Saturday, August 22, 2015

حديث الثورة- بيان الناشطين العلويين والشيعة ضد نفوذ إيران



AN IMPORTANT PROGRAM!

أصدر مثقفون وناشطون شيعة لبنانيون وسوريون نداء يحذر من تنامي النفوذ الإيراني بسوريا، وقالوا إن الأمر تجاوز دعم نظام بشار الأسد، وبلغ حد اتخاذ القرارات نيابة عنه، والعمل بشكل مباشر على تكريس واقع ديموغرافي جديد في البلاد، على أساس الانتماءات الطائفية.
البيان الذي كان محور حلقة 22/8/2015 من "حديث الثورة" قال عنه أستاذ العلاقات الدولية غسان شبانة إنه بيان في غاية الأهمية، إذ يطلب من الذين "طأفنوا" الصراع أن يسألوا أنفسهم: هل نحن عرب أم ننتمي إلىإيران؟

لا تنفي بارقة الأمل التي يحملها البيان مخاوف شبانة من أن تتحول سوريا إلى صومال سواء مع بشار الأسد أو من دونه بسبب الصراع الطائفي الذي لعب عليه النظام، والذي على إثره ستحتاج سوريا عشرين عاما كي تعود كما كانت.
مستعمرة إيرانية
أما سفير الائتلاف الوطني لقوى الثورة والمعارضة السورية في باريس منذر ماخوس فقال إنه يعبر عن موقف رائع، إذ يصف سوريا بأنها مستعمرة إيرانية، مشيرا إلى أن البيان قيمة مضافة، لكنه لا يراهن عليه لقلب الموازين.


ويقول ماخوس: ليس صحيحا أن الطائفة العلوية كلها مع النظام، رغم عمل النظام على تجييشها وخطفها رهينة.
في المقابل، اتهم ماخوس المعارضة السورية بأنها لم تفعل شيئا لإقناع العلويين بأنهم جزء من دولة المواطنة والقانون.

وصاية إيرانية
رئيس مركز أمم للتوثيق والأبحاث لقمان سليم -أحد الموقعين على البيان- قال إنه كان لا بد من رسالة واضحة بأن الشيعة راشدون وأحرار لا يحتاجون وصاية إيرانية في لبنان والعراق.

وأضاف أن الزبداني اليوم ليست اسما لمدينة، بل تحمل رمزية كبيرة، وما جرى على أبوابها من مفاوضات بين الإيراني و"حركة أحرار الشام" لمحاولة التبادل العقاري وتفريغ الأراضي، يشير إلى خطورة المشروع الإيراني الذي يتعدى على المستقبل في سوريا ومستقبل العلاقات اللبنانية والسورية.

ومضى لقمان سليم يقول إن إيران تسعى لاقتطاع حصة من سوريا تطل على المتوسط وتستكمل بها جغرافيا لبنان، حتى يمتد من كسب إلى الناقورة جنوبا، وبعرض يساوي عرض دولة لبنان.

بدوره، لم يوافق الكاتب الصحفي حسام مطر على كل ما قاله باقي الضيوف، ولم يوافق كذلك على تقرير فاطمة التريكي للحلقة، ورأى أولا أن البيان لا يمثل أكثر من 3% من الشيعة في لبنان، ولم يزد عددها منذ أربع سنوات شخصا واحدا، وأن الأغلبية الساحقة مع حزب الله .

وبشأن الدور الإيراني في سوريا وفي ثلاث دول عربية أخرى (العراق ولبنان واليمن)، قال إن إيران دولة إقليمية كما هي حال تركيا والسعودية، لكن الفرق أن إيران دولة مستقلة وليست مجرد تابع للدول الغربية، بلا سياسات خارجية.

ما وراء الخبر



A GOOD PROGRAM

مسلحون يرتدون زياً عسكرياً يعتدون على معتصمي البصرة

Meeting Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal

Link

In an exclusive interview with al-Araby al-Jadeed, Hamas' political leader revealed five key priorities for a solution to Gaza's problems - before any suggested truce can be achieved.
Efforts towards a lasting ceasefire in Gaza look positive, says Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' top political figure.

Negotiations through intermediaries have yielded some results, though no breakthrough agreement has yet been reached, he added.

Khaled Meshaal became the political head of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic organisation, following Israel's 2004 assassination of its former leader, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.

Meshaal was expelled from Jordan in 1999 after Hamas was banned there. He moved to Qatar, then to Damascus in 2001.

In 2012, Hamas distanced itself from the Syrian government and supported the Syrian opposition. Hamas closed its offices in Damascus and Meshaal returned to Qatar.
Al-Araby al-Jadeed's Bashir al-Baker spoke exclusively to Meshaal, who revealed his five key priorities for Gaza in order for a "natural atmosphere to be created for securing a stable ceasefire".

- Reconstruction of the tens of thousands of homes destroyed in Israel's 2014 devastating war on the Strip

- The lifting of the blockade which is strangling the coastal enclave

- Opening the border crossings and allowing for Gazans to travel freely to receive medical treatment, to study, or even just to go on holiday

- Funding for the 50,000 public sector workers - nurses, teachers, police - who have had their salaries cut off by the blockade

- Restoration of Gaza's seaport and airport, and other crucial infrastructure that has been destroyed by Israel

In the interview, which is to be screened by al-Araby TV on Saturday, Meshaal also tells how the former Quartet envoy, Tony Blair, told him that Hamas should offer a truce to Israel.

"Our answer was: We don't need calm or a truce, we don't need new terminologies, as we don't want wars.

"But there is a legitimate resistance that will continue working against the occupation as long as there is occupation and settlements - but we don't want wars."

Meshaal also said that Hamas had been trying for years to reach reconciliation with Fatah through new elections, a single government and working towards achieving community harmony.

Hamas remains open to all efforts established towards a solution for Gaza, Meshaal told al-Araby, but such efforts must not undermine Palestinian rights, or the national interest.

The full interview will be available with translated transcript on Monday 24th August. 
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سدس سوريا فقط تحت سيطرة الأسد

Link

بعد مضي نحو أربعة أعوام ونصف العام على الحرب التي تعصف في سوريا بدأ جيش النظام السوري يتقهقر بشكل كبير أمام تقدم المعارضة ممثلة في جيش الفتح وتنظيم الدولة وفصائل أخرى مناوئة.
في هذا الإطار تناولت صحيفة تايمز البريطانية خارطة الحرب في سوريا وأشارت إلى تراجع قوات الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد أمام تنظيم الدولة والقوى الأخرى المناوئة للنظام حتى صار لا يسيطر سوى على سدس الأراضي فقط من أرجاء البلاد التي تمزقها الحرب الضروس.

وكشفت دراسة ميدانية أعدتها مجموعة "جينز للمعلومات" -وهي شركة بريطانية للاستشارات العسكرية والأمنية والإستراتيجية- عن فقدان النظام السوري المزيد من الأراضي لصالح المعارضة، وخاصة منذ مطلع العام الجاري.

وأوضحت أن النظام السوري يحاول جهده الدفاع عن العاصمة دمشق، وعن اللاذقية على الشريط الساحلي على البحر المتوسط التي تشكل معقل الطائفة العلوية التي ينحدر منها الرئيس الأسد.
ونسبت الصحيفة إلى محلل شؤون الشرق الأوسط في "مجموعة المعلومات" كولمب ستراك القول إن الأسد لا يمكنه تحمل تكلفة خسارة هاتين المنطقتين على وجه التحديد.

ويرى ستراك أنه لن يكون بمقدور الأسد الاستمرار لفترة أطول، وخاصة في ظل تقدم جيش الفتح وتنظيم الدولة والفصائل المسلحة الأخرى على جبهات متعددة.

Friday, August 21, 2015

حديث الثورة- مظاهرات العراق.. من الخدمات إلى الإصلاح السياسي



سلطت حلقة 21/8/2015 من "حديث الثورة" الضوء على المظاهرات الاحتجاجية في العراق التي تزايد زخمها وارتفع سقف مطالبها من تحسين الخدمات والكهرباء ومكافحة الفساد إلى إصلاح المنظومة السياسية برمتها.
فإلى أي مدى سيستمر زخم المظاهرات العراقية؟ وإلى أي مدى ستستجيب الحكومة لمطالبها؟
وذكر البرلمان العراقي أن حجم الهدر المالي في فترة حكم رئيس الوزراء السابق نوري المالكي بلغ 109 مليارات دولار.
وصدّق البرلمان الأسبوع الماضي بالإجماع على حزمة من الإصلاحات للتصدي للفساد.
ويرى الكاتب والباحث السياسي لقاء مكي أنه من الطبيعي أن يتصاعد الخط المطلبي للمتظاهرين، لأن الحكومة بدأت تستجيب لهم. مشيرا إلى أن المرجعية الشيعية في النجف تبنت مطالب المتظاهرين أيضا.
وقال إنه على رئيس الوزراء حيدر العبادي أن يستفيد من هذا الزخم إذا كان صادقا في إجراء إصلاحات.
ويعتقد مكي أن إصلاح المنظومة السياسية يجب أن يكون المطلب الرئيسي باعتبارها المتسبب في الوضع المتردي للخدمات وانتشار الفساد.
استغلال المظاهراتفي المقابل، رأى الكاتب والباحث السياسي جاسم الموسوي أن هناك من يستثمر هذه المظاهرات، ويريد تحويلها إلى ثورة ضد النظام السياسي، رغم أنها قامت من أجل تصحيح المنظومة السياسية.
وقال إن هذه المظاهرات جاءت لتسترد ما سرق منها عبر المحاصصة السياسية والطائفية.
لكنه شدد على ضرورة أن تبقى هذه الظاهرات في سياقها المطلبي وتجريم الفساد، وإلا فإنها ستقود البلاد إلى مزيد من الفوضى.
ويرى الموسوي أن هذه المظاهرات ثورة تصحيحية، لكن هناك من يريد تحجيم إنجازات الحكومة لإحداث شرخ بين الحكومة والشعب.
بدوره، أشار الكاتب والباحث السياسي مشرق عباس إلى أن المظاهرات انطلقت على أسس مدنية وما زالت مدنية، لكنه رفض مطالبة المتظاهرين بحل البرلمان، لأنه -حسب رأيه- ليس من أولويات المتظاهرين لأن ذلك سيدخل البلاد في فوضى.
وكان حيدر العبادي قال إن بعض الجهات تحاول استغلال المظاهرات لإسقاط العملية السياسية في العراق.
مطالب سياسية وعلى عكس الموسوي، قال حسن سرحان الساعدي الناشط المدني وأحد منظمي المظاهرات إن مطالب المتظاهرين لا تقتصر على تحسين الخدمات، بل تتعداها إلى إصلاح المنظومة السياسية.
وأوضح أن المظاهرات ليست وليدة اليوم، وهي تعكس حجم المعاناة، وأنها ليست مرتبطة بأي أجندات خارجية.
وقال إن حجم المظاهرات يعكس حجم الفساد والدمار الذي يعيشه العراق.
لافتا إلى أنه لا يمكن لأي طرف توجيه هذه المظاهرات، لأن المتظاهرين يعون أساليب بعض الجهات التي تحاول حرف المظاهرات عن مسارها وتستغلها لخدمة مصالحها.

لماذا تستعصي الزبداني على النظام وحزب الله؟



بعد صمود الزبداني نحو خمسين يوما أمام حصار قوات النظام السوري وحزب الله والمليشيات الأخرى، أصبحت هذه المدينة نموذجا لتطور نوعي في قدرات فصائل المعارضة السورية وأدائها، رغم الفارق الهائل في القوة النارية.

آخر الأخبار ما أورده مراسل الجزيرة في لبنان بأن عدد قتلى حزب الله اللبناني في اشتباكات مدينة الزبداني ارتفع إلى ثمانية في الـ24 ساعة الماضية، وبذلك يكون الحزب قد تكبد منذ محاولته اقتحام مدينة الزبداني مطلع يوليو/تموز الماضي ستين قتيلا.

يضاف ذلك إلى ما قالته مجلة فورين بوليسي الأميركية إن عدد قتلى حزب الله منذ دخوله سوريا يقدر بألف قتيل، ليأتي السؤال: ما أسباب استعصاء الزبداني على قوات النظام وحزب الله طوال هذا الوقت رغم توعدها بالحسم مرارا؟


في حلقة 21/8/2015 من برنامج "ما وراء الخبر" قال الكاتب الصحفي قاسم قصير إن الزبداني منطقة آهلة بالسكان، انضم إليها أناس كثيرون ممن انسحبوا إليها من القلمون، كما أن تحصيناتها أكثر من المناطق الأخرى، ولديها عدد كبير من المقاتلين.
تورط إيراني
بدوره، تحدث أستاذ العلوم السياسية في الجامعة الأميركية في باريس زياد ماجد عن التورط الإيراني المباشر في الحرب، وفي قيادته المفاوضات مع حركة أحرار الشام التي تدافع عن المدينة، مشيرا إلى أن هذه المفاوضات لم تكن لوقف إطلاق النار بل لتنفيذ عملية تطهير بإفراغ المدينة من سكانها.

وأحال زياد ماجد ما يسمى "عقدة الزبداني" إلى أن قدرات المعارضة تطورت بالمقارنة مع معارك القصير ويبرود التي غزاها حزب الله سابقا، وهم (أي المعارضين) يملكون إرادة قتالية وتلعب الجغرافيا لصالحهم ضد التفوق العسكري للنظام المدعوم من إيران.

من ناحيته، قال الخبير العسكري فايز الدويري إن معظم المقاتلين من أبناء الزبداني يقاتلون عن أرضهم وعرضهم، وهم منذ ثلاث سنوات تحت الحصار استطاعوا إنشاء أنفاق تصل إلى مضايا ومناطق أخرى للتزود بالمؤن.


ولفت إلى أن هذه الأنفاق ليس شرطا أن تكون تحت الأرض بل مداخل بين البيوت يعرفها سكان المدينة، وتختفي عن أعين قوات النظام وحزب الله.
3000 برميل
وأضاف الدويري أن المدافعين عن المدينة يواجهون فصائل عديدة، من بينها فصيل أحمد جبريل والفرقة الرابعة بقيادة ماهر الأسد وقوات النخبة من حزب الله، وهؤلاء يعتمدون سياسة الأرض المحروقة، ومن ذلك أن ثلاثة آلاف من البراميل المتفجرة سقطت على الزبداني، إضافة إلى الصواريخ الفراغية والكاتيوشا.

وحول التململ في أوساط الشيعة في لبنان بعد هذا العدد من قتلى حزب الله، قال زياد ماجد إن هذا التململ ما زال محدودا، ويحظى الحزب بشعبية واسعة، لكنه أشار إلى أن دخول الحزب المستنقع السوري لا ينتهي بمعركة، فالقلمون بعد أن دخلها الحزب عاد بعد عام ليتحدث عن تحضيره لمعركة القلمون.

وشبّه ماجد سوريا بفيتنام أمام المتورطين بها، لافتا إلى أن البيئة التي يمثلها حزب الله لا تمثل شيئا أمام بلد وشعب يتفوق بكثير في الحاضنة الشعبية التي ثارت ضد النظام، حتى لو كانت الإمكانيات محدودة.

لكن قاسم قصير -من جهته- قال إن الوضع في سوريا لم يعد بين شعب ونظام، بل الحرب هي حول من يسيطر على سوريا "هل داعش أم النصرة"؟ لافتا إلى أن حزب الله يعتبر الانتصار في معركته محددا لمستقبل المقاومة في المنطقة
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DNA- الغارات الاسرائيلية على سوريا- 21/08/2015



ANOTHER EXCELLENT COMMENT!

From Azmi Bishara's Facebook Page


بصدد المشروع الوطني الفلسطيني

في غياب مشروع وطني فلسطيني يحشد الشعب من أجل أهداف محددة في هذه المرحلة، وأهداف أخرى طويلة المدى تتفق عليها مجمل الحركة الوطنية، وفي ظل الأوضاع العربية الراهنة المتمثلة بتحول الثورات المدنية من أجل الحرية والعدالة إلى اقتتال أهلي بفعل القمع وغيره، برزت في أوساط الشعب الفلسطيني ظواهر مصادرها الرئيسيية الغضب والإحباط، والأهم منه الحس الشعبي الفلسطيني بضرورة الحفاظ على القضية حية. هنا مصدر عمليات المقاومة الفردية، هنا أيضا تحويل قضايا إلى معارك يشارك فيها الفلسطينيون على وسائل التواصل. ثمة إحساس باحتمال الضياع والتبدد والتشتت، إذا لم يجتمع الناس على رفض التسليم بالوضع القائم عبر موضوع ما، وعمل نضالي ما، من هنا محاولة للحفاظ على عمل جماعي تضامني ما في أمور مثل إضرابات الاسرى وغيرها.
كل ما يجري يؤشر إلى ضرورة تجديد الحديث عن المشروع الوطني الفلسطيني. ولا أقصد هنا الحلول المطروحة للصراع، فلا توجد حلول في هذه المرحلة... المطروح حاليا هو مستقبل المشروع الوطني الفلسطيني.
هذا كلام موجه للشباب!!


عزمي بشارة

Douma: Syria’s horrors need the world’s attention

The world cannot afford the apathy and resignation it is demonstrating in the face of bloodshed in Syria and the broader region - civilians deserve protection


Peter Bouckaert

Director, Emergencies
Link


Last Sunday’s bombing by the Syrian government of a busy marketplace in the town of Douma, killing at least 112 of its own citizens, was one of deadliest attacks in an ever-more-devastating conflict. The four strikes came during the busy midday period, as if to maximize destruction. Once again, we were confronted with haunting images of rooms filled with the bodies of the victims, many of them children, being prepared for burial.
Almost exactly 20 years ago, a similarly brutal bombing of a marketplace during the Bosnian war changed the course of that conflict. On 28 August, 1995, during its siege of the city of Sarajevo, forces of the breakaway Republika Srpska fired 5 mortar shells into the Markale market, killing 43 and wounding 75.

Syrian emergency personnel gather around dead bodies wrapped in shrouds following air strikes by Syrian government forces on a marketplace in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, Syria on August 16, 2015.
Syrian emergency personnel gather around dead bodies wrapped in shrouds following air strikes by Syrian government forces on a marketplace in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, Syria on August 16, 2015.
 
© 2015 Getty Images
The horror and outrage generated by that attack - the second on the Markale market, following a 5 February, 1994 strike that killed 68 - unified much of the international community into action. Several of the main Serbian officers implicated in the two market shellings, including Generals Stanislav Galic, Dragomir Milosevic, and Momcilo Perisic, were later tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for their role in the market shellings. Galic was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity during the siege of Sarajevo.
Sadly, it seems unlikely that the horror of the latest market attack in Douma will bring about any effective international response. The attack received widespread media coverage, but faded almost immediately. Instead of becoming a game changer like the Markale market killings, Douma seems destined to become yet another grim marker in a conflict drowning in so many grim markers that even those who follow it closely have trouble remembering them all. In the meanwhile, the civilian population of Syria continues to suffer and die, almost bereft of any hope out of this ever-more brutal conflict.
Let’s be honest. Most of the world is looking away from what is happening in Syria. They no longer read the latest horror news stories, and zone out when Syria comes up in the TV news. Most news organizations are well aware of this so are reporting less on Syria. Syria and much of the Middle East seems like a place of endless, irresolvable conflict, a graveyard of failed attempts to stop the bloodshed.
But that apathy and resignation to failure is a response the world cannot afford when it comes to the crisis in Syria, and the broader region. The consequences of a further meltdown of the Middle East cannot easily be contained to the region, as is clearly evident from the spreading insecurity and instability, the increasing refugee flows out of the region, and the growing threat posed by ISIS-inspired attacks.
Human rights and the laws of war
It is high time to focus on protecting civilians and ending the widespread atrocities that fuel this conflict. It is encouraging that the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, has become increasingly vocal in condemning violations of the laws of war such as the Douma market bombing.
Emphasizing respect for human rights and the laws of war during a conflict as brutal as the Syrian civil war may seem like pie in the sky, but it is in fact a fundamental building block toward ending the armed conflicts raging in the region. The only way out of the vortex of nihilistic violence is to establish a society where everyone - regardless of ethnicity, religion or political views - feels secure and has reasonable hope for a better future for themselves and their children.
One very concrete way to assist those affected by the Syrian conflict is for the Security Council to act on its own resolutions calling for indiscriminate attacks to stop. The Security Council should impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government and other warring parties committing systematic and widespread abuses, and it should refer the situation to the International Criminal Court so that those responsible for crimes like this week’s strikes on Douma fear ending behind the dock. The monitoring and attribution system put in place by the Security Council to establish responsibility for any chemical weapons attacks in Syria should be expanded to monitor and establish responsibility for all indiscriminate attacks in the conflict. Finally, the Security Council should impose targeted sanctions on the individuals responsible for serious violations of the laws of war, putting them on notice that they will be held accountable for their crimes.
Other countries should also provide fleeing Syrians with the safe refuge they deserve outside their brutalized country. Instead of using alarmist language about the “swarms” of migrants - as Prime Minister David Cameron of the UK recently characterized the situation - overwhelming Europe, Europe and the rest of the world should accept their legal and moral obligation toward those who are forced to flee their homes because of violent conflict or mass abuses, and create a fair and accessible asylum system that shares this responsibility equitably across nations.
Europe, let alone the world, is not being overwhelmed by refugees. Yes, the world is facing an unprecedented crisis of flight and displacement, caused by the conflicts the international community has failed to resolve, or in some cases had a direct role in creating. The number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe - 138,000 Syrians in all of Europe in 2014 - pales in comparison with the burden carried by neighboring countries: in Lebanon alone over 1.1 million Syrians have sought refuge.
It is simply shameful for Europe, Australia, the United States, and other countries to refuse to shoulder their collective responsibility to assist people in desperate need, to force them to risk their lives to make it to Europe, and all too often to live in horrible conditions once they do make it into Fortress Europe.
The complexity of the conflict in Syria is no excuse to look away. Civilians in Douma like other civilians caught in conflict, be they in Sarajevo, Gaza, the Negev or Baghdad, deserve protection. There may not be an easy solution to each conflict, but there are always measures that can reduce civilian suffering.
International leaders need to remember that 20 years ago, the abuses in the Balkans also seemed impossible to end. And yet today, some of the main perpetrators of those atrocities are behind bars for their crimes. The scars of the Balkan wars have not all healed, and 20 years later many remain unable to return home. But the bloodshed has ended, and many have returned to their ordinary lives.
The conflicts in Syria and the broader Middle East are of a scale far vaster than the Balkan wars, granted. But so are the consequences of an international failure to bring the crimes to an end.  As with 20 years ago in the Balkans, a much more determined international effort is needed.

Hamas leader says group, Israel holding peace talks

Khaled Meshaal's confirmation of Hamas-Israel talks comes days after an official Israeli denial 

By David Hearst

Link

Truce talks between Hamas and Israel are happening and are progressing "positively", Hamas’s political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal has revealed in an interview published on Friday.
The interview, published in UK-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed, comes on the back of mounting speculation that talks between long-times foes Israel and Hamas about a lasting ceasefire were ongoing.
However, while this is the clearest sign yet that talks are underway, Meshaal stressed that there are five obstacles blocking peace between Hamas and Israel: reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, lifting the siege on Gaza, resolving the Strip's unemployment crisis and allowing for the construction of a seaport and airport as well as water and electricity infrastructure.
Meshaal told Al-Araby al-Jadeed that Blair and others had suggested a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel for years.
“Our answer was that we do not need a ceasefire nor a truce, we do not need new terminology as we do not want war, but there is a legal resistance that will keep going against Israel as long as there is occupation and settlement, but we do not seek war,” he is reported to have said.
The Hamas leader also said that his group is open to all suggestions related to a truce, which is solely focused on Gaza, as long as the conditions do not interfere with Palestinian rights or national interests.
Israel has denied the reports, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying on Monday that the county was "not holding any meetings with Hamas, neither directly, nor via other countries or intermediaries".

Busy backchannel

In recent months, as MEE first reported, former Middle East envoy for the Quartet, Tony Blair, and Meshaal have met several times in Doha in recent months to discuss a long term ceasefire in the coastal enclave.
During those conversations, Meshaal turned down an offer Blair made for an official visit to London to continue negotiations, an invitation the former envoy made with the knowledge of the British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Americans.
An Israeli official involved in the Doha dialogue told Haaretz that before his first meeting with Meshaal, Blair “invited himself” to a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who made clear that he was not authorising him to convey messages to Hamas. But Netanyahu saw Blair’s talks as a feasibility study.
Other Israeli officials told Haaretz that Blair had made no progress in the talks. The ideas raised - a five year cease-fire, an international plan to rebuild Gaza, opening a port in Gaza, or using a port in Cyprus under international supervision - “had all been raised before".
The offer divided Hamas, according to informed sources. There were those who believed that the visit in itself would have marked a major propaganda coup for the organisation, and would have been the prelude to removing Hamas from the European Union list of terrorist organisations.
Others, however, argued that the visit was a trap that would suck Hamas into the failed Oslo process, exchanging an end to the armed resistance to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories for a sea and airport in Gaza.
There were also doubts about Blair’s motives, his personal and business contacts in the Middle East, his association with the United Arab Emirates, which is sheltering the former Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan, and his consultancy work for the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Azzam Tamimi, who is a personal friend of Khaled Meshaal, told Al-Risalah Net that Hamas had requested a delay until a clear formulation of the ceasefire proposal was formed. He said Hamas did not want these talks to be an extension of the Oslo process, or an attempt to revive an agreement that had already failed.
Tamimi, who has been briefed on the ongoing discussions, argued that the visit should have gone ahead. He said it was in the interests of the movement to accept the offer irrespective of the results. What was going on at the moment was nothing more than an “exploration of and search for possibilities of resolving the current crisis in the Strip”.

Added complications

He said that of all the interested parties, the Palestinian Authority was the most opposed to these talks because it considered itself the sole party authorised to conclude international agreements on the Palestinian issue.
“Israel wants an agreement that intensifies the split between Gaza and the West Bank, and that is what Tony Blair is doing,” Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran Palestine Liberation Organisation legislator and senior spokeswoman, told The Independent. “Maintaining and intensifying the split would spell the end of a unified, viable Palestinian state.”
Of the former Prime Minister, she added: “Blair is the last person qualified to be a mediator. We know whose side he is on and has been from the beginning. I don’t believe he moves without [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s approval. He’s looking after Israel’s interests.”
Tamimi said the central logjam in the talks was Blair’s wish for the process to result in a Hamas statement that acknowledges, directly or indirectly, the importance of going back to negotiations.
Hamas refuses to do this, saying it had nothing to do with Oslo, but would be willing to reach an understanding about the lifting of the siege in return for a truce.
A truce in Gaza could be used as a template for an Israeli unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank.
News of the offer of a London visit will further complicate the long-delayed publication of the report by Sir John Jenkins into the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain.
The report is understood to reject the claim of any link between the Brotherhood and terrorist acts in Egypt, but is expected to argue that its network of organisations in Britain is not conducive to the public good.
Much of that argument will be based on support the Brotherhood in Britain gives to Hamas, according to a well-informed source.
The revelation that Blair, with the full knowledge of Cameron, has invited the political head of Hamas to Britain will complicate the British prime minister’s attempts to fold the Jenkin’s report into a package of anti-extremist measures in September.

التطورات الميدانية بمحافظة تعز

Thursday, August 20, 2015

حديث الثورة.. الوضع في تعز وإعادة الاستقرار بعدن

ما وراء الخبر-دلالات تفجير القاهرة بعد قانون "الإرهاب"

DNA 20/08/2015: حزب الله ..وخلية الكويت



A GREAT, GREAT VIDEO!

A GREAT CARTOON BY EMAD HAJJAJ: Arab "Unity" Against "Terror"

العرب وجيوش القرن 21

THE ARABS WILL REMAIN IN THEIR CHAINS.......

FOR ANOTHER 100 YEARS (AT LEAST)........

THE "FRIENDS" IN THE WEST WILL SEE TO THAT!

Syria: Impose Arms Embargo Following Deadly Airstrikes

Repeated Strikes on Douma Kill At Least 112

Link

(New York) – The United Nations Security Council should impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government following the government’s repeated air attacks on Douma’s popular markets and residential areas on August 16, 2015. The attacks killed at least 112 people, whom witnesses and first responders described as overwhelmingly civilian.
Syrian emergency personnel gather around dead bodies wrapped in shrouds following air strikes by Syrian government forces on a marketplace in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, Syria on August 16, 2015.
Syrian emergency personnel gather around dead bodies wrapped in shrouds following air strikes by Syrian government forces on a marketplace in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, Syria on August 16, 2015.
 
© 2015 Getty Images
The Syrian air force conducted four airstrikes within minutes of one another on the main street vendor markets in Douma, the most populous town in besieged eastern Ghouta, an area under the control of opposition armed groups. Human Rights Watch spoke to four witnesses who said that there were no military targets nearby and that the nearest base or combatant front line was at least two kilometers away. Syrian authorities did not comment directly on the strikes other than to criticize the UN envoy, Staffan de Mistura, who had called the strikes on Douma “devastating” and “unacceptable.”
Bombing a market full of shoppers and vendors in broad daylight shows the Syrian government’s appalling disregard for civilians,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director. “This latest carnage is another reminder – if any was still needed – of the urgent need for the Security Council to act on its previous resolutions and take steps to stop indiscriminate attacks.”
Witnesses and first responders told Human Rights Watch that the four airstrikes hit the crowded markets, known locally as the al-Hal, al-Houboub, and al-Ghanam markets, at about noon. All three markets are within 500 meters of one another. Two first responders described a chaotic scene, with the dead and injured scattered on the streets. They said they found about 70 bodies and large numbers of wounded as they arrived. About five minutes after the four airstrikes, government forces fired mortars and rockets into the area, killing six more people, the witnesses said.
Later that afternoon, airstrikes hit a residential area in Douma known as Masaken, or Abed al-Raouf. One Masaken resident told Human Rights Watch that the strikes killed at least 30 people and that government forces opened fire later in the day on those trying to bury relatives in the cemetery. “We had to run 400 meters to the cemetery under the sniper’s bullets to bury my cousin,” he said. “On our way back, mortars started falling again and two people were injured from shrapnel while burying the victims. They do not even want us to bury our martyrs.”
Bombing a market full of shoppers and vendors in broad daylight shows the Syrian government’s appalling disregard for civilians. This latest carnage is another reminder – if any was still needed – of the urgent need for the Security Council to act on its previous resolutions and take steps to stop indiscriminate attacks. 

Nadim Houry

Deputy Middle East Director
The Douma Local Council reported that the August 16 attacks killed a total of 112 and injured 550 civilians, 40 percent of them children, as well as 8 women. The Unified Medical Office of Douma, which coordinates medical care in the area, reported that doctors performed 116 surgeries on the wounded, including 9 amputations.
These were not the first midday attacks on busy markets in eastern Ghouta. Amnesty International investigated air strikes on the market in Hamouria on January 25 shortly after Friday prayers that it said killed more than 40 civilians, and on the market of Kafr Batna on February 5 at about 1 p.m. that it said killed 45 civilians.
According to the Violations Documentation Center in Syria (VDC), a local monitoring group, government aerial and shelling attacks killed at least 462 civilians and 16 fighters in eastern Ghouta between January and June.
Armed groups operating in eastern Ghouta have also indiscriminately shelled civilians living in nearby government-held territory. A March Human Rights Watch reportdocuments indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and markets by armed groups and called on the Security Council to impose a suspension of all military assistance to parties implicated in widespread or systematic violations.
The latest flare-up between government forces and armed groups in eastern Ghouta began on August 12, when armed groups launched mortar shells on several areas in Damascus hours ahead of a visit by the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Zarif, killing 11 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Shortly afterward, government warplanes unleashed a wave of airstrikes on several opposition-held suburbs of the capital, including Douma, killing 37, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
On February 22, 2014, the Security Council demanded that all parties immediately cease all attacks against civilians, as well as the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment,” in its resolution 2139. On August 17, one day after the Ghouta attacks, the Security Council issued a presidential statement reiterating its demands that all parties cease attacks against civilians as well as any indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas.
UN Security Council members, including Russia, which has shielded the Syrian government from sanctions and accountability, should take immediate steps to enforce that demand, Human Rights Watch said. In addition to an arms embargo, the Security Council should apply the same level of scrutiny it has put in place for chemical attacks to all indiscriminate attacks by monitoring these attacks, attributing responsibility for them, and sanctioning those responsible. The Security Council should also refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
The Security Council should also demand that the government lift the unlawful siege on eastern Ghouta, which restricts civilians, the wounded, and the sick from being able to leave the area and impedes the delivery of humanitarian and medical assistance and goods needed for survival.
“How many more lives will be lost before the Security Council enforces its own words?” Houry said. “The Security Council should bring the same commitment to ending indiscriminate strikes on civilians as it has to chemical attacks.”


Hamas follows in the PLO’s footsteps, Part Two

Abdul Sattar Qassem 

Link

On 27April 2008, I wrote an article titled “Hamas follows in the PLO’s footsteps”. This is a continuation of the same article, in which I said that Hamas’s actions and steps towards Israel are not radically different to the steps taken by the PLO, which ended up selling the Palestinian cause and pawning inalienable national rights.
The main premise in that 2008 article was that it seemed as if Hamas, in its political and diplomatic actions, was no different than the first actions taken by Fatah in the early 1970s. It also seemed that Hamas was not responding to the pressures in the form of initiatives, which would confuse the other side, but in the manner expected by the other side. I listed the following points as evidence of the similarity in political actions between the PLO and Hamas:
For a start, the PLO made a proposal in 1970 for a secular democratic state as a solution for the Palestinian cause. Hamas made initiatives and proposals before it participated in the elections, beginning with the truce with Israel (and now it is focusing on the truce initiative once again).
In 1974, the PLO said that it would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state on any part of Palestine that is liberated, while Hamas has reiterated that it would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967 with no conditions.
Third, the PLO said in its amended, or repealed, charter that it considers the Arabs to be a part of the struggle against Israel but, in reality, the PLO accepted the Arabs as mediators between the organisation and Israel. Hamas’s charter is no different in mobilising the Arabs and Muslims, but also accepts them as mediators between the movement and Israel.
The PLO was also concerned with proving to the world that it is not a terrorist organisation and that its goal was to achieve justice. Hamas is doing the same and it is busy acquitting itself from terrorism charges.
In the beginning, the PLO was against direct and indirect negotiations with Israel, but then it agreed to indirect negotiations, and ultimately agreed to direct negotiations. Hamas is now engaged in indirect negotiations with Israel by means of several mediators, mainly the Egyptian government.
Finally, Hamas says that its political actions are a tactic and do not reflect its work strategy, and that is what the PLO has said on many occasions.

Hamas’s head of political bureau meetings

Khaled Meshaal’s meeting with the Saudi Arabian leadership was a major indicator of the political approach adopted by Hamas, especially since Saudi Arabia had proposed the Fez initiative in 1982. This was the foundation for the treacherous Arab initiative introduced in Beirut in 2002.
We know that Saudi Arabia possesses a lot of money and that Hamas is in dire need of funds. The Saudis can provide financial assistance, but they do not dare to send money without the approval of America and Israel. It also wouldn’t dare to send even one bullet to support the resistance in Gaza. Saudi Arabia has consented to meetings with Israeli officials in order to coordinate and plot against Iran. The resistance in Gaza needs money, but its need for weapons is greater; however, Saudi Arabia will not redirect its planes from Yemen to occupied Palestine to avenge the death of baby Ali Dawabsheh. Meshaal’s visit to Saudi Arabia itself is scary, because it means that Hamas has accepted the Arab brokers who have always pawned the Palestinian issue.
What is worse than the visit to Saudi Arabia was Meshaal’s meeting with the tarnished British politician Tony Blair whose hands are stained with the blood of Arabs and Muslims. Blair is hostile towards Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians and Iranians and is one of the biggest supporters of Israel. He always describes the Arab resistance movements in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq as “terrorists”. Meeting with Blair is a disgrace and an unforgivable sin. He is the one who incited against Iraq and his soldiers helped America to destroy the country.
We, the Palestinian people, should take a stand against Britain and all past, present and future British officials. Britain is ultimately responsible for our suffering, displacement, torture and the death of our children, and has supported the Zionists and their hostile and criminal state. Israel is still prosecuting surviving Nazis on an international level while we are still being trampled under the feet of the British who continue to commit crimes against us.

The new pawnbroker

A Turkish official said on Monday that a truce between Hamas and Israel is about to be announced. I do not think the Turks would say anything that they weren’t certain of and it seems that they have also stolen the ways of the pawnbroker from the Arab regimes. Officials in Ankara speak out against the blockade of Gaza, but they have not cut their economic, trade and diplomatic ties with Israel; and just like the Arab governments, they have not provided a single bullet to the resistance in Gaza. Turkey is the new broker who is pawning the Palestinian cause in favour of Israel.
Just to be clear, Israel will never agree to opening an airport or seaport for Gaza without any security arrangements. This means that Hamas, if you believe the details reported by the media, is required to be the new Palestinian guardian over the State of Israel. It seems that it is not enough to have half of us Palestinians acting as treacherous agents of Israel, we must all turn against ourselves for the benefit of our enemy.
The question that we now ask the Palestinian resistance in Gaza is simple: What are you doing? Will Hamas provide the new protective security forces that will persecute the Palestinian fighters or will it maintain and preserve its national and religious values? The question for Islamic Jihad is, will you jump on the bandwagon or will you stand firm? It is worth noting that you allowed a supporter of the Oslo Accords to represent the resistance at the Cairo negotiations held after the 2014 Israeli offensive.
Translated from Arabi21, 18 August, 2015.