dispersing the two pro-Morsi sit-ins, which hold tens of thousands of protesters.
Ibrahim's statement came following mass demonstrations in Cairo and other cities responding to army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's call for Egyptians to take to the street on 26 July and give the army a "popular mandate to confront terrorism and violence." The Egyptian presidency later accused Morsi supporters of orchestrating organised attacks against the opposing protesters.
In the hours following Friday's protests, police clashed with Morsi supporters near the Rabaa Square sit-in, where at least 80 protesters were killed.
Supporters of the elected Morsi – deposed by El-Sisi on 3 July following nationwide protests – continue to press for his reinstatement through demonstrations that have often turned into violent clashes with police forces and unknown assailants.
The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, has rejected political negotiations, insisting that 3 July was a coup d'état and that Morsi must be reinstated before any dialogue takes place."

EXCLUSIVE: "Bradley Manning Has Become a Martyr"–WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange on Guilty Verdict

Democracy Now!

"The sentencing hearing for Army whistleblower Bradley Manning begins today following his acquittal on the most serious charge he faced, aiding the enemy, but conviction on 20 other counts. On Tuesday, Manning was found guilty of violating the Espionage Act and other charges for leaking hundreds of thousands of government documents to WikiLeaks. In beating the "aiding the enemy" charge, Manning avoids an automatic life sentence, but he still faces a maximum of 136 years in prison on the remaining counts. In his first U.S. television interview since the verdict, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange discusses the Manning "show trial," the plight of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, and the verdict’s impact on WikiLeaks. "Bradley Manning is now a martyr," Assange says. "He didn’t choose to be a martyr. I don’t think it’s a proper way for activists to behave to choose to be martyrs, but these young men — allegedly in the case of Bradley Manning and clearly in the case of Edward Snowden — have risked their freedom, risked their lives, for all of us. That makes them heroes." According to numerous press reports, the conviction of Manning makes it increasingly likely that the U.S. will prosecute Assange as a co-conspirator. During the trial, military prosecutors portrayed Assange as an "information anarchist" who encouraged Manning to leak hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents....."

Israel: Protect citizens' rights to protest peacefully against forced evictions

"The Israeli authorities must not use excessive force on demonstrators planning to protest against a plan to forcibly evict tens of thousands of Arab Bedouins from their homes in southern Israel, said Amnesty International.

Citizens across Israel are organizing demonstrations for a “Day of Rage” on Thursday 1 August, to oppose the Prawer-Begin plan. The plan enables the forced eviction of more than 30,000 residents in the Negev desert. Peaceful protests against the proposal on 15 July were met with excessive force by Israeli riot police and border police forces. Amnesty International is calling on the government of Israel to scrap the proposal.

“The Prawer-Begin plan is a blatant example of Israel’s discriminatory policies towards its Palestinian minority. It must be dropped immediately,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“The use of excessive force by the police during the 15 July marches sent a dangerous signal about how little Israel respects the rights of its Palestinian citizens. The Israeli authorities must ensure that peaceful demonstrators are able to express their opposition to the plan free from intimidation or violence.”

During the demonstrations on 15 July Israeli police forces attacked peaceful demonstrators and carried out violent arrests in Be’er Sheva, in the Negev, in Sakhnin, in the north of Israel, and in occupied East Jerusalem. Many demonstrators were injured and dozens of others – including women and children – were arrested........"

Tunisia's Chaambi: Afghanistan-isation?

Tunisia might become the world's next Afghanistan.

Larbi Sadiki

Al-Jazeera

"Since 2011, Tunisia and Algeria's relations have been less than optimal," writes Larbi Sadiki [Reuters]

"The protest in front of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) flared up with lights, tension, anxiety and defiance soon after the demonstrators learnted of the ambush that killed nine soldiers in Tunisia's North-western border with Algeria in the Chaambi Mount. It has been a bloody week for the Arab Spring states, specifically for Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. In Tunisia, still adamant to push on with democratisation while ideological polarisation is widening, the latest killings comes days after the assassination of leftist politician Mohamed Brahmi. Afghanistan-isation? Since 2011, Tunisia and Algeria's relations have been less than optimal. The time has come for the two to work jointly on a chronic problem that neither can curb without internal collaboration; neighbouring and international efforts must also step up surveillance and security operations. Obviously the Chaambi, Le kef and Kasserine areas still have Salafist and al-Qaeda terrorists. Tunisian security forces are now fighting more than one al-Qaeda franchise group, including the Uqba ibn Nafi Brigade (UINB). These groups are tightening the noose on Tunisia and, judging by the large quantities of weapons confiscated (including from Libya), Tunisia may be the focus of the terrorist organisations. As far as Tunisia is concerned, the weakness of the country's security forces may mean that Ansar Al-Shari'ah, UINB, and AQIM may be indeed itching for a head-on fight with the Tunisian state at a time of disarray, weak intelligence on the ground, heightened political polarisation and disaffected areas around Chaambi, Kasserine etc. being outside the reach of state authority - as if parallel authority is emerging in these areas, which is not yet the case. There will now be a call to ban Tunisia's Salafists, go hard on their preaching activities altogether. It will be a huge challenge to Nahda, the ruling political party, which has so far chosen not to open up a front on which to confront the Salafist group. Abu Iyadh and other Salafist leaders will be watching closely even if they deny responsibility to the recent killings, and it may be too late to avoid a fight with the army and the security forces. Some of this advice will come from expert risk assessors from countries like France, the US and the UK. Abu Iyadh learnt some of his trade in the UK in the 1990s, in Afghanistan and in Algeria through the Salafi group for Da'wah and Jihad. Abu Iyadh is known to have threatened to plunge the country into an Afghanistan-like quagmire. Others may be operating in a wider arch of crisis in which they are now punishing existing systems for the purging of Islamists in Egypt. This may be a form of "jihad" declared against the prophets of democratisation after the exclusion of the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Similarly, the recent acts of terrorism may be aimed at embroiling the army in politics - as in Egypt........"

ماذا وراء استئناف المفاوضات في واشنطن؟!

"....

ثمة احتمالان لهذه الرحلة الجديدة من المفاوضات، الأول أن لا تصل إلى نتيجة في المدى الزمني المحدد، بسبب ملف القدس على وجه التحديد، فضلا عن قضايا أخرى تتعلق بالحدود مثل موضوع أراضي الغور، وهي ثلث مساحة الضفة تقريبا، رغم أن الموافقة السابقة (التي أقرت عربيا مع الأسف) تقضي بقبول مبدأ تبادل الأراضي، والذي يعني بقاء الكتل الاستيطانية الكبيرة في الضفة الغربية، وهي التي تفتت الكيان الفلسطيني، وتسرق أهم أحواض المياه فيه.

لكن عدم التوصل إلى اتفاق نهائي، لن يؤدي إلى إعلان الفشل، بل سيدفع نحو استغلال المرحلة في إعادة انتشار الجيش الإسرائيلي في مناطق جديدة بحيث تتمدد السلطة نحو مناطق أخرى، وتتواصل حكاية المال والاستثمار، بحيث يتكرس وضع السلطة/ الدولة، ويجري استبدال نجاح التفاوض بالحديث عن محاولة جديدة للحصول على اعتراف بعضوية كاملة لدولة فلسطين في الأم المتحدة، فيما تمضي المسيرة من الناحية العملية نحو دولة مؤقتة في حدود الجدار تغدو في نزاع حدودي مع جارتها من دون أن يضطر عباس أو سواه إلى القول إنه تنازل عن الثوابت، ويستمر هذا الحال لسنوات قد تطول قبل تحول المؤقت إلى دائم مع تعديلات طفيفة.

والخلاصة شطب القضية. ولا يستبعد في هذا السياق أن تتم ترتيبات أمنية وسياسية مع الأردن فيما يسمى الكونفدرالية.

"الأرجح أن الشعب الفلسطيني لن يقبل شطب قضيته بدولة مؤقتة، ولا بحل مشوّه، ولن يلبث أن ينتفض في وجه السلطة وشريكها في رحلة نضال جديدة ستكون مختلفة عن سابقاتها لجهة قدرتها على تحقيق إنجازات للشعب والقضية "

الاحتمال الآخر هو أن تتواصل المفاوضات بشكل سري، وتنتهي بقبول محمود عباس بأسوأ مما قبله في مفاوضاته مع أولمرت، في صفقة نهائية تحصل فيها السلطة على حصة من البلدات المحيطة بالقدس (ضمت إليها بعد 1967) كعنوان لعاصمتها، مع بقاء القدس التاريخية موحدة تحت سيادة الاحتلال، بما فيها المسجد الأقصى الذي سيخضع لترتيبات فيما يخص الزيارة وليس السيادة على المنطقة التي يوجد فيها، فيما يجري تأجير الغور لثلاثين سنة بحسب الصيغة القديمة التي طرحت في كامب ديفيد, وأضف إلى ذلك ترتيبات أمنية بروحية الملحق الأمني لوثيقة جنيف (الحل بروحية الوثيقة أيضا).

والنتيجة هي كيان مفتت الأوصال تربطه الجسور والأنفاق والطرق الالتفافية، من دون عودة لاجئين إلى مناطق 48، مع تعويض سيدفعه العرب، هذا إذا لم يطالب الصهاينة بتعويض أكبر عن أملاك اليهود في الدول العربية، مع وجود احتمال بأن يترافق ذلك مع ترتيبات أمنية وسياسية مع الأردن أيضا فيما يعرف بالكونفدرالية.

في الأفق، يبدو الاحتمال الأول هو المرجح، لكن الاحتمال الثاني لا يمكن استبعاده، أما الاستفتاء على الحل فأمره سهل -بحسب محمود عباس- لأنه سيكون في الضفة لوحدها، ويمكن التلاعب به بسهولة، وتبقى قضية غزة التي سيكون لها شأن آخر بحسب تطورات الوضع في فلسطين وفي المنطقة بشكل عام.

يبقى القول إن هذا هو ما يفكرون فيه، لكن الشعب الفلسطيني قد تكون له وجهة نظر أخرى، والأرجح أن تكون، فهو لن يقبل شطب قضيته بدولة مؤقتة، ولا بحل مشوّه، ولن يلبث أن ينتفض في وجه السلطة وشريكها في رحلة نضال جديدة ستكون مختلفة عن سابقاتها لجهة قدرتها على تحقيق إنجازات للشعب والقضية.

"

Palestinian bogeyman resurfaces in Egypt

By Ramzy Baroud
Asia Times

".....But the anti-Palestinian sentiment in Egypt is no laughing matter. Many Egyptian media commentators, known for their affiliation with the state, are having unlimited space to renew their hate-filled campaigns by unabashedly inciting violence against Palestinians. A fascist-like discourse has been brewing for years, but has morphed into ways unprecedented since the coup against President Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian military on July 3.

Among all the pretenses that the military junta could have conjured up, they chose to imprison overthrown president Mohammed Morsi for "links" with the Palestinian movement Hamas. The leveling of such an accusation is quite telling. Gone are the days where Arab leaders were condemned for their ties with Israel, or affiliation with this western intelligence or that. The fact that Egyptian media and commentators would repeat the "accusation" without any one raising the question "so what?", is equally expressive of the state of political degeneration that exists in Egypt today.

But this is hardly new and is barely a Hamas-related matter. When Egyptian president Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Accords with Israel in 1978 and a peace treaty the following year, the Egyptian government and much of the media it controls began a slow-paced but determined campaign to morally and politically divorce itself from Palestine as a central Arab and Egyptian cause.

Then there was no Hamas to blame for Egypt's borderless afflictions, nor bearded men to hold responsible for the country's profound disasters. Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat unwittingly served the role of Egypt's bogeyman. He was humiliated at every turn.

That generation of media wheelers and dealers were as unforgiving towards Palestinians as this generation of government stooges who are ready to blame, starve, imprison and kill if necessary. For it is now the Palestinians, not the Israelis, that are considered to be Egypt's greatest "national security threat".

On the other hand, Palestinians, especially in Gaza, remain extremely cautious in their approach to Egypt. They use whatever language required to maintain a semblance of civility with the Egyptian government, as they even did under the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

Despite the fact that Egypt had always participated in the siege that Israel imposed on the Gaza Strip in 2007, few Palestinians dared use loaded terminology. It was an Israeli and only Israeli siege, resolved the official Palestinian discourse. Tacitly, they urged their Egyptian brethren to ease the siege, in the name of the shared fight against Zionism, imperialism, and in the name of Arab and Muslim causes, to no avail.

In January 2008, tens of thousands of Gazans breached the border with Egypt. They rushed into Sinai in a delirious search for food, fuel and freedom. With the exception of a few students, they all returned to Gaza. Shortly after the border was resealed and Gazans were locked up again behind walls and barbered wire, then Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit publicly threatened that anyone who attempted to cross the border "will get his leg broken".

And when a popular revolution overthrew Mubarak, although not his regime, on January 25, 2011, Palestinians, like many millions of Arabs celebrated. Those who celebrated in Ramallah under the role of Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority, were quickly suppressed and dispersed, while the Gaza celebration carried on for days.

Of course, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood relate to similar political, ideological and religious frames of reference, but the Palestinian love for Egypt and the hate of its dictators, is much older than the current turmoil that has divided Egypt and resulted in a military coup lead by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The intensity of hate towards Palestinians, coupled with media-induced rumors, doesn't separate between Palestinians from Gaza or anywhere else. The matter is extremely serious since Palestinians in Gaza are immediately affected by it.

Their freedom, or whatever remains of it, is in constant jeopardy. One of the army's first steps after the coup was sealing the border with Gaza. Citing as a pretense was Egypt's hopeless fight against militants in Sinai, which is itself subsisting in a state of negligence and economic ruin. On their part, al-Sisi's supporters spared no efforts in demonizing Palestinians, using every medium available.

Meanwhile, the sheer opportunism of Mohammed Abbas' Ramallah government has crossed all bounds. Abbas was one of the first to congratulate al-Sisi for saving Egypt and preventing it from slipping toward the abyss.

Others in the PA called on Gazans to rebel against Hamas. And as Egyptians were still counting their dead on July 27 as a result of the government crackdown on protests in Nasser City and Alexandria, Fatah-PA supporters were marching in Ramallah in support of al-Sisi.

They rallied in "Ramallah's central Square of al-Manara chanted pro-coup slogans and calls to Sisi to crack down on supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi," al-Ray news agencies reported.

At least during my youth, all I needed to remember was to say marhaba and not assalamu alaikum, in order to survive the wrath of an angry officer. Now, little can be said or done to explain or endure this unequalled campaign of hate and demonization. The odd thing is that Hamas's biggest campaign during Morsi's 12-months in power was for Egypt to replace the tunnels it actively destroyed with a free trade zone that gave Palestinians an economic lifeline to brave the siege.

Little was achieved then, and nearly 80% of the tunnels are now destroyed. Gaza is again hurtling towards an even greater humanitarian crisis, while the Palestinians stand accused of orchestrating much of Egypt's mess. This is a matter as bewildering as it is untrue. But 25 years of unchallenged state propaganda can do that and much more. "

Al-Jazeera Video: ما وراء الخبر.. حماس تتهم فتح بتشويه صورتها

Free at Last? By Carlos Latuff

As EU Envoy Meets With Morsi, Bloody Crackdown on Anti-Coup Protesters Deepens Egyptian Crisis

Democracy Now!

"After being held incommunicado for nearly four weeks, ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi was allowed to meet today with European Union envoy Catherine Ashton. Flown by a military helicopter to visit Morsi in an undisclosed location, Ashton described him as "well" and informed about the current crisis. The meeting comes after at least 72 people were killed Saturday when Egyptian police opened fire on a Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo. More than 100 were wounded. Speaking from Cairo, Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous says the bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters has polarized the Egyptian population. "There is a very small, but burgeoning movement that’s calling itself 'The Third Square,' distancing itself from Tahrir — which has become very pro-military in its rhetoric — and distancing itself from the pro-Morsi rallies," Kouddous reports. "They’re saying we’re against [both] the military and against the Brotherhood, trying to reconstitute what they say are the goals of the January 25th revolution."......."

New Mideast Talks Hang on Old Question: Will U.S. Drop Support for Israeli Annexation of West Bank?

Democracy Now!

"Israel and the Palestinian Authority have resumed peace talks for the first time in three years, but the two sides appear as far apart as ever on the key issues of borders, settlers, refugees and the status of Jerusalem. We’re joined by scholar and author Norman Finkelstein and Yousef Munayyer, executive director of The Jerusalem Fund and its educational program, The Palestine Center. Munayyer says the talks hinge on a major reversal of the longstanding U.S. role in the conflict. "Instead of acting as an enforcer of international law, as an enforcer of Israeli obligations in previous commitments, the United States has only acted instead as an enforcer of Israeli positions," Munayyer says. "If you’re on the Palestinian end, there’s really no interest for you to keep going back to negotiations that only act as a cover for Israel’s continued colonial activities in the West Bank." Finkelstein says the true hope for peace lies in a non-violent Palestinian movement that can force enough global pressure on Israel to obey international law and abandon its West Bank settlements. "The Palestinians are not demonstrating any power, so of course they’re going to be clobbered by the United States and Israel," Finkelstein says. "The question is, can you change the power equation? And I think there are realistic possibilities for changing that equation. Number one: use the instrument of international law to isolate Israel in public opinion. And number two: You need massive Palestinian civil disobedience with, unfortunately, the force and repression that Israel unleashes to galvanize international opinion. That was exactly the strategy of the civil rights movement."........"

Deadly Clashes Deepen Crisis in Egypt

At least seventy-four people were killed in skirmishes between Morsi supporters and armed men this weekend

by Sharif Abdel Kouddous

"......The bloodshed plunged Egypt into a deepening crisis with a highly polarized population, an unresolved standoff between the army and the Muslim Brotherhood, spiraling levels of violence that have left more than 200 people dead since Morsi’s ouster and a coercive security apparatus reconstituting itself under the guise of a “war on terror.”.....

The deepening crisis has dismayed many of the revolutionaries who struggled to overcome successive authoritarian regimes—Mubarak’s government, the direct rule of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces and the Brotherhood—only to see the military and old security apparatus rise again, perhaps entrenching themselves even deeper into Egyptian life........"

Palestine: Palestinian Authority Police Beat Protesters

10 Injured, Including 3 Arrested at Hospital

"(Jerusalem)– The Palestinian Authority should order an immediate and impartial investigation into alleged police beatings and arbitrary arrests of demonstrators in Ramallah on July 28, 2013. Police injured about 10 protesters and arrested 5, including 3 who were forcibly removed from a hospital where they had received emergency treatment. At least one policeman appears to have suffered injuries needing hospital treatment.

Several hundred people gathered in downtown Ramallah in the West Bank on the afternoon of July 28 to demonstrate against the US-brokered resumption of final-status talks between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel. When regular and riot police blocked their route, protesters shouted and some threw sticks and later stones. The police responded with apparent excessive force, striking protesters, including those demonstrating peacefully, with batons, witnesses told Human Rights Watch. A member of parliament who was among the demonstrators told Human Rights Watch that police pushed her to the ground and beat her.

“The police beat protesters and then arrested injured people, some even from the hospital,” said Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “The Palestinian Authority needs to make clear to the police that this is no way to handle a demonstration.”....."

Egypt: Police must be reined in to prevent further bloodshed

"Evidence that the security forces have once again used unwarranted live fire and other excessive force underlines the crucial need for police reform, said Amnesty International after a weekend of violence left 90 dead.

Security forces used live rounds and tear gas to disperse supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi during demonstrations on Saturday, leaving 80 people dead. A further 10 people were killed by gunfire during clashes in Alexandria.

“The latest bloodshed should serve as a wake-up call to the Egyptian authorities over the urgency of police reform,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

The Interior Ministry has denied using live ammunition to disperse protests on 27 July. However, testimonies from injured protesters and eyewitnesses as well as medical and video evidence collected and examined by Amnesty International casts serious doubts on the Ministry of Interior’s version of events....."

What the appointment of Martin Indyk as US special envoy tells us

Appointing the former ambassador to Israel for Israel-Palestine negotiations was nothing beyond the usual status quo.

By Richard Falk

Al-Jazeera

Secretary of State John Kerry recently appointed known pro-Israeli Martin Indyk as US special envoy [Reuters]

"It was to be expected. It was signalled in advance. And yet it is revealing.
The only other candidates considered for the job were equally known as Israeli partisans: Daniel Kurtzer, former ambassador to Israel before becoming Commissioner of Israel's Baseball League and Dennis Ross, co-founder in the 1980s (with Indyk) of the AIPAC-backed Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy who handled the 2000 Camp David negotiations on behalf of Clinton.
The winner among these three was Martin Indyk, former ambassador to Israel (1995-97; 2000-01), onetime AIPAC employee, British born, Australian educated American diplomat.

Does it not seem strange for the United States, the convening party and the unconditional supporter of Israel, to rely exclusively for diplomatic guidance in this concerted effort to revive the peace talks on persons with such strong and unmistakable pro-Israeli credentials?......"

Al-Jazeera Video: ما وراء الخبر- تأثير المواقف الدولية على أزمة مصر

Real News Video: More than 70 Morsi Supporters Killed As Military Clampdown Tightens

Military carries out second major massacre of Muslim Brotherhood supporters as fears increase of escalating violence and a return of widespread political repression  

THE CLOWN AND THE MOSSAD OPERATIVE

THE CLOWN AND THE MOSSAD OPERATIVE......

THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN AGAIN.

ARE THERE ANY PALESTINIANS STILL BREATHING OUT THERE?

Egypt restores feared secret police units. Is Tamarrud Cheering??

Military-backed government seems to have no intent of reforming practices that characterised both Mubarak and Morsi eras

Patrick Kingsley in Cairo
The Guardian, Monday 29 July 2013

"Egypt's interim government was accused of attempting to return the country to the Mubarak era on Monday, after the country's interior ministry announced the resurrection of several controversial police units that were nominally shut down following the country's 2011 uprising and the interim prime minister was given the power to place the country in a state of emergency.

Egypt's state security investigations service, Mabahith Amn ad-Dawla, a wing of the police force under President Mubarak, and a symbol of police oppression, was supposedly closed in March 2011 – along with several units within it that investigated Islamist groups and opposition activists. The new national security service (NSS) was established in its place.

But following Saturday's massacre of at least 83 Islamists, interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim announced the reinstatement of the units, and referred to the NSS by its old name. He added that experienced police officers sidelined in the aftermath....."

Egypt rights groups demand interior minister's dismissal

Excessive use of violence against protesters and impunity for state forces severely criticised by rights groups

Ahram Online

"Egyptian rights groups have called for the interior minister's removal after at least 80 people wear killed at a pro-Morsi protest on Saturday.


Supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi must also shun violence, they added.Nine rights organisations said they were "severely alarmed by the massacre" in Cairo and by deadly clashes in Alexandria over the weekend.
They went on to deplore alleged cases of torture by pro-Morsi protesters in their protest camp in Cairo's Nasr City.
In a Monday statement, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, among other groups, claimed interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim, who was appointed by Mohamed Morsi, had yet to be held accountable for the killing of protesters during Morsi's period in office.
"He was further rewarded by the current interim president by retaining his post."
The groups slammed the use of "excessive, lethal violence" by security forces against protesters in recent days. The scenes were reminiscent of behaviour used by police during the reigns of Hosni Mubarak and the military council, they added.
Saturday's violence has thrown Egypt into deeper turmoil, further stalling the country's transition to democracy.
"If the current violent political polarisation continues amid the continued absence of political will to achieve justice…Egyptians can hope for nothing more than fewer victims at future massacres," read the statement.
The security forces have violated international principles on the use of force and firearms against demonstrators, the groups claimed......"