Egypt's revolution urgently needs leadership

Egyptians feel let down by the army, yet many feel now isn't the time for elections. Let's see a national unity government

Issandr El Amrani for the Arabist, part of the Guardian Comment Network
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 November 2011

"....Can there be a political solution out of this crisis? And what do the protestors want, anyway? For some, it's about securing a deadline for the transition to a civilian government and president by April 2012. Others want this transition now. It's hard to overstate the extent to which the SCAF has squandered the trust that many Egyptians expressed in the army last February. Many want it to be out of power as soon as possible. Elections are not figuring high in the protestors' demands, and indeed in places some were tearing posters from the walls saying that now is not the time for partisan politics.

As I've written several times (see this recent piece in The National the only productive way to postpone these very badly prepared elections is if a national unity government that effectively takes over from the SCAF is directing the transition. Something similar has recently been proposed by some political actors, and could be adapted to the new situation.

The biggest obstacle to this right now – aside from the SCAF, which probably can't imagine making such a concession and still backing elections in a week – is the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party opposes any postponement of elections they stand to do well in. Liberals may have suspended their campaign, but the Brothers (and others) sure aren't going to. For them to agree to postpone the elections at this point would necessitate an escalation in the crisis and a real breakthrough for the idea of a civilian transitional council. It may yet come if this violence continues....."

Egypt protests: New street battles erupt in Tahrir Square

Violence concentrated on south-west corner of central Cairo square, where security forces have been holding ground for 48 hours

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 November 2011

"Fierce fighting resumed in central Cairo on Monday as the Egyptian health ministry said the death toll from the anti-junta protests had reached at least 20, with more than 1,700 injured.

The violence is concentrated on the south-west corner of Tahrir Square, in central Cairo, where a heavily-fortified line of security forces has been holding ground for 48 hours.....

Motorbikes ferried hundreds of wounded civilians to a makeshift field hospital on the edge of Tahrir Square, where a handful of doctors, helped by volunteers, struggled to deal with the influx.

"We are seeing many patients suffering from severe gas inhalation and flesh wounds from different types of ammunition," Amr Wageeh, a 21-year-old medical student, said.

"I've been here four hours and helped treat over 100 in that time – it's hard because the teargas that's being used is stronger than what we've dealt with in the past and appears resistant to [the normal remedies of] vinegar and soda.

"The elections can go to hell – Tahrir comes first, and we must complete our half-finished revolution before starting to organise a vote....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Cairo clashes derail election buildup

Al-Jazeera Video: Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna on on-going Tahrir Square clashes

"Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna reports from Tahrir Square, where despite an earlier agreement to allow protesters to remain in the epicentre of the square, clashes have once again broken out. "

حمص القلعة: طائفية أم طروادية؟

ليس الأمر مصادفة، بالتأكيد، ولا تكفي لتفسيره حقيقة أنّ حمص مهد التنكيت الشعبي في سورية (على غرار ما يفعل كلّ بلد حين يختار منطقة ما، دون سواها، لتكون مادّة مفضّلة في تنميط السخرية)؛ إذْ تنطوي علاقة المدينة بالانتفاضة السورية على معطيات شتى تصنع تلك الخصوصية، وتغذّيها، وتنقلها بالتالي من عوالم النكتة المريرة إلى مستويات الواقع... الأمرّ، غالباً. يكفي، على سبيل الأمثلة، أنّ المدينة تتصدّر سجلّ الشرف في أعداد الشهداء (قرابة 1500 شهيد)؛ وكان الحماصنة في طليعة المتظاهرين الذين بدّلوا شعارات الانتفاضة الأبكر، فانتقلوا إلى الشعار الحاسم المطالب بإسقاط النظام؛ كما كانوا بين أوائل أبناء المحافظات في تغيير اسم أهمّ معالم المدينة، ساحة الساعة، إلى 'ساحة الحرّية'؛ وهنا، في حمص، شهدت الانتفاضة أوسع اصطفاف ضدّ النظام من جانب الطبقة الوسطى، وبعض التجار الكبار، وشرائح من المنضوين في 'الأغلبية الصامتة' عموماً.
ذلك جعل كتائب الفرقة الرابعة، وعناصر مختلف الأجهزة الأمنية، وقطعان الشبيحة، فضلاً عن أزلام النظام وأعوانه داخل المدينة، تنفّذ سلسلة من العمليات الأشرس ضدّ حمص، والأشدّ وحشية همجية؛ وذلك منذ السادس من أيار (مايو) الماضي، حين استُخدمت صنوف الأسلحة كافة، بما في ذلك الحوّامات والطيران الحربي، وفُرض حصار على أحياء حمص وجوارها، من الرستن إلى تلبيسة إلى تل كلخ، ما يزال مفتوحاً حتى اليوم. وكان طبيعياً أن يقترن هذا كلّه بحملة من طراز آخر، قوامها افتعال بؤر احتكاك طائفي بين أبناء المدينة، شاركت في تنفيذ سيناريوهاتها أجهزة النظام ذاتها، قبل أن تتولى تضخيمها إلى ما يشبه السردية المتكاملة: حمص، 'قلعة الثورة السورية' كما في التسمية اللائقة بها تماماً، صارت حاضنة أولى لاحتمالات حرب طائفية!
ومن المحزن، والمفاجىء تماماً، أن يقع في أحابيل تلك السردية بعض مناصري الانتفاضة، ممّن اكتفوا بالحملقة في التفصيل الصغير العابر، فزاغ بصرهم عن المشهد الكبير الأهمّ؛ كما انساق إليها بعض أبناء حمص أنفسهم، وعلى رأسهم برهان غليون، رئيس المجلس الوطني السوري. ففي بيان صدر عنه، باسمه وباسم المجلس، طغت اللغة الإنشائية على كلّ فقراته ما عدا تلك التي تُلقي باللائمة على الحماصنة، وتجزم بأنّ 'دفاعات' بعضهم قد ضعفت في 'مواجهة مخاطر الانقسام والتصادم الطائفي'؛ بحيث: 'أصبحنا نشهد منذ أسابيع عمليات خطف واغتيال وتصفية حسابات بين أبناء الشعب الواحد، بل بين أبناء الثورة أنفسهم'.ولأنّ النصّ قوبل بردود فعل رافضة، ومستنكرة، فقد سارع المجلس إلى إصدار بيان ثانٍ عن حمص، أراد فيه أن يكحّل بيان رئيسه، فألحق به العمى عملياً؛ إذْ ليس المطلوب تنزيه المدينة عن كلّ فعل طائفي، كما اعتبر البيان؛ ولا تأثيمها على نحو تهويلي يعيد إنتاج سردية النظام، بحسب بيان غليون. هذه مسألة سياسية بامتياز، قبل أن تكون ظاهرة فوات اجتماعي، ولم يكن من الحكمة أن يتخبط المجلس الوطني بين أقصى التنزيه وأقصى التهويل. لا أحد يدفع إلى التجييش الطائفي مثل النظام، من قمّة مؤسسته الحاكمة الأضيق وحتى أوسع قواعده الموالية؛ ولهذا، لا حرب ناجعة ضدّ الميول الطائفية أكثر من تلك التي تُشنّ ضدّ النظام، أوّلاً وثانياً وعاشراً. وأهل السنّة، في التاريخ البسيط كما في علم الاجتماع الأبسط، ليسوا 'طائفة' في سورية، لأنهم ببساطة أغلبية الشعب الساحقة، ولا يصحّ توصيف ميول الأغلبية استناداً إلى المعايير ذاتها التي يخضع لها سلوك الأفراد، أو المجموعات المصغّرة. هذا، غنيّ عن القول، لا يلغي مفاعيل انتشار التشدد الطائفي لدى بعض أبناء السنّة، إسوة بشيوع التطرّف أو الاعتدال، العصبوية أو التسامح، التديّن أو العلمانية...

Libya, Egypt and Syria all face an uncertain future

The Arab uprisings are still unfolding and no one can predict how each country's story will end

Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 November 2011

"...Egypt has been the most important chapter from the start because of its sheer size and influence, so state repression and anger at the generals who have ruled since Hosni Mubarak's overthrow are deeply worrying for those still nurturing the hopes born in Tahrir Square in January.

The prospects for the parliamentary elections, which are due to start next week, are unclear, although critics argue that they will be meaningless unless the military sets a date for handing over power to civilians. Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, hailed for persuading Mubarak to go, is under mounting pressure to step down himself.

Old habits die hard: instead of repealing Egypt's hated emergency law, the generals have extended it, while protecting their own privileges. Increasingly, analysts warn, it looks like a stark choice between the army and the Muslim Brotherhood, still the only really organised political force....

If Arab and international attention is focusing again on Egypt, events in Syria have taken on a riveting dynamic of their own. A rocket attack on an office of the ruling Ba'ath party in Damascus was further evidence of the growing capability of armed rebels to challenge President Bashar al-Assad.....

Preoccupied as he must be, Syria's president cannot have missed the capture of Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam and the brouhaha about whether he will be tried in Tripoli or at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. But legal questions apart, Saif al-Islam's re-appearance will be a sobering reminder of the altogether more brutal end met by his father in Sirte last month – a fate that could await Assad and his family if there is not a swift political turn to the Syrian crisis....."

Egyptian elections in doubt after violent clashes in central Cairo

Several candidates suspend campaigns after army attack on protesters leaves five dead and almost a thousand injured

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 November 2011

"Egypt's revolution entered a dangerous new phase of confrontation on Sunday after the army attacked thousands of anti-junta protesters in Cairo, putting the viability of imminent parliamentary elections in serious doubt.

Several political parties and individual candidates said they were suspending their electoral campaigns after a weekend in which at least five people were killed and almost a thousand injured in some of the fiercest clashes seen since the heady days of February when Mubarak was ejected from power.....

"The elections can go to hell; Tahrir comes first, and we must complete our half-finished revolution before starting to organise a vote," he continued.

"If Scaf think they can do to us what Assad has done to the Syrians and Saleh has done to Yemenis, they are in for a surprise. The Egyptians will do to Scaf what Nato did to Libya: the generals are a remnant of Mubarak, and they will be swept aside.""

Al-Jazeera Video: Standoff sets in at Egypt's Tahrir Square

A GOOD SHORT INTERVIEW
WITH HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY

Al-Jazeera Video: Protesters defy police crackdown on Cairo's Tahrir Square

Al-Jazeera Video: Violence breaks out at Egypt's Tahrir Square

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

Do you support giving the Syrian regime more time to carry out reforms?

With over 3,700 responding, 93% said no.

Al-Jazeera Video: Sherine Tadros reports from Egypt's Tahrir Square

Real News Video: Maher Arar on Syrian Conflict

Maher Arar updates his case and discusses the struggle in Syria

Real News Video: Euro Crisis, Neo-Liberalism and Undoing the Welfare State

Gerry Epstein: German elite profited from the Euro Zone, now wants to use crisis to undo welfare state and privatize

قضية فلسطين في مجلس الأمن إلى ضياع

"الذين صفقوا لإرسال موضوع طلب عضوية دولة فلسطين إلى مجلس الأمن لنيل العضوية في هيئة الأمم المتحدة أصيبوا الآن بخيبة أمل، كمن صبّ على رؤوسهم دلو ماء بارد في يوم صقيعي جليدي.

يجب أن يتذكر الجميع ما قيل في إقدام محمود عباس على طلب عضوية دولة فلسطين من مجلس الأمن باعتباره قراراً ذكياً سوف يُحرج الإدارة الأميركية وحكومة نتنياهو. ويجب أن يتذكر الجميع أيضاً الموقف من الخطاب المجلجل الذي ألقاه الرئيس في الجمعية العامة في ظل ذلك الطلب العتيد الأشدّ جلجلة من حيث خطوته الاستثنائية.

كل ذلك كان أشبه بزوبعة في فنجان. فإذا بمشروع القرار العتيد يسقط بالتصويت قبل أن يجري التصويت عليه ويُحرج أميركا باستخدام الفيتو. وذلك حين لم تؤمّن له تسعة أصوات.
....
السبب الأول والمباشر، وبلا جدال، كان الهروب من فشل إستراتيجية التفاوض والرهان على أميركا لإنجاح مسيرة المفاوضات، أي الاتفاق على حدود دنيا تصل إلى الكارثية بحق القضية الفلسطينية. فبدلاً من الاعتراف بالفشل، ومن ثم التراجع عن تلك الإستراتيجية من أساسها، كان الهروب إلى مجلس الأمن للبقاء ضمن إطار الإستراتيجية نفسها. فالخطوة العتيدة، وباختصار، لم تكن أكثر من هروب مؤقت من فشل مدوٍّ لإستراتيجية المفاوضات والرهان على أميركا، وهو ما أدّى إلى فشل جديد غير ضروري أمام نتنياهو وأوباما.

أما من جهة الانتقال بالمعركة مع الكيان الصهيوني إلى مجلس الأمن، فيمثل خللاً جوهرياً من حيث تحديد ميدان المعركة. فميدان المعركة، وبلا جدال، هو في رام الله ونابلس وجنين والخليل وبيت لحم، وعلى رأس ذلك في القدس ضدّ قوات الاحتلال والاستيطان والمستوطنين.

والجواب البدهي في هذا الميدان لا يكون إلا من خلال المقاومة والانتفاضة الشعبية. ففي هذا الميدان يُهزم سياسياً كل من نتنياهو وأوباما إن لم يهزم الاحتلال والمستوطنون، وبلا قيد أو شرط، كما حدث في قطاع غزة.

إن الانتقال بالمعركة من ميدانها الحقيقي إلى هيئة الأمم يعني الانتقال بالقضية الفلسطينية إلى المكان الذي أثبت -منذ قرار 181 لعام 1947 حتى اليوم- أنه المقبرة التي تدفن فيها الحقوق الفلسطينية. فهل يستطيع الذين تقدّموا بهذه الخطوة الجليلة ومن صفقوا لها وللخطاب المجلجل أن يقولوا لنا ماذا كان مصير كل القرارات التي صدرت عن هيئة الأمم المتحدة واعتبر الكثيرون أنها تسجيل انتصارات للقضية الفلسطينية.
....
فالإستراتيجية الصهيونية تريد أن تسيطر على كل فلسطين، ولهذا ترفض حتى الآن كل القرارات أو الحلول التي تعطيها 78% من فلسطين مع تعديلات على 22% الباقية. فهل يجوز أن يعني هذا أننا يجب أن نوافق على تلك القرارات أو الحلول وإلا اعتبر موقفنا ملتقياً في تلك اللحظة مع موقف نتنياهو. حقاً إنه لمنطق معيب.
وبكلمة، هذا الإرهاب إذا ما رضخنا له لن يُبقي بأيدينا غير الفُتات من فلسطين، لأن عين قادة الكيان الصهيوني ستكون على ذلك الفُتات أيضاً.
تبقى نقطتان: الأولى يجب الضغط على محمود عباس لإلغاء السلطة واتفاق أوسلو. والثانية يجب عدم السماح لسلام فياض بالاستناد إلى الأجهزة الأمنية التي أسّسها دايتون ليكون البديل.

فوجوده برئاسة الحكومة غير شرعي أصلاً وهو وراء الاتفاق الأمني الإجرامي الذي أوجد قوات أمن فلسطينية تحمي الاحتلال والاستيطان وقمع الانتفاضة وكل محاولة للانتفاض.

إن كل الظروف وموازين القوى مؤاتية لحل السلطة وإسقاط مخططات تحويل سلام فياض إلى بديل. فنتنياهو وأوباما لا يستطيعان أن يحتملا انطلاق انتفاضة شعبية في الضفة الغربية تكون لحمتها وسداها حماس والجهاد وفتح والفصائل الفلسطينية كافة، وعندئذ تصحّح البوصلة فلسطينياً وعربياً، ويصبح الاحتلال والاستيطان وتهويد القدس في مأزق خانق فعلاً، فها هنا ميدان المعركة الحقيقي
"

Al-Jazeera Video: Deadly clashes continue in Egypt

"Clashes are continuing in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, between riot police and protesters demanding that the ruling military quickly announces a date to hand over power to an elected government in some of the worst unrest since the country's revolution.

Police fired tear gas canisters and protesters threw rocks on Sunday morning as thousands remained on the streets overnight in and around central Cairo's Tahrir square, the focal point of the 18-day uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in February."

Al-Jazeera Video: AJE speaks to journalist at blast scene: Damascus

"At least two rocket-propelled grenades hit the Baath Party buildings in Damascus on Sunday.

This is the first insurgent attack reported inside the capital since the eight-month uprising began against President Bashar al-Assad.

Al Jazeera spoke to Thabet Salem, an eye-witness at the scene and a journalist in Damascus."

It's not just our leaders who are in a crisis. Democracy itself is failing

The world's statesmen no longer shape events but merely respond to them, in thrall to market forces

Peter Beaumont
The Observer, Saturday 19 November 2011

"Are the following intimations of a global crisis in the legitimacy of western democracy? Ireland's confidential budget plan, unseen by the Irish electorate, is leaked by European finance officials to the German parliament where the proposals are examined by the German finance committee.

In Italy, Mario Monti, the country's unelected new prime minister and a former international adviser to Goldman Sachs, stands in the Giustiniani Palace as head of a cabinet of similarly unelected technocrats. Imposed in place of the corrupt, useless and seedy Silvio Berlusconi to satisfy the "markets", Monti promises what we are told the markets want, and that is "sacrifices".

In Greece, both left and right of the country unite against their own technocrat, the former head of Greece's Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, brought in, too, at the behest of the markets. And in Berlin on Friday, David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative party, which could not manage to secure a mandate to govern the UK on its own, sits down with a German chancellor, Angela Merkel, whose countrymen do not trust her to handle the eurozone crisis.

If the picture of our leaders in the midst of a worldwide crisis is not a terribly inspiring one – politicians with clay feet or in hock to business interest, unelected bureaucrats and politicians lacking support – it is because western democracy itself, by and large, is not looking very pretty either......

We abrogated our engagement in the democratic process to politicians who abrogated influence to an unaccountable system as part of a pact that saw us happy as long as we were relatively comfortable. With that arrangement breaking down, we discover we have given up more than we bargained for."

Egyptian protesters clash with police for second day

Police fire teargas and rubber bullets at protesters in Tahrir Square a day after two people were killed and 600 wounded

Jack Shenker in Cairo and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 November 2011

"Egyptian riot police, firing teargas and rubber bullets, have clashed for a second day with thousands of rock-throwing protesters demanding that the ruling military quickly announce a date to hand over power to an elected government.

The police battled with an estimated 5,000 protesters in and around central Cairo's Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February. Sunday's clashes, which come a day after two people were killed and hundreds wounded in similar violence in the capital and other cities, are stoking tensions eight days before the start of the country's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections. Public anger has risen over the slow pace of reforms and apparent attempts by Egypt's ruling generals to retain power over a future civilian government....

On Friday a group of prominent intellectuals, including former UN nuclear weapons chief Mohamed ElBaradei, unveiled an alternative transition plan which would involve postponing the parliamentary ballot and wresting executive control of Egypt away from the armed forces while a new constitution is drawn up.

The ruling generals have yet to respond to the proposal."

Arab League: Ensure Effective Syria Monitoring Mission

Independence, Expertise, Transparency All Key to Credibility

Human Rights Watch
November 19, 2011

"(New York) – The Arab League should ensure that Syria grants its monitoring mission unhindered access to conflict zones and detention facilities, and that it can operate independent of Syrian security services and other authorities, Human Rights Watch said today.

On November 18, 2011, Syrian diplomatic sources told media outlets that their government had “conditionally” accepted an Arab League mission to observe implementation of the League’s initiative to end the violence that has killed thousands since March.

“The Arab League’s effort to send monitors to Syria is commendable, but whether this mission can make a difference depends on whether the Syrian government lets it do its job,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Syrian people don’t need another guided tour for foreign observers – what’s needed is an independent and effective monitoring presence that can finally shed light on the serious human rights violations on the ground.”....."

Officials: Israeli ambassador returns to Egypt

Barak: See, I am holding his leash; I decide if he gets any money from Washington.

Al-Masry Al-Youm

"Airport officials say that Israel's ambassador to Egypt has returned to Cairo after he and other embassy staffers fled on military planes when thousands of angry Egyptians attacked the Israeli Embassy in September.

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press said Yitzhak Levanon returned to Cairo Sunday through Istanbul.

Egyptian rioters ransacked the Israeli Embassy following the killing of six Egyptian soldiers in Sinai as Israel pursued Palestinian militants who infiltrated Israel from Egypt's Sinai desert.

Several Israeli security delegations have visited Egypt during the past two months to discuss the return of the ambassador and to decide on a new embassy location."

Deaths as Egypt police clash with protesters

Cairo protests spread to cities of Alexandria, Aswan and Suez, leaving at least two demonstrators dead.

Al-Jazeera

"Thousands of police have clashed with demonstrators for control of downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square, leaving at least one protester dead and 676 others injured, health officials said.....

In scenes reminiscent of the 18-day uprising, protesters and police forces hurled rocks at each other, and crowds swarmed an armored police truck, rocking it and setting it ablaze.

Security officials said that protesters were rallying outside security agency headquarters in the port city of Alexandria as well as the cities of Aswan in the south and Suez on the Red Sea.

Media reports said at least one protester was killed in Alexandria...."

Al-Jazeera Video: Eyewitness speaks to Al Jazeera from Alexandria

"Mhinor el Masry, an eye witness and activist from Alexandria told Al Jazeera: "Security used tear gas to disperse protesters and many have been shot by rubber bullets in their legs and shoulders." "

Homs: inside the city at the heart of Syria's rebellion

A world of guarded conversations and shadowy rumours amid the funereal silence of a military lockdown

James Harkin in Homs
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 19 November 2011

".....Homs has been in more or less open revolt since at least April, but in recent weeks what is going on here has acquired ominous new significance. Facing the full force of a crackdown on their demonstrations by the Syrian army and police, at least some of the city's residents have taken up arms, either to defend themselves and their communities or to go on the attack.

Outside Syria and in the international media, the siege has become a cause célèbre. But events here show not only the courage and the forbearance of its citizens, but also the traps that lie in wait for an unhappy people suppressed by a brutal military crackdown....."

Egypt: violent clashes in Cairo leave hundreds injured

Egyptian security forces open fire on thousands of anti-junta protesters in Tahrir Square, leaving more than 500 injured

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 19 November 2011

"Egypt has been hit by another wave of major violence ahead of parliamentary elections after security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters demonstrating against the military junta.

More than 500 people were reported injured in central Cairo after riot police sent volleys of tear gas, rubber bullets and "birdshot" pellet cartridges into the crowds. The clashes put further pressure on the ruling generals and cast doubt on the ability of police to secure the poll, scheduled to begin on 28 November.

"All options are on the table, but right now – given the state Egypt is in – nobody can see how the military council can pull off these elections," said Mahmoud Salem, a prominent blogger who is running for parliament but who has now frozen his campaign. "I'm at the international eye hospital at the moment with my friend Malek Mustafa, who has been shot in the head by police with a pellet cartridge and looks likely to lose his eye. How can I continue?"....

Many expressed scepticism about the elections, saying they were designed to entrench military control over the country, but most insisted they still wanted the vote to go ahead. "The generals want to rule Egypt, but this is our revolution," said Ahmed Mohamed, a 24-year-old accountant. "Look around you – you don't see different political parties or rival candidates, you just see the Egyptian people. People have come down from their homes to join the fight; we are battling the remnants of Mubarak's regime who remain in power at the moment, and both this and the elections are all part of that same process."

Solidarity rallies also erupted in the large cities of Alexandria and Suez......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Clashes erupt in Tahrir Square ahead of elections

Nov19 VIDEOS – Tahrir Intifada إنتفاضة التحرير

فض اعتصام التحرير 19 اغسطس وعنف الداخلية

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Syria's civil war?

Video: The Arrest of Saif Gaddafi ثوار الزنتان يعلنون إلقاء القبض على سيف الإسلام القذافي

فيديو: اعتقال سيف الاسلام القذافي
عــ48ــرب

Iran and the I.A.E.A.

Posted by Seymour M. Hersh
The New Yorker

"....
It is possible, of course, that Iran has simply circumvented the reconnaissance efforts of America and the I.A.E.A., perhaps even building Dick Cheney’s nightmare: a hidden underground nuclear-weapons fabrication facility. Iran’s track record with the I.A.E.A. has been far from good: its leadership began construction of its initial uranium facilities in the nineteen-eighties without informing the Agency, in violation of the nonproliferation treaty. Over the next decade and a half, under prodding from ElBaradei and the West, the Iranians began acknowledging their deceit and opened their enrichment facilities, and their records, to I.A.E.A. inspectors.

The new report, therefore, leaves us where we’ve been since 2002, when George Bush declared Iran to be a member of the Axis of Evil—with lots of belligerent talk but no definitive evidence of a nuclear-weapons program."

The Syria Game of Thrones: Turkey vs. Iran vs. the Saudis in Battle to Shape a Rebellion's Outcome

By Tony Karon
Time

"The Arab League called Wednesday for "urgent measures" to protect Syrian civilians in the face of violent repression by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. But lest anyone take that as an echo of the call that legitimized the NATO-led military operation in Libya, the League's statement also rejected "all foreign intervention" in Syria. Still, signs are growing that Syria's escalating power struggle is more likely to be be settled by outside forces than by the Syrians themselves.

Through more than nine months of escalating repression that has killed as many as 3,500 people, the regime has not been able to suppress the uprising. Weekly protests continue; the scale of regime assaults on the city of Homs suggests it remains an opposition stronghold; and a dramatic series of overnight attacks Wednesday by soldiers who've crossed over to the insurgent Free Syrian Army -- including a brazen guerrilla assault on a Syrian intelligence base on the edge of Damascus -- suggested that civil war is already a reality......"

Kissinger: ‘Is there a more self-serving group of people than the Jewish community?’

by Adam Horowitz (Mondoweiss) on November 18, 2011

Henry Kissinger and Golda Meir. (Photo: Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

It seems the Israel lobby has not always been held in such high esteem within the White House. The AP reports on newly released documents regarding lobbying in the early 1970s on the plight of Jews in the Soviet Union:

A White House official, Leonard Garment, saying he was flooded with letters and phone calls with Jewish appeals, asked Kissinger for help and guidance. The late Alexander Haig, Nixon's national security adviser, sent him Mrs. Meir's letter and said "We will have to consider the best means by which to proceed."

According to transcripts released by the State Department, Kissinger, who was Haig's deputy, said to Garment: "Is there a more self-serving group of people than the Jewish community?" Kissinger is Jewish.

Garment, also Jewish, replied: "None in the world."

Turkey, Jordan to set up safe zones in Syria: diplomats

November 18, 2011 04:59 AM
The Daily Star

"BEIRUT: Turkey and Jordan, backed by Western and Arab powers, are preparing to set up two "safe zones" for civilians inside Syria, diplomats said Friday.

The Western and Arab diplomats told The Daily Star that Syria's two neighbors would press ahead with preparations to establish the two havens if President Bashar Assad did not sign on to an Arab plan aimed at ending a bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters by Saturday.

The diplomats said an international meeting in Paris would discuss later Friday the details of the plans to set up the zones in southern and northern Syria.

On Wednesday, the Arab League gave Assad three days to agree in writing to allowing hundreds of observers into Syria to oversee the implementation of the Arab plan to end eight months of violence against protesters that has killed more than 3,000 people.

Representatives of the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Jordan will meet to coordinate a response to Assad's possible refusal to sign on to the deal, the diplomats said.

On top of the agenda is agreeing for NATO member Turkey to establish a safe haven in northern Syria and for U.S.-ally Jordan to set up a similar zone in southern Syria.....

In the absence of the possibility of Security Council action, Friday's meeting in Paris was the best way to provide an international umbrella for these measures, one diplomat said. The Arab League is also expected to propose economic sanctions on Damascus next week, he said.....

The diplomats also reported that Assad appeared to be growing increasingly nervous over his safety with some reports suggesting he feared being targeted by an air strike. There were also reports of discontent among his inner circle and some Syrian diplomats abroad, though no signs of that have been visible......"

عام 2010: 16 ألف رجل أعمال فلسطيني استثمروا 2.5 مليار دولار داخل إسرائيل والمستوطنات

عــ48ـرب

A SHOCKING STUDY!
How Palestinian Businessmen Are Selling Palestine And Making a Buck!!

"كشفت دراسة أكاديمية أعدها باحث فلسطيني، أن حجم استثمار رجال أعمال فلسطينيين في إسرائيل والمستوطنات، بلغ خلال عام 2010، 2.5 مليار دولار، وذلك وفقا لحسابات حذرة، فيما تشير حسابات أقل حذرا، أن استثماراتهم في إسرائيل تبلغ 5.8 مليار دولار، بينما تبلغ استثماراتهم في الضفة الغربية 1.58 مليار فقط.

وقالت صحيفة "هآرتس" الإسرائيلية، اليوم الجمعة، والتي نشرت الدراسة، أن عيسى سميرات من مدينة بيت لحم (43 عاما)، توصل إلى هذه النتائج في إطار دراسته للحصول على درجة الماجستير، والتي تعتبر الأولى من نوعها؛ ووفقا لتقديرات سميرات، فإنه لو استثمرت هذه المبالغ في الضفة الغربية، لأدت إلى إضافة 213 ألف مكان عمل للفلسطينيين.

وفوجئ سياسيون فلسطينيون لدى سماعهم بنتائج هذه الدراسة، وقالوا لصحيفة "هآرتس" إن حجم هذه الظاهرة مذهل.

وحسب السجلات التي حصل عليه سميرات، فإن 16 ألف رجل أعمال فلسطيني من الضفة الغربية، من الحاصلين على تصاريح دخول دائمة إلى إسرائيل، أسسوا في إسرائيل وفي المناطق الصناعية التابعة المستوطنات، شركات ومصانع في فروع مختلفة، يدفعون ضرائبها لوزارة مالية إسرائيل.

وفحص سميرات دوافع قرار الاستثمار في إسرائيل، الذي يعتبر من ناحية سياسية حساسا جدا، لا سيما في السنوات الأخيرة، حيث تتعاظم الدعوات لمقاطعة إسرائيل أو منتجات مستوطناتها غير القانونية.

[Beyond Treason!]وزارة الاقتصاد الوطني الفلسطينية: اتفاق باريس لا يحظر الاستثمار في إسرائيل والمستوطنات

وبسبب الحساسية، فإنه تمنع عن الإشارة إلى المستثمرين باسمائهم أو تسليم تفاصيل تشير إلى هويتهم؛ وفي حديث مع "هآرتس"، قال إنه في أعقاب بحثه، أوضحت وزارة الاقتصاد الوطني في السلطة، التي وقفت على رأس مقاطعة منتجات المستوطنات، بأن اتفاق باريس لا يحظر الاستثمار في إسرائيل وفي المستوطنات.

وأوضحت "هآرتس" أن دراسة سميرات طرحت نهاية الصيف الماضي في جامعة القدس في أبوديس، وقد حصل سميرات من الغرف التجارية والصناعية الفلسطينية، على معلومات أساسية عن المستثمرين في إسرائيل، اتصل بـ 540 منهم بشكل مباشر، ووزع استبيانات مفصلة على 420، أجابهم عليها 374 مستثمرا، كما قام بمقابلات شخصية مع 120 آخرين
....."

This is an English version:

Study: “Palestinian Businessmen Invested $2.5 B. In Settlements, Israel, In 2010”

"An academic study conducted by a Palestinian researcher from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, revealed that the amount of investments by Palestinian businessmen men, in Israeli settlements, and in Israel itself, in 2010, mounts to $2.5 Billion.....

According to the study, 16.000 Palestinian businessmen from the West Bank, who hold permanent permits from Israel to enter the country and conduct businesses, established businesses and firms in Israel and its settlements in the occupied territories. This includes establishing several factories and companies that has numerous branches, all paying taxes to Israel.

Smeirat also studied the motives that pushed those Palestinian investors to invest in Israel and its illegal settlements, especially since the issue is very sensitive and more Palestinian organizations, activists and officials are calling for boycotting Israel and its settlement products.....

Talking to Haaretz, the researcher said that the sensitivity of this issue prevents the publishing of the identities of the investors, adding that while conducting his research, the Palestinian National Economy Ministry in the West Bank, the same ministry that launched the campaign to boycott settlement products, stated that the Paris Agreement does not prohibit investing in settlements....

One-fifth of the investors stated that their businesses are in Israel, Israeli settlements, the West Bank and abroad, while another one-fifth said that their investments are only in Israel and its settlements.

Approximately %90 of them said that their first ever experience in investments was conducted in Israel.

The researcher said that he believes that the main motive that encourages Palestinian investors to invest in Israel and its settlements is attributed to the limited capacity of Palestinian investments.....

The capital of 16.000 Palestinian investors in the Palestinian Authority areas are distributed as the following; 3300 investors in Hebron, 3100 in Ramallah, 3000 in Nablus, 2000 in Bethlehem, and 1000 in Nablus......"

[Tfuh on such scum who call themselves Palestinians!]

Egyptians return to Tahrir Square to protest against military junta

Thousands gather for one of the largest demonstrations since Hosni Mubarak was ousted and new rulers took over

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 November 2011

"Tens of thousands of Egyptians have returned to Tahrir Square to protest against the military junta, in one of the biggest protests seen in the country since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak.

Although there have been scattered demonstrations against the ruling generals in recent months, Friday's rally was the largest and most explicit display of public opposition to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) since it took power in February this year.

Reprising many of the slogans that dominated the anti-Mubarak uprising, protesters chanted: "The people want the downfall of the field marshal [referring to the Scaf head, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi]" and "We're not leaving, he is leaving."

The protest brought together Egyptians from across the political spectrum, 10 days before nationwide parliamentary elections get under way. Some liberal parties decided to boycott the rally and criticised the prevalence of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi groups in the square.....

"Ten months on [from the original anti-Mubarak rallies in Tahrir] I didn't expect to be here again, but the military has broken its promises," Farag said. "At present the new parliament looks set to be comic or tragic … there is a continuous harassment of the Egyptian people by the military government and it has to stop."....."

Egypt's young radicals battle to reclaim the revolution

In post-Mubarak Egypt an alliance against repression struggles to be heard in the run-up to elections

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 November 2011

"......Egypt's resistance to the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak originated in the determined actions of a small group of people, largely young, radical and hungry for a different future. Many of them assumed they would play a big role in building a new Egypt once the ancien régime was toppled.

The reality, as Fayed discovered, has been very different – and thousands of Egyptians returned to Tahrir Square on Friday to push the military council into ceding power.

"When Mubarak fell I was the happiest person in the world because we were waking up from a nightmare," Fayed, a nurse, said. "Now, it's as if he never really left at all, everything is jumbled and wrong. Conservative forces have seized control of the story and made people afraid, and as a result we are fighting a massive counter-revolution."....."

Occupy Wall Street Draws Massive Turnout in NYC and Across the Nation to Mark 2-Month Milestone

Democracy Now!




"The Occupy Wall Street movement entered its third month Thursday with protests against the economic system in dozens of cities across the country. Reports estimated some 300 people were arrested nationwide, with the majority of the arrests taking place in New York City when protesters attempted to shut down the New York Stock Exchange. "We effectively shut down Wall Street this morning. We did it with our stories, with our bodies, with our hearts," says one of the organizers of the action. Democracy Now! reporter Ryan Devereaux filed this report....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Syrians protest on "expel the ambassadors" Friday

"Fresh protests have taken place across Syria calling on nations to expel Syrian ambassadors from their countries.

Activists said that security forces opened fire on demonstrators killing at least15 people.

The latest violence came as the Syria government has agreed 'in principle' to allow observers into the country.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports."

حل السلطة الفلسطينية

A GOOD ARTICLE

By Abdel-Sattar Qassem

"الأساس المتموج للسلطة الفلسطينيةتوريط الفلسطينيينعودة الإدارة الإسرائيليةبديل حل السلطة
تثور بين الحين والآخر فكرة حل السلطة الفلسطينية، ويبدأ الناس عموما والمثقفون خصوصا بتناولها جدلا ونقاشا بين مؤيد ومعارض وغير مكترث. ولا يخلو الأمر من مسؤولين فلسطينيين يدلون بدلوهم، ولا من فصائل فلسطينية تعبر عن موقفها حيال الأمر. تثور الفكرة على مدى سنوات، لكن السلطة ما زالت مكانها، والأسباب التي تدفع باتجاه حلها ما زالت على ما هي عليه.

لم تتغير الأحوال الفلسطينية، ولم يحصل أي تقدم فيما يتعلق بالحقوق الوطنية للشعب الفلسطيني، ويبدو أن الجسد الفلسطيني برمته يعاني من حراك ضعيف جدا، والعقل الفلسطيني لا يقوى على الإحاطة بما هو كائن بشأن القضية الفلسطينية، ولا بشأن ما يجب أن يكون.

إذا أحسن المراقب الظن، هناك تيه فلسطيني، وضعف في الإحساس بالمسؤولية، ورغبة متدنية في البحث عن مخارج. تعاني القضية الفلسطينية والشعب الفلسطيني من مآزق سياسية واجتماعية واقتصادية وثقافية ومالية كبيرة وخطيرة، ولا يلوح في الأفق أن مخارج صادرة عن إرادة فلسطينية حرة على وشك الانبلاج. ويبدو أن حل السلطة الفلسطينية هو أقوى خيار يناقشه الفلسطينيون، إن لم يكن حقيقة باب الهروب من واقع مؤلم. يحاول هذا المقال تحليل هذا الطرح، وتقديم رؤية لما يمكن أن يكون عليه المخرج

.....

بديل السلطة هو إنشاء هيئة وطنية من مهنيين وطنيين مستقلين لا علاقة لهم بدول أو تنظيمات فلسطينية، تقوم على إدارة شؤون الناس اليومية والمدنية، وبإمكان الفصائل الفلسطينية التعاون على تشكيل هذه الهيئة

....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Is Egypt's constitution being hijacked?

"Can the upcoming elections be fair and clean amid increasing political controversy and uncertainty over security? Inside Story, together with presenter James Bays, discusses with guests: Fouad Abustait, a professor of economics and finance at Helwan University in Cairo; Andrea Teti, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Aberdeen; and Samir Shehata, an assistant professor of Arab Politics at Georgetown University."

Real News Video: Does the IAEA report on Iran prove the existence of a nuclear weapons program?

Beeman and Spector: Does the IAEA report on Iran prove the existence of a nuclear weapons program?

The Arab Spring has given Turkey a voice. Don't mess with it

Turkey is angry over the Syrian failure to apologise for an attack on the Turkish embassy

By Robert Fisk

"The French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé was here "to talk about Syria". Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pontificated that "perhaps because Syria has not enough petroleum, there has been less interest in the West in the killing of Syrian civilians" – probably true – while every Turkish newspaper has been speculating about the Turks' future plans for action in Syria. A Turkish military cordon sanitaire inside the border with Syria seems to be the favourite.....

Since the official Syrian news agency Sana itself announced that the Arab League wanted to send observers to Syria, one can assume that Mr Moallem – which in this case means President Assad – has approved their arrival. But 500 of them? And how much freedom will they be given? And will they try to visit opposition figures inside Syria and – more to the point – find out exactly who these mysterious but real and armed insurgents are?"

Arab revolts - past and present

Arabs have historically revolted every decade against rulers and the west has counter-revolted most attempts.

AN EXCELLENT PIECE
Joseph Massad
Al-Jazeera

"....
The Palestinians

This brings us to the Palestinian scene. The Palestinian uprising or intifada of 1987 was the first unarmed massive civilian revolt to take place in decades. It was in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union and the first US invasion of the Gulf that the United States decided to co-opt the Palestinian uprising by giving political and financial benefits to a PLO class of bureaucrats who would proceed to sell out the Palestinian struggle. Thus Arafat neutralised the uprising at Oslo in 1993 and went on to wine and dine with Israel's and America's leaders while his people remained under occupation.

But If the Palestinians were a source of concern to the Arab regimes after 1968 lest they help other Arabs revolt against their dictatorships, today, it is the Palestinian Authority (PA) that is worried that the Arab uprisings may influence West Bank Palestinians to revolt against the PA, which continues its intensive security collaboration with the Israeli occupation and its US sponsor. Indeed, while the Israelis failed in the late 1970s in their effort to create a political body of Palestinian collaborators through their infamous Village Leagues, the PA became, not the new "Urban Leagues" that many Palestinians dubbed it, but a veritable National League of collaborators serving the Israeli occupation. The PA's recent bid for statehood and recognition at the UN and at UNESCO is an attempt to resolve the current stasis of its non-existent "peace process" and the dogged negotiations with the Israelis before the Palestinians revolt against it, especially given the dwindling dividends to the beneficiaries of the Oslo arrangement.

The PA indeed has two routes before it in the face of the collapse of the so-called "peace process": dissolve itself and cease to play the role of enforcer of the occupation; or continue to collaborate by entrenching itself further through recognition by international institutions to preserve its power and the benefits to its members. It has chosen the second option under the guise of supporting Palestinian national independence. How successful it is going to be in its entrenchment bid remains to be seen, though its success or failure will be calamitous for the Palestinian people who will not get any independence from Israeli settler colonialism as long as the PA is at the helm.

As I have argued before, the Israeli-PA-US disagreement is about the terms and territorial size of the disconnected Bantustans that the PA will be given and the nature and amount of repressive power and weapons its police force would have to use against the Palestinian people, while ascertaining that such weapons would never have a chance of being used against Israel. If Israel shows some flexibility on those, then the disconnected Bantustans will be quickly recognised as a "sovereign Palestinian state" and not a single illegal Jewish colonial settler will have to give up the stolen lands of the Palestinians and return to Brooklyn, to name a common place of origin for many Jewish colonial settlers. It is this arrangement that the PA is trying to sell to Israel and the US. Without it, the PA is threatening that West Bankers may very well revolt against it, which would be bad for Israel and the US. So far, neither the US nor Israel is buying it.

The Struggle Continues

As for the larger Arab context, those who call what has unfolded in the last year in the Arab World as an Arab "awakening" are not only ignorant of the history of the last century, but also deploy Orientalist arguments in their depiction of Arabs as a quiescent people who put up with dictatorship for decades and are finally waking up from their torpor. Across the Arab world, Arabs have revolted against colonial and local tyranny every decade since World War I. It has been the European colonial powers and their American heir who have stood in their way every step of the way and allied themselves with local dictators and their families (and in many cases handpicking such dictators and putting them on the throne).

The US-European sponsorship of the on-going counterrevolutions across the Arab world today is a continuation of a time-honoured imperial tradition, but so is continued Arab resistance to imperialism and domestic tyranny. The uprisings that started in Tunisia in December 2010 continue afoot despite major setbacks to all of them. This is not to say that things have not changed and are not changing significantly, it is to say, however, that many of the changes are reversible and that the counterrevolution has already reversed a significant amount and is working hard to reverse more. Vigilance is mandatory on the part of those struggling for democratic change and social justice, especially in these times of upheaval and massive imperial mobilisation. Some of the battles may have been lost but the Arab peoples' war against imperialism and for democracy and social justice continues across the Arab world."

مآلات الثورة السورية

مقدم الحلقة: علي الظفيري


ضيفا الحلقة:
- وائل مرزا/ أمين سر المجلس الوطني السوري
- ميشيل كيلو/ كاتب ومعارض سوري

Surprise, Surprise! The Drill Team Leader Supports The Bloody Rabbit!

الصدر مع ثوار سوريا ومع بقاء الأسد

"أبدى رجل الدين الشيعي في العراق مقتدى الصدر تأييده لقضية "الثوار" المعارضين للنظام السوري، ولكنه دعاهم إلى الإبقاء على الرئيس بشار الأسد انطلاقا مما يصفه بمعارضة الأسد للوجود الأميركي والإسرائيلي في المنطقة.

وقال الصدر في رسالة ووجهها إلى "الثوار في سوريا الحبيبة، كونوا على يقين بأني مؤمن كل الإيمان بقضيتكم"، ولكنه أشار إلى أن ثمة فارقا بين ما يحدث في سوريا و"الثورات العظيمة في تونس ومصر وليبيا والبحرين واليمن".

وأوضح أن الفارق يكمن في معارضة بشار الأسد للوجود الأميركي والإسرائيلي وفي "مواقفه الواضحة"، خلافا لمن سقط قبله أو سيسقط، حسب تعبيره
...."

Iraq's Sadr backs embattled Syrian leader Assad

"Iraq's radical anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has expressed support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even as much of the Arab world turns against the embattled strongman.

Assad has since March been trying to crush a popular uprising against his government, in which over 3,500 people have been killed, according to UN figures.....

But there is "a big difference" between what is happening in Syria and the "great revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen," Sadr said in a statement received by AFP on Thursday, referring to other Arab states that have seen popular uprisings this year.

"One of the reasons behind this difference is that Bashar al-Assad is against the American and Israeli presence and his attitudes are clear, not like those who collapsed before him, or will collapse," said the statement released by his office in the city of Najaf, reiterating points Sadr made in August....."

Occupy Wall Street’s National Day of Action Launches with Protest at NY Stock Exchange

Democracy Now!




"Today is a national day of action to mark the start of the third month of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Here in New York, organizers have been distributing posters reading "Shut Down Wall Street! Occupy the Subways! Take the Square!" As we broadcast, protesters were marching in various parts of the Financial District in an attempt to block the New York Stock Exchange from opening at 9:30 a.m. Labor organizers are planning protests at dozens of bridges across the country today as part of a campaign to highlight the need for increased spending on the nation’s infrastructure. In Portland, protesters are planning to occupy the Steel Bridge. In Seattle, an action will target the Montlake Bridge. In Washington, D.C., protesters will march on the Key Bridge. In New York, a 5 p.m. action is set at the Brooklyn Bridge. The protests come just two days after New York police raided Occupy Wall Street at Liberty Plaza and destroyed the encampment. Protesters have been allowed to return to the park, but without sleeping bags, tents or musical instruments. Democracy Now!'s Ryan Devereaux reports live from Wall Street, where protesters, with help from New York police, blockaded all streets leading to the Stock Exchange. "The plan is for sort of a three-pronged blitz on the Financial District, marches coming from all different directions, and trying to basically swarm the area with people," Devereaux says. "The NYPD's response has been equally robust. There are police vehicles, officers and barricades on every single street."...."

Menu for Today’s Tricky Planet: Use Your Head

by GABRIEL KOLKO
CounterPunch

"We live in an enigmatic age, far more complex as the years go by and certainly since the disappearance of the Soviet Union in 1991. With the failure of so many reformers avoidance of cynicism about all causes is now an overwhelming challenge. In a sense, it is the refusal to abandon the future to a seemingly inexorable and dismal fate that alone justifies trying to change the world as it is, but we must be aware of past failures and the reasons for them. All this is a starting point.

The first and most important consideration is that the world’s status quo is heading toward disasters — political and military, ecological, and economic. Violence both between and within countries and ethnic groups is more and more common. A handful of dominant nations — the United States being the preeminent — control the world’s future to a large degree, but they are scarcely alone.....

The United States had pretensions after 1945 to be able to dictate the future of global affairs, both political and economic. And for a time Europe’s weakness made it inordinately influential. The United Nations system, which President Franklin Roosevelt made certain would be based in New York as a kind of legacy he left to the state of which he had once been governor as well as a reflection of U.S. supremacy, conformed to America’s desires — especially the Security Council and its veto proviso. But although its overweening military power and the activities of its intelligence services produced victories for it in the Philippines and Iran (at least temporarily), to name but a couple, it lost or stalemated its major wars in Korea and Vietnam, virtually bankrupted itself in the process of seeking its hegemonic goals and today some elements in American ruling circles are beginning to be worried by the limits on American power and the extent to which it has overextended itself economically and militarily.....

To reiterate the point I made in the opening, the world has become increasingly complex and simplistic notions and pabulums, which were tried for many decades, have failed. With these admonitions, we have no choices but to continue trying changing a world that is becoming more dangerous every year and shows not the slightest sign of reforming itself. Our success or failure will determine whether mankind attains a modicum of peace and stability or whether it continues to go down the dismal road to more conflict and chaos."

Real News Video: Palestinian "Freedom Riders" Challenge Segregation

Drawing a comparison to American civil rights fighters, Palestinian activists boarded Israeli settler buses in the West Bank.
WATCH THE COURAGEOUS HUWAIDA ARRAF

Real News Video: IAEA Iran Report Fit Facts to Strengthen Hardliners

Robert Kelley Pt2: The report misleads and manipulates facts in attempt to prove a forgone conclusion

Poland’s growing Palestine movement faces anti-Semitism smears

Ewa Jasiewicz
The Electronic Intifada

16 November 2011

"Despite attacks and slander, the Palestine solidarity movement in Poland is pushing ahead and is able to influence media coverage and popular education on Palestine....."

ADL promotes conspiracy theories to undermine support for Palestine at Occupy Wall Street

By Ali Abunimah

"The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the influential pro-Israel lobby group headed by Abraham Foxman, is in a panic about support for Palestinian rights at Occupy Wall Street protests across the United States.

Seeking to delegitimize US popular solidarity with Palestinians suffering under US-financed Israeli occupation, apartheid and brutal violence, the ADL charged in a release on its website that, “Anti-Israel Groups Attempt to Co-Opt Occupy Wall Street Message.”.....

Spreading conspiracy theories

The ADL then goes on to list a whole range of Palestine solidarity actions at various Occupy protests around the country by groups as diverse as Adalah-NY, Jewish Voices for Peace, Jewish Women for Justice in Palestine, and Students for Justice in Palestine.

Foxman’s group cannot see Palestinians and their supporters as legitimate members of American society who might share the same concerns as other Americans. Nor can it respect or recognize that any support for Palestinian rights and opposition to Israeli crimes could be genuine......

ADL promoting hate reminiscent of anti-Semitic attacks on Jews

ADL’s effort to ghettoize Palestinians and their supporters and declare them beyond the pale of American political life and activism are painfully reminiscent of attempts in America’s past to keep Jews out of public life and to villify them as subversives, anarchists and communists.

It is not surprising that the ADL has reacted this way given that Foxman has a long history of promoting Islamophobia....."

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Plea to the West: Syria needs Libya-style intervention

Arab diplomat's call comes as Syrian army defectors attack military base

By Patrick Cockburn

"As violence in Syria intensifies with an attack by anti-government forces on an air defence intelligence complex near Damascus, a senior Arab diplomat in London says Middle Eastern states opposing the Syrian government need West European leadership similar to that seen in the Libyan war.[Red Flag Warning: The Counter Revolution Wants to Hijack The Syrian Uprising!]

He said that what was needed was "a team captain" to co-ordinate moves to put pressure on Syria, and only the Europeans could do this. The US is preoccupied by domestic politics and "in the Middle East everybody is driven by ego. How can you have a regional policy when they [local rulers] can't talk to each other?"

The diplomat added that a crucial turning point would come in Syria if the anti-government forces succeeded in establishing an independent enclave like Benghazi in Libya. He thought this was more likely to happen in the north on the Turkish border rather than around Deraa, north of the Jordanian frontier, where the protests began. The existence of such an enclave would raise the possibility of setting up a no-fly zone......"

Guardian Video: Protesters storm Kuwait parliament

Dozens of Kuwaitis briefly stormed Kuwait's parliament building late at night, as hundreds more demonstrated outside, demanding that the prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah step down. The protesters who forced their way into the debating chamber included some opposition lawmakers who have been among hundreds of people protesting outside parliament every week to demanding the removal of Sheikh Nasser, whom they accuse of corruption

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 November 2011

Free Syrian Army grows in influence

Al Jazeera talks to FSA commanders, rights activists and Syrian people about structure and role of anti-Assad army.

Basma Atassi
Al-Jazeera

"The attack by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on an air force intelligence base in the suburbs of the capital Damascus on November 16 has raised the profile of the band of army deserters, who are seeking to end President Bashar al-Assad’s long rule.

Depending on whom you believe, the group is believed to number between 1,000 and 25,000.

What is certain though, is that the deserters want to bring the Syrian government to its knees - by targeting its biggest strength, its 500,000-strong army.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Colonel Ammar al-Wawi, the commander of the FSA’s Ababeel battalion, said: "Our only goal is to liberate Syria from Bashar Assad's regime.

"To put it simply, we carry out military operations against anyone who targets the peaceful protesters."....

While anti-Assad Syrians agree that their uprising, which started in March, must continue until the current government is toppled, they do not necessarily agree on the role of the FSA in it.....

The main opposition bloc, the Syrian National Council (SNC), has tried to maintain a middle-ground.

They voiced their sympathy with deserters and acknowledged their "legitimate role of protecting unarmed protesters," but they also said that they did not support the FSA's offensives.

"We must maintain the peaceful nature of the Syrian revolution and we are in continuous dialogue with the FSA to co-ordinate our political stance," Bassma Kodmani, the spokeswoman of the SNC, told Al Jazeera.

However, it remains to be seen how much influence could the SNC exert on the FSA.

Wawi told Al Jazeera: "Those who count on peaceful means only to overthrow the regime are delusional.""

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

Do you support the demand of Yemeni demonstrators that Yemen should be suspended from the Arab League?

With about 300 responding (it is early), 89% said yes.

Al-Jazeera Video: Protesters storm Kuwaiti parliament

Guardian Video: Syrian army defectors say they will protect civilians

Amateur video on the internet purports to show Syrian army defectors saying they will try to protect civilians. They have recently 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

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011

Al-Jazeera Video: Violence continues despite Arab League condemnation

فيديو: عبارة "الأسد كذّاب" تحوّل استوديو الـ إم. تي. في إلى ساحة معركة

عــ48ــرب



"تحولت شاشة إحدى القنوات اللبنانية إلى حلبة صراع وشتائم بين عضو المكتب السياسي والنائب السابق عن تيار المستقبل مصطفى علوش من جهة والأمين القطري لحزب البعث السوري في لبنان فايز شكر من جهة أخرى، على خلفية الأحداث السورية في صورة تعكس احتدام الوضع والتوتر السائد في الساحة اللبنانية المنقسمة في رؤيتها للوضع السوري الحالي.

وكان علوش وشكر حلا ضيفين منذ أيام على برنامج للإعلامي وليد عبود، على شاشة" ام تي في" اللبنانية، حيث تبادلا الشتائم بعد أن وصف علوش الرئيس بشار الأسد بالكذاب، ما أثار أمين عام البعث لتبدأ عملية تبادل السباب والتضارب بالأيدي ومن ثم الكراسي، ولتكر سبحة الشتائم التي وصلت إلى حد تبادل العبارات البذيئة وذلك على الهواء مباشرة.

وتسبب تبادل الشتائم والتضارب بالأيدي بين ضيفين في البرامج الحواري في دفع القناة إلى توقف بث البرنامج لمدة امتدت إلى 20 دقيقة تقريبا، إلى أن أعيد الهدوء واستكملت الحلقة من جديد
....."