Turkey has a key role in Syria – now and in the future

The Arab League's suspension of Syria has outraged Assad, but it is Ankara's hardline stance that may yet prove decisive

Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011

"....Fears that a Syrian meltdown could seriously destabilise the wider neighbourhood are also driving Turkey's hardening response. Such a scenario could affect Iraq, where security concerns are rising as the US withdrawal nears completion, and even Iran, a close Assad ally.

For its part, the Syrian regime has pressing reasons to fear Ankara's animosity, as Gökhan Bacik pointed out in Today's Zaman. Unlike many Muslim countries, Turkey identifies strongly with Europe, the US and Nato. And in the past decade, Erdogan's Justice and Development party has made its brand of moderate Islamist politics acceptable to previously blinkered western eyes.

In other words, Turkey, with its majority Sunni Muslim population, furnishes a role model for the disenfranchised Sunni majority in Syria (and other Arab spring countries). Not only is Ankara encouraging revolution in Damascus, it is also living proof that Assad's politics of fear are outdated, that Syrians have before them a workable alternative paradigm, and that, after the revolution, the country's secular, Islamist and other sectarian traditions could fairly hope to co-exist peacefully, Turkish-style."

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Return to Zuccotti Park After 200 Arrested, Camping Barred

Democracy Now!



"Thousands of defiant Occupy Wall Street protesters streamed into Zuccotti Park late Tuesday less than 24 hours after police forcibly removed them from their camp. Police arrested more than 200 people, including about a dozen who had chained themselves to each other and to trees. As protesters returned, a judge upheld the city’s ban preventing them from bringing backpacks, tents and sleeping bags with them into the park. Democracy Now! spoke with protesters as they regrouped after the raid. "The reason I’m down here is because I’m tired of seeing suffering of so many people while you have 1 percent who is accumulating all this wealth on the backs of all the workers," says Ray Lewis, a retired police captain from the Philadelphia Police Department. He critiques his colleagues for "basically just enforcing the laws of the dictators, which is the 1 percent. They’re having their healthcare cut, their pensions cut, and their salaries reduced. And they don’t even realize it."....."

Free Syrian Army attack Damascus

(Click on map to enlarge)

Syrian army defectors have attacked a string of military bases near Damascus. Clashes between defectors and troops have in the past been concentrated in the provinces of Idlib, Homs and Daraa

Paddy Allen
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011

Attack on Syrian intelligence base is most audacious yet

Symbolic significance of assault on Syria's feared Air Force Intelligence directorate will not be lost on civilians

Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011

"Syria's Air Force Intelligence directorate is a central part of the Assad regime's repressive apparatus – less concerned with aviation matters than keeping tabs on the opposition. Wednesday's rocket and machine gun attack on one of its facilities on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, Hasrata, looks like the most audacious and precisely targeted attack yet by President Bashar al-Assad's enemies. Its symbolic significance will not be lost on Syrian citizens.

This feared organ of state security owes its ostensibly anomalous role to the fact that the president's father and predecessor, Hafez, was commander of the air force before coming to power in 1968. It played a key internal role in crushing the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s and its officers have often been stationed at Syrian embassies abroad....

Its current head, Jamil Hassan, is a member of the Alawite sect and part of the Assad family's inner circle. AFI personnel have often been seen in action against protesters and are reported to have fired live ammunition to disperse demonstrators in Damascus in April, killing 43......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Al Jazeera World: Gaza Lives On

"The Israeli blockade may have taken a heavy toll on Gazans, but this film reveals life and hope among the devastation."

Al-Jazeera Video: Protesters flood back to 'Occupy' NY park

Delivering "Democracy," 15 Tons at a Time: Report: U.S. Air Force Receives New 15-Ton Bunker Buster Bombs

U.S. Air Force started receiving the massive bombs in September, Bloomberg news agency reports; the bombs are capable of destroying underground targets, such as Iran's nuclear sites.

"The U.S. Air Force has received new 30,000-pound bombs capable of destroying deep underground bunkers, the Bloomberg news agency reported.

The bombs, designed to be delivered by B-2 stealth bombers, "will meet requirements for the current operational need," U.S. Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jack Miller said in a statement to Bloomberg.

The U.S. Air Force reportedly started receiving the bombs in September. The bombs are six times bigger than the U.S. Air Force's current bunker-busters....

The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out conducting military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, some of which are located in fortified underground locations."

Assad will only go if his own tanks turn against him

Predictions of Syrian leader's imminent demise are hopelessly optimistic

By Robert Fisk

"....And my Middle Eastern crystal ball broke many years ago. But I'll hazard a dangerous prediction: Assad's time is running out, fast – but don't believe the State Department and the Washington "tink thanks" (as I call them) and the EU or the Arab League. He ain't going yet....

The truth is that Russia was once Libya's only arms supplier; it was selling combat jets, frigates, tanks and anti-aircraft systems to Colonel Gaddafi after the West's 1974 arms embargo and had 3,500 advisers in the country. Its ships could refuel at the Tripoli naval base. Now it is associated with the dead and hated regime. Russia was 73rd on the list of nations to recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council.

So now the Syrian city of Tartous contains the only 24-hour port open to the Russian navy in the Mediterranean....

One thing is now clear. Quite apart from the massive civilian casualties, even opponents of the regime now admit that Assad faces an armed insurgency. This may originally have been a myth promoted by the regime, but the monster has now been born. Anti-Assad activists now openly speak of "armed insurgents"......"

Syrian army defectors attack intelligence base near Damascus

Attacks on President Bashar al-Assad's military bases come two days after rebels kill 34 soldiers and security officials in Daraa

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011

"Syrian army defectors have attacked a string of military bases near Damascus, including an intelligence complex on the outskirts of the capital, in the first such reported assault on a major security facility in the eight-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Members of the Free Syrian Army fired shoulder-mounted rockets and machine guns at the compound run by Air Force Intelligence in Harasta, a suburb of the capital.

A gunfight ensued and helicopters circled the area. The attack appeared to mark an escalation in armed confrontations between government and opposition forces instead of clashes involving street protesters.

"I heard several explosions, the sound of machine gunfire being exchanged," a Hasrata resident told Reuters.

Other attacks targeted military checkpoints in the suburbs of Douma, Qaboun and Arabeen and Saqba....."

Egypt: Free Blogger Held in Maspero Case

No Transparency in Military Investigation of Killing of Copts

Human Rights Watch
November 15, 2011

"(New York) – Egypt’s military prosecutor should immediately release an award-winning blogger charged in connection with the demonstration by Christian Copts on October 9, 2011, which turned deadly, Human Rights Watch said today. Alaa Abdel Fattah was detained and later charged with incitement and theft of a military weapon, even though the prosecutor had presented no evidence to support the charges. His detention came as military prosecutors started questioning activists and priests about their alleged involvement in publicly encouraging Copts to demonstrate on that day.

During the protest in the Maspero area, military vehicles ran over demonstrators and the military used excessive force to disperse protesters, resulting in the deaths of 27 civilians and one military officer. A November 2 report by the National Council for Human Rights, Egypt’s government-appointed human rights commission, said members of the military were responsible for killing demonstrators. Investigations related to this demonstration remain solely in the hands of military prosecutors, who have called in activists and priests for questioning but have refused to reveal any information about whether they are investigating any military officers for their roles in killing Coptic protesters.

“Instead of identifying which members of the military were driving the military vehicles that crushed 13 Coptic protesters, the military prosecutor is going after the activists who organized the march,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Abdel Fattah’s detention is a blatant effort to target one of the most vocal critics of the military. The prosecutor’s acts further entrench military impunity by failing to build public confidence that there will be a transparent investigation of those responsible for the deaths.”....."

A Defeatest Article by Jospeh Massad

As the uprising proceeded in Tunisia last December and January and as it picked up in Egypt in January and February, developments seemed clear. Despite attempts to suppress the press, much of the news of what was unfolding reached national and international audiences immediately. The situation changed dramatically when the uprisings began in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. While a quasi news blackout suppressed coverage of the ongoing popular revolt and its violent suppression in Bahrain by Bahraini and Saudi forces (and only intermittent coverage of Oman was allowed), we continued to get important updates from Yemen. It was in Libya where the lies and propaganda started from the first week of the revolt. It was there that international forces, extending from the Gulf to Europe to the US, took charge of propagandising against Gaddafi (that he used his forces to strafe demonstrators, that his forces received Viagra and raped hundreds of women, that he used "African" mercenaries against his own people, that he was preparing to use chemical weapons against his people, that he had already killed 50,000 Libyans, etc. - all proved to be lies that international observers and agencies finally exposed as baseless fabrications) and ultimately of overthrowing Gaddafi’s dictatorship under the guise of the popular uprising led by NATO forces who actually bombed and killed hundreds of Libyan civilians.

A lesson in imperialism

This is the lesson for those in Syria who are struggling to bring about democratic rule. The evidence is clear. If you live in an Arab country whose dictator is a client of the Americans, the US will do everything in its power to suppress your revolt, and if you succeed despite US efforts, the US will sponsor the counter-revolution against you directly and indirectly through its local allies, especially Saudi Arabia and Israel, but now also Qatar. This of course applies to the situations in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, and in Saudi Arabia itself. If you happen to live in a country whose dictator, though friendly to the West, maintains an independent line on foreign policy or at least a line that cannot always be guaranteed to serve Western interests - and this applies to Syria and Iran (and lest we forget their services to the West, both countries helped actively the US effort to unseat Saddam, and the Syrian regime helped with US efforts in supporting rightwing forces in Lebanon against the Lebanese left and the PLO in the 1970s) and less so Libya, then the US will help sponsor your revolt against your dictator to bring about a more pliant dictator to serve its interests without equivocation, and it will do so in the name of supporting democracy. The US also explains its counter-revolutionary efforts in countries where the revolts succeeded in overthrowing the American-sponsored dictators as "pro-democratic" measures.

Those who see the Syrian popular struggle for democracy as having already been hijacked by these imperial and pro-imperial forces inside and outside Syria understand that a continuation of the revolt will only bring about one outcome, and it is not a democratic one - namely, a US-imposed pliant and repressive regime à la Iraq and Libya. If this is what the Syrian demonstrators are struggling for, then they should continue their uprising; if this is not their goal, then they must face up to the very difficult conclusion that they have been effectively defeated, not by the horrifying repression of their own dictatorial regime which they have valiantly resisted, but rather by the international forces that are as committed as the Syrian regime itself to deny Syrians the democracy they so deserve. In light of the new move by the Arab League, the US, and Europe, the struggle to overthrow Asad may very well succeed, but the struggle to bring about a democratic regime in Syria has been thoroughly defeated.

It was the United States that destroyed Syrian democracy in 1949 when the CIA sponsored the first coup d’état in the country ending democratic rule. It is again the United States that has destroyed the possibility of a democratic outcome of the current popular uprising. My deep condolences to the Syrian people. 

The Treachery of the Syrian Regime, by Emad Hajjaj

This Is What Revolution Looks Like

By Chris Hedges
Posted on Nov 15, 2011

"Welcome to the revolution. Our elites have exposed their hand. They have nothing to offer. They can destroy but they cannot build. They can repress but they cannot lead. They can steal but they cannot share. They can talk but they cannot speak. They are as dead and useless to us as the water-soaked books, tents, sleeping bags, suitcases, food boxes and clothes that were tossed by sanitation workers Tuesday morning into garbage trucks in New York City. They have no ideas, no plans and no vision for the future.

Our decaying corporate regime has strutted in Portland, Oakland and New York with their baton-wielding cops into a fool’s paradise. They think they can clean up “the mess”—always employing the language of personal hygiene and public security—by making us disappear. They think we will all go home and accept their corporate nation, a nation where crime and government policy have become indistinguishable, where nothing in America, including the ordinary citizen, is deemed by those in power worth protecting or preserving, where corporate oligarchs awash in hundreds of millions of dollars are permitted to loot and pillage the last shreds of collective wealth, human capital and natural resources, a nation where the poor do not eat and workers do not work, a nation where the sick die and children go hungry, a nation where the consent of the governed and the voice of the people is a cruel joke.

Get back into your cages, they are telling us. Return to watching the lies, absurdities, trivia and celebrity gossip we feed you in 24-hour cycles on television. Invest your emotional energy in the vast system of popular entertainment. Run up your credit card debt. Pay your loans. Be thankful for the scraps we toss.....

Despotic regimes in the end collapse internally. Once the foot soldiers who are ordered to carry out acts of repression, such as the clearing of parks or arresting or even shooting demonstrators, no longer obey orders, the old regime swiftly crumbles. When the aging East German dictator Erich Honecker was unable to get paratroopers to fire on protesting crowds in Leipzig, the regime was finished. The same refusal to employ violence doomed the communist governments in Prague and Bucharest. I watched in December 1989 as the army general that the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had depended on to crush protests condemned him to death on Christmas Day. Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak lost power once they could no longer count on the security forces to fire into crowds....."

Video: Damietta Still on Lockdown Over Petrochemical Plant

From Tahrir Square to Liberty Plaza, the occupation continues

The kinship between the pro-democracy activists in Egypt and Occupy Wall Street is real. United, we can make freedom prevail

Asmaa Mahfouz
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 November 2011

"......In Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is becoming increasingly aggressive in the fight to preserve the privileges of elites against our 99%. Since they took power – after we forced former President Mubarak from office on 11 February – the military has tried and sentenced over 10,000 civilians in military courts merely for engaging in peaceful dissent. We have seen concerted efforts to divide the people who came together to demand their rights: some of the same divide-and-conquer tactics employed against the Occupy movement over the past few weeks.

Attacks on Coptic Christians have increased, with the police offering little protection and with state media fanning the flames. When Copts peacefully protested outside of the Maspera state television building, security forces opened fire with live ammunition and ran demonstrators down with armored personnel carriers. They killed 27 and injured hundreds more. When Muslim activists came to the Copts' defense, the regime reacted harshly. The military recently extended the imprisonment of blogger Alaa Abd el-Fattah due to his outspoken criticism of the military for the Maspera massacre. We are grateful for activists around the world that have stood in solidarity with us and demanded Alaa's immediate release..... "

Al-Jazeera Video: Syria's 'bloodiest day' leaves scores dead

"At least 70 people have been killed in violence across Syria over the past 24 hours in one of the bloodiest days since an anti-government uprising began eight months ago, activists reported.

The new death figures come as a delegation from the main Syrian opposition bloc, the Syrian National Council (SNC), visited Moscow for talks with Russian diplomats.

Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports from Amman....."

Arundhati Roy: Occupy Wall Street is “So Important Because it is in the Heart of Empire”

Democracy Now!



"Renowned Indian writer and global justice activist Arundhati Roy is preparing to address Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday. She recently joined us in the studio to talk about the Occupy movement. "What they are doing becomes so important because it is in the heart of empire, or what used to be empire,” Roy said. “And to criticize and to protest against the model that the rest of the world is aspiring to is a very important and very serious business. So... it makes me very, very hopeful that after a long time you are seeing some nascent, real political anger here. She also discussed her new book, "Walking With The Comrades," a chronicle of her time in the forests of India alongside rebel guerillas who are resisting a brutal military campaign by the Indian government...."

Real News Video: Former IAEA Inspector: Misleading Iran Report Proves Nothing

Robert Kelly: Latest IAEA report recycles old intelligence and is meant to bolster hard liners

Looting Libya as A "Reward": Libya seeks UK firms to develop oil sector and construction industry

Nuri Berruien, head of Libya's National Oil Company, said the government would 'favour our friends' to develop its reserves

The Guardian

"Libya began touting itself as the next Dubai to UK investors, as the country's government said it would reward its "friends" when it begins selling off lucrative oil contracts.
Representatives of the country's National Transitional Council called City executives to a central London hotel to drum up British interest in the "massive opportunities" on offer in Libya....."

Syria uprising falls victim to power plays

By Ramzy Baroud
Asia Times

"....Despite the Arab League's decision to suspend Syria, it is very probable that some Arab countries are keen to employ the league in a similar fashion to the way it was used with the war on Libya: a mere springboard that eventually allowed NATO's war to take place.

Signs of such a scenario are becoming clearer, especially following the league's vote to suspend Syria. In a New York Times editorial on November 8, the role of the Arabs seems to be confined to just that. The Arab League "should eject Syria and urge the United Nations Security Council to condemn Mr Assad and impose international sanctions against the regime", the Times counseled.

"Russia and China will find it harder to block a Security Council resolution - as they did in October - if the Arab world calls for action that goes beyond the sanctions already imposed by the United States and Europe."

And so the saga continues. If Syria doesn't wrestle its fate from the hands of these self-serving forces, the Syrian uprising and Syria as a whole will continue to be marred by uncertainties and foreboding possibilities. "

Syria: isolated and losing friends

Damascus is loyal to Bashar al-Assad, but the president must realise the prospect of keeping hold of his country has gone

Editorial
guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 November 2011

"Syria's expulsion from the Arab League on Wednesday marks a change for an organisation whose more traditional posture is astride a fence. The move is largely symbolic. It is not clear what sanctions Arab League members could impose, and any plea for the United Nations to act will be blocked by Russia and China in the security council (Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday accused the US and France of inciting violence and blocking dialogue). But symbolism matters. Syria was not just one of a 22-member group, but a founding member and central player. Suspension is a blow to Syria's claim to be the beating heart of pan-Arabism. And isolation could be a precursor to recognising the Syrian National Council, the umbrella group of the opposition.....

But members of the league could also have less altruistic motives. The leading role in the decision to suspend Syria was played by the current chairman, Qatar. The rich but tiny kingdom provided planes, at least 18 shipments of weapons and special forces for the intervention in Libya. Under the increasing influence of Saudi Arabia, Qatar has become a major player in a wider power battle with Iran. Saudi Arabia blames Iran for instigating rebellion among the Shia majority in Bahrain, whereas the truth is they had reason enough to protest....."

Prominent Egyptian blogger's detention extended

Amnesty International
14 November 2011

"Egypt’s military authorities must release a prominent blogger and vocal critic of military rule or immediately transfer him to a civilian court, Amnesty International said today after his detention was renewed.

Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah's detention was extended by 15 days on Sunday, raising fears he may face a grossly unfair trial before a military court. He is facing charges of inciting violence against the armed forces, assaulting military personnel and stealing weaponry.

"The military has yet to present any evidence to substantiate the charges against Alaa Abdel Fattah and are denying him a fair hearing before a civilian court," said Amnesty International.

“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is proving increasingly intolerant of any criticism of its actions and is abusing the military courts to settle scores.”....."

ما بعد سقوط النظام

ما بعد سقوط النظام
الياس خوري

A VERY GOOD COMMENT

"انتهى الفصل الأول من اللعبة، النظام الأسدي يشرب من البئر نفسها التي جعلته يعتقد بأن النظام الذي اسسه حافظ الأسد بالحديد والنار سوف يبقى الى الأبد والى ما بعد الأبد. وصلت الأمور الى منعطفها الحاسم، فبعد محاولات النظام العربي المتعددة لالقاء حبل النجاة الى النظام السوري، وجدت الجامعة العربية نفسها امام الجدار، ولم يعد هناك مناص من اعلان نهاية صلاحية النظام. فلقد رفضت العائلة السورية الحاكمة جميع محاولات تجميل نظامها الاستبدادي، وتصرفت بعقلية كل شيء او لا شيء، معتقدة انها تستطيع سحق الشعب السوري بالدم، مثلما سبق لها وان فعلت طوال العقود الأربعة الماضية، متناسية ان الزمن تغير، وان قواعد اللعبة اختلفت.
القرار العربي لا يعني ان النظام الاسدي قد سقط، فقد يكون امام الشعب السوري مزيد من اهوال البطش، قبل ان يأفل النظام ويتهاوى، لكنه يشير الى ان آليات السقوط قد بدأت بشكل جدي، وان العودة الى الوراء باتت بالغة الصعوبة.
المنعطف الجديد الذي تدخله سورية مثير وحاسم، وهو يحمل مخاوف كبرى، على المعارضة السورية ايجاد آليات تجنبها، كي لا تكون تكلفة اسقاط النظام باهظة اكثر من اللازم، وكي تتجنب سورية كأس انحلال بنية الدولة في سياق تهاوي الاستبداد.
المخاوف ناجمة اساساً عن المسار المتعرج للثورات العربية. فبدلا من ان تتصدى تونس ومصر، لقيادة دفة الجامعة العربية، وتأسيس محور ديموقراطي عربي في مواجهة الاستبداد، عقد لواء القيادة المطلقة لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، بحيث بدت منصة الجامعة العربية وكأنها صارت حكرا على الثنائي السعودي- القطري. هل غياب المحور الديموقراطي ناجم عن اشكاليات مرحلة التأسيس، حيث تواجه الثورة التونسية تحدي بناء التعددية السياسية، بينما تواجه الثورة المصرية خطر عودة ديكتاتورية عسكرية مقنعة؟ ام هو ايضا نتيجة عدم قدرة القوى الديموقراطية على بلورة خطها السياسي المستقل، لتجد نفسها عاجزة عن كسر احتكار القيادة النفطية للعمل العربي المشترك؟
في ظل هذا الغياب تلعب الديبلوماسية القطرية دور القيادة، وقد اتخذت هذه القيادة شكلا عسكريا مستغرباً في ليبيا. فمحدودية الامكانيات العسكرية القطرية لا تسمح بهكذا دور، الا اذا اصبحت قطر هي الوكيل الدولي المعتمد!
قد يقال ان هذا الوضع هو محصلة واقع دولي راهن، وهذا ليس صحيحاً الا لأنه يكشف عجز الديموقراطيين في تونس ومصر، حيث سقط النظام او بعضه من دون سقوط الدولة، عن بلورة سياسة عربية جديدة، تقطع مع المرحلة الماضية، التي هي في طريقها الى الأفول.
هذا التخوف المشروع ناجم عن طموح المحور الخليجي لوأد العملية الديموقراطية برمتها، وهذا ما اشارت اليه عملية سحق الثورة البحرينية بنار قوات 'درع الخليج'.
الرد على هذه المخاوف هو مسؤولية المعارضة السورية والتنسيقيات التي تقود العمل اليومي. صحيح ان مهمة اسقاط النظام والخلاص من الاستبداد هي المهمة المركزية، التي يجب ان تنصب كل الجهود لانجاحها بأقل الخسائر الممكنة، وصحيح ايضاً ان الشعب السوري استقبل القرار العربي بالترحاب، لأنه يعزل النظام ويعجّل في سقوطه. لكن هذا يجب ان لا يحجب الأخطار المحدقة بالثورة السورية، والتي قد تتخذ اشكالا متعددة.
الخطر الأول هو الانزلاق في هاوية الصراعات الطائفية. النظام الاستبدادي الذي تغطى بخطاب قومي بنى لنفسه حمايات تستند اساسا الى البنى العشائرية- الطائفية، من 'سرايا الدفاع' السيئة السمعة في زمن الأب، الى الفرقة الرابعة في زمن الابن. قد يعتقد النظام انه يستطيع ان يلعب ورقة تسعير الصراعات الطائفية، كما فعل في لبنان، من اجل اطالة عمره. هذه الورقة التي يلجأ اليها النظام لن تكون مجدية الا اذا سقطت قوى المجتمع الأهلي السوري في كمائنها، وارتضت ان تقوم بممارسة ردود فعل شبيهة.
الخطر الثاني هو خطر انهيار الدولة. لقد بنى الاستبداد تماهيا كاملا بين النظام والدولة، بحيث صارت اجهزة الدولة وسلطاتها المختلفة، من الأمن الى القضاء الى التشريع، مجرد مطية للسلطة، كما تم تحطيم جميع مؤسسات المجتمع المدني والسياسي، فصار النظام آلة لحكم الفراغ والسيطرة عليه.
من هنا يأتي خطر انهيار الدولة، الذي لا يمكن صدّه الا عبر قدرة المعارضة الديموقراطية على استقطاب اغلبية النخب الفكرية والسياسية والعسكرية، من اجل احداث تحول ديموقراطي يحافظ على وحدة الوطن ومصادر قوته.
هذان الخطران الكبيران اضافة الى واقع عربي مليء بالالتباسات والمطبات، لا يمكن مواجهتها الا عبر قدرة المعارضة السورية ممثلة بالمجلس الوطني وتنسيقيات الثورة والقيادات الديموقراطية، على بناء خطاب سياسي توحيدي جديد، يكون اطار عملية التغيير. هنا لا يمكن اغفال الحادثة المشؤومة التي جرت في القاهرة، حين قام بعض المعارضين المتظاهرين بالاعتداء على اعضاء في هيئة التنسيق. المطلوب اليوم هو افق ديموقراطي حقيقي، وخطاب توحيدي وطني يقود سورية في مرحلة انتقالية صعبة ومؤلمة، تفتح آفاق الحرية والديموقراطية، وتقطع مع هذا النوع من الممارسات الصبيانية الطائشة.
في مواجهة النظام الاستبدادي الذي يحكم دمشق الذي وصفه الروائي الاسباني الكبير خوان غويتيسولو بأنه 'سلام المقابر'، لا يوجد سوى رهان واحد، هو الرهان على الشعب السوري الذي صنع خلال الأشهر الثمانية الماضية واحدة من اكبر ملاحم البطولة في التاريخ العربي المعاصر.
سورية، مركز بلاد الشام، وسرة المشرق العربي، هي الأمل في ان يستعيد المحور الديموقراطي العربي زخمه، كي يبدأ مع فجرها الديموقراطي تاريخ جديد للعرب، يؤسس نهضتهم.
لم يعد السؤال 'هل سيسقط النظام'؟ بل صار 'متى سيسقط النظام'؟
"

Three questions on Syria for Marwan Bishara

Our senior political analyst answers three questions on the crisis in Syria and the Arab League's possible role.

Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"Why has Syria called for an emergency summit of the Arab League?

....First, Arab public opinion is more present and more potent than ever before. Arab leaders can no longer ignore the mass killing of Arab citizens.

Second, the situation in Syria is spiralling out of control and could bring down the region with it. Although President Assad’s threat of an "earthquake" is a sign of desperation, such a calamity is bad news for all.....

You say a "fatal crossroads". Why is this moment "fatal"?

It is because the country is at the verge of sliding towards a full-fledged civil war, with terrible consequences for its people and national unity.....

Could foreign intervention and attempts to protect the Syrian population as claimed by Nabil al-Arabi, the Arab League's secretary-general, further inflame the situation in Syria and the region?

There is no doubt that the situation is precarious and any sort of intervention, direct or otherwise, could indeed lead to further escalation.

That is why the decisions of the Arab League should not pave the way towards a United Nations Security Council resolution authorising foreign military intervention on the Libyan model....

This is why it behooves the Arabs as a whole to insist on resolving their problems locally or regionally within the Arab fold when possible. The public pressure would need to mount in order to find Arab solutions to Arab problems. Intervention from the outside, notably military intervention, could only lead to further suffering, break up and chaos.

Further Arab isolation of the Syrian government coupled with domestic pressure and their insistence that the Syrian government fully implements the Arab initiative and paves the way towards a transition of power might be challenging, but remains the least harmful and most constructive way forward."

The struggle for Syria

The Syrian people are being sacrificed at the altar of US imperialism, says author.
Joseph Massad
Al-Jazeera

Note:

For the first time, I find myself in disagreement with Joseph Massad about his central conclusion that the Syrian uprising has been defeated and that it should abandon the fight for freedom and democracy. I agree that it should be wary of the counter revolutionary effort to contain it, but that does not mean to abort the uprising.

".....In this context of a US-dominated world, those in Syria who legitimately have struggled and are struggling to bring about an end to dictatorship must face up to a few central questions, now that the Arab League and imperial powers have taken over and assumed the leadership of their struggle: Is the aim of their ongoing uprising the overthrow of the Asad regime in order to bring about a democratic regime, or is it simply to overthrow Asad? As the Iraqi and Libyan precedents make clear, the Arab League and imperial powers have taken over the Syrian uprising in order to remove the Asad regime and replace it with a US-obedient regime like the ones installed in all other Arab countries. The second question for the Syrian demonstrators is clear and unequivocal: given the aim of imperial forces and the Arab League, do Syrian demonstrators understand the new leadership of their struggle by Gulf dictators and the United States as the final defeat of their uprising or as a necessary step for their uprising to succeed?

Those who see the Syrian popular struggle for democracy as having already been hijacked by these imperial and pro-imperial forces inside and outside Syria understand that a continuation of the revolt will only bring about one outcome, and it is not a democratic one - namely, a US-imposed pliant and repressive regime à la Iraq and Libya. If this is what the Syrian demonstrators are struggling for, then they should continue their uprising; if this is not their goal, then they must face up to the very difficult conclusion that they have been effectively defeated, not by the horrifying repression of their own dictatorial regime which they have valiantly resisted, but rather by the international forces that are as committed as the Syrian regime itself to deny Syrians the democracy they so deserve. In light of the new move by the Arab League, the US, and Europe, the struggle to overthrow Asad may very well succeed, but the struggle to bring about a democratic regime in Syria has been thoroughly defeated......"

The contradictions of the Arab Spring

The spirit of 1968 flows through Arab Spring and Occupy movement - as its counter-current attempts to suppress uprising.

AN EXCELLENT ANALYSIS
Immanuel Wallerstein
Al-Jazeera

"....Most of the analyses we read in the media or on the internet neglect the fundamental contradiction of this phenomenon - that the so-called Arab Spring is composed of two quite different currents, going in radically different directions. One current is the heir of the world-revolution of 1968. The "1968 current" might better be called the "second Arab revolt".

Its objective is to achieve the global autonomy of the Arab world that the "first Arab revolt" had sought to achieve. The first revolt failed primarily because of successful Franco-British measures to contain it, co-opt it, and repress it.

The second current is the attempt by all important geopolitical actors to control the first current, each acting to divert collective activity in the Arab world in ways that would rebound to the relative advantage of each of these actors separately. The actors here regard the "1968 current" as highly dangerous to their interests. They have done everything possible to turn attention and energy away from the objectives of the "1968 current", in what I think of as the great distraction.....

A current not easily contained

The new Egyptian regime, under attack at home from the "1968 current" and always sensitive to the fact that Egypt's primacy in the Arab world had diminished seriously, began to revise its geopolitical stance, first of all vis-à-vis Israel.

The regime wanted to take its distance from Israel, without, however, jeopardising its ability to obtain financial assistance from the United States. They became an active advocate of reunification of the split Palestinian political world, hoping that this reunification would not only force significant concessions from the Israelis but hamper the development of the "1968 current" among the Palestinians.

Two neighbouring countries - Turkey and Iran - sought to profit from the Arab unrest by strengthening their own legitimacy as actors in the Middle East arena. This was not easy for either of them, especially since each had to worry about the degree to which the "1968 current" would menace them internally - the Kurds in Turkey, the multiple factions in the complicated Iranian internal politics.

And Israel? Israel has been assaulted all around by the prospect of "delegitimisation" - in the Western world (even in Germany, even in the United States), in Egypt and Jordan, in Turkey, in Russia and China. And all the while it has had to face a "1968 current" that has emerged among the Jewish population within Israel.

And, as all this geopolitical juggling has been going on, the Arab Spring has become simply one part of what is now very clearly a worldwide unrest occurring everywhere: Oxi in Greece, indignados in Spain, students in Chile, the Occupy movements that have now spread to 800 cities in North America and elsewhere, strikes in China and demonstrations in Hong Kong, multiple happenings across Africa.

The "1968 current" is expanding - despite repression, despite concessions, despite co-option.

And geopolitically, across the Arab world, the success of the various players has been limited, and in some cases counterproductive. Tahrir Square has become a symbol across the world. Yes, many Islamist movements have been able to express themselves openly in Arab states where they could not do so earlier. But so have the secular left forces. The trade unions are rediscovering their historic role.

Those who believe that Arab unrest, that world unrest, is a passing moment will discover in the next major bubble burst (which we can anticipate quite soon) that the "1968 current" will no longer be so easily contained."

Syrian Human Rights Lawyer Razan Zaitouneh Speaks from Hiding, Says Over 4,000 Killed in Uprising

Democracy Now!



"Daily protests continue in Syria even as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates the government has killed more than 3,500 people during the last eight months in its attempt to silence a growing popular uprising. Over the weekend, protesters carried out a general strike in several cities. We get a live report from Damascus from Razan Zaitouneh, a lawyer and human rights activist, who says she believes at least 4,133 people have been killed. "At the same time that the protests are continuing around the country daily, the average of killing is also increasing. It’s now at least 30 persons get killed daily by the regime in different cities of the country, especially in Homs and Hama and Idlib," Zaitouneh says...."

Arab League Suspends Syria, Concern Grows Over Foreign Intervention to End Crisis

Democracy Now!



AN EXCELLENT INTERVIEW

"Today the European Union decided to impose sanctions on 18 Syrians in response to the killings of protesters by Syrian forces under President Bashar al-Assad. The move comes after the Arab League formally suspended the Syrian delegation on Saturday over its violent crackdown on eight months of protests. In a new report, Human Rights Watch accused the Assad government of "crimes against humanity" for alleged killings of protesters dating back to April, and called on the United Nations to impose an arms embargo on Syria and refer top officials to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. We speak with Bassam Haddad, director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University. He says he opposes external intervention in Syria and calls for non-military action. “The economic sanctions that are taking place targeting particular individuals, might [work],” Haddad says. “I suspect that the defection of the business classes from the regime’s ranks is going to continue and increase very rapidly."...."

Syria's suspension from the Arab League leaves Assad isolated

.........................Now It is Your Turn, Bloody Rabbit!.................

Whether western powers will now intervene is unclear, but move suggests Assad's fellow leaders no longer expect him to survive

Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 November 2011

".....What effect will this latest decision have? Assad will now feel more isolated, though earlier Arab pressure did not bring any easing of the bloody repression that the UN says has claimed 3,500 lives since March. This decision, however, suggests that his fellow leaders no longer expect him to survive.

With the Syrian opposition invited to hold talks at the league's HQ in Cairo, Assad must also fear Arab moves towards official recognition of the Syrian National Council in parallel to recognition of the Benghazi-based Libyan National Transitional Council while Muammar Gaddafi was still in power. Turkey is being pressed to allow the SNC to open an office. Another worry is the creation of safe havens in Turkey and Jordan for Syrian army defectors.

Nabil el-Arabi, the Arab League's secretary general, provided a tantalising glimpse of possible next steps when he spoke of appealing to the UN to take action.....

Everyone acknowledges that the fear is a repeat of a Libyan scenario, where March's Arab League decision to abandon Gaddafi was crucial in paving the way for a UN resolution and eventual Nato action. Most observers acknowledge that a repeat of this is highly unlikely. So while it remains impossible to predict how the bloody Syrian chapter of the Arab spring will end – it is a better bet than before that Assad will not be running things in Damascus when that moment comes."

Real News Video: Doha Debates: Egypt Military Does Not Want Real Reform

84% Agreed with the motion that the Egyptian military does not want real reform.

Israel reported 'behind blast' that killed Iran's missile chief

Time magazine quotes 'western intel source' as saying Mossad carried out blast at missile base near Tehran

The Guardian

"Time's correspondent in Jerusalem, Karl Vick, is reporting that Israel was responsible for the huge blast on Saturday at a Revolutionary Guard missile base, about 35 km west of Tehran. Vick quotes a western intelligence source as saying that Mossad carried out the sabotage attack, adding that more such attacks are to be expected - "There are more bullets in the magazine."
If true, it would be the most damaging blow to date in the covert war against Iran's nuclear weapons programme. It killed 17 Iranian revolutionary guardsmen, including the head of the missile programme, General Hasan Moghaddam, decribed in the Iranian press as "a pioneer" of Iran's missile project [Farsi]. His official job description was head of the 'self-sufficiency department" for munitions. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was at the funeral today. ....."

انها الحرب زاحفة وبسرعة

انها الحرب زاحفة وبسرعة
عبد الباري عطوان

"نحن نعيش هذه الايام الظروف نفسها التي عشناها قبل عشرين عاما عندما اجتمع القادة العرب في القاهرة تحت قبة الجامعة العربية وقرروا بالأغلبية اتخاذ قرار بدعوة القوات الاجنبية لشن حرب لاخراج القوات العراقية من الكويت. بل لا نبالغ اذا قلنا ان الملاسنات التي حدثت في اروقة الجامعة العربية اثناء انعقاد مؤتمر وزراء الخارجية العرب بعد صدور قرار بتعليق عضوية سورية، هي نفسها التي حدثت في آب (اغسطس) عام 1990، مع فارق اساسي وهو ان الاولى كانت بين الوفد العراقي (كان رئيسه طه ياسين رمضان، ووزير خارجية الكويت في حينها الشيخ صباح الاحمد)، وهذه المرة حدثت بين سفير سورية يوسف الاحمد، ورئيس الوزراء وزير الخارجية القطري الشيخ حمد بن جاسم آل ثاني.
النظام السوري كان في المرة الاولى يقف في خندق دول الخليج نفسها في مواجهة النظام العراقي، او ما يسمى بمعسكر دول 'الضد'، والاكثر من ذلك ارسل قوات الى الجزيرة العربية للمشاركة في 'تحرير' الكويت، او قوات عاصفة الصحراء، وها هو التاريخ يعيد نفسه ولكن بشكل آخر، حيث يجد النظام السوري نفسه في مواجهة حلفائه، وربما عاصفة صحراء اخرى. السؤال هو: هل ستواجه سورية مصير العراق، وهل سينتهي الرئيس بشار الاسد واركان نظامه النهاية نفسها التي انتهى اليها الرئيس الراحل صدام حسين واركان نظامه، مع الفارق في المقارنة؟
قرار وزراء الخارجية العرب الذي اتخذ على عجل في جلسة طارئة يوم امس الاول يفتح الباب على مصراعيه امام تدخل عسكري خارجي في سورية تحت عنوان حماية الشعب السوري. فالجامعة العربية، وفي السنوات العشرين الماضية بات دورها محصورا في توفير الغطاء العربي، بغض النظر عن شرعيته من عدمه، لمثل هذا التدخل، هذا الدور بدأ في العراق، وبعد ذلك في ليبيا، وبات من المرجح، وفي القريب العاجل ان تكون سورية المحطة الثالثة، والله وحده، ومن ثم امريكا، يعلم من هي الدولة الرابعة.
الرئيس العراقي صدام حسين كان له بعض الاصدقاء، وان كان هؤلاء من دول ضعيفة او هامشية (في نظر البعض) مثل اليمن والسودان وليبيا وتونس وموريتانيا، الى جانب منظمة التحرير، ولكن المفاجئ ان الرئيس السوري، ومثلما تبين من التصويت على قرار تعليق العضوية، لم يجد صديقا يصوت ضد القرار غير لبنان واليمن ، مع امتناع العراق، فحتى السودان المحاصر المفكك المستهدف لم يجرؤ على معارضة القرار، وكذلك هو حال الجزائر. ان هذا ابلغ درس يجب ان يستوعبه النظام السوري، ويستفيد منه، ويطور سياساته في المرحلة المقبلة، بل عفوا الايام المقبلة، على اساس العبر المستخلصة منه.
' ' '
من المؤكد ان هناك 'سيناريو ما' لهذا التدخل العسكري جرى وضعه منذ اشهر، وربما سنوات، فهذا التسرع في اصدار القرار بنزع الشرعية عن النظام السوري لا يمكن ان يأتي بمحض الصدفة، فكل شيء يتم الآن في عجالة، ابتداء من التوظيف الاعلامي الشرس، ومروراً بالتوليف المفاجئ للمجلس الوطني السوري، وانتهاء بالاجتماعات المفتوحة والمتواصلة لوزراء الخارجية العرب، وما تتسم به من حسم جريء، والدقة المحبوكة في اتخاذ القرارات.
السيد نبيل العربي امين عام الجامعة العربية قال ان جامعته بصدد اعداد آلية لتوفير الحماية للشعب السوري، ولكنه لم يكشف عن طبيعة وهوية هذه الآلية، هل هي عربية (هذا مستبعد) ام هي امريكية غربية (وهذا مشكوك فيه لحدوث تغيير في الاستراتيجيات التدخلية الامريكية)، ام هي اسلامية (وهذا مرجح بعد تزايد الحديث عن دور تركي عسكري في سورية)؟.
النظام السوري، وبسبب قراءته الخاطئة للوقائع على الارض منذ ان ايّد التدخل العسكري الدولي في العراق، يسهل تطبيق هذه السيناريوهات، فقد رفض كل النداءات والنصائح التي طالبته وتطالبه بوقف الاستخدام المفرط للحلول العسكرية والامنية الدموية، للتعاطي مع مطالب شعبه المشروعة في الاصلاح، وها هو الآن، وبسبب ذلك، او توظيفا له، يواجه تدويل الأزمة السورية.
من الصعب التكهن بطبيعة التحرك العسكري المقبل ضد سورية وان كنا نستطيع ان نقول، ومن خلال تصريحات بعض رموز المعارضة السورية الذين لا ينطقون عن هوى، ان اقامة مناطق عازلة على الحدود مع تركيا والاردن، ربما تكون الفصل الاول في مسلسل التدويل، فمن الواضح ان هناك هرولة لمنع تحول الأزمة في سورية الى حرب طائفية اهلية تمتد الى دول الخليج خاصة، وضرورة حسم الموقف بسرعة.
الادارة الامريكية تعلمت كثيراً من درسي افغانستان والعراق، وأبرز دروسها المستخلصة ان تترك العرب يحاربون العرب، والمسلمين يحاربون المسلمين، وان يقتصر دورها والدول الغربية الاخرى على الدعم من الخلف او من السماء. وجرى تطبيق هذه الخلاصة بنجاح كبير في ليبيا.
' ' '
سورية ليست ليبيا، وما ينطبق على الثانية قد لا ينطبق على الأولى، فالنظام السوري مازال يتمتع ببعض الدعم والمساندة داخلياً، حيث قطاع من الشعب يسانده لاسباب طائفية، او اقتصادية، وخارجياً من قبل ايران وحزب الله، وبعد ذلك الصين وروسيا. ولعل اهم دروس ليبيا بالنسبة الى النظام السوري، هو ادراكه، اي النظام، ان التدخل العسكري لو بدأ ضده لن ينتهي الا بسقوطه وربما كل رموزه، الأمر الذي قد يدفعه للقتال حتى الموت.
نحن امام حرب اقليمية هي الأشرس من نوعها، قد تغير خريطة المنطقة الديموغرافية قبل السياسية، والهدفان الرئيسيان من هذه الحرب تغيير نظامين هما اللذان بقيا في منظومة ما يسمى الممانعة، او 'الشرق الاوسط القديم' اي سورية وايران. والسؤال هو أين ستكون الضربة الاولى، فهل ستوجه الى ايران ام الى سورية، ام الى الاثنتين في آن واحد، اي تهاجم اسرائيل ايران، وتهاجم تركيا عضو حلف الناتو سورية بدعم عربي؟
من السابق لأوانه الاجابة على اي من هذه الاسئلة، ولكن الشخص الوحيد الذي يمكن ان يوقف هذه الحرب، او الشق السوري منها، هو الرئيس بشار الاسد، اذا ما اتخذ قراراً شجاعاً، واقدم على تطبيق الخطة العربية بحذافيرها، وتجرع كأس السم الذي تجرعه السيد الامام الخميني رحمه الله، عندما وافق مكرها على وقف الحرب مع العراق وانقذ بلاده، وجعلها هذا القرار قوة اقليمية عظمى بعد ذلك.
نتمنى ان يتخذ الرئيس الأسد هذا القرار الشجاع وان لا يعول كثيراً على المظاهرات المليونية، وان يتخذه في اليومن القادمين وبسرعة.
"

The Armageddon Network

How the war party is ginning up war with Iran

by Justin Raimondo, November 14, 2011

"The War Party is bound and determined to drag us, kicking and screaming, into a military conflict with Iran – and they have constructed a vast network of agents inside both parties, and inside the government, to accomplish exactly that.
The nexus of this network is the government of Israel and its intelligence services, which is coordinating an increasingly frantic campaign to bring the Iran issue to a head. From all indications, it appears as if the goal is to ignite the conflict before the 2012 presidential elections.
This is not a covert conspiracy, but rather an open one: the Israelis have threatened, time and again, to take military action against Iran. They claim the Jewish state faces “another Holocaust,” and that Iran poses an “existential threat” to Israel’s very existence. The latest wrinkle is that officials in Tel Aviv reportedly told Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, on a recent visit to Israel, that they wouldn’t necessarily be informing the White House until after the Israelis had launched their fighter jets and missiles.....

An Israeli attack on Iran would almost certainly provoke assaults on US positions in Iraq, including the huge US embassy and the thousands of mercenaries left in place after the phony US “withdrawal.” Indeed, avoiding such a scenario as described above may very well be a major motivating factor behind the US decision to pull our so-called “combat troops” from Iraq...."

How a neo-liberal shell game created an age of activism

By Juan Cole
Asia Times

"Although mainstream media try to distance the Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring protests, both are rebellions against an extreme concentration of wealth caused by neo-liberal policies of deregulation and union-busting. The same policies that cost American livelihoods and jobs created dictatorships from Egypt to Tunisia, and now the global youth are united in their attempt to dislodge the 1%....."

Arab League vote to suspend Syria puts pressure on Security Council to act

"The Arab League's decision to suspend Syria must spur the UN Security Council into action, Amnesty International said today.

At an emergency meeting in Cairo Saturday, 18 out of 22 member states voted in favour of suspending Syria's membership of the regional organization with effect from Wednesday if the government continued to breach the terms of the Arab League's action plan.

"This decision sends a clear signal from the Arab League that the gross human rights violations that continue to be committed against mainly peaceful protesters in Syria must stop," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.

"Now that the Arab League has taken decisive action, it is time for the UN Security Council to finally step up to the plate and deliver an effective international response to Syria's human rights crisis."

"The question is whether those countries who have been blocking effective international action on Syria - in particular Russia and China - will recognize how isolated they have become by giving support to a Syrian regime which Amnesty International considers to have been committing crimes against humanity."

Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, impose an arms embargo, and freeze the assets abroad of President Bashar al-Assad and his top associates....."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

Do you believe Western-Israeli accusations that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon?

With about 350 responding so far, 54% said yes.

In Egypt, the stakes have risen

Alaa Abd el-Fattah's jailing by the army is an attack on the very spirit of Egypt's revolution

Ahdaf Soueif
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 November 2011

"The Egyptian revolution of 25 January, as we all know, had no leaders. But in the course of its unfolding, and in the months since, a number of people have emerged who are pushing it forward, advocating for it and articulating its principles. Alaa Abd El Fattah, the activist and blogger (and my nephew) who has been jailed by the military prosecutor in Cairo pending trial, is one of those. And in his character and the role he's adopted, he embodies some of the core aspects of the Egyptian revolution.....

The campaigners are working for every person jailed – but there's a sense that the military have now upped the stakes. No one believes that the military believe the charges they've levelled against Alaa; in attacking this central, charismatic figure they appear to be openly mounting an attack on the very spirit of the revolution. It is because of the seriousness of this message that the protests in Egypt and in – so far – 23 cities across the world have been so immediate and so intense. And that Alaa's mother, my sister, Laila Soueif, is on a hunger strike, which others are joining.

The implications of the jail extension – for human rights and the safety of Egypt's young people – are enormous. But the depth and strength of the reaction against this also shows that the revolution could receive a kickstart once again."

Egyptian protesters killed in clashes with security forces

Egyptians demonstrate outside Torah prison, Cairo, on Wednesday in support of Alaa Abd El Fattah, a leading revolutionary figurehead who has now had his detention extended.

Egypt sees violence escalate as protests against ruling military junta spread beyond Cairo and Alexandria

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 November 2011

"Clashes between Egyptian security forces and protesters have left at least two civilians dead, following major demonstrations across the country.

In Damietta, a port town where the Nile meets the Mediterranean, the army used force to break up mass protests on Sunday which had brought the city to a standstill for several days. Local news reports indicated that at least two protesters were killed and 11 others injured during the violence. Witnesses told the Guardian that the death toll was considerably higher, but this could not be independently confirmed.

"The situation is very dangerous," said Shaaban ElBadahy, a teacher in Damietta. "Protesters have closed off all the ports and roads in the district and no one can enter or leave the city."....

The latest wave of violence adds further pressure on the military junta ahead of this month's parliamentary elections, with opposition to the ruling generals seemingly beginning to spread beyond Cairo and Alexandria and into rural areas....

On Sunday evening demonstrators gathered at Cairo's Qasr el-Nil bridge over the Nile to express their rejection of the junta. The bridge was the location for one of the most significant street battles between protesters and police during the anti-Mubarak uprising earlier this year, and has become synonymous with revolutionary victory by the people over the security forces."

سورية.. خلسة وعلانية!

سورية.. خلسة وعلانية!
صبحي حديدي

Note:

The subject video was posted here yesterday as a MUST WATCH! It is re posted for reference.

"تزايدت، خلال الأسابيع الأخيرة بصفة خاصة، محاولات وسائل الإعلام الأجنبية لتغطية الانتفاضة السورية من الداخل؛ وتعددت، بالنظر إلى الحصار الخانق الذي يفرضه النظام على دخول الصحافة المستقلة، أشكال التحايل على الأجهزة الأمنية، وابتداع طرائق ذكية لمخادعة الرقابة اللصيقة، وتهريب المادّة المصوّرة خارج الحدود. تكللت بعض المحاولات بالنجاح (كما في شريط 'داخل جحيم القمع' للفرنسية صوفي عمارة)، وتعثّر بعضها وكاد أن يعرّض حياة صانعيها إلى أخطار جسيمة (كما في محاولة البريطاني شون ماكالستر، الذي اعتُقل من أحد مقاهي دمشق، فصار شاهد عيان على ما يتعرّض له نشطاء الانتفاضة من تعذيب وحشي).
لكنني أكتب اليوم في إطراء شريط تسجيلي جديد، أرى أنه ـ ضمن ما شاهدت من أشرطة مماثلة، وكثيرة ـ ليس الأشدّ جسارة على صعيد المجازفة المهنية فحسب؛ بل لعلّه بين الأعلى مخاطرة بالسلامة الشخصية، بهدف بلوغ الصدقية القصوى في التسجيل والتوثيق. الشريط عنوانهUndercover Syria ، قامت بتنفيذه الصحافية البريطانية ـ الإيرانية الأصل راميتا نافائي، وصوّره وأخرجه وائل دبوس، ويقع في 23 دقيقة تتوغل في مشهد سورية الانتفاضة، خلسة كما يشير العنوان، وعبر تفاصيل ترسم مشهد الصراع بين سلطة غاشمة لا تنظر إلا إلى الوراء، وحراك شعبي لم يعد ينظر إلا إلى الأمام؛ بين حدَّيْ القتل الوحشي بكلّ سلاح متاح، والمقاومة العنيدة بالصدور العارية؛ وبين يأس النظام وتخبّط خياراته. وقد عُرض الشريط على القناة الرابعة البريطانية، ضمن برنامجها الشهير Unreported World، الذي يُعدّ بالفعل اسماً على مسمّى لأنه يتناول عوالم خافية أو مهمشة لا تغطيها التقارير عادة، إمّا لأنّ تغطيتها ممتنعة أمنياً، أو لأنّ أخبارها لا تتمتع بجاذبية استهلاكية تبرّر تقديمها.
نافائي دخلت إلى سورية بصفة سائحة (ومن حسن الحظّ أنّ جهاز أمن سفارة النظام في لندن لم يتنبه إلى مهنتها، رغم أنها صحافية معروفة وسبق لها أن أنجزت سلسلة أفلام وثائقية متميزة في السودان وأفغانستان ومصر ونيجيريا والسلفادور وزيمبابوي، وعملت مراسلة في إيران والباكستان والعراق...)؛ ومن جانبه، لم يحمل دبوس سوى آلة تصوير فيديو صغيرة، من النوع الذي يصطحبه السياح عادة، ولا يثير الريبة. وهذا الفريق الصغير استعدّ جيداً، من الوجهة الأمنية تحديداً، وأجرى سلسلة ترتيبات مع تنسيقيات الداخل، الأمر الذي أتاح له إمكانية البقاء قرابة أسبوعين، تضمنت التجوال في دمشق العاصمة، وبلدات حرستا ودوما ومضايا، والمغادرة بعدئذ بحصيلة مصوّرة جيدة، بعضها ممتاز ونادر التحقيق في شروط التقييد الصارمة المفروضة اليوم على الأجانب عموماً.
وبين مشاهد الشريط الجبارة، ويحدث أيضاً أنه بين أكثرها عفوية وصدقاً (إذْ تمّ دون أي تخطيط مسبق، وقادت إليه الصدفة، أو بالأحرى تصاريف أجهزة النظام في مسعى قهر الانتفاضة)، ذلك الذي شهده أحد بيوت الانتفاضة السرّية في بلدة مضايا، منطقة الزبداني، شمال غرب دمشق. كان فريق الفيلم قد قصد البلدة للقاء بعض النشطاء، عندما فُرض حصار عسكري مفاجىء هناك، ونفّذت أجهزة الأمن وقطعان الشبيحة مداهمات للبيوت بحثاً عن أسماء محددة، بينها بعض الذين كانوا في البيت السرّي.
والمشهد يبلغ ذروة درامية خاصة حينما يضطّر النشطاء إلى التخفي، عبر سقيفة البيت، وتوصية نافائي ودبوس بالبقاء في الدار، لأنّ مواجهة الأمن بجواز سفر بريطاني أخفّ عاقبة من المجازفة بالخروج. تُطفأ الأضواء، ويُوضع المفتاح في قفل الباب من الداخل، ويغلق المصــــوّر جهاز التصوير، ويستخدم هاتفه الجوّال لاقتناص بضع لقطــــات لاهثة؛ كما يفلح في تسجيل صوت أمّ، من البيت المجاور، تبــــكي وتتوسل إلى عناصر الأمن لكي لا يعتقلوا ابنها. كذلك لا يتردد دبوس في تثبيت علائم الرعب على وجه زميلته، حين كان الموقف معلّقاً عند احتمالات الخطر كافة!
وفي مشهد أخر بالغ التأثير، يقود النشطاء فريق الفيلم إلى بقعة سقط فيها، قبل يوم واحد، فتى في الرابعة عشرة من عمره، برصاص قناص. خيط الدماء ما يزال مرسوماً على قارعة الرصيف، والرصاصات الفارغة على الأرض، وآثار الرصاصات الأخرى حُفرت في الجدار القريب. تتحدّث نافائي مع والد الفتى الشهيد، فيقول لها ـ بنبرة ثقة مذهلة، ويقين لا يخالجه ارتياب ـ إنّ الثورة قائمة، وهكذا ستبقى حتى يسقط النظام، طال الزمان أم قصر. مشهد ثالث يزور أحد المشافي السرّية، أي تلك التي تُقام في بيوت سرّية لمعالجة الجرحى، بعد أن صار رجال الأمن والشبيحة يخطفونهم من المشافي العلنية، الحكومية أو الخاصة، ويقتادونهم إلى أقبية الأجهزة، أو يبادرون إلى تصفية بعضهم وهم على أسرّة العلاج. أمّا مشهد الفيلم الأخير فيعود بنا إلى مضايا، ولكن ليس إلى البيت السرّي الذي حُبس فيه الفريق 72 ساعة، بل إلى تظاهرة حاشدة في رابعة النهار، تتعالى من صفوفها هتافات المطالبة بإسقاط النظام.
سورية المنتفضة علانية إذاً، وليــــس خلسة فقط! وشريط نافائي ودبوس شهادة جديدة تفسّر هذه المعادلة العبقرية التي تترسخ كلّ يوم، كما تؤكد ما قاله شون ماكالستر: شجاعة الشعب السوري ليس لها مثيل معاصر، ولن يقوى أي استبداد على كسرها!
"

Al-Jazeera Video: Lawyer for jailed Egyptian blogger Abd El Fattah speaks to Al Jazeera

"Egyptian military prosecutors have extended the detention of a prominent activist and blogger, pending investigations into accusations that he incited violence and attacked military personnel during deadly protests.

The extension, announced on Sunday, will add 15 days to Alaa Abd El Fattah's previous sentence of 15 days, which was handed down on October 30 after he refused to be interrogated by a military prosecutor.

Ragia Omran, lawyer for Abd El Fattah, spoke to Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry about the case."

الاتجاه المعاكس - لبنان والثورة السورية

Arab League and the Syrian Crisis

By As'ad AbuKhalil - Sun, 2011-11-13

"....The new move by the Arab League against the Syrian regime should be read as part of the new rule of the new Arab League. Its secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, was sacked from his position as Egyptian foreign minister when he made statements that welcomed normalization of relations between Egypt and Iran. GCC countries complained and al-Arabi was expelled to the Arab League. A more subservient foreign minister took his place.

It would be foolhardy for the Syrian people to trust the intentions of the Arab League. This is a body that is led by some of the worst offenders of human rights the world over. The GCC countries never expressed any respect for the suffering of the Syrian people: they bankrolled the Assad tyranny for years. Any hope placed on the Arab League by any Syrian will be dashed. They can just as easily and quickly strike a deal with the Syrian regime at the expense of the Syrian people. The region is changing fast: GCC countries are getting more aggressive, and Arab countries facing uprisings continue to kill people in large numbers.

But the rules of the game are not entirely set but the Arab League’s new masters. GCC countries are dealing with a new environment where “masked men” have bombed the Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel for the 7th time. And more “masked men” will be seen roaming the Arab streets in the near future."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Can the Arab League end bloodshed in Syria?

Israel refuses to tell US its Iran intentions

Israel has refused to reassure President Barack Obama that it would warn him in advance of any pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear capabilities, raising fears that it may be planning a go-it-alone attack as early as next summer.

The Telegraph

Note:

Read at your own risk. I do not trust The Telegraph, and I think that this is part of USraeli propaganda.

"The US leader was rebuffed last month when he demanded private guarantees that no strike would go ahead without White House notification, suggesting Israel no longer plans to "seek Washington's permission", sources said. The disclosure, made by insiders briefed on a top-secret meeting between America's most senior defence chief and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's hawkish prime minister, comes amid concerns that Iran's continuing progress towards nuclear weapons capability means the Jewish state has all but lost hope for a diplomatic solution......"

Real News Video: IAEA Iran Report Spins Intelligence

Gareth Porter​: Dubious intelligence used as pretext for tougher sanctions

OLD LIES IN NEW BOTTLES

By Eric Margolis

"NEW YORK – November 12, 2011
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) long awaited, much ballyhooed report on Iran’s nuclear activities has been thunderously greeted here as conclusive evidence that Iran is working on nuclear weapons.
Both Tehran and a 2007 US combined intelligence assessment deny such claims.

There’s little new in this report, and a lot of déjà vu. We read the old story floating around since 2002 about a mysterious laptop stolen from Iran and passed to US intelligence. It allegedly contains scientific material about explosive compression methods to trigger a nuclear explosion, and designs to shrink nuclear warheads to fit in missile nosecones....

What’s so crazy about all this is that Israel has a very large arsenal of nuclear and bio-warfare weapons while Iran remains under UN nuclear inspection.

The big nuclear powers – the US, Russia, China, Britain, France – are in violation of the 1995 UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty that mandated eliminating all nuclear weapons within five years. Talk about the nuclear pots calling the Iranian kettle black. "

Al-Jazeera Video: Empire - Special interview: Rachid Ghannouchi

"Marwan Bishara talks to Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda party that won the Tunisian elections."

Al-Jazeera Video: Free Syrian Army battles regime

"A group of Syrian army defectors fighting against the country's government regime are using heavy weapons, according to exclusive footage obtained by Al Jazeera.

The group, which calls itself the Free Syrian Army, is calling on the international community to impose a no-fly zone and to arm the opposition.

Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reports."