This year let's celebrate … the women of Egypt's revolution

International Women's Day: Women are standing up against bullying and sexual abuse by the military and won't be silenced

Ahdaf Soueif
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 March 2012

"On 16 February 2011, 10 of the most active feminist NGOs in Egypt issued a statement with a broad agenda. It ended:

"As women, we have been active participants in the Egyptian popular revolution and will continue this role, insisting on the full participation of women in the political and decision-making processes in the coming period. We believe that the elimination of all forms of discrimination – not only those based on gender, but also on class, race, belief or ideological affiliation – is the way to achieve citizenship for all."

On 9 March, however, the military discriminated: having detained scores of young activists from downtown Cairo and taken them off to military jails, they asked the women if they were "girls" or "women"; the "girls" were then subjected to a virginity test. When they were released, one of them, , Samira Ibrahim, took the military to court and is fighting her case now. When she spoke at Banha University recently, she was hailed as a heroine.......

On 17 December, during a vicious attack on protesters outside the cabinet office, the military generated the "blue bra" image that flashed across the world. The incident also brought out a 3,000-woman march chanting: "Our revolution, the military stole it, the women of Egypt will restore it." One young woman, who had to have 25 stitches to her head and many more to her legs after soldiers beat her, rose to fame for throwing Field Marshal Tantawi (the chief of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) out of her hospital ward when he had the gall to come to visit.

Women here have come forward as a solid force, an integral part of a national movement bent on change, participation, social justice and freedom. And they're taking steps to ensure that the old tactics of bullying and sexual abuse cannot be used to intimidate them."

Egypt: Drop Charges in Non-Profit Group Cases

New Associations Law in the Works is a Potential Way Out

March 7, 2012

"(New York) – The Egyptian authorities should drop the charges against 43 workers with nongovernmental organizations who are charged with operating “unlicensed” groups under a repressive law, Human Rights Watch said today.

The trial before the South Cairo Criminal Court is scheduled to re-open on March 8, 2012, after the previous panel of judges recused itself and the appeals court president referred the case to a new circuit. In the meantime, the Egyptian parliament is drafting a new law governing nongovernmental organizations to replace the Mubarak-era law, which grants the government excessive powers to regulate and restrict these groups.

“Egypt’s judges have in the past protected nongovernmental groups and dismissed politicized charges against dissidents,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “This is an opportunity to end a politicized saga by throwing out the case while parliament drafts a new law that will decriminalize peaceful activity by nongovernmental groups.”...."

Syria's deputy oil minister defects

Abdo Hussameldin announces his defection in a video whose authenticity could not be immediately verified.

Al-Jazeera

"Abdo Hussameldin, Syria's deputy oil minister, has announced his defection in a video posted by activists on YouTube.

If confirmed, Hussameldin would become one of the highest ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago.

"I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party. I join the revolution of this dignified people," Hussameldin said in a YouTube video.

Rami, the activist who shot the video and posted it on YouTube on Thursday, told AFP news agency in Beirut that the opposition helped arrange his resignation. He asked that the location where the video was shot not be disclosed for safety reasons.

Hussameldin denounced Russia and China for backing the regime saying they were not "friends of the Syrian people but partners in the killing of the Syrian people".

He said he had served in the Syrian government for 33 years and did not wish to end his life "serving a criminal regime".

"That is why I have joined the right path knowing that this regime will burn down my house, hunt down my family and fabricate lies," he said.

He advised his colleagues to abandon "this sinking ship"......"

The "New" Egypt, by Emad Hajjaj

حماس والابتعاد التدريجي عن ايران بعد سورية

حماس والابتعاد التدريجي عن ايران بعد سورية
رأي القدس

"تعيش حركة المقاومة الاسلامية 'حماس' عملية تحول استراتيجي غير مسبوقة تشمل من ضمن ما تشمل، اعادة النظر في تحالفاتها الاقليمية السابقة، ونسج تحالفات جديدة ربما تؤدي في نهاية المطاف الى قطيعة مع ماض استمر لاكثر من عشرين عاما تقريبا.
بداية هذا التحول تجسدت في انحياز الحركة الى الثورة الشعبية المطالبة بالتغيير الديمقراطي في سورية، وادارة ظهرها للنظام الذي فتح لها ابوابه واحتضن قيادتها طوال السنوات الماضية، ومغادرة جميع قياداتها المقيمة في الخارج دمشق والاستقرار بصفة نهائية في عواصم عربية.
السيد خالد مشعل رئيس المكتب السياسي للحركة حط الرحال في العاصمة القطرية الدوحة ومعه عضوان من المكتب السياسي هما محمد نصر وعزت الرشق، بينما استقر الدكتور موسى ابو مرزوق نائبه في القاهرة، واختار السيد عماد العلمي التوجه الى مسقط رأسه في قطاع غزة.
مرحلة المراجعة هذه لم تقتصر على القطيعة مع النظام السوري، والانحياز الى الشعب وثورته احتجاجا على القمع والحلول الامنية الدموية التي ادت الى سقوط سبعة آلاف شخص حتى الآن، وانما في طريقها للامتداد الى ايران ايضا الدولة التي دعمت حركة 'حماس' ماليا ومعنويا وكانت عاصمتها طهران محجا موسميا لاعضاء قيادتها.
مسؤولان في الحركة فاجآ المجتمع الدولي قبل العربي والاسلامي يوم امس باعلانهما انها لن تتدخل في اي حرب بين ايران واسرائيل، ولن تطلق ما في جعبتها من صواريخ على المستوطنات والمدن الاسرائيلية في حال نشوب هذه الحرب، اي انها ستقف على الحياد مثلما يمكن فهمه من خلال التصريحات التي ادلى بها في هذا الخصوص كل من السيد احمد يوسف مستشار وزارة الخارجية في حكومة غزة، والسيد صلاح البردويل عضو المكتب السياسي للحركة.
السيد البردويل قال جازما بان الحركة لن تقدم الدعم لايران في حالة تعرضها لضربة اسرائيلية او امريكية لتدمير مشروعها النووي، مؤكدا 'ان ايران شيعية بينما ابناء الشعب الفلسطيني في القطاع هم من اتباع الطائفة السنية' مثلما جاء في حديثه لصحيفة 'الغارديان' البريطانية التي نشرته في عددها الصادر امس، بينما حرص السيد يوسف على القول ان حماس لن تتدخل في هذه الحرب لانها 'ليست جزءا من اي محور عسكري او سياسي وعملها ينحصر في ارض فلسطين فقط، واذا تعرض قطاع غزة لهجوم عسكري فستتولى القيادة العسكرية الميدانية الرد'.
هذه التصريحات ستفاجئ الكثيرين خاصة في ايران من حيث توقيتها، والكشف في الوقت نفسه عن اتصالات جرت بين الدكتور محمود الزهار الرجل القوي في الحركة ومسؤولين في الادارة الامريكية مثلما قال السيد البردويل في المقابلة نفسها.
التوقيت مهم، لان التصريحات الامريكية والاسرائيلية تتوالى هذه الايام حول عدم استبعاد اي خيار عسكري لتدمير البرامج النووية الايرانيةن خاصة على هامش زيارة بنيامين نتنياهو رئيس الوزراء الاسرائيلي لواشنطن ولقائه مع الرئيس الامريكي باراك اوباما.
من المؤكد ان السيدين البردويل ويوسف لا يعبران عن آراء شخصية وانما عن استراتيجية جديدة للحركة، فالمسألة ليست زلة لسان وانما تسريب متعمد لارسال رسالة واضحة حول التغيير في تحالفات حماس الجديدة لاكثر من طرف عربي واسلامي ودولي.
حركة 'حماس' ليست مضطرة للاجابة على اسئلة افتراضية مثل عما اذا كانت ستدخل الى جانب ايران في حرب ضد اسرائيل، فأبجديات علم السياسة تنهى عن وقوع المسؤولين في هذه المصيدة، وتحث على التريث بالقول 'اننا سنقطع هذا الجسر عندما نصله' مثلما يفعل معظم السياسيين المخضرمين.
من الواضح ان هناك تعمدا مقصودا للتأكيد على ابتعاد الحركة التدريجي عن معسكر ايران- سورية- حزب الله، بصفة مؤقتة او نهائية، والاقتراب اكثر من محور الاعتدال العربي الذي يضم دولا 'سنية' مثل المملكة العربية السعودية وقطر والامارات والكويت ومصر وانسجاما مع مواقف الاسلاميين وحركة الاخوان المسلمين خاصة التي باتت تملك مع التيار السلفي ثلثي مقاعد البرلمان المصري على الاقل.
حركة 'حماس' عادت الى حاضنتها الطبيعية اي حركة الاخوان المسلمين، وارادت بمثل هذه النقلة تصحيح 'خطأ'، واستجابة لضغوط مكثفة من قبل الحركة الام، اي حركة الاخوان، تزايدت في الاشهر الاخيرة بعد اندلاع ثورات الربيع العربي.
من السابق لاوانه اطلاق احكام متسرعة على توجهات الحركة المستقبلية، ولكن حديث السيد خالد مشعل عن تبنيه للمقاومة السلمية والعصيان المدني ربما ينبئ بالكثير في هذا المضمار، بالاضافة الى ما يتحدث عنه مراقبون مقربون من الحركة حول الانسجام الشديد بينه وبين الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس الذي ظهر بوضوح في الاسابيع الاخيرة وادى الى توقيع اتفاق الدوحة.
"

UN envoy visits battered Homs district

Valerie Amos, in Syria for talks aimed at securing humanitarian access, saw city that was 'completely devastated'.

Al-Jazeera

"The United Nations' humanitarian affairs chief has visited the battered Syrian opposition neighbourhood of Bab Amr, in Homs, finding it largely deserted of inhabitants, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who arranged the visit, has told Al Jazeera.

Valerie Amos followed a delegation from the Syrian Arab Crescent into the district, after first receiving approval from the government, ICRC spokesman Saleh Dabbakeh told Al Jazeera.

She saw a city that was "completely devasted", her spokesperson said.

Amos heard gunfire during her visit, and was denied entry into areas that were under opposition control, despite being promised by the Syrian foreign minister earlier in the day that she could visit any part of the country, Amanda Pitt, the spokesperson, said......"

Grasping the Syrian Quagmire

A VERY GOOD AND LONG ARTICLE

Esam Al-Amin

"One of the most significant and enduring consequences of the Arab Spring has been the bloody uprising in Syria. For almost a year cities across the Levant have been defying the iron grip of the Assad regime and challenging the police state of the Ba'ath party.

Of all the countries engulfed by the revolutionary fever encompassing the Arab World, Syria, a country of 23 million, epitomizes the toughest case....

Similar to Iraq's Saddam Hussein, every aspect of Syrian politics and public institutions has been dominated by the totalitarian-style of the Ba'ath party since 1963. But unlike Tunisia or Egypt, where the public enjoyed a relatively vibrant civil society, Syria suffers from the total absence of any democratic institutions, civic organizations, or independent media....

....Corruption in Syrian society has become endemic. A small but powerful elite composed of the Assad family and other powerful Alawite families, as well as small number of loyal families from the prominent merchant class in Damascus and Aleppo, have been controlling all major industries, financial institutions, and trade in the country. According to Transparency International, Syria ranks 129 in the world on the corruption index (by comparison, Egypt's Mubarak ranked 112 and Tunisia's Ben Ali, 73).....

But despite the massive evidence of atrocities, why has the Assad regime's assault on its people gone unabated? What are the factors that distinguish Syria from the other uprisings of the Arab Spring? And finally, what are the likely scenarios of the Syrian revolt? To answer these questions one needs first to understand the regional and international context and the players that have a direct stake in the outcome of the Syrian conflict.....

But hypocrisy is not the domain of the West alone. Iran and Hezbollah, which have been very popular with the Arab masses for decades, have also chosen strategic calculations over moral principles. Their unwavering support for the Assad regime, despite its massacres against peaceful protesters, has cost them dearly in the Arab street. In the case of Iran, the support was not only political but included providing military hardware and expertise, tear-gas canisters causing severe burns and partial paralysis for the demonstrators, as well as providing technical assistance in communications and in monitoring the Internet. According to a well-placed source in Damascus, several senior members of Iran's revolutionary guards have been providing technical expertise in command-and-control to the Syrian military onslaught against major cities such as Homs and Hama.

More recently Ali Larijani, Iran's parliamentary speaker, angrily admonished the leaders of the Palestinian resistance groups during their recent visit to Tehran because, unlike Hezbollah, they were not actively and publicly supporting the Assad regime. Shortly after, many Palestinian leaders -- including most Hamas senior cadres -- left the Syrian capital for good as their relations with Tehran and Damascus has reached an historic low....

So what are the possible scenarios for the Syrian quagmire?

The Tunisia/Egyptian scenario:.....

The Yemeni scenario:......

The Libyan scenario:....

The Iraqi/Somali scenario:.....

The assassination plot scenario:....

The grand political bargain scenario:.....

The long-term regime attrition scenario: In essence, the conflict in Syria is a test of wills between the regime and the Syrian people. For almost a year the Syrian people have demonstrated courage, determination, and resolve to reclaim their freedom against a brutal and bloody regime. After a year full of enormous sacrifices, it is unlikely that the will of the Syrian people could be crushed. The fear of the regime by the people has been broken, as more people from all walks of life across Syria have taken to the streets. Despite its enormous military power, the readiness of the army and security apparatus has been deteriorating daily and cannot be sustained for a long period of time. The economy is collapsing and soon major commercial strikes and civil disobedience might spread, paralyzing the country. In all likelihood, the International Criminal Court will also indict Assad and his senior leaders, tightening the noose around their necks. In this scenario the combined effects of all these measures would result in the collapse of the regime and the disintegration of the exhausted army.....

....Almost a decade later, Iran is committing the same miscalculation with its unconditional backing of the Assad regime. Whichever scenario plays out, it is unlikely that Assad would survive, unless Israel attacks Iran, resulting in a whole new calculus.

Barring this possibility, the question then becomes how would the region look as Assad disappears from the scene: is it the ultimate triumph of people power or a sectarian fire spreading across the entire region?"

Syria's Alawite activists stuck in the middle

Despite fears of sectarianism if the regime falls, some in the Alawite minority are speaking out against Assad.

By Nir Rosen
Al-Jazeera

"The Syrian opposition has been stepping up efforts to get religious minorities involved in the year-old uprising. The exiled opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) recently issued a statement announcing that it "extends [a] hand to the Alawite community", the sect which President Bashar al-Assad belongs to.

Although a minority, Alawites dominate Syria’s various security agencies, its army's officer corps and key positions in the government. Western backers of the SNC and opponents of the regime often say the Damascus leadership will only fall when the Alawite community is persuaded to abandon it.

An older Sunni opposition intellectual who spent time in prison before and during the current uprising agreed with this analysis when I spoke to him in Damascus. "The system will fall only when Alawites believe they are headed in the wrong direction," he said, adding that "Alawite intellectuals must realise that if they want to live in this country, they must be against the regime and with the revolution."

Historically, Alawites have played a prominent role in the opposition. But in the ongoing uprising, there are few prominent Alawite voices. Many members of the community fear they will be marginalised if the Sunni majority gains power. Given their experiences of oppression before the Baath party took over in 1963, some statements by the opposition have only encouraged their fears.....

Despite these challenges, the pressures they face from their own communities and families, from the regime and from sectarian trends in the opposition, Alawite activists are keen to make their voices heard.

On December 31 a delegation of Alawite activists joined about 500 Sunni demonstrators in Barzeh.. The leader of the rally announced to the crowd that they had special guests that evening. One man took the microphone and told the crowd he was an Alawite from Homs. They cheered and clapped. He told them there were other Alawites in the crowd and many Alawites "in the prisons of the dog called Bashar al-Assad". The crowds cheered and clapped again, and continued doing so after he shouted: "I am from the Alawite sect - not from the Assadi sect". He led the crowd in chanting "one, one, one, the Syrian people is one!" and "the people want the execution of Bashar!""

Al-Jazeera Video: Syria's propaganda war

"The Syrian government has reportedly attempted to cover-up civilian casualties of its almost month-long bombardment of opposition strongholds in Homs by clearing out bodies and through its media propaganda campaign."

Real News Video: Netanyahu Invokes Holocaust and Threats to Americans in Iran AIPAC Speech

Max Blumenthal: Netanyahu concedes "red line" to Obama, but creates a culture for war

Real News Video (with Transcript) : The Effects of Sanctions and Talk of War in Iran

Hamid Dabashi: Threat of war makes Iran more of a "garrison" state as sanctions hurt ordinary people

China: Rise, Fall and Re-Emergence as a Global Power: Some Lessons from the Past

By James Petras

"....China has powerful trading, financial and investment networks covering the globe as well as powerful economic partners .These links have become essential for the continued growth of many of countries throughout the developing world. In taking on China, the US will have to face the opposition of many powerful market-based elites throughout the world. Few countries or elites see any future in tying their fortunes to an economically unstable empire-based on militarism and destructive colonial occupations.

In other words, modern China, as a world power, is incomparably stronger than it was in early 18th century. The US does not have the colonial leverage that the ascendant British Empire possessed in the run-up to the Opium Wars. Moreover, many Chinese intellectuals and the vast majority of its citizens have no intention of letting its current “Westernized compradors” sell out the country. Nothing would accelerate political polarization in Chinese society and hasten the coming of a second Chinese social revolution more than a timid leadership submitting to a new era of Western imperial pillage. "

Back-Seat Driver, by Bagley

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Tunisia: Free Speech Double Standards

by Amna Guellali
(Amna Guellali is the Tunisia and Algeria researcher at Human Rights Watch)

"Freedom of expression has become a battleground in post-revolution Tunisia. Debate is already raging at the National Constituent Assembly over a draft constitution put forward by the Islamist Ennahdha party that includes an article stating, “Freedom of thought, expression, press, and publication are guaranteed while taking into consideration the sanctities of peoples and religions.”

This debate has implications for all of the countries experiencing the ‘Arab spring’. But there have been recent echoes of the same issues in western capitals as well. Meanwhile in Tunisia, the flag of freedom of expression has often been waved when politically convenient and forgotten when it isn’t.

A visit in February by the Egyptian cleric Wajdi Ghounim, notorious for his fatwa supporting the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), widened the rift between secularists and Islamists. Invited by three Tunisian nongovernmental organizations, Ghounim gave sermons around the country in which he equated secularists to enemies of Islam. On the airwaves of Radio Mosaïque FM, he said that FGM, while not compulsory, is a practice encouraged by Islamic scholars for “medical reasons” and likened it to “cosmetic surgery.” “Every person who does not abide by the law of God,” Ghounim said on Mosaïque, “is an apostate.”...."

Senator McCain Wants to Wage War Against Syria. A Libya Redux??

Former GOP presidential nominee calls for airstrikes against Assad government

Common Dreams

"Republican US Senator John McCain, his party's nominee for president in 2008 and a perennial war hawk, urged US military intervention in Syria on Monday. On a speech from the Senate floor, McCain said the US should use its "full weight of air power" against the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

"Providing military assistance to the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups is necessary. But at this late hour, that alone cannot be sufficient to stop the slaughter and save innocent lives.The only realistic way to do so is with foreign air power." He added, "The United States should lead an international effort to protect key population centers in Syria, especially in the north, through airstrikes on Assad's forces."...."

Back to basics in Palestine

By Ramzy Baroud
Asia Times

"Ongoing destruction of Palestinian olive trees by Israeli settlers underlines Israel's efforts to break historic bonds. Bizarre laws allowing indefinite detentions, property seizures and the interrogation of surgery patients add insult, and as apartheid-like practices worsen, counting on Western leaders to provoke change proves futile....

Before we speak of "solutions" to the "Palestinian-Israeli conflict", I believe that we must first resolve our own dilemma by divesting from an occupation that runs counter to any conception of true humanism.

Desmond Tutu once said, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

Where do we stand in relation to this conflict? Are we on the side of the armed Brooklyn settler, and the US-armed Israeli soldier? Or are we on the side of the bearded old man holding tightly to his broken olive branches, conveying a profound mix of despair and hope?

The choice is yours. And the consequences of your choice could redefine history. "

Anwar Al-Balkimy, Egyptian Lawmaker, Resigns Following Nose Job Scandal

"Egypt's conservative Al-Nour party announced Monday that it has expelled one of its members of parliament, Anwar al-Balkimy, after discovering that the lawmaker fabricated a story about getting beaten up by a masked gunman in order to cover up a recent nose job, The New York Times reports.

The lie was discovered after Al-Nour party members decided to travel to the hospital where al-Balkimy was recovering from facial injuries and investigate his claim that he was assaulted and mugged by unidentifiable carjackers, according to a statement released by the party on Monday.

"Based on what the hospital officials said, we decided to expel him from the party, and so he submitted his resignation," al-Nour party spokesman Nader Bakar was quoted as saying on the group's official Facebook page. "We are trying to bring forth a new set of social values in politics based on Islamic principles. He may be suffering from an emotional disorder."

A number of Egyptian media outlets have reported that al-Balkimy checked into a Cairo hospital on Feb. 28 in order to undergo a rhinoplasty procedure and then checked into a second hospital the next day, telling doctors that his bandaged face was the result of an attempted carjacking on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway.

While he was checked in to the second hospital, he received a flood of visitors including the head of a rival party, the AP reports.

In the meantime, Al Arabiya published a photo of al-Balkimy with his face heavily bandaged, which quickly spread across news outlets.
The revelation that al-Balkimy lied was highly embarrassing for a party which espouses ultra-conservative beliefs, according to The New York Times. It's also an early hit to Egypt's burgeoning electoral democracy, which had its first meeting of parliament just 40 days ago........"

Gauging Arab public opinion

A new, comprehensive poll illuminates Arabs' opinions on democracy, corruption, Palestine/Israel, and the US.

By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"The first of its kind - a poll conducted in 12 Arab countries, representing 84 per cent of the population of the Arab world, in an attempt to gauge the region's political mood - has arrived at some interesting results.

Organised by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), face-to-face interviews by Arab surveyors with 16,731 individuals in the first half of 2011 revealed majority support for the goals of the Arab revolutions and notably, for a democratic system of government.

The countries surveyed included Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania, with the help of local institutions and research centres.

While people seem generally split on the question of separation of state and religion, a majority supports the non-interference of religious authorities in politics.

And by a 15-1 ratio, Israel and the US are seen as more threatening than Iran. However, this ratio is lower among those living in proximity to Iran.

Opinions differ on certain issues from country to country and region to region, but there's clearly a trans-national, trans-border public consensus when it comes to questions of identity and national priorities.

The data generated by the poll, the largest conducted so far in the region, is a treasure trove for those looking to better understand the political environment in the Arab world......"

Stratfor and geopolitical instruments of our demise

The privatisation of intelligence procurement has led to the rise of Stratfor, as recently leaked emails reveal.

By Mark LeVine
Al-Jazeera

"......More troubling is Stratfor's contracts with Homeland Security, which is on record as coordinating the recent police attacks on the Occupy movement across the United States, as documented by Rolling Stone.

At the very least, we should not be surprised if in the coming years, Stratfor and similar organisations play an increasingly prevalent and pernicious, role in the privatisation of the security, intelligence and policing by governments across the world. It is this function - the ability to monitor and even attack citizens when governments can't afford to get their hands dirty - which will be the most important "geopolitical instrument" (to use CEO George Friedman's term) that companies like Stratfor can offer their corporate and government customers.

If so far their "craft" remains amateurish, the experience of Iraq shows that all they need to do to succeed is sow enough chaos and distrust among their adversaries to keep the customers happy and the profits rolling in. If Stratfor can do that, George Friedman and his henchmen will have the last laugh, no matter who is reading their emails."

Can the Syrian regime crush the uprising? Yes, suggests history

Bashar al-Assad's fall is far from inevitable: past Middle Eastern uprisings have failed more often than succeeded

Chris Phillips
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 March 2012

".......The more the regime kill, the more they risk affecting extended families in other cities, widening the opposition. Recent demonstrations in the previously loyal middle-class district of Mezze in Damascus suggest the tide of public support may yet turn, particularly if the economy continues to decline under the weight of sanctions and unrest.

For now, however, as with Algeria, Iraq and his father before him, the pillars of Bashar's regime remain in place. Recent historical examples in the region illustrate how difficult it is to unseat a ruling regime without the assistance of western firepower. In its absence, those seeking to topple Assad must thus consider how best to erode those pillars in a manner least damaging to Syria in the long run.

For those wondering about Assad's next move, however, policymakers could do worse than look at the past Algerian, Iraqi and Syrian examples for a dictator's handbook on how to survive an uprising."

Hamas rules out military support for Iran in any war with Israel

Senior figures say Gaza-based Islamic militants would not launch rockets into Israel at request of Tehran, a key sponsor

Harriet Sherwood in Gaza City
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 March 2012

"Hamas will not do Iran's bidding in any war with Israel, according to senior figures within the militant Islamic group.

"If there is a war between two powers, Hamas will not be part of such a war," Salah Bardawil, a member of the organisation's political bureau in Gaza City, told the Guardian.

He denied the group would launch rockets into Israel at Tehran's request in response to a strike on its nuclear sites. "Hamas is not part of military alliances in the region," said Bardawil. "Our strategy is to defend our rights"

The stance underscores Hamas's rift with its key financial sponsor and its realignment with the Muslim Brotherhood and popular protest movements in the Arab world.

Bardawil's words were echoed by a second senior Hamas figure, who declined to be named. Hamas, he said, "would not get involved" in any war between Iran and Israel......"

Exclusive Video: Syrian Doctors Torturing Patients

A Syrian employee at the Military Hospital in Homs has provided video evidence that medics are torturing patients, writes Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller.

Channel 4 News

"Chilling video images, covertly filmed by an employee at the hospital, who risked his life to bring to world attention the plight of what he claims are civilian patients there, were broadcast on Channel 4 News on Monday 5 March.

It is the first time such video evidence has emerged. Medical and human rights experts consider the intentional infliction of pain by doctors within the confines of a hospital to be the ultimate desecration of human rights and "a gross breach of medical ethics"......"

Real News Video (with Transcript) : Egyptians Combat State Media Propaganda

Phyllis Bennis: Obama distances US from Netanyahu's rhetoric and prepares for 2012 elections

Real News Video : Saudi's and US Waging a Proxy War in Syria

Hamid Dabashi: Syrian people caught in a proxy war as they fight a brutal dictatorship


EXCELLENT VIDEO!

Audio: Ali Abunimah and Ilan Pappe keynote speeches at Harvard One State Conference

By Ali Abunimah

"On March 3 and 4 many speakers gave presentations and took part in discussions at the Harvard One State Conference. There were no official recordings of the proceedings, however, the two keynote speeches by Ali Abunimah and Ilan Pappe were captured by members of the audience.



Video streaming by Ustream

Syrians fleeing to Lebanon 'feared slaughter' in Assad backlash

Up to 2,000 people have fled to Lebanon over last two days as Assad's forces hunt down opponents in Homs

guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 March 2012

"Syrian refugees fleeing to neighbouring Lebanon on Monday said they feared they would be slaughtered in their own homes as government forces hunted down opponents in a brutal offensive against the opposition stronghold of Homs.

Activists accused the regime of trying to hide its crimes from the world as the military cracks down on an anti-government uprising that has raged for nearly a year.

With world pressure at a peak, the Syrian regime agreed to allow in two prominent international emissaries it had previously rebuffed – former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, the new special envoy to Syria, and UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos. Annan will go to Damascus on Saturday and Amos said she will arrive in the capital on Wednesday and leave on Friday....."

Obama and Netanyahu: the president of hope meets the PM of doom

Their testy meeting over Iran's nuclear ambitions showed how far the Palestinian question has dropped down the agenda

Chris McGreal
The Guardian, Monday 5 March 2012

"At least they looked each other in the eye this time. But there was no escaping the sense that once again Israel's prime minister was playing schoolmaster to the US president's recalcitrant pupil....

Three years ago, Obama was promising to shift the weight of US power to drive Israel towards a deal with the Palestinians whether it really wants one or not. But the president of hope has been confronted with the prime minister of doom. Netanyahu sees only threats. The Arab Spring is a menace — more like an Arab Winter. Hamas is seeping into the Palestinian power structure. And now there's Iran.

Israel's threat of another war has at least saved Netanyahu from having to talk to Obama about his least favourite subject; the future of a people who have yet to be given the right to make their own decisions."

Women’s Day: Taking a stand with women in the Middle East

Amnesty International
March 6, 2012

"People around the world should show their solidarity with the courageous women who were pivotal in uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, Amnesty International said.

Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, the organization is calling on its supporters to mark the day by sending messages of support to women in the region.

Thousands of individual actions are expected to be taken, with a focus on four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen – where women remain at the heart of calls for reform, but a broad spectrum of women’s rights are still threatened.

In North Africa, which saw momentous events in 2011, political change has yet to translate into real gains for women’s rights.

“Across the Middle East and North Africa, women have been an inspiring force for change, standing up against repressive regimes to defend basic human rights and promote reform and equality,” said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International.

“This International Women’s Day, we stand in solidarity with these courageous women, to support them in their struggle for human rights and freedom, and to let them know the world is behind them at this historic moment.”......"

BREAKING NEWS: Egypt gas pipeline blown for 13th time since Mubarak ouster

Bikya Masr

"CAIRO: Gunmen set off an explosion at a gas pipeline in Egypt in the 13th such attack on the pipeline that transports gas to Israel and Jordan since former president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in popular street protests about one-year ago.

The pipelines carry cheap gas to Israel and Jordan. The 20-year gas deal struck with Israel in 2005 under Mubarak’s reign entails very favorable conditions for Israel. It is highly-contested among Egyptians who see the deal as a selling-off of its natural resources, besides the objection of exporting to Israel as a matter of principle.

On the other hand, Israel is highly dependent on the gas imports from Egypt, which accounts for 43 percent of its gas supplies.

Under popular pressure to toughen its stance towards Israel, the interim government has sought to renegotiate the terms of the gas deal with Israel, but so far with no success. However, they were able to double the price of gas exported to Jordan [But not Israel! Way to go SCAF!] last month......"

Al-Jazeera Video: ICRC's Saleh Dabbakeh on Homs aid convoy

"Saleh Dabbakeh, the spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross speaks to Al Jazeera about its aid convoy in Homs."

Debate: Attacking Iran, AIPAC, Israel-Palestine and Obama with Rashid Khalidi and Jonathan Tobin

Democracy Now!

"President Obama addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Sunday, assuring the pro-Israel lobbying group he will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran and reiterated his unwavering support for Israel. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Obama at the White House today, we host a debate between Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University and Commentary magazine’s Jonathan Tobin. “It is true [Iran does not] have the weapon now, the question is are we going to wait until ... they are one screwdriver away from doing it or not,” says Tobin. “[Iran’s] policy has been to forthrightly proclaim it wishes to destroy Israel — to wipe it off the map. Letting it have nuclear weapons is a threat to the entire region." But Khalidi argues that war with Iran “would guarantee that no responsible Iranian leadership in the future would allow Iran to be without a nuclear weapon after it had been attacked in an unprovoked fashion either by the U.S. or Israel.” Khalidi adds, “it will be a disaster that would make Iraq and Afghanistan look like tea parties.” Tobin and Khalidi also debate the relationship between Iran and Syria...."

Guardian Video: Syrian refugees flee to neighbouring Lebanon

The UN refugee agency says up to 2,000 Syrians have crossed the border into Lebanon to escape the violence. One woman who wanted to remain anonymous said she fled on foot during the night when government forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad started shelling the Syrian border town of al-Qusayr

guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 March 2012

Real News Video : Obama at AIPAC

Jim Lobe: There are serious strategic differences between US and Israel, but they share the aim of weakening Iran as a regional power

Real News Video : Occupy AIPAC Opposes War and Sanctions Against Iran

130 organizations call for diplomacy with Iran and a US Middle East policy not based on unequivocal support for Israel

Iran War, Ready or Not. By Khalil Bendib

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

AIPAC Works for the 1 Percent

By Chris Hedges

Chris Hedges gave this talk Saturday night in Washington, D.C., at the Occupy AIPAC protest, organized by CODEPINK Women for Peace and other peace, faith and solidarity groups.

"The battle for justice in the Middle East is our battle. It is part of the vast, global battle against the 1 percent. It is about living rather than dying. It is about communicating rather than killing. It is about love rather than hate. It is part of the great battle against the corporate forces of death that reign over us—the fossil fuel industry, the weapons manufacturers, the security and surveillance state, the speculators on Wall Street, the oligarchic elites who assault our poor, our working men and women, our children, one in four of whom depend on food stamps to eat, the elites who are destroying our ecosystem with its trees, its air and its water and throwing into doubt our survival as a species....

These neoconservatives were too blind and too enamored of their own power to see what invading Afghanistan and Iraq would trigger; so too are they unable to comprehend the regional conflagration that would be unleashed by attacking Iran, what it would mean for us, for Israel, for our allies and for tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of innocents.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish,” the Bible warns.

And since our elites have no vision it is up to us. The uprisings from Tunisia to Egypt to Greece to Occupy Wall Street to our gathering outside AIPAC’s doors in Washington are the same primal struggle for sanity, peace and justice, for a world wrenched free from the grip of those who would destroy it. And the abject fawning of our political elite, including Barack Obama, before AIPAC and its bank account is yet another window into the moral bankruptcy of our political class, another sign that the formal mechanisms of power are useless and broken. Civil disobedience is all we have left. It is our patriotic duty. We are called to make the cries of mothers, fathers and children in the squalid refugee camps in Gaza, in the suburbs of Tehran and in the bleak industrial wastelands in Ohio heard. We are called to stand up before these forces of death, the purveyors of violence, those whose hearts have grown cold with hatred. We are called to embrace and defend life with intensity and passion if we are to survive as a species, if we are to save our planet from the ravages of corporate greed and the specter of endless and futile war......"

Obama’s Red Line

War with Iran has just gotten more likely

by Justin Raimondo, March 05, 2012

"“We’ve got Israel’s back” – that is the message President Obama sent out ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US for a crucial summit at the White House, and he did it in an interview granted to one of the leading pro-Israel voices in the media, Jeffrey Goldberg, former Israeli prison guard and IDF soldier, now a columnist for The Atlantic. In that interview, Obama basically telegraphed his capitulation to the Israelis, who are demanding the establishment of “red lines” Iran may not cross without provoking an attack:

“[O]ur assessment, which is shared by the Israelis, is that Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon and is not yet in a position to obtain a nuclear weapon without us having a pretty long lead time in which we will know that they are making that attempt.”

Here is the “red line” the Israelis have been demanding: not the act of building a nuclear weapon but evidence “they are making that attempt.” That is, evidence of their intent to do so, without any corroborating evidence they’ve actually succeeded. The catch is that such an “assessment” based on fresh intelligence would be just as impossible to check as it was in the run-up to the Iraq war, when US officials assured us Saddam was making the Bomb – and citing all sorts of completely invented “intelligence” to back it up. In short, we won’t find out if we were lied into war until well after the war has started – devastating the region, the world economy, and all hopes for peace......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Syria's worsening humanitarian crisis

"The outside world's attention has recently been focused on Homs and the attempts to get Red Cross aid into Baba Amr. But a far worse - and much wider - humanitarian crisis is taking place across Syria. Laurence Lee reports."

Smuggled images reveal horror of Syrian hospital patients

A hospital worker has provided horrific video evidence that medical staff in the besieged  Syrian city of Homs are doing the unthinkable: torturing patients in their care. 

Chilling images covertly filmed by the man, who risked his life to bring the plight of what he claims are  civilian patients to world attention, are to be broadcast on Channel 4 News tonight.  

The grainy footage from the Homs military hospital depicts wards full of wounded men, blindfolded and shackled to their beds. Some bear marks of extreme beating. The apparent instruments of torture – a rubber whip and electrical cable – lie openly on a table in one of the wards. 

Suffering: An injured man lies in the Homs military hospital. Wounds are clearly visible on his chest

On the orders of the Syrian government, all of those shot or injured during protests in Homs must be brought to the military hospital where staff are in league with the secret police.  

The whistleblower, ‘Abu Hamzeh’, claims many are whipped and beaten in their beds – and worse. 

The grim evidence of serious abuse raises the question of where the hundreds of injured civilians from the district of Baba Amr in Homs will be taken once the Red Cross finally negotiates their evacuation.  

 

More...

• Thousands of Syrians flee for Lebanon as UN tells of 'grisly reports' that civilians are being executed by Assad's troops
• Slaughter at the supermarket: Syrian forces 'execute people outside food shop' as Red Cross is blocked from entering rebel city for second day

Abu Hamzeh, not his real name, says he attempted several times to stop what he called ‘the shameful things’ which were happening in the hospital but that after being condemned as a ‘traitor’, he walked out in disgust and never went back. 

‘I have seen detainees being tortured by electrocution, whipping, beating with batons, and by breaking their legs,’ he told ‘Mani’, a French photojournalist who risked his own life smuggling the footage out of Syria. 

‘They twist the feet until the leg breaks. They perform operations without anaesthetics. I saw them slamming detainees’ heads against walls. They shackle the patients to beds. They deny them water.’

Shackled: A patient¿s arm is chained to his bed exposing the torture the Assad regime is inflicting

Abu Hamzeh says he witnessed abuse by civilian and military surgeons at the hospital and by other medical staff, including male nurses. He has provided the names of all those he claims worked hand-in-glove with Syrian soldiers and the feared mukhabarat secret police.

Sometimes, he says, he heard patients screaming while being kicked or beaten. The abuse took place, he claims, in the hospital’s ambulance section, its prison wards, the X-ray department and even in the intensive care unit. 

‘Sometimes they have to amputate limbs and they go gangrenous because they don’t prescribe antibiotics,’ he said. 

The footage, filmed within the last three months, confirms what victims of such treatment have long claimed, but the Syrian regime has forcefully denied.  

Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) in Egypt SAYS That it Will Not Kneel in Front of the US!! By Emad Hajjaj

Syrians flee Homs for Lebanon

Up to 2,000 refugees reach border, but fate of thousands unknown as Red Cross still denied access to Baba Amr

Martin Chulov in Beirut
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 4 March 2012

"Lebanon is bracing itself for a new influx of Syrian refugees after up to 2,000 people fleeing the military onslaught in Homs were reported to be trying to reach the country's northern border.....

The exodus from Syria's third city has intensified since loyalist forces ousted the opposition Free Syria Army from the Baba Amr neighbourhood on Friday. There is little information about the fate of up to 20,000 residents thought to be there when the siege began four weeks ago.

For the third day running, the International Committee for the Red Cross was denied access to Baba Amr despite earlier assurances that it could deliver aid to residents trapped in the fighting...."

Afghans turn on occupiers

By Eric S. Margolis
4 March 2012

"Shock, incomprehension, fury. Americans are feeling these raw emotions as news keeps coming in of more attacks by Afghan government soldiers and officials on US and NATO troops. Six US troops were killed last week as a result of protests across Afghanistan following the burning of the Holy Quran by incredibly dim-witted American soldiers.

“Aren’t they supposed to be our allies? We are over there to save them! What outrageous ingratitude,” ask angry, confused Americans.

Angry Britons asked the same questions in 1857 when “sepoys,” individual mercenary soldiers of Britain’s Imperial Indian Army, then entire units rebelled and began attacking British military garrisons and their families. British history calls it the “Indian Mutiny.” Indians call it the “Great Rebellion” marking India’s first striving for freedom from the British Raj and the Indian vassal princes who so dutifully served it.....

Afghans are a proud, prickly people who, as I often saw, take offense all too easily. Pashtuns are infamous for never forgetting an offense, real or imagines, and biding their time to strike back. This is precisely what has been happening in Afghanistan, where arrogant, culturally ignorant US and NATO ‘advisors’ – who are really modern versions of the British Raj’s “white officers leading native troops”- offend and outrage the combustible Afghans. Those who believe 20-year old American soldiers from the Hillbilly Ozarks can win the hearts and minds of Pashtun tribesmen are fools.

Proud Pashtun Afghans can take just so much from unloved, often detested foreign “infidels” advisors before exploding and exacting revenge. This also happened during the Soviet era. But some Soviet officers at least had more refined cultural sensibilities in dealing with Afghan. US-Afghan relations are not going to flowers when American troops call the Afghans “sand niggers” and “towel heads.” Many US GI’s hail from the deep south.

Many Afghans have just had enough of their foreign occupiers. The Americans have lost their Afghan War. As the Imperial British used to say: you can only rent Afghans for so long. One day they will turn and cut your throat."

Al-Jazeera Video: حديث الثورة - اتجاهات الأوضاع في سوريا

"اتجاهات الأوضاع في سوريا، بعد تشكيل "المكتب الاستشاري العسكري"، وفي ضوء التحركات الإقليمية والدولية الأخيرة لمقاربة الوضع السوري المتأزم.
تقديم ليلى الشايب
تاريخ البث 2012/03/01
الضيوف :
أسامة المنجد
محمد زكريا السقال
صفوت الزيات
علي التواتي "

How I escaped from Homs as Syrian forces closed in

I joined a motley procession of injured fighters and journalists fleeing the city – on the day 64 people died trying the same thing

Javier Espinosa
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 4 March 2012

"The motley procession seemed like something out of the 17th-century Spain described by the writer Francisco de Quevedo. One injured man was in his underwear, with his legs, head and arms bandaged up, using his working hand to grasp his drip. He could barely walk. Then came a limping man, wounded in his foot, who hopped or was carried on a friend's back. Another young man, his leg shattered by shrapnel, was transported on a blanket held by others.

Ahmed, his arm and leg lacerated by shrapnel from a rocket, leaned on Mohamed, who struggled onwards with a sniper's bullet in his back. Journalists Paul Conroy and Edith Bouvier, both wounded, were part of the same strange troop, along with two other correspondents, including me.

Even the vehicles we travelled in seemed more ready for the scrapyard than this insane venture. The lorries were peppered with bullet holes and shrapnel. One jolted along on a flat tyre.

Fifty or more of us – many disabled by their wounds – were trying to break out of the besieged neighbourhood of Baba Amr, in Homs, fleeing the final attack unleashed by the Syrian regime. It was to be a risky night-time dash through Syrian army lines, which would prove just how desperate these people, abandoned to their luck, had become......

There is no method to war. Nothing you have learned helps you predict who will live and who will join the statistics. On the day I escaped Homs, the rebels said some 64 other people had died trying the same thing. They claim they were women and children.

For Assem, a 36-year-old labourer who has joined the rebels, the defeat of Baba Amr – still not certain when we spoke – would not end the uprising.

"Bashar has not got the message. I, for example, loved him when he took over. I thought he would be different to his father," he said. He pointed to a part of his little finger. "If he had just given us this little bit of freedom, we would have remained quiet. But whenever he slaughters someone from our families he simply increases our desire to kill him.""

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Syria - Can Syria's opposition unite?

"We discuss why Syria's opposition has been unable to incorporate itself into a strong coalition with a united message and what the divide means for Assad. Guests: Joshua Landis, Syria expert; Randa Slim, scholar, ME Institute; Najib Ghadbian, SNC."

Al-Jazeera Video: Possible crimes against humanity in Syria

"As the Syrian government's crackdown continues, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he's received reports of quote "summary executions, arbitrary detentions and torture.""