S Arabia quits Lebanon mediation talks. Good! The House of Saud has Been the House of Zion for Some Time, but Now it is in the Open.

Saudi Arabia has decided to pull out of mediation talks on creating a new Lebanese government following the resignation of Hezbollah ministers.

Press TV

"In an interview with Dubai-based Arabic al-Arabiya news channel on Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said King Abdullah has decided to “withdraw his hand” from Lebanon.[This was the order from the Imperial bitch, Clinton. The House of Saud can't decide anything for itself.]

He also described the situation in Lebanon as "dangerous" and expressed fears of division [That is why the House of Saud has been arming and financing Salafi terrorists (as in Nahr-El-Bared camp) in Lebanon??] in the nation.

"If the situation reaches full separation and (regional) partition, this means the end of Lebanon as a state that has this model of peaceful cohabitation between (different) religions and ethnicities," he further explained....."

The Tunisian People Are Not Asking for His Help,....But, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warns West of meddling in Tunisia

(Click on cartoon by Khalil Bendib to enlarge)

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned the United States, Israel and some Western states t not to interfere in Tunisia and Lebanon's internal affairs.

Press TV

"Addressing crowds of people in the central Iranian city of Yazd on Wednesday, President Ahmadinejad emphasized that Western countries aim to deprive the Tunisians of their rights through psychological warfare....

President Ahmadinejad urged Tunisian politicians to exercise vigilance in face of foreign interference and pay due attention to the needs and choices of their people, adding that Tunisians want an Islamic government[This is a flat out lie.].

Elsewhere in his speech, the Iranian president slammed the Western-backed UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

President Ahmadinejad called on the US and its European allies to stop meddling in Lebanon, which he said is at a critical juncture....."

Lebanon's ticking timebomb

With the impending special tribunal announcements, is Lebanon destined for further instability and chaos?

Matthew Cassel

(Matthew Cassel is a journalist and photographer from Chicago currently based in Beirut. He is also assistant editor of the online journal The Electronic Intifada. )
Al-Jazeera

"...... The collapse did not come as a complete shock for Lebanese, who are used to their government operating in a limited capacity in recent years, but who have also anticipated drastic changes as the STL readies to release its indictments.

Since the beginning, the STL has been mired in controversy further dividing an already unstable and war-torn country where justice is as foreign as the prosecutor leading the tribunal. The "false witnesses" whose testimony the UN's investigation initially used to go after Syria and its allies later turned out to be a scam, and this past weekend Lebanon's New TV aired explosive audio recordings of a 2006 meeting between Hariri and one of the "witnesses."

Confirmation

Hariri, who had previously denied meeting the "witnesses," has since confirmed the tapes' authenticity, which have caused further embarrassment to the prime minister. This, in addition to Hezbollah claims that the STL is an Israeli plot, has caused many Lebanese to be increasingly sceptical of the entire investigation.

Now, with the indictments already delivered to the pre-trial judge, Lebanon is in a state of panic as the country speculates about what repercussions the supposed hunt for justice will have on the country.....

Moving away from sectarian politics

Lebanon's inability to lead its own path to justice stems from its inability to form a democratic government. As long as the sectarian political model remains in place, political forces will forever be pinned against one another as they attempt to secure what's in their sect's best interest, and not that of their nation.

A Lebanese government made up of its people and not its sects, is exactly what many independent voices have increasingly been calling for in recent years. Such a government could then decide for itself whether or not it wishes to pursue justice not only for the killing of Rafiq Hariri, but the numerous other political figures and ordinary civilians who have been killed in recent years.

However, with politicians already engaged in a war of words coupled with external meddling in the country, such a scenario seems like mere fantasy. With the STL's indictments expected to be made public soon, Lebanese civilians - who comprise the overwhelming majority of victims from the civil war and Israel's attacks on the country - are left to sit and wait, while greater powers decide their fate."

Israeli Arabs earn less than Jews despite working longer hours, data shows

[I hate the term "Israeli Arab" , I feel it gives legitimacy to the land theft of Palestine at the hands of Zionist colonizers from Europe at the same time de-legitimizing the native Palestinians by giving them a non existent Identity. The Article should say "Palestinian Arabs living inside Israel"  or better yet "Arab 48"] 

Israeli Arab men earn less than their Jewish counterparts for the same work, and Arab women have substantially lower employment rates, according to 2008 data recently released by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Only 22% of Israeli Arab women were employed that year, which is substantially lower than the 66.6% figure for Jewish women.

In contrast, the employment figures for Arab and Jewish men that year were almost identical: 67% for Arab men and 68.8% for their Jewish counterparts.

The unemployment rate for Arab women, 11.3%, was substantially higher than the 7.4% rate for Arab men. And both were higher than the comparable rates for Jews: 6.2% for women and 5.4% for men.

In 2007, salaried Arab employees earned an average gross monthly wage of NIS 5,410, substantially less than the NIS 7,885 earned by Jewish employees.

The average gross salary per household was also much lower for Arabs - NIS 8,818, compared to NIS 14,242 for Jewish households. The figures are in gross terms.

Emad Hajjaj's Latest Cartoon

After the Latest Wave of Self-Immolation in Protest in Various Arab Countries:
Abu Mahjoob Says, "I too want to set myself on fire, but gasoline (in Jordan) is too expensive!"

Tunisia: A democratic roadmap

The road ahead for Tunisia is unknown, however with a cautious approach a durable decmocratic order can be established.

AN EXCELLENT PIECE
By Larbi Sadiki
Al-Jazeera

"In the wake of an Arab world-shattering political development, the government of Tunisia has been effectively overthrown via an amalgamation of civil unrest, grassroots mobilization and what one could call a coup d'esprit.

Tunisia's new political masters must proceed by distancing themselves from self-congratulatory triumphalism. They will have to muster courage, display political imagination and modesty, and exercise tolerance of difference in order to fashion a durable democratic order in a post-Ben Ali Tunisia.

The question is always, of course, 'how'? Historically, whether it is the new republican order after the absolute monarchy in France more than 200 years ago, post-Franco Spain or post-Marcos Philippines, trepidation is inevitable. Skills of compromise, clear vision and purpose are needed to tread the unchartered waters of post-authoritarian construction.

Lessons from the 29 days that shook Tunisia

If anything, the bread riots that produced the Arab World's first people's power movement has served notice to the country's political class - past and present - in several ways.

One, Tunisia's people alone own the historical moment of victory against dictatorship. I think Tunisia's people have earned the right to be sovereign and treated accordingly. Any resulting political system must enshrine this moment as theirs alone. Institutionally, political reconstruction must entrust all sovereign mechanisms of checks and balances with the people.

Two, not the Western backers of the regime and not the expatriate politics of exile won the day against Ben Ali. This was a home-grown spontaneous movement.

Three, no single political movement, leader or ideology can fake political history and claim victory for a political current they neither precipitated, controlled or delivered. There is a poetic justice in this: all political actors enter the new political fray humbled and on equal footing. The Tunisian people are now handing them on a silver platter a rare chance to right many wrongs of the deposed president.....

The 'Tunisia effect'

All Arabs feel emboldened and inspired by the overthrow of Ben Ali Baba's dictatorship. Tunisia now leads the way and others are closely watching. The Tunisia effect must be a democratic effect.

The 14th of January will go down in Tunisia's history as a milestone as significant as 1857 and 1861 when Tunisia reform produced, respectively, the Arab and Muslim world's first 'bill of rights' and constitution. Its significance equals that of March 20, 1956, Day of Independence from colonialism.

The stigma has been that the Arab societies are indefinitely confused with absence of civic cultures and self-governance potential. Tunisians have won the first battle in demolishing some condescending constructions of Arab societies. The battle ahead, to bring to fruition a sustainable 'democratic spring' has just begun. Winning it will require time, political stamina, and the will to think, act and be free.

The downfall of Ben Ali is metaphor for the storming of the 'Bastille' of political singularity. This is the 'disease' against which immunization of the new system is needed.

One of the new shared political values needed is the dynamic of difference and contradiction as a positive force in the political process and in any durable substantive democratisation. Purging, excluding or killing political difference is never possible. If it were, Ben Ali would have triumphed over the will of the Tunisian people long ago."

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

The Tunisian People Are Left With The Wiggling Tail of the Bin Ali Lizard.

Al-Jazeera Video: Tunisian anger at 'unity govt'

Anthony Shadid in Beirut: Tunisia Has "Electrified People Across the Arab World"

The Entire Program Today is About Tunisia!

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"We speak with Anthony Shadid, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, who is in Beirut where the government collapsed last week. "Tunisia] has electrified people across the Arab world," Shadid says. "Mainly for that prospect of change, that change can actually occur in a lot of countries that seem almost ossified at this point."...."

Juan Cole: Tunisia Uprising "Spearheaded by Labor Movements, Internet Activists, by Rural Workers, It’s a Populist Revolution"


"In the wake of the ouster of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, we speak with University of Michigan professor, Juan Cole. "This is the first popular revolution since 1979," Cole says. "This revolution was spearheaded by labor Movements, internet activists, by rural workers. It’s a populist revolution and not particularly dominated in any way by Islamic themes it seems to be a largely secular development."...."

Egypt-Based Political Analyst: "The First Lesson from Tunisia is that Revolution is Possible"



"We speak to Issandr El Amrani, an independent political analyst and writer based in Cairo who writes the popular blog Arabist.net. He says the revolution in Tunisia is having an electrifying effect throughout the Arab world. "The first lesson from Tunisia is that revolution is possible," says El Amrani. "You have to remember that there hasn’t been anything like this in the Arab world for decades."...."

Tunisian Opposition Activist: "Is Democracy Possible in the Arab World? Tunisians from All Around Tunisia are Saying 'Yes'"


"Tunisia has announced an interim national unity government days after a popular revolt ousted the president from power in the first Middle East revolution in a generation. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday after a month of unprecedented protests gripped the country. Thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against unemployment, high food prices, corruption and government repression. At least 80 people were killed in a crackdown by government security forces. We go to the capital city Tunis to speak with opposition activist, Fares Mabrouk...."

Real News Video: What Sparked Tunisian Revolution?

Samer Shehata: A police state exercising total suppression of freedoms is more brittle and open to falling than a semi-authoritarian regime

BIG TROUBLE IN TUNISIA FOR AMERICA’S MIDEAST RAJ

By Eric Margolis

"Oops! Something has gone terribly wrong with Washington’s plans for regime change in the Mideast. Wasn’t there supposed to be a US and British engineered revolution against Iran’s mullahs, followed by installation of a cooperative pro-western government and a bonanza for western oil companies?....

We are now seeing what the “stability” and “moderation” so beloved of Washington in the Arab world really brings. The mighty American Raj is built on such euphemisms that really mean dictatorship, corruption, torture, and subservience....."

Authors of Gaza youth manifesto speak to EI

Rami Almeghari writing from occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine, 18 January 2011

"....The next day five members of the eight-member group -- Abu Yazan, Abu George, Abu Awn, Edward and Jamila -- gathered in Gaza City for an interview with The Electronic Intifada. The group, which includes three women, are all university graduates. Their "Manifesto for Change" published on Facebook circulated widely on the Internet and was covered by international publications such as The Guardian and The New York Times.

Members of GYBO, who come mostly from different refugee camps around Gaza, use pseudonyms to keep their identities confidential from fear they could get in trouble with the authorities. The group also refused to be photographed for The Electronic Intifada.

"We, the youth in Gaza, are so fed up with Israel, Hamas, the occupation, the violations of human rights and the indifference of the international community!" the manifesto states after opening with some strong, attention-grabbing expletives. "We want to scream and break this wall of silence, injustice and indifference like the Israeli F16s breaking the wall of sound.".....

Members of the group were keen to stress that they consider it their right to decry the entire situation in the Gaza Strip, but they do not compare what they consider as a corruption within some political parties including the ruling Hamas movement, with the Israeli occupation's actions against the Palestinian people. For them the root-cause of Palestinian problems is the Israeli occupation and this occupation must come to an end once and for all.

The group also said it had contacted some rights groups and academics regarding their manifesto and that they will later start contacting some officials within the government in order to legalize their upcoming steps, which are yet to be revealed, according to Abu Yazan.

The group has been encouraged by the messages of support they received from people inside and outside Gaza and plan to issue more statements soon. Their next step may be to present themselves to the public in larger numbers by holding a press conference. What is clear is that they refuse to be silenced and have proven that they can and will be heard."

Arab Regimes Fear Bread Intifadah

Analysis by Cam McGrath

"CAIRO, Jan 18, 2011 (IPS) - "Break my heart but don’t come near my bread," goes an old Arabic proverb. Failure to observe it has often come at a high political price.

Just ask Tunisian president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, who has now fled....

The disgraced despot would have done well to recall the bread riots in 1984 that left some 80 Tunisians dead and almost unhinged the government of his predecessor, Habib Bourguiba. Similar protests erupted in Egypt in 1977, Morocco in 1981 and Jordan in 1989. And it was bread riots in 1988 that eventually brought Islamists to the verge of parliamentary control in Algeria – a situation that led to a decade-long civil war.....


Bouazizi’s self-immolation on Dec. 17 sparked a conflagration that toppled the Tunisian government and now threatens to engulf much of the Arab world.

Should the region’s autocratic rulers be worried? To date, they have managed to retain power through sham elections and by neutralising and demoralising political opposition. But a bread intifadah – in which the disenfranchised masses are ready to face down bullets to secure food for their families – can be a very formidable force."

From Military-Industrial Complex to Permanent War State

by Gareth Porter, January 18, 2011

"Fifty years after Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Jan. 17, 1961, speech on the “military-industrial complex,” that threat has morphed into a far more powerful and sinister force than Eisenhower could have imagined. It has become a “permanent war state,” with the power to keep the United States at war continuously for the indefinite future.

But despite their seeming invulnerability, the vested interests behind U.S. militarism have been seriously shaken twice in the past four decades by some combination of public revulsion against a major war, opposition to high military spending, serious concern about the budget deficit, and a change in perception of the external threat. Today, the permanent war state faces the first three of those dangers to its power simultaneously – and in a larger context of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression....."

Names of Hariri killing suspects handed to judge

By Robert Fisk

WARNING: Read at your own risk!

"A deeply embarrassing tape of Saad Hariri, the outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister, blaming the Syrians for his father's murder, a threat by Hezbollah's allies to indict Mr Hariri for corruption, and continued fear – on the part of just about everyone – that the UN tribunal have named Hezbollah members for Rafiq Hariri's 2005 assassination, has turned Lebanon's political crisis into a nightmare. But, this being Lebanon, there are enough elements of sheer farce to suggest that local television stations, just about every Lebanese politician, Iran and America and Israel and Syria – not to mention a lot of the world's media – have been lying through their teeth and could provoke a purposeless bloodbath....."

Tunisians must dismantle the monster Ben Ali built

The people have toppled a dictator. Now they have to forge a coalition of socialists, Islamists and liberals for real change

Soumaya Ghannoushi

The Guardian, Tuesday 18 January 2011

"....The alternative strategy – and the task now facing the Tunisian people – is to build a wide coalition of the forces that can dismantle the legacy of the despotic post-colonial state and bring about the change their people have been yearning for decades. This has been the driving force for the alliance being forged between the Communist Workers' Party, led by Hamma al-Hammami, the charismatic Moncef al-Marzouqi's Congress Party for the Republic, and Ennahda, led by my father Rachid Ghannouchi, along with trade unionists, and civil society activists.

Their shared bitter experience of prison and exile has made them more pragmatic, and thus more capable of standing up to dictatorship and building a strong alliance around the demand for real change. This politics of partnership and consensus is what Tunisians and Arabs need to dismantle the structures of totalitarianism which have held them in their iron grip for generations."

Tunisian uprising fires a warning to region's hardliners

Tunisia's revolution has been closely watched in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Syria and Libya

Martin Chulov, Giles Tremlett and Ian Black
guardian.co.uk, Monday 17 January 2011

"Egypt
Elation has been met with trepidation in Egypt, where Tunisia's uprising is being seen as a rare chance to break the shackles of autocratic rule that could plunge the country into the unknown.

As demonstrations raged in Tunis, and the stock market fell, Egypt's security police were deployed in larger than usual numbers throughout Cairo, where the capital's youth have been speaking optimistically of a second popular revolt in the Maghreb.....

Algeria
Algeria is captivated by the crisis enveloping its near neighbour and is being monitored more closely than elsewhere in the Maghreb for signs that Tunisia's uprising may spread.....

Morocco
In the royal enclosure of King Mohammed VI in Rabat, the Mechouar, the rebellion against Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali has provoked serious concern. "I think all the Arab regimes are shaking and Morocco especially," said Aboubakr Jamai, editor of the now defunct Casablanca independent newspaper, Le Journal.....

Syria
Tunisia's Jasmine revolution has been keenly watched in Syria, one of the most repressive of the Arab regimes, though the chances of a re-run of Tunis in Damascus are slim. Syria's benchmark experience for dealing with serious unrest remains the Hama events of 1982, when the security forces killed thousands in crushing an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. Syrian Islamists are largely behind bars or in exile, and liberal and democratic activists neutralised by surveillance and repression.....

Libya
Libya's most striking official reaction to the Tunisian drama has been Muammar Gaddafi's expression of "pain" that Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee suddenly when he had belatedly offered to stand down in 2014. But solidarity was perhaps to be expected from the Arab world's longest-serving leader – in power for a record 42 years in September. Libya too has a young population and high unemployment. But its oil resources mean it is a far wealthier country than its north-eastern neighbour. Its creaking system of peoples committees is less sophisticated than Tunisia's "managed democracy" complete with real opposition parties and highly-developed rights for women....."

Ministers quit new Tunisian govt

Troops battle protesters on the the streets as country's new government faces early challenges.

Al-Jazeera

"Tunisia's junior minister for transportation has said that he and two other ministers with ties to a top labour union have resigned from the newly formed government.[A good step!]

Anouar Ben Gueddour said on Tuesday that he has resigned along with Houssine Dimassi, the labour minister, and Abdeljelil Bedoui, a minister without portfolio. They are all members of a general national labour union. Their walkout comes a day after Mohamed Ghannouchi, the Tunisian prime minister, announced a new 'unity government'.

The announcement was met with anger by some Tunisians, who said too many members of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's party remain in power.

Ghannouchi was one of eight ministers staying on from the previous government of Ben Ali, who resigned and fled on Friday in the Arab world's first such popular revolt.

Ghannouchi said that the ministers remaining, including the defence and interior ministers, had acted "to preserve the national interest."

"They kept their posts because we need them at this time," Ghannouchi said on French radio. "All of them have clean hands."

Widespread protests

Tunisians not happy with the new cabinet gathered on Tuesday to protest in the capital and several major cities.

Tunisia's main trade union, which played a key role in protests against the North African state's ousted president, refused to recognise the new government. The union has decided "not to recognise the new government," Ifa Nasr, union spokesman, said on Tuesday.

The General Union of Tunisian Workers, better known under its French acronym UGTT, took the decision at an extraordinary meeting near Tunis......"

US ignored Tunisian corruption

Newly released diplomatic cables suggest the US was well aware of the deep-rooted corruption among Tunisia's elite.

Juan Cole
Al-Jazeera

"....Four and a half years ago, the US embassy was sanguine about the situation continuing, because it thought the Tunisian public mired in apathy:

"However, the lack of Tunisian political activism, or even awareness, seems to be a more serious impediment. While frustration with the First Family's corruption may eventually lead to increased demands for political liberalisation, it does not yet appear to be heralding the end of the Ben Ali era.""

Tunisia's tide of defiance

As revolutionary zeal engulfs the region, the people must be on their guard against the forces seeking to smother it.

A GOOD COMMENT
By Mohammed Khan
Al-Jazeera

".....Do not underestimate the psychological impact of what Tunisians have just achieved. Arab regimes have had a free hand at imposing their will on reluctant populations through the use of a single instrument: Fear. In the space of just a few weeks, masses of Tunisians have demonstrated to the Arab region the limits of dictatorial rule.....

Beware the French

As the former colonial overlord in Tunisia, France has a history of deceit, mendacity and, to boot, hypocrisy in relation to North Africa. How often are the French wont to proclaim liberté, égalité, fraternité as their most fundamental values? As far as French policy in North Africa is concerned, we may add another: Fallacy.

The Tunisian despot's closeness to France was legendary. Despite achieving independence from France, Tunisia remained subject to its puppet master's whims under its dictatorial regime.
Something of a similar revolution spread across Algeria some two decades ago. Back then, with the avowed backing of the French state, Algerian security forces trampled over Algerian democracy precipitating a brutal civil war.

For Tunisia's revolution not to be short-lived, the population will need to be alert to the behind-the-scenes machinations and manoeuvrings of the French.

That France refused refuge to the deposed despot was not a sign of the former's solidarity with the Tunisian people. Rather a play at real politik by the French and a little forward thinking in how best to influence future events in Tunisia.

If a new system beckons in Tunisia, the people would do well to distance themselves from France.

The Arab world has had little cause for celebration of late. At the mercy of long-standing kingdoms and hereditary life-time autocrats, political suffocation has been the order of the day. Defeatism had taken hold over civil society. But the momentous events in Tunisia show how no amount of bloodletting will kill peoples' spirit.

Platitudes from foreign powers are unnecessary now. The people of the Middle East are capable of building their own futures as they see fit.

Despite such optimism, however, do not be surprised if the new revolutionary zeal is buried prematurely given what it may mean for Western policy.

The tide of defiance will not easily be pushed back. That is not to say there will not be many forces out there employing all means necessary to smother it. Tunisians and Arabs are only at the very early stages of their struggle for freedom and must be on their guard against the difficult obstacles ahead."