From the Turks to Assad: to us Syrians it is all brutal colonialism

In taking on the Assad family mafia and paying with blood to do so, Syrians have rediscovered their struggle for freedom

Rana Kabbani
The Guardian, Wednesday 30 March 2011

"I was five when emergency law was imposed in my native Syria. I am now 53. During this intolerably long period, my country was turned step by chilling step by the ideologues and security service enforcers of the Ba'th party into the totalitarian state it is today. When Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez, came to power through yet another violent army squabble leading to his coup of 1970, an alarming cult of the leader was systematically formed around him, modelled on Ceausescu. The Romanian dictator was Assad's political ally, strategic adviser in matters of popular repression, and close personal and family friend....

The Syrian people had been rendered poor and isolated. They had been fed the increasingly threadbare propaganda of the Assads' "steadfast" Arab nationalist stance. This fits oddly with a regime that sided with Iran against Iraq; and cold-bloodedly divided Palestinian ranks; agitated murderously within Lebanon's borders, while rigorously enforcing a cold "peace" with Israel (except, of course, in standard fiery speeches that make most Syrians yawn). Even Assad's anti-US position is compromised by his compliance with the Bush administration's programme of extraordinary rendition, as Maher Arar and others know too well. Despite all this, Syrians have come out en masse to demand rights they have been denied for so long....."

BBC: Israel does not want Assad to lose power in Syria

shameful Jazeera is covering Syria almost as bad as its coverage of Bahrain. BBC doing much better job.

سورية: التهريج بالدم

سورية: التهريج بالدم
حسام الدين محمد (
كاتب من أسرة 'القدس العربي')


"بعد افلام الرعب الليبية على طريقة سيف الاسلام القذافي، التي هددت بأنهار من الدم، جاءتنا د. بثينة شعبان (المستشارة الاعلامية والسياسية للرئيس السوري) من بلد الدراما السورية الراقية بعرض متهافت قلّ نظيره، ورغم عجلته الواضحة المقصود منها ايقاف حركة الشارع بسرعة، من خلال رش سكر على الموت الذي ظلل سماء منطقة حوران فانه لم يستبعد، في معناه الحقيقي، الحل الدموي اياه. لم تصف شعبان المتظاهرين بالجرذان وعناصر القاعدة (تكفلت بذلك جهات اعلامية/مخابراتية اخرى، اتهمتهم بالانتماء لتنظيمين مقربين من القاعدة: جند الشام وفتح الاسلام، قبل ان ينفتح قوس الاتهامات ليضم 'مندسين' من مصر والاردن وفلسطين!) لكنها من جهة أخرى قالت ان 'هناك أدلة على وجود تمويل خارجي واياد خارجية'، وهذا يعني بالمقاييس السورية المعتادة أحكاما مجانية بالاعدام. وحين ذكرت ان قيادة حزب البعث (ولا نفهم لماذا تم استخدام اسم حزب البعث في هذا الموضوع، وهو جزء من قضية الحريات واقصاء الآخرين التي تعاني منها سورية) قررت تشكيل 'لجنة للاتصال بالمواطنين في درعا' فقد قالت من ناحية اخرى ان تحقيقات تجري حاليا و'سيتم الكشف عن نتائجها ومحاسبة المسؤولين'، ولا نعلم ان كان المقصود بكلمة المسؤولين امثالها من المسؤولين، ام انهم الأشباح و'العصابات المسلحة' و'المندسون' الذين تمت نسبة القتل اليهم، وكان ضحاياهم كما يبدو من قوات الأمن والشرطة فحسب. بعد حمام الدم الذي شهدته درعا وقراها (وما زالت تشهده حتى وقت كتابة هذه السطور)، تبدو سلسلة الوعود الجميلة التي اطلقتها المستشارة (مع التهديدات المبطنة التي تحملها) مثل قطعة جبن موضوعة في مصيدة للفئران، وهو ما يعيدنا، مجددا للأسف، الى تخيل سيناريو مرعب لما يجري في سورية. ذكرت المستشارة ايضا الحجة الأبدية (التي صارت سوطا للتعذيب من كثرة ما اسيء استخدامها): سورية مستهدفة. ولا نظن ان المستشارة تقصد بسورية الا القيادة السورية التي تنطق باسمها، ولا تقصد بالتأكيد الشعب السوري، بل ان هذه الحجة استخدمت دائما 'لسد بوز' اي مطالب شعبية، باعتبارها، اي المطالب، تصبّ في 'استهداف سورية'. بعد البيان الصحافي للمستشارة، ومن دون طلب منها للجمهور بأن 'يرقصوا ويغنوا' انطلقت مسيرات محميّة بسيارات الأمن تشبه عراضات مسلسل باب الحارة، في قلب مدينة درعا، حسبما قال التلفزيون الرسمي السوري، في استهتار فظيع بحرمة الدم المسفوك في جامعها العمري وشوارعها وقراها. امتدّت هذه العراضات الى دمشق وباقي المحافظات، والتي تألفت، كما ذكر شهود عيان، من موظفين تم اجبارهم على الخروج في هذه المسيرات، او من 'الشبّيحة'، الذين يتجولون بسياراتهم فاتحين العنان لزماميرها (والبعض منهم كانوا مسلحين) في شكل من اشكال الارهاب والتخويف لمن يجرؤ على النزول الى الشارع. التصريحات والوعود لا تدلّ ابدا على قراءة منطقية للقيادة السورية لما يجري في سورية وفي العالم العربي ككل، فوقت تقديمها وطريقة تقديمها، كما طريقة الاحتفاء الهمجي بها، كلها أرسلت الاشارات الخاطئة الى الشعب السوري، فعاد للانتفاض مجددا، فاتحا قوس الأزمة السورية على مصاريعها. الأهم في ما ذكرته شعبان كان قولها ان الرئيس السوري امر بعدم اطلاق الرصاص على المحتجين، وكان ان سقط في اليوم التالي عدد كبير من القتلى والجرحى، ليس في درعا وقراها وحدها، بل في محافظات سورية اخرى عديدة، وهو ما أسقط مصداقية شعبان تماما، فقد جعلت الرئيس كاذبا او أن اوامره لا يتم تنفيذها. كل ما تقوله بثينة شعبان بدا تهريجا مفتعلا لكنه تهريج مرعب مخطوط بالدم. "

Assad hopes Syrian cabinet's resignation will defuse protests

By Patrick Cockburn

"President Bashar al-Assad yesterday accepted the resignation of the Syrian cabinet in an attempt to defuse protests against his rule as hundreds of thousands of people attended pro-government rallies in most of the country's cities.

Syrians were awaiting a speech by President Assad, who has remained silent during the 11-day crisis, laying out reforms including the lifting of the 50-year-old state of emergency. Protesters will want to see a real reduction in the arbitrary power of the security forces and guarantees of greater political and civil rights.

The president has a core of support and many Syrians are fearful of sectarian divisions turning to violence. But the turnout for yesterday's demonstrations, dubbed "loyalty to the nation marches" where marchers chanted "the people want Bashar Assad" was enhanced by schools and other state institutions being closed for the day.


The resignation of the cabinet is largely symbolic since it holds little power, which remains in the hands of the president, his relatives and senior officials in the intelligence apparatus. Naji al-Otari, the prime minister since 2003, is to remain caretaker until a new government is formed......

The Syrian authorities have a long tradition of refusing to make concessions and fighting back vigorously against all opponents....."

Video: All Mubarak's Men - About Egypt's Field Marshal Tantawi - طنطاوي

From Hossam El-Hamalawy

Al-Jazeera Video: Empire - Information wars

Includes Amy Goodman....

Real News Video: Gaddafi Opened Economy As He Increased Repression

Modern History of Libya: As Gaddafi opened country to neo-liberal reforms, he cracked down on opposition at home

إنتفاضة الشعب في "سوريا" كما يراها د. عزمي بشاره - 4

Syria Detains Egyptian-American Accused of Spying, Refuses to Release Details of Charges Against Mohamed Radwan

"The death toll in Syria since protests erupted 10 days ago has passed 60, and according to some estimates, more than 280 people have been arrested, including an Egyptian-American engineer named Mohamed Radwan. On Friday, Syrian state television aired what it called a “confession” by Radwan, in which he says he visited Israel in secret and took money in exchange for providing photographs and video about Syria. Radwan’s family says the statement is false and must have resulted from coercion. We play an excerpt from an interview in February with Radwan while he participated in protests in Egypt, and we speak to his brother Tarek Radwan in Washington, D.C...."

Euro-US War on Libya: Official Lies and Misconceptions of Critics

One of the basic flaws of the arguments of critics of Euro-US wars is their resort to clichés, generalizations and arguments without any factual bases.

A VERY GOOD PIECE
By James Petras

".... Conclusion

If not humanitarianism, oil or democratic values, what is the driving force of Euro-US imperial intervention? A clue is in the selective bases of armed intervention. In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, ruling autocrats allied with and backed by Euro-US imperial rulers’ arrest and murder peaceful protestors, with impunity. In Egypt and Tunisia, the US financially backs a conservative self-appointed civil-military junta, to block a profound democratic, nationalist, social transformation in order to facilitate neo-liberal economic “reforms” run by pro-imperial electoral officials. While liberal critics accuse the West of “hypocrisy” and “double standards” in bombing Libya but not the Gulf butchers, in reality the imperial rulers are using the same imperial standards in each region. They defend autocratic strategic client regimes where they possess air force and naval bases, run intelligence operations and logistic platforms to pursue ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to threaten Iran. They attack Libya because it still refuses to collaborate with Western military operations in Africa and the Middle East.....

The key point is that while Libya allows most of the big US-European oil multi-nationals to plunder its oil wealth, it is not yet, a strategic geo-political imperial asset. As we have written in many previous essays the driving force of US empire building is military not economic. In fact billion dollar economic interests were sacrificed in setting up sanctions against Iraq and Iran; the Iraq war shut down most oil exploitation for over a decade.....

The Washington led assault on Libya – the majority of air sorties and missiles are carried out by US warplanes and submarines – is part of a general counter-attack against the most recent Arab popular pro-democracy movements. The West is backing the repression of pro-democracy movements throughout the Gulf; it is financing the pro-imperial, pro-Israel Egyptian junta; it is intervening in Tunisia to ensure that any new regime is “correctly aligned”. It backs Algerian despotism and Israel’s daily assaults on Gaza .And now,in Libya, it backs an uprising of ex-Gaddafites and right-wing monarchists who promise to militarily align with the US-European empire builders..... "

Syrian Regime May Hang On, But Future Looks Bleak for Qaddafi

The Real Disaster in Libya will Come After the Fall

By PATRICK COCKBURN
CounterPunch

".....Already there are signs that David Cameron, Hillary Clinton and Nicolas Sarkozy are coming to believe too much of their own propaganda, particularly over Arab League support for air strikes. Diplomats normally contemptuous of the views of the Arab League suddenly treat its call for a no-fly zone as evidence that the Arab world favours intervention. In terms of the exercise of real authority, Gadaffi is likely to be replaced not by Libyans but by the foreign powers which assist in his overthrow. Going by what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq it will not take much for their actions to be seen across the Middle East as hypocritical and self-serving, and resisted as such."

Video: World Revolution 2011 - The Arabian Spring!

Courtesy of Ikhras.com

Bahrain: Investigate Deaths Linked to Crackdown

Security Forces Implicated in at Least 18 Killings Since Protests Began on February 14

Human Rights Watch
March 29, 2011

"(Manama) - The Bahraini government should urgently investigate the killing of at least 18 people during violent crackdowns since protests began on February 14, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Most were killed by security forces using excessive force, namely crowd-control equipment at extremely close range and live gunfire, Human Rights Watch said. Four government security officers were also killed, according to the Interior Ministry.

The authorities admitted holding four missing persons in the Bahrain Defense Force hospital only after they had succumbed to their injuries. This raises serious concerns regarding the missing persons' treatment and whether authorities are holding other people without notifying their families, Human Rights Watch said. "Bahraini security forces have frequently shown a reckless disregard for human life during crackdowns on protesters," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Firing birdshot pellets at close range is not crowd control - it can be murder."....."

Egypt is still Mubarakstan

Hosni Mubarak was only the visible tip of an iceberg of corruption – the state he created in his image remains

Amira Nowaira
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 March 2011

"More than two months after the start of the popular uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians are increasingly fearful that although he is gone, his regime is still alive and kicking. Egyptians now realise that Mubarakstan, the virtual edifice created by Mubarak and his coterie to ensure the continued dominance of a closed circle of politicians and businessmen, hasn't collapsed along with the fall of its head and protector. It is also distressingly evident that Mubarak was nothing more than the visible tip of an iceberg of corruption, for Mubarakstan is in fact a full-fledged state – a colonial power in every sense of the word, a state with its own colonial discourse, its propaganda machine and its brutal militia. It even has its own capital in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where the ruling elite eat their imported dinners and lounge on sumptuous sandy beaches......

Today, as I walk on the street and hear people of all ages and backgrounds discussing police brutality, incarceration without charge and the constitution, I realise that the past two months have certainly been a hugely successful learning experience for all Egyptians. It has made them vastly more aware of their rights as citizens than any textbook and has led them to understand better than ever before the significance of collective resistance. The fallen Mubarak regime may fight as hard as it can to retain its hold on power, and it may score some limited victories. But in the end nothing can take away Egyptians' sense of empowerment that resulted from their collective action."

Libya is another case of selective vigilantism by the west

Bombing Tripoli while shoring up other despots in the Arab world shows the UN-backed strikes to oust Gaddafi are purely cynical

A GOOD COMMENT
Tariq Ali
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 March 2011

"The US-Nato intervention in Libya, with United Nations security council cover, is part of an orchestrated response to show support for the movement against one dictator in particular and by so doing to bring the Arab rebellions to an end by asserting western control, confiscating their impetus and spontaneity and trying to restore the status quo ante......

The Saudis entered Bahrain where the population is being tyrannised and large-scale arrests are taking place. Not much of this is being reported on al-Jazeera. I wonder why? The station seems to have been curbed somewhat and brought into line with the politics of its funders......

The reason he lost support within his armed forces was precisely because he ordered them to shoot their own people. Now he speaks of imperialism's desire to topple him and take the oil and even many who despise him can see that it's true. A new Karzai is on the way.The frontiers of the squalid protectorate that the west is going to create are being decided in Washington. Even those Libyans who, out of desperation, are backing Nato's bomber jets, might – like their Iraqi equivalents – regret their choice......."

The single demand that can unite the Palestinian people

Only direct elections can rejuvenate the Palestinian liberation movement by taking power from the few back to the many

Karma Nabulsi
The Guardian, Tuesday 29 March 2011

"After another week of breathtaking demonstrations from Jordan to Yemen heralding dramatic revolutionary change, in occupied Palestine things appear much the same. The repetitions of bombing, air attacks on civilians, muted international protests, and dubious gestures towards a bankrupted peace process: all lend an air of futility and hopelessness to the trajectory of Palestinian freedom. Palestinians urgently need their voice to be represented at this historical moment in which unrepresentative rulers are being toppled by popular movements, and citizens are reclaiming their public squares and political institutions on the age-old principle of popular sovereignty. Since January Palestinians in the refugee camps and under military occupation have all been asking the same question: is this not our moment too? Yet how are we to overcome the entrenched system of external colonial control and co-optation, the repression, the internal divisions and the geographical fragmentation that have until now kept us divided and unable to unify?.....

This crumbling hollowed-out mausoleum once housed a vibrant and well directed Palestinian struggle for freedom, full of dynamism and debate. Now only the mobilising power of direct elections can make it the representative institution Palestinians demand.....

It is also by now very clear that nothing else will work: democratic representation cannot be achieved by new presidential elections to the Palestinian Authority; nor can it be secured through fresh legislative council elections held only in the West Bank and Gaza, which excludes the voice of the majority of Palestinians.....

Indeed, many such measures are designed to keep power out of the hands of the Palestinian people themselves, and they continue to disenfranchise millions of young Palestinians(most of whom don't belong to either party), ....."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This poll asks:

Do you expect more popular revolutions in the region, after the revolutions in Libya and Yemen?

With over 1,000 responding, 90% said yes.

Libyan Karzai? Chalabi? Forget it

Predictable Western political interference in Libya is reminiscent of recent involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"NATO's political mission "should swiftly identify and nurture a national opposition and plot the path for a post-conflict transition to democracy, probably under UN auspices", or so advises the Financial Times in its lead editorial, "Plotting the Way Forward". Both the title and the advice are borrowed from a past era: the post-Afghanistan invasion strategy that plotted the nurturing, financing, and supporting of Hamid Karzai's - the former US corporate oil executive - bid for the presidency. Or another throwback: pre- and post-invasion of Iraq, when London and Washington plotted their invasion as they prepared the Iraq National Congress to hopefully replace Saddam's regime. Except that this FT editorial comes a decade later and proposes the same plan as the way forward in Libya! Where NATO powers are exploiting their military role to define, or at least influence, the post-Gaddafi alternative.

Too much of a sense of deja vu? Or the recurring nightmare of predictable Western political interference that follows military intervention using whichever pretext is available; be it 'war on terror', 'weapons of mass destruction', or 'humanitarian intervention'?

The Libyan National Council, transitional Fortunately, the Council wasn't made-in-the-USA or manufactured by another foreign power. Rather it came into existence, a month ago, at Libyans' own initiative, soon after the winds of revolutionary change blew Libya's way, and after its people rose to the occasion with pride and courage.....

Any aspiring leader who seeks a political future in post-Gaddafi Libya knows all too well that people power - not NATO power - and mandate is indispensable. None of the Council's senior leaders want to be identified or even remotely associated with NATO's plans for Libya. For them, NATO's nurturing of the Libyan opposition means only one of two: Afghanistan's Karzai or Iraq's Chalabi."

سورية وكبش الفداء الفلسطيني

سورية وكبش الفداء الفلسطيني
عبد الباري عطوان

"لا نعرف الاسباب الحقيقية التي دفعت الدكتورة بثينة شعبان، المستشارة السياسية والاعلامية للرئيس السوري بشار الاسد، لاتهام الفلسطينيين بالوقوف خلف الاحتجاجات العنيفة التي وقعت قبل يومين في مدينة اللاذقية على الساحل الشمالي واسفرت عن سقوط 12 شخصا وعشرات الجرحى، اثر اشتباكات بين هؤلاء ورجال الامن، ولكن ما نعرفه حق المعرفة ان مثل هذا الاسلوب، اي البحث عن كبش فداء 'غير محلي' لتحميله المسؤولية غير مجد علاوة على كونه يعطي دائما نتائج عكسية تماما. الفلسطينيون ضيوف عند اشقائهم السوريين، ويصعب التفرقة بينهم وبين مضيفيهم من حيث الملامح او العادات والتقاليد فهم ابناء الساحل السوري الجنوبي، ولا يرون انهم اغراب في بلد وفر لهم سبل العيش الكريم، وساواهم باشقائهم في العمل والسكن والتجنيد بل وحتى في المعاناة. ما نريد قوله انه لا توجد هناك اي مظلمة لدى الفلسطينيين تجاه مضيفيهم، وان وجدت فهي محدودة للغاية، فالسياسات القمعية الامنية التي تمارسها اجهزة النظام لا تفرق بين فلسطيني وسوري، بل ربما تقسو على السوري ابن البلد اكثر من ضيفه الشقيق، لان الاخير لا يخطط لقلب نظام الحكم، وليست لديه اي نوازع طائفية، والخطيئة الاكبر التي يمكن ان يرتكبها تتلخص في اتهامه بالانتماء الى 'زمرة عرفات'، خاصة في ظل الخلاف الذي كان محتدما بين زعيم حركة 'فتح' الراحل ياسر عرفات وزعيم الحركة التصحيحية الراحل حافظ الاسد. مشكلة الدكتورة بثينة شعبان ونظام الحكم الذي تنطق باسمه هي مع السوريين وليس مع الفلسطينيين، فالجموع التي انتفضت في مدينة درعا الجنوبية، حيث انطلقت الشرارة الاولى اثر اعتقال قوات الامن مجموعة من الاطفال كتبوا على حائط شعارات تطالب باسقاط النظام، لم يكن بينها فلسطيني واحد، لانه على حد علمنا لا يوجد اي مخيم للاجئين فيها، او حتى بالقرب منها. السوريون يطالبون بانهاء حالة الطوارئ المستمرة منذ عام 1963، والتعددية الحزبية، واحترام حقوق الانسان، والانتخابات الديمقراطية، والقضاء المستقل، والشفافية والقضاء على الفساد واقتلاعه من جذوره، والعدالة الاجتماعية، وحرية التعبير، اما الفلسطينيون سواء كانوا ضيوفا في سورية او غيرها، فيريدون العودة الى ديارهم، وتحرير ارضهم المغتصبة، وان كانوا يتضامنون في الوقت نفسه، ولكن بقلوبهم مع اشقائهم السوريين ومطالبهم العادلة. الدكتورة شعبان اعترفت في مؤتمرها الصحافي الاخير بأن مطالب المحتجين 'مشروعة' وقالت ان القيادة تدرس تنفيذها بالكامل في المستقبل القريب، وتحدثت عن قوانين جديدة تطلق الحريات والتعددية الحزبية، وتنظيم الاعلام، فلماذا اذن هذه القسوة، والافراط في استخدام القوة في تفريق المحتجين في اللاذقية بالصورة التي شاهدناها، والضحايا الذين سقطوا بسبب ذلك؟ ' ' ' كنا نتمنى لو ان الدكتورة شعبان، وهي التي تنتمي الى حزب قومي، ومتزوجة من عربي غير سوري، لم تنزلق الى المنزلق العنصري الذي انزلقت اليه، عندما جعلت فلسطينيين ربما يعدون على اصابع اليد الواحدة، اذا كانوا شاركوا فعلا في الاحتجاجات، كبش فداء، وحملتهم المسؤولية في تهرب واضح من الاسباب الحقيقية والمشروعة لهذه الاحتجاجات. نشعر بالاسف ان ينحو مسؤولون في النظام السوري القومي منحى بعض الدول العربية التي لجأت الى الاسلوب العنصري التمييزي نفسه، عندما اضطهدت الفلسطينيين المقيمين على ارضها وحاولت ان تلصق بهم، او تستخدمهم، كورقة لتبرير بعض خطاياها، او سياساتها الداخلية الفاشلة. العقيد الليبي معمر القذافي الذي يترنح على كرسي عرشه المتهالك بفعل ضربات الثوار الليبيين وحلفائهم في حلف الناتو قام بطرد آلاف الفلسطينيين الابرياء عنوة الى العراء قرب الحدود المصرية، ودون اي ذنب ارتكبوه املا في لفت انظار العالم الى الحصار الخانق الذي فرضه المجتمع الدولي على بلاده بسبب جريمة تفجير طائرة ركاب امريكية فوق بلدة لوكربي الاسكتلندية، فلم تؤد هذه الخطوة الاستفزازية الى إنهاء الحصار او التسريع بانهائه، وانما إلى كراهية الكثيرين لهذا الزعيم 'الثائر' امين القومية العربية المزور. حبيب العادلي وزير الداخلية المصري السابق كان الاكثر وضاعةً عندما ارسل رجال مخابراته لتفجير كنيسة القديسين في الاسكندرية ليل رأس السنة الميلادية بطريقة دموية بشعة، مما ادى الى مقتل اكثر من عشرين شخصاً من الأشقاء المسيحيين الابرياء، ثم اوعز لمستشاريه باتهام الفلسطينيين من انصار جيش الاسلام المقرب من تنظيم 'القاعدة' بالوقوف خلف التفجير. امبراطورية القمع التي اسسها اللواء العادلي على مدى عشرين عاماً انهارت مثل بيت العنكبوت امام قبضات ثوار ميدان التحرير، وانتهى زعيمها خلف القضبان بتهمة الفساد، ونهب المال العام، وجرائم اخرى ما زالت قيد التحقيق. لا نتمنى للسيدة بثينة، او اي من مسؤوليها، مثل هذه النهاية، فسورية عزيزة علينا، وكذلك امنها واستقرارها، ولكننا نريدها فوق كل الطوائف، والتفرقة العنصرية بين الأشقاء، لان من اسباب التفاف الكثيرين حولها، والتغاضي عن الكثير من اخطائها، هو رفعها شعار القومية، وفتحها أبوابها امام جميع العرب دون أي استثناء، واحتضانها ودعمها لفصائل المقاومة الفلسطينية واللبنانية، وتمسكها بالثوابت الوطنية الفلسطينية خاصة باعتبارها ثوابت سورية. ' ' ' ما نريد التنبيه اليه، او التحذير منه، ان مثل هذه الاتهامات ادت الى استهداف اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في العراق بطريقة وحشية، دفعت الكثيرين منهم للجوء الى الصحراء هرباً بأرواحهم وأطفالهم من عمليات القتل الطائفي، وانتهى الأمر بالكثيرين منهم في ثلوج ايسلندا او غابات البرازيل لأن ابواب الأشقاء العرب اغلقت، بل احكم الاغلاق في وجوههم. سورية مستهدفة، ونقولها للمرة المليون، مستهدفة من امريكا، ومستهدفة من اسرائيل، بل ومستهدفة من بعض الدول العربية ايضاً، ونقطة ضعفها الرئيسية تكمن في وضعها الداخلي، وبالتحديد طريقة معاملة النظام لشريحة من مواطنيه تطالب بالحريات، والحد الأدنى من الكرامة البشرية، ومن المؤسف ان معاملة اجهزة الأمن السورية لهؤلاء لا يتصورها عقل، وهناك آلاف القصص التي يشيب لها ريش الغراب في هذا المضمار. نطالب السيدة بثينة بالتراجع عن هذه السقطة، واذا لم تتراجع وهذا متوقع من اناس تعودوا على أساليب المكابرة والغطرسة، فاننا نأمل ان لا تكررها، خاصة في هذه المرحلة الحرجة، التي بدأت تتخلص فيها الشعوب من رهبة الخوف، وتطالب بحقوقها كاملة دون نقصان، واخيراً فإن اكرام الضيف هو من أصول التقاليد والاخلاق العربية، والشعب السوري الكريم هو من اعرق الشعوب العربية في هذا الميدان، ان لم يكن اعرقها على الاطلاق، والفلسطينيون، وانا واحد منهم نقول ذلك على رؤوس الاشهاد. سورية تحتاج الى الكثير من التعقل، والخطوات المحسوبة بعناية، بعيداً عن ردات الفعل المنفعلة، وما كان يصلح في الماضي من ممارسات لم يعد مقبولاً حالياً، فانتفاضة درعا تجبّ كل ما قبلها، وتحتم حدوث تغيير جذري على الصعد كافة، سواء على صعيد السياسات او منفذيها في آن. "

مباشر: حديث الثورة مع الدكتور عزمي بشارة

مباشر: حديث الثورة مع الدكتور عزمي بشارة

عرب 48

إنتفاضة الشعب في "سوريا" كما يراها د. عزمي بشاره
Part 1:



حديث الثورة .. د. عزمي بشاره
Part 2:



حديث الثورة .. د. عزمي بشاره
Part 3:

The West's 'double standards' in Middle East

Support for Bahraini government's crackdown on protests is a paradox as West supports Libyan rebels, activist argues.

Mark Levine
Al-Jazeera

".... An assessment one month in One month into the uprising in Bahrain, the warnings of last fall have come to fruition. Bahrain has returned to absolutist rule, with the King declaring martial law a few days after the Saudis entered the country. Aside from violently clearing out and even destroying Pearl Roundabout, the symbol of the protests, the crackdown has been noticeable for three factors. The first is the fact that the government forces have taken over hospitals and prevented them from being used by injured protesters. This move is clearly a violation of international human rights law, but it had the intended effect: major protests leaders have decided that further large scale protests were to dangerous to hold, considering that people shot or otherwise harmed by government forces would not be able to receive medical attention, likely leading to an unacceptably high number of deaths.

Second, the government has attempted to arrest leading human rights and pro-democracy activists, with the goal of silencing those with the best ability to document ongoing abuses and relay the information to the outside world.

Finally, the United States and other Western countries have clearly thrown their support behind the government, refusing to go beyond mild rebukes against the government-initiated violence, even though they have thrown their full military weight behind the Libyan rebels.

"This is the situation we're facing," explained Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. "We are not only facing a regime and neighbouring powers, but American influence as well. They either do not want to see change or only slight changes that do not give people real democracy because the monarchy might lose power. Everyone sees the US double standards very clearly now. They see Gaddafi hitting people and the US strike back. But here they even bring in foreign armies who don't believe in democracy and killing people on streets and the US does nothing. It is a big mistake the Americans are making, losing people, losing the faith of the streets."....."

Here a Karzai.....There a Karzai......Everywhere a Karzai.....

The Three Stooges Exchanging Jokes..... Hey Libyans....

Is There a Karzai in Your Future??

Assad's fall could deliver Lebanon to Iran and Hezbollah

HAARETZ
via Angry Arab

"Washington, Israel, Turkey and Iran all have great reasons to want Assad to remain at the helm - he's seen as a safety valve against an attack by Hezbollah on Israel or against its physical takeover of Lebanon....."

COMMENT:

This is exactly the opposite of the Syrian regime's propaganda. The regime is blaming outsiders (including the US and Israel) for fomenting the uprising.The regime's lie is that the Rabbit is being punished for "supporting the resistance."

The fact is that Israel and the US have a stake in keeping this jailer in charge of the big prison, named Syria. The last thing USrael wants is to release the power and the dynamic of the Syrian people.They know what happened after the Pharaoh was toppled.

The reality is that the Rabbits, father and son, have been very good to Israel. They have kept the peace along the Golan, helped suppress the Palestinians in Lebanon and have opened Syria to the World Bank, IMF and all the exploitative neoliberal economics.

Will Syria Lift Decades-Old Emergency Law? Street Protests & Deadly Crackdown Force Assad Regime To Consider Political Changes

"Scores of protesters have been killed in Syria during 10 days of protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. In an attempt to appease protesters, Assad’s administration has reportedly vowed to lift the emergency law, which for nearly 50 years has allowed the government to detain people without charge. "For more than 40 years, people have been politically suppressed,” says Bassam Haddad, the director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University. “That suppression was coupled more recently in the past 20 some years with neo-liberal-like economic policies that have created huge gaps between different segments of Syrian society.”"

Al-Jazeera Video: Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports on Libyan opposition's westward push

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Syria: The price of revolution

"Unrest in Syria continues. In a country where the regime is known for its iron grip on security, the growing number of casualties may come as no surprise, in what is quickly becoming an increasingly unstable Syria."

Al-Jazeera Video: Shoe thrower targets Iraq's PM

"Protests have also been taking place in Iraq - as demonstrators there call for sweeping reforms. In their midst is Muntadhr Al Zaydi, the man known internationally for throwing a shoe at former US president George Bush.

He had to stay away from his country for months after serving jail time, but he is now back on the streets of Baghdad. He is on a mission that is again putting him at odds with authorities.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh explains."

Al-Jazeera Video: Anger sweeps Syria after deaths

"Whoever kills his people is a traitor, the crowd yells.

Outrage as the people of Sanamin bury their dead.

The crowd is eager to tell their story - of how 20 of their young men were killed in less than 15 minutes.

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reports."

Democracy Movement Spreads to Syria

By Emad Mekay

"CAIRO, Mar 27, 2011 (IPS) - The revolution contagion sweeping across the Arab countries has spread to Syria leading to rare protests challenging the grip of the ruling Baath Party on the country. The regime was quick to describe the turmoil as a foreign-inspired plot aimed at punishing the country for its support of groups opposed to U.S. and Israeli policies in the region.....

The regime used another tactic to discredit the protests saying that more demonstrations could lead the country to fall into the hands of conservative Islamists, who would then limit freedoms. Syria's 22.5 million people are mostly Sunni Muslims but are ruled by the minority Alawites, who follow a branch of Shiite Islam. The regime's arguments were not convincing for the opposition. "Trying to scare us by invoking chaos or civil war, using the threat of the Islamists taking over and arguing that our people are not yet qualified to practice democracy, are all futile and hopeless arguments," said Riad Al-Turk, a long time opposition leader in Syria who had been jailed several times before. "The Syrian people have come of age and the authorities should realise this fact before it is too late." The protesters have dubbed their demonstrations "rallies for dignity and freedom" refuting the regime's argument that they are motivated by foreign powers who want to end Syria's backing of resistance groups. If anything, Syria has many of the conditions that caused the revolutions in Tunisia and in Egypt -- two other Arab countries that saw long-serving leaders unseated by popular revolt. In both countries, foreign policies played almost no role in fueling the uprisings. Mass protests were moved by anger at corruption, poor economic and social conditions and the regime's brutality. "Our people can no longer bear living under dictatorship, corruption, repression, injustice, discrimination and poverty. The era of submission is over and it is your turn to go now, Doctor," said Free Syrian, a Syrian blogger writing for the website of Aljazeera news channel referring to President Assad who is an ophthalmologist by profession.....

"In Syria today, the spirit of freedom is flying over the country," Al-Turk said in his column on FreeSyria.org. "The wind of changes that blew across the Arab World over the past three months had to eventually come to knock at the doors of the big prison called Syria." "

The Collapse of Globalization

By Chris Hedges

"The uprisings in the Middle East, the unrest that is tearing apart nations such as the Ivory Coast, the bubbling discontent in Greece, Ireland and Britain and the labor disputes in states such as Wisconsin and Ohio presage the collapse of globalization. They presage a world where vital resources, including food and water, jobs and security, are becoming scarcer and harder to obtain. They presage growing misery for hundreds of millions of people who find themselves trapped in failed states, suffering escalating violence and crippling poverty. They presage increasingly draconian controls and force—take a look at what is being done to Pfc. Bradley Manning—used to protect the corporate elite who are orchestrating our demise....."

VIDEO – Marching in Tahrir مسيرة لإسقاط قانون تجريم الإضرابات

By Hossam El-Hamalawy



"On Sunday evening, around 2000 protesters marched against the proposed law by Essam Sharaf’s cabinet banning strikes and protests. We started from the Press Syndicate in Abdel Khaleq Tharwat street, marched through Maarouf St, Champlion St, then Tahrir Square, finally ending up in front of the parliament and the ministerial cabinet headquarters.

Participants in the march ranged from independent trade unionists and labor activists, to youth activists from different organizations. The chants were quite militant, taking on Field Marshal Tantawi and the army. Protesters called for overthrowing Tantawi, accusing him of being a dictator, crony, part of the Mubarak’s regime. At some point, the chants were even calling for executing Tantawi and Mubarak in public squares. The demonstrators also unleashed their wrath on the military police denouncing the torture of activists in the Egyptian Museum and Military Prison. The state-run media also was the target of the chants, with persistent calls for purging it from NDP elements. This coming Friday will hopefully witness a big turnout for the protests called to purge the state-run media… and in the meantime, we still have to pursue our fight for free unions and taking Tahrir to the factories…"

Syria: Security Forces Fire on Protesters

Death Toll at Least 61 in Daraa Region, 12 in Latakia

March 27, 2011

"(London) - Syria's security forces used live ammunition against protesters in Daraa and the surrounding villages of Sanmein and Tafas on March 25 and 26, 2011, killing at least 26 and bringing the death toll in the Daraa governorate reported by Syrian human rights activists since March 18 to at least 61, Human Rights Watch said today. Clashes between security forces and protesters in the coastal city of Latakia on March 26 killed another 12, according to Syria's state news agency.

Human Rights Watch called on the government to hold to account those responsible for any unlawful shooting on demonstrators and urged concerned governments to back their condemnations of Syria's violent crackdown with concrete measures, such as ending all transfer of military or security assistance, as long as the abuses continue. "Syria's authorities promise reform on TV but meet demonstrators with bullets in the streets," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should understand that these demonstrations won't end until it stops shooting at protesters and begins to change its repressive laws and practices."......"

Desperate Assad tries to blunt uprising with new promises of reform

Syrian leader faces greatest challenge to his family's rule since his father took power 40 years ago.

Patrick Cockburn reports

"......Yesterday the government deployed the army for the first time, in the main port of Latakia. Authorities admitted that 12 people had been killed and 200 wounded over a two-day period in the north-western city, but said all who died had been members of the security forces or their attackers. Speculation was growing last night that President Assad would announce widespread political reforms in a bid to bring the disturbances under control....

In another bid to placate protesters, authorities released political activist Diana Jawabra and 15 others. They had been arrested for taking part in a silent protest demanding the release of a dozen schoolchildren, detained for writing anti-regime graffiti. While Mr Assad may offer concessions such ending emergency law, releasing prisoners, giving the press greater freedom and legalising political parties other than the ruling Baath party, such changes are unlikely to be seen as credible as long as the same people run the army and the security forces. And the ever-creeping death toll is increasing calls for an end to the regime.....

Human Rights Watch says 61 people have been killed in Deraa and surrounding towns and villages. The threat to Mr Assad is the greatest the Baathist regime has ever experienced, and it has in the past always responded to dissent with repression. During the Muslim Brotherhood guerrilla war in 1976-82 Mr Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, crushed the rebellion in the city of Hama by killing an estimated 10,000 people. Baath party veterans may consider their best hope of staying in power at this time is to avoid making concessions, which, they believe, will only be interpreted as weakness and lead to additional demands.....

His spokesmen have made contradictory statements on the release of prisoners and other issues, putting in doubt the regime's seriousness in making reforms. They have also released unlikely explanations of the killing of protesters, claiming that demonstrators opened fire first or were foreign infiltrators. These are often directly contradicted by videos taken by mobile phone and shown on YouTube or by satellite TV stations like al-Jazeera whose correspondents entered Deraa....


Mrs al-Assad said her priority was to get Syria's large youth population involved in "active citizenship". "It's about everyone taking shared responsibility in moving this country forward, about empowerment in a civil society," she told Vogue. The words ring hollow when Syrian authorities are detaining children, inspired by protests across the Arab world, for scrawling graffiti. As the Calgary Herald put it: "Ever wonder what a Marie Antoinette profile might have looked like if Vogue published in 1788? Wonder no more."......"

One by one, the milestones on the road to Tripoli are falling

As Gaddafi's forces melt away, rebel eyes turn to the Libyan capital

By Kim Sengupta in Bin Jawad and Donald Macintyre in Sirte
The Independent

"....The rebels' eyes were cast towards Sirte, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace and the centre of loyalist resistance. After that, there is only one more goal: Tripoli. In Bin Jawad yesterday, the enemy was nowhere in sight. And an excursion towards Sirte from Bin Jawad did not reveal any obvious preparations to stop the rebel advance. The few local people who had stayed behind amid the strife described regime forces steadily heading away with the few remnants of their equipment......

The shift in momentum is palpable. Rebels are now back in possession of the two key oil complexes of Ras Lanuf and Brega which handle a sizeable proportion of the 1.5 million barrels a day the country used to export before the uprising.....

The rebels were poised to strike at Tripoli before, but then had to fall back rapidly because of their ineptitude and the superior organisation and discipline of their opponents. But the way the regime's soldiers were melting away yesterday appeared to show that they were unwilling to carry on against what are now, with the involvement of international forces, overwhelming odds.....

Also for the second consecutive week, the rebel fighters had themselves photographed with the wreckage, when they should have been pressing forward, some bringing their families to walk through corpses. Dozens of rounds were fired into the air to celebrate a victory in which the Shabaab had been witnesses rather than participants. A few leaders have begun to emerge since the uprising of 17 February, mainly from among members of the military who defected, and they insisted that there was a new realism about the campaign and lessons have been learned from past mistakes.....

"There were problems," he added. "The Shabaab are very enthusiastic, but they are not professional soldiers and some of them simply would not listen to orders. We saw that by what happened in Bin Jawad the first time. We cannot afford to have something like that happen again."....."

ثورة أم مأساة؟

ثورة أم مأساة؟
عبد الحليم قنديل

"لا أحد مضطر لأن يختار بين حكم القذافي، وحكم حلف الأطلنطي في ليبيا، فكلاهما أسوأ شرا من الآخر، وكلاهما عنوان خراب ودمار شامل. العقيد القذافي قضيته محسومة، فلا أحد ينافسه في عدوانه الجنوني على شعبه، ولا أحد ينافسه في التشوه العقلي والنفسي، وفقدان الترابط المنطقي، وشهوات النهب العام، واختصار شعبه في عائلته، واعتبار أن سلطة الشعب محصورة فيه، وفي أولاده وبناته، وتوزيع ثروات ليبيا كغنائم حرب للأبناء سيف الإسلام وعائشة والساعدي وهنيبعال وخميس وبقية القائمة، وقد تفوق القذافي في غيه العائلي على ملوك وأمراء الخليج جميعا، فاقهم سفها ونهبا، ربما الفارق، أنك قد ترى فتاتا من ثروة يتساقط في بلدان الخليج، ويوحي بحياة ناعمة للسكان، بينما لم يترك القذافي ـ وأنجاله ـ شيئا لعموم الشعب الليبي، اللهم سوى البؤس وضيق الحال، والغربة في ليبيا بثرواتها البتروليه الهائلة، التي يذهب بها القذافي إلى سراديب مظلمة، وإلى جيوب أبنائه وبناته، وإلى طبقة معزولة من لجان الهتاف والتدليس بالأجر، بينما كان يمكن لكل ليبي أن يصبح مليونيرا، لو جرى توزيع ثروة ليبيا على سكانها بعددهم المحدود، ولم تذهب لمظاهر ترف معتوه، وإلى حسابات بنوك في أوروبا وأمريكا، وإلى قبائل الواق واق في أفريقيا السوداء، والذين منحوا القذافي تاج السلطانية، وجعلوه ملك ملوك أفريقيا، مع أنه لا ملوك ولا سلاطين حقيقيون، فكلهم دمى، والقذافي ـ بينهم ـ دمية الدمى، وينفق ثروة بلاده على شراء ألقاب عبثية، تجعل الدنيا كلها في خبر، وتتركه وحده في عالم افتراضي يخصه، ينصب فيه نفسه قائدا لثورة عالمية موهومة لم يسمع بها أحد، وإماما للمسلمين لا يفقه حرفا في القرآن ولا في سيرة النبي (!). والأفدح، أن القذافي يتحدث من بطنه، وينطق كالروبوت، وينتقل من تهمه إلى أخرى في سيولة مدهشة، يصف شعبه بأنهم جرذان، ويطلب مطاردتهم من زنقة لزنقة، ويخيرهم بين مصيرين، إما القتل أو الهروب، بينما لا يختار لنفسه أحد المصيرين، فهو قائد الثورة التي لا يعرف أحد عنوانها، وهو الحاكم الذي لا يعترف بأنه حاكم، وهو الجاثم على صدر شعبه على مدى أربعين سنة، أذاقه فيها صنوفا وأهوالا من الذل والحرمان، وتعامل مع معارضيه كأنهم 'كلاب ضالة'، فهو الحق ولا حق غيره، وهو الإله الذي لا يأتيه غير الباطل، يغير في تواريخ الميلاد وفي تواريخ الهجرة، ويفرض نفسه على شاشة التلفزيون آناء الليل وأطراف النهار، بل وضع حذاءه ـ ذات مرة ـ على شاشة التلفزيون الليبي لمدة ليلة كاملة، وبعد فيلم الحذاء المقدس، تعود أفلام القذافي الكوميدية، فهو الفيلسوف والأديب ولاعب الكرة ومذيع النشرة، وهو الطامس الماحي لكل شيء في ليبيا، لا يترك فرصة لأحد، ويقول لك دائما: أنا لست رئيسا، وعندما تسأله عمن يكون الرئيس إذن؟، لا يجيبك، ويحدثك عن الجماهيرية العظمى التي قامت تحت خيمته البدوية، أو يحيلك إلى نفوذ ابنه سيف الإسلام، أو إلى عائشة ابنته التي تملك ثروة تفوق ميزانيه الدولة (!). وقد لا يفيد أن تقول ان القذافي مرتبك نفسيا، أو أنه مصاب بجنون العظمة، فالمرض من أقدار البشر، والعلاج وارد ومتاح، لكن القذافي لا يتعب أبدا من مرضه، ولا يخجل من تناقضاته، ربما لأنه لا يتذكر، فقد وصف الثورة الشعبية الليبية ـ في أول أمرها ـ بأنها من صناعة تنظيم القاعدة، أو من صناعة عقاقير الهلوسة، والعقيد ـ طبعا ـ لا يتعاطى عقار الهلوسة، فقد خلقه الله هكذا، ولحكمة يعلمها سبحانه، فالرجل يقفز بسهولة من اتهام تنظيم القاعدة إلى إعلان التحالف مع بن لادن، ومن دعوة الغرب إلى مساندته في مواجهة المتشددين الإسلاميين، وإلى التعاون معه في مكافحة الإرهاب، ينتقل بسرعة من خطاب إثارة فزع الغرب إلى الحرب على الغرب نفسه، ويدعو جيوش الإسلام إلى حرب حاسمة مع جيوش التحالف الصليبي (!). ومن خزعبلات القذافي إلى وقائع الدنيا الجارية، تبدو الحقائق مؤلمة وقاسية، فالقذافي الذي أذل شعبه، وتنكر لمطالبه، وأكثر فيه القتل، هو نفسه القذافي الذي جلب بأفعاله جيوش حلف الأطلنطي، القذافي الذي يعجز ـ بالخلقة ـ عن كسب لحظة توازن عقلي، والذي يعجز ـ بالخلقة ـ عن التصرف بمسؤولية وطنية وإنسانية، القذافي الذي صنع المأساة عجز عن أن ينهيها، وأن يتنحى في الوقت المناسب، ولو كان فعلها لانتهى الأمر، لكن وساوسه وأوهامه أعاقت فرص الوصول لحل، وجعلته يواجه الهبة الشعبية السلمية برصاص الغدر، ويشعلها حربا أهلية دفاعا عن امتيازاته وامتيازات عائلته، ولم يعد يتذكر ليبيا إلا أن تكون مقرونة باسمه، وتحول من حالة قد تثير الضحك، وعلى طريقة شر البلية الذي يضحك، تحول إلى حالة جنون دموي، وأطلق كتائب أولاده المسلحة، تقصف أعمار الليبــــيين، وتنهشـهم، وتخلف آلاف الشهداء والجرحى، وتدفع قادة الثورة إلى خــــطأ تراجيدي، حين بادلوه سلاحا بسلاح، وسلاحهم أضعف بطبيعة الحال، بينما كان سلاحهم الأقوى هو سلمية ثورتهم الرائعة، واحتمالهم للأذى بلا طلقة نيران مقابلة، كانوا يكسبون أرضا بالتظاهر السلمي الحاشد، وتتدافع إليهم المدن وصولا لطرابلس الغرب، لكنهم وقعوا في الخطأ، وبدواعي الجبر أو الاختيار لا يهم، فقد تحولوا من ثوار يطلبون الحرية بصدورهم العارية، إلى طرف مسلح في حرب أهلية، تستجلب العداوات بطبيعتها، وتفتت الشعور، وتوزع نفوس القبائل، فقدوا التفوق الأخلاقي في لحظة غضب، وأضاعوا المسافات الفاصلة بين ذئب الجاني وبراءة الضحية (!). ولأن تعاقب الأخطاء يراكم الخطايا، فقد انتهينا إلى وضع مأساوي يطمس صورة الثورة الناصعة، نعم لجأت ثورات عديدة في التاريخ إلى حد السلاح، وبانقلاب عسكري، أو بتمرد جغرافي، لكن ظروف العصر الراهن تختلف، وظروف أقطار الأمة الممزقة تختلف، ففوق رأسها سلاحان، سلاح الغرب الاستعماري، وسلاح الأنظمة القمعية الناهبة، سلاح الغرب يدمر الأوطان على طريقة ما جرى للعراق، وسلاح الأنظمة يدمر الشعوب، سلاح الغرب يستولي على الأوطان، وسلاح الأنظمه يستولي على الشعوب، سلاح الغرب قوة احتلال، وسلاح الأنظمة كذلك، وليس مطلوبا أن تظل ليبيا قاعدة لعائلة القذافي، أو أن تصبح قاعدة لاحتلال أمريكي وغربي جديد، وأن نصــــــبح بصدد كـــرزاي آخر أو مالكي آخر في طرابلس، فهذه ليست النهاية التي تستحقها ثورة الشعب الليبي الباسلة، فالثورات العربية السلمية المعاصرة تستعيد 'العروة الوثقى' بين الشعوب والأوطان، وتنهي غربة الشعوب في أوطانها، ولا فرصة لكسب حرية الشعوب مع هوان الأوطان. أيها الثوار الليبيون: لا أحد سيبكي القذافي حين يرحل أو يقتل، فلا تدعونا نبكي ليبيا حين تحتل أو تتمزق، ولا تقلبوا الثورة إلى مأساة."

Leading article: The next domino could be Damascus

The Independent

"When the first flags of what is now termed the Arab dawn appeared over Tunisia, there were scant expectations that the popular uprisings would spread so rapidly eastwards. But the notion that within three months even Syria would be rocked by grassroots protest was low on anyone's scale of probability. President Bashar al-Assad was regarded as popular by the standards of the region, even as he ruled with a rod of iron only a little more yielding than his father's. Over the past two weeks, however, demonstrations have erupted in several parts of the country. The most recent disturbances took place in the port of Latakia in the north, where the government confirmed yesterday that 12 people had been killed and more than 200 injured, including members of the security forces. Troops have reportedly been dispatched to restore order. In conclusive proof that these were protests against the regime, the offices of the ruling Baath party were set on fire. In the southern city of Deraa, a statue of the late President Hafez al-Assad was toppled and people brandished placards calling for the downfall of the regime. There have been reports, too, of demonstrations being broken up in Damascus...... These are early days, even judged by the accelerated pace of recent events across the region. Officials are speaking of concessions to be offered by the regime – including an end to the 48-year-old state of emergency, a referendum on constitutional changes, and the freeing of political prisoners. In other times, even hinting at such changes all at once would be akin to an internal revolution. Today, it is by no means certain that they would be enough to keep even as seemingly secure a leader as Mr Assad in power."

Two Reuters TV journalists missing in Syria

Beirut-based producer Ayat Basma and cameraman Ezzat Baltaji had been expected to cross into Lebanon by road at approximately 1830 GMT (2:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday, where they had arranged for a taxi to pick them up from the border.

The last known contact was at 1722 GMT (1:22 p.m. ET), when Baltaji sent a phone message to a colleague in Beirut in which he said: "We will leave now."

Basma and Baltaji, both Lebanese nationals, travelled to Syria on Thursday afternoon. Mass protests that erupted 10 days ago have posed the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.

The two journalists have been unreachable by telephone since Saturday night.

On Friday, Syrian authorities withdrew the accreditation of Reuters text correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis, saying he had filed "unprofessional and false" coverage of events in Syria.

Homs: Burning Bashar's photo

Libyan rebels push west – in pictures (12 photos)

Revolutionary forces seize several towns without resistance after air strikes force Gaddafi military to retreat guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 March 2011 (Libyan rebels flash the victory sign in front of a hotel in Ras Lanuf)

Libyan rebels advance on Muammar Gaddafi's home town. Zanga, Zanga!

Revolutionary forces move more west along Libya's coastal road, seizing several towns without resistance, as they get closer to Sirte

Chris McGreal in Ben Jawad
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 March 2011

"Libyan rebels are advancing on Muammar Gaddafi's home town, Sirte, after retaking all the ground lost in earlier fighting as government forces broke and fled under western air strikes. Revolutionary forces rapidly moved more than 150 miles west along Libya's coastal road, seizing several towns without resistance, as the first witness accounts emerged of the devastating effect on Gaddafi's army and militia of the aerial bombardment that broke their resistance at Ajdabiya on Saturday. A doctor treating wounded government soldiers described hundreds of deaths, terrible injuries and collapsing morale. Today, rebels retook the important oil towns of Brega, Ras Lanuf and Ben Jawad, and continued on the open desert road toward Sirte, about 95 miles away. But they are likely to face a challenge in seizing the town, which holds political significance as Gaddafi's birthplace and is seen as important to his defence of Tripoli, the capital, which is now less than 300 miles from the rebels' front line....."

Syria to lift emergency law

Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, told Al Jazeera's Cal Perry in the capital Damascus on Sunday the law would "absolutely" be lifted, but failed to give a timetable. [my sources tell me that Bashar plans to lift it when he gives his 8 year old son Hafez the presidency when he is old enough to lead Syria, he also said little Hafez will free Golan in 2043 and is practicing hard on his Xbox how to conduct battles against the enemy]

The repeal of the emergency law, in place since the 1963 coup that brought the Baath Party to power, has been a key demand of protesters who have taken to the streets in recent days to demand greater political freedoms.

The emergency law imposes restrictions on public gatherings and movement and authorises the arrest of "suspects or persons who threaten security".



t also authorises the interrogation of any individual and the surveillance of personal communication as well as official control of the content of newspapers and other media before publication.

The state also announced a series of reforms, including the release of detainees and plans to form new laws on the media and licensing political parties.

Shaaban added that there will be a debate in parliament regarding te establishment of political parties.

"There are many issues which were decided, and which are being followed up with the president and the government," she said. 
Dozens of pro-reform protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces and government supporters in towns cities across the country.

Which One Will Go Next?

This is my own, unscientific, poll:

Tell us in the comments section, which one of these despots you think will be ousted next?

Al-Jazeera Video: Syria unrest: Tensions remain high

Al-Jazeera Video: Syria unrest: Angry mourners bury dead from protests

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Unrest in Jordan

"On the 24th of this month, Jordanians demanding democratic reforms established a tent camp in Amman's Jamal Abdel Nasser roundabout. Naming their movement after the date, March 24, the protesters said the sit-in would continue until their call for political change was met. But within 24 hours clashes were underway at the camp as riot police and civilians identified as government supporters attacked the demonstrators - killing at least two and injuring dozens more. One of the demonstrators' demands is that the prime minister, Marouf al-Bakhit, resign, but he has refused to do so and has claimed that the protests are being orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood and its Jordanian offshoot the Islamic Action Front. On this episode, we ask what the future holds for the Jordanian government and the king who appointed it."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - NATO's intervention in Libya

"The international operations in Libya are now into a second week - under US command and control. However, the US has insisted that its leadership role be temporary and has pushed for transferring command of the operation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO. But there have been arguments among NATO members as to exactly what the nature of the operations should be. Turkey and Germany, in particular, are insisting that NATO should only accept responsibility for the maintenance of a no-fly zone, arguing that military action beyond this objective is not mandated by the UN resolution. Are two centres of command and control viable? Is this division in responsibility a reflection of differences about exactly what is mandated by the UN Security Council resolution on Libya?"

Al-Jazeera Video: Yemen talks end in stalemate

المثقفون العرب:نرفض التدخل العسكرى فى لبيبا وندعم الثوار فى الإطاحة بالقذافى

Courtesy of Angry Arab "

"نحن، الموقّعين أدناه، نرفع صوتنا عالياً في مواجهة تدخّل عسكريّ إمبرياليّ آخر ضدّ دولة عربيّة هي ليبيا. إنّ الحقبة العربيّة الجديدة، التي أشلعتها انتفاضةُ تونس العظيمة، لم تنتهِ فصولُها بعد، لكنّ دول الاستعمار المُتجدّد تعبّر عن هلعها وهلع وكيلتها إسرائيل. لقد شكّل سقوطُ نظام حسني مبارك ضربةً لركنٍ من أركان نظام الطغيان العربيّ الذي ترعاه الولاياتُ المتحدة وإسرائيل، فدَفع بهاتين ـ إضافةً إلى السعوديّة ـ إلى شنّ ثورةٍ مُضادّةٍ تسعى إلى إجهاض الثوراتِ العربيّة. إننا نعلن دعمنا المطلق لإطاحة الشعب الليبيّ الشجاع بنظام القذافي (الذي يتقيّأ شعاراتٍ مُتناقضة: فهو ساعةً وكيلٌ ذيليٌّ لإدارة بوش، وساعة يبيعنا شعاراتٍ ضد الإمبرياليّة). لكنّننا نشجب شجباً مطلقاً القصفَ الجويّ الأميركيّ (والغربيّ) لليبيا، الدي يتزامن مع القمع القذافيّ البريّ وقد يطول الاثنان معاً (على ما سبق أن حدث في العراق بين عاميْ 1991 و 2003)، فلا يؤذي القذافي الذي يرتكب جرائمَ يندى لها الجبين ضدّ شعبه بقدر إيذائه هذا الشعبَ. ثم إننا لا نثق طبعاً بوعود الدول الغربيّة التي لم تظهر يوماً تعاطفاً مع الضحايا العربيّة المدنيّة، خصوصاً مع شعبنا الصامد في فلسطين المحتلّة والعراق وجنوب لبنان. أما توكيل "الجامعة العربيّة" للتحالف الغربيّ فهو لا يعبّر إلا عن موقف حكومات الطغيان العربيّ المتحالفة مع الولايات المتحدة. ولذلك نطالب الجامعة العربيّة (من دون أمل كبير) بأن تتجاوب، ولو مرة واحدة منذ عقود، مع نبض الشعب العربيّ، فترفض التدخّل الأجنبيّ. كما نطالب مصرَ الثورة وتونسَ الثورة بدعم انتفاضة الشعب الليبيّ المجاور؛ فالدعم الحقيقيّ (لا الكاذب) لا يحتاج إلى قصف يودي دوماً بحياة المدنيّين والمدنيّات، ولقد شاهدنا وعانينا نمط الحرب الأميركيّ في أكثر من دولة عربيّة، ولم نُعجب بالأداء والنتائج. هذه لحظة تاريخيّة لا تشبه سابقاتها في التاريخ العربيّ المعاصر. إنّ الطغاة العرب يواجهون، بشراسةٍ ما بعدها شراسة، شعوبهم المصرّة على التحرّر والكرامة. إننا نطالب بدعم التحرّكات الشعبية العربية في كلّ دولة عربيّة بلا استثناء، ونشجب محاولة الأنظمة العربيّة وأبواقها الإعلاميّة وصفَها بأنها "مشبوهة" أو "من صنع أدوات خارجيّة". كما ندين بشدّةٍ موقف محطة "الجزيرة" التي شاركتْ في التعتيم الإعلاميّ على القمع السعوديّ ـ البحرينيّ في البحرين، والعُماني في صحار، والتي تساهم تغطيتُها في تأجيج المذهبيّة الشوفينيّة الموجّهة ضدّ المنتفضين في البحرين والسعوديّة. لنقلْ كلمتنا، ولنشكّلْ هيئة عربيّة ـ عالميّة جامعة من أجل مناصرة الانتفاضات العربيّة. فليسقط النظام العربيّ الرسميّ الذي قمع شعوبه من المحيط الى الخليج! ومن أبرز الموقّعين على البيان :"أسعد أبو خليل ـ جوزيف مسعد ـ حيدر عيد ـ رامي زريق ـ رانية المصري ـ زياد حافظ ـ سماح إدريس ـ عبد الله حبيب ـ عمر البرغوثي ـ معين ربّاني ـ منى أنيس ـ نادر فرجاني ـ نصري الصايغ ـ هدى لطفي ـ هشام البستاني " "

Libyan rebels in westward push

Opposition fighters are advancing, claiming control of the key oil towns of Ras Lanuf, Brega and Uqayla.

Al-Jazeera

"Libyan rebels are advancing further westwards, having taken control of the key towns of Ras Lanuf, Uqayla, Brega and Ajdabiya, our correspondents reported. "It is pretty clear to me, and I am at the main refinery in Ras Lanuf, that here it is the opposition who are in control," Al Jazeera's James Bays reported on Sunday, after rebels had taken over the major oil exporting terminal. Earlier on Sunday, Al Jazeera correspondents reported opposition forces advancing on the towns of Brega and then Uqayla, which they retook from Gaddafi forces. "[There are] no signs of Gaddafi's forces here," Bays reported from Ras Lanuf. "What they left behind is here, some of their weaponry is here, some of their armourments are here. "But they have not left their tanks behind or any of their heavy armour, just some of the ammunition has been left behind, suggesting it was a pretty speedy retreat." Earlier reports said that the rebels were not facing much resistance from pro-Gaddafi forces in the area. The rebels had pushed westwards after making it to Brega late on Saturday. This came after they recaptured Ajdabiya from government controls with the help of western coalition air strikes. Spurred on by the air strikes, the rebels were now headed towards Bin Jawad, another town west of Ras Lanuf, where fighting continued. "The opposition forces have certainly pushed forward since they took control of Ajdabiya, after those air strikes on Ajdabiya, pushing along the coast heading westward towards Tripoli," Bays reported from near Uqayla earlier on Sunday....."

Real News Video: Bahrain Monarchy From British Empire To US Fifth Fleet

Bahrain's Kings dependent on British, American and now Saudi protection

Real News Video: Where Next For # Revolution?

Political satire from Rap TV - It's 2011 and amid a flurry of political leaks and revelations, revolutions have rolled across North Africa and The Middle East.

Hugo Chavez Adds to His Shame: Venezuela's Chavez: Syria's leader a 'humanist'

AP

HAVE YOU NO SHAME MR. PRESIDENT? I USED TO BE A STRONG SUPPORTER OF YOU, BUT NO MORE!

SUPPORT OF BLOOD-SOAKED TYRANTS MAKES A MOCKERY OF YOUR POPULIST CREDENTIALS.

"CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expressed support for Syria's president on Saturday, calling him a "humanist" and a "brother" facing a wave of violent protests backed by the United States and its allies. Chavez's support for President Bashar Assad follows his defense of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who is fighting rebels backed by international airstrikes. Venezuela's socialist leader accused Washington of fomenting the protests in Syria as a pretext for Libya-style airstrikes. "Now some supposed political protest movements have begun (in Syria), a few deaths ... and now they are accusing the president of killing his people and later the Yankees will come to bomb the people to save them," Chavez said in a televised speech. The anti-government protests erupted nationwide in Syria on Friday, and follow unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya in what has been called the Arab Spring. Chavez has developed close ties to Gadhafi and Assad over the years......"