Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Al-Jazeera Video: US to extend military presence in Kuwait
"The United States is planning to extend its military presence in Kuwait.
The latest report from Congress said 15,000 US troops are already stationed in the tiny Gulf country.
It said more troops are need to respond to sudden conflicts in the region.
Iran, Iraq and the ability to keep oil flowing from Saudi Arabia are major concerns for the world's biggest economy.
Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports from Washington."
Gaza Experiment: Mere Words Will Not Help Solve Gaza Crisis
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle
".....Despite all evidence that the Israeli siege on Gaza is part of a well-orchestrated political and military campaign, many insist on seeing it as an issue concerning household supplies, gasoline and foodstuff. Indeed, with 31 per cent unemployment, and more than 75 per cent of the population reliant on international aid, Gaza is suffering a humanitarian crisis. But that crisis can never be truly appreciated without a thorough understanding of the political underpinnings of Israel’s ultimate objectives in Gaza and the rest of Palestine. The Gaza siege is an Israeli political decision that must be addressed and resisted as such. It should never be allowed to exist as yet another status quo, generating a few words of censure but no meaningful action."
It's Ecuador or Guantanamo
By Pepe Escobar
Asia times
"WikiLeaks superstar Julian Assange, apparently despairing of finding justice elsewhere in Europe and aware a trial for alleged rape in Stockholm could lead to a cell in Guantanamo, sees his brightest future in the hands of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa - and freedom at the door of the South American country's embassy in London....."
Alice Walker refuses to allow Israelis to publish edition of Color Purple
Pulitzer Prize-winner cites 'apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people'
Donald Macintyre
The Independent
"The celebrated US author Alice Walker has refused to allow a new Israeli edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple, in protest at what she calls Israel's policy of "apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people".
The African-American writer, who is active in the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, has written to the Israeli publisher, Yedhiot Books, saying she cannot permit publication of the book "at this time".
In the letter, made public by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott on Israel, she invokes a comparison with the decision not to show the 1985 Steven Spielberg film of her novel in South Africa before the end of apartheid. A version of Ms Walker's classic story of an abused black woman set in the segregated US Deep South of the early 20th century was published in Hebrew in the 1980s.
But she says the testimony heard last year from Israelis and Palestinians by the private Russell Tribunal on Palestine, of which she was a member, was "devastating". The tribunal, which investigates alleged war crimes, has no legal status and is modelled on one set up during the Vietnam War by the philosopher Bertrand Russell and other intellectuals.
Ms Walker adds that having grown up "under American apartheid" she found that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians was "far worse"......"
Syria: Reports of helicopter shipments underscore need for arms embargo
Amnesty International
19 June 2012
"The increased use of helicopters by the Syrian army is putting civilians at even greater risk and further strengthens the case for an international arms embargo, Amnesty International said today amid reports that a Russian ship carrying strike helicopters to Syria had been stopped in the North Sea.
The UK Foreign Office said on Tuesday that it was “aware of a ship carrying a consignment of refurbished Russian-made attack helicopters heading to Syria”. The ship is now reported to be returning to Russia after its insurance was revoked.
"As confrontations between the Syrian army and armed opposition groups have intensified in recent weeks, the Syrian army seems to be resorting ever more to the use of combat helicopters, which risks increasing civilian casualties,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Adviser, who has just returned from spending several weeks in Syria, where she met victims of indiscriminate fire from helicopters in the north of the country.
“In this context, anyone supplying attack helicopters – or maintaining, repairing or upgrading them – for the Syrian government displays a wanton disregard for humanity.”......
In the course of its research work in Syria during April and May, Amnesty International has found that helicopters have regularly been used for cover and surveillance during ground operations.Helicopters have also been used to fire machine guns and reportedly rockets. As with other arms, Syrian forces have used helicopters recklessly, leading to civilian casualties.In many areas Amnesty International visited in May and June, residents described how the army swept into their town or village with dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles, in some cases backed up by combat helicopters, firing indiscriminately and targeting those trying to flee......."
Egypt: Unrestrained army powers threat to human rights
Amnesty International
"Egypt's ruling military council’s decision to grant itself unrestrained powers, ahead of the results of the presidential elections, sets the country on the path to further human rights violations, Amnesty International said.
Unless these powers are curtailed, the organization has warned, the military will be able to continue to trample on human rights with impunity.
Egypt’s Constitutional Declaration, issued in March last year, gave the army the power to rule until Egyptians elect a president and a parliament. However, on Sunday the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), amended the Declaration to give themselves control over all matters relating to the armed forces. The amendments effectively remove the army from civilian oversight.
A key amendment permits Egypt’s President to call on the army to combat “internal unrest”. If this came to pass, Egyptian law would have to specify the army’s jurisdiction, its powers of arrest and detention, and conditions where it is entitled to use force .
“It is deeply worrying that the army has paved the way for it to continue to arrest and detain civilians, as well as to use force against protesters, with no effective oversight of their actions,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The Egyptian army – with its poor human rights record – should in no circumstances have the powers of arrest, detention and investigation over civilians".
Amnesty International has documented serious human rights abuses by the Egyptian army since it took power in February 2011......."
Carter Center can’t say if Egypt elections fair
Bikya Masr
COMMENT:
I still say that the results of this election have been cooked in advance. Indications that Ahmed Shafiq will be declared the winner are multiplying. Now, the Elections Commission expects official results later than Thursday. More time is needed to prepare for the expected rage on the streets after that declaration. There was one story that SCAF will declare a general curfew for the day of announcement.
Stay tuned.
"CAIRO: American election monitoring organization The Carter Center on Tuesday could not say whether Egypt’s recent presidential election was free and fair. The group, which had been in Egypt observing the voting process, said in a statement that they did not have enough access to polling station and voters.
They also accused the military junta in the country of being a force against the transition to democracy in Egypt.
The Carter Center said it had been unable to monitor the vote properly and that a “return of elements of martial law” meant it was “now unclear whether a truly democratic transition remains under way in Egypt.”....
The group complained of late accreditation to monitor the vote, limits on the amount of time it was allowed to stay in polling stations and said it was denied access to the central count.
“The restrictions are contrary to the core principles of credible and effective election observation and the Carter Center will not witness future elections in such circumstances,” the group said in a statement.
Beyond the election itself, the group said a court’s decision to dissolve the Islamist-dominated parliament and a decree from the ruling military council limiting the future president’s powers increased the risk that Egypt was not becoming the democracy that many had hoped for.
“Ultimately, a truly democratic transition requires not just elections, but the full transfer of power to those elected civilian institutions,” the group said in a statement."
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Guardian Video: Palestinian refugees burn tyres in protest over man killed by Lebanese army
Palestinian refugees in the Beddawi camp in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, block roads by burning tyres after at least one Palestinian died in clashes with the Lebanese army. The violence on Monday erupted when Palestinians were trying to bury a man killed in clashes on Friday
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 June 2012
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 June 2012
تعليق أولي على انتخاب الرئيس
By Azmi Bishara
COMMENT:
For once I find myself in disagreement with Azmi when it comes to his views on SCAF and its latest military coup in Egypt.
Azmi is still unrealistically sanguine about the democratic prospects and he is too trusting of and too charitable to the Egyptian junta.
"بدأت عملية التحول الديمقراطي
1. قلت في تعليق سابق أن التنافس سيكون قويا، وأن المقاطعة السياسية موقف خاطئ في هذه الظروف. ولكن ما مضى قد مصى، والمهم أن مرشح النظام السابق قد خسر الجولة، وتم تفويت الفرصة\الخطيرة لمحاولة ترميم لذلك النظام. ومع أن اي محاولة لترميم النظام سوف تفشل، ولكنها تكلف في كل مرة ثمنا وارباكا.
2. علينا أن ندرك انه ليس كل من صوّت لشفيق مؤيد للنظام القديم، وأن دوافع الكثير من مصوتيه كانت مخاوف متنوعة. ومجرد مخاطبة هذه المخاوف وتهدئتها سوف ينقلهم للتفاعل المجدد مع التعددية القائمة في قوى التغيير التي أنتجتها الثورة المصرية. والثورة المصرية لم تعد حزبا او تيارات بل هي عدة أحزاب وتيارات. ويجب أن نتعلم التسليم بذلك مع إمكانية توحيد بعض التيارات المتقاربة، ولكن لن يكون توحيد الجميع ممكنا.
3. مرة أخرى تم دحض التخويف من التزوير ونظريات المؤامرة من نوع أن اللعبة مباعة لشفيق. وسوف يلتزم المجلس العسكري بالجدول الزمني كما التزم حتى الآن. المشكلة أن البعض توقع من المجلس العسكري أن يكون ثوريا، وهو ليس كذلك، ولا هو ادعى ذلك، ولكن هذا لا يجعل منه خصما. فوجوده مهم لعملية التحول الديمقراطي. وما دامت قوى الثورة مقسّمة ولا تتبادل الثقة، والتنافس الانتخابي هو سيد العلاقة بينها، وستبقى كذلك، فلا بد من وجود قوة رسمية مستقلة، غير خاضعة لأي من الأحزاب والقوى، لكي تحفظ استمرارية الدولة وتضمن الانتقال الديمقراطي، بما في ذلك حتى ضمان عقد انتخابات قادمة. فقوى الثورة لم تتحول الى دولة. ويجب ان يحافظ على مؤسسة الدولة حتى ذلك الحين.
4. بدأت لتوها عملية الانتقال الديمقراطي في مصر، بوجود أول رئيس منتخب، وبتجاذبات وتفاعلات بين رؤوس مثلث: الرئيس المنتخب وحكومته وسلطاته التنفيذية، والمجلس العسكري ( الجيش)، والمجتمع المدني المصري الحيوي بأحزابه واتحاداته ورأيه العام الفاعل.
5. سوف يحفظ التوازن بين رؤوس المثلث الموصوف أعلاه التوازن الذي يمنع اي طرف من السيطرة الكاملة والاستحواذ على الدولة، وحتى من منع إجراء انتخابات وتداول للسلطة في المستقبل. سوف يحاول الرئيس توسيع صلاحياته، وكذلك سوف يفعل المجلس العسكري، وسوف يكون الرأي العام والمجتمع المدني والسياسي المصري لهما بالمرصاد، وسوف ينشأ عن هذا التفاعل مساومات تقود الى حلول في كل مرحلة، إلى أن ترسخ قواعد اللعبة الديمقراطية بين تشريع وتنفيذ وقضاء ويصبح الجيش تابعا للقرار السياسي، وليس طرفا في معادلة التجاذب والتوازن. وهذا ما يجب أن يكون مستقبلا.
6. المهمة الرئيسية حاليا هي وضع دستور ديمقراطي يضمن مبادئ الديمقراطية والحريات وحقوق المواطن. وليس الصراع مع المجلس العسكري هو المهمة الرئيسية حاليا، فالضغط عليه قائم على كل حال بالطرق الديمقراطية وبوجود المجتمع المدني الحي في مصر.
7. والمهمة التي تليها هي الإعداد لانتخابات السلطة التشريعية ومجلس الشعب.
8. والمهمة الأخيرة التي لا يمكن تأجيلها ويجب ان تبدأ فورا هي الاهتمام بالاقتصاد.
*عملية الانتقال الديمقراطي في مصر هي قضية عقد وسوف تتخلله أكثر من أزمة، ولكن لم يعد بوسع أحد أيقافها.
"
COMMENT:
For once I find myself in disagreement with Azmi when it comes to his views on SCAF and its latest military coup in Egypt.
Azmi is still unrealistically sanguine about the democratic prospects and he is too trusting of and too charitable to the Egyptian junta.
"بدأت عملية التحول الديمقراطي
1. قلت في تعليق سابق أن التنافس سيكون قويا، وأن المقاطعة السياسية موقف خاطئ في هذه الظروف. ولكن ما مضى قد مصى، والمهم أن مرشح النظام السابق قد خسر الجولة، وتم تفويت الفرصة\الخطيرة لمحاولة ترميم لذلك النظام. ومع أن اي محاولة لترميم النظام سوف تفشل، ولكنها تكلف في كل مرة ثمنا وارباكا.
2. علينا أن ندرك انه ليس كل من صوّت لشفيق مؤيد للنظام القديم، وأن دوافع الكثير من مصوتيه كانت مخاوف متنوعة. ومجرد مخاطبة هذه المخاوف وتهدئتها سوف ينقلهم للتفاعل المجدد مع التعددية القائمة في قوى التغيير التي أنتجتها الثورة المصرية. والثورة المصرية لم تعد حزبا او تيارات بل هي عدة أحزاب وتيارات. ويجب أن نتعلم التسليم بذلك مع إمكانية توحيد بعض التيارات المتقاربة، ولكن لن يكون توحيد الجميع ممكنا.
3. مرة أخرى تم دحض التخويف من التزوير ونظريات المؤامرة من نوع أن اللعبة مباعة لشفيق. وسوف يلتزم المجلس العسكري بالجدول الزمني كما التزم حتى الآن. المشكلة أن البعض توقع من المجلس العسكري أن يكون ثوريا، وهو ليس كذلك، ولا هو ادعى ذلك، ولكن هذا لا يجعل منه خصما. فوجوده مهم لعملية التحول الديمقراطي. وما دامت قوى الثورة مقسّمة ولا تتبادل الثقة، والتنافس الانتخابي هو سيد العلاقة بينها، وستبقى كذلك، فلا بد من وجود قوة رسمية مستقلة، غير خاضعة لأي من الأحزاب والقوى، لكي تحفظ استمرارية الدولة وتضمن الانتقال الديمقراطي، بما في ذلك حتى ضمان عقد انتخابات قادمة. فقوى الثورة لم تتحول الى دولة. ويجب ان يحافظ على مؤسسة الدولة حتى ذلك الحين.
4. بدأت لتوها عملية الانتقال الديمقراطي في مصر، بوجود أول رئيس منتخب، وبتجاذبات وتفاعلات بين رؤوس مثلث: الرئيس المنتخب وحكومته وسلطاته التنفيذية، والمجلس العسكري ( الجيش)، والمجتمع المدني المصري الحيوي بأحزابه واتحاداته ورأيه العام الفاعل.
5. سوف يحفظ التوازن بين رؤوس المثلث الموصوف أعلاه التوازن الذي يمنع اي طرف من السيطرة الكاملة والاستحواذ على الدولة، وحتى من منع إجراء انتخابات وتداول للسلطة في المستقبل. سوف يحاول الرئيس توسيع صلاحياته، وكذلك سوف يفعل المجلس العسكري، وسوف يكون الرأي العام والمجتمع المدني والسياسي المصري لهما بالمرصاد، وسوف ينشأ عن هذا التفاعل مساومات تقود الى حلول في كل مرحلة، إلى أن ترسخ قواعد اللعبة الديمقراطية بين تشريع وتنفيذ وقضاء ويصبح الجيش تابعا للقرار السياسي، وليس طرفا في معادلة التجاذب والتوازن. وهذا ما يجب أن يكون مستقبلا.
6. المهمة الرئيسية حاليا هي وضع دستور ديمقراطي يضمن مبادئ الديمقراطية والحريات وحقوق المواطن. وليس الصراع مع المجلس العسكري هو المهمة الرئيسية حاليا، فالضغط عليه قائم على كل حال بالطرق الديمقراطية وبوجود المجتمع المدني الحي في مصر.
7. والمهمة التي تليها هي الإعداد لانتخابات السلطة التشريعية ومجلس الشعب.
8. والمهمة الأخيرة التي لا يمكن تأجيلها ويجب ان تبدأ فورا هي الاهتمام بالاقتصاد.
*عملية الانتقال الديمقراطي في مصر هي قضية عقد وسوف تتخلله أكثر من أزمة، ولكن لم يعد بوسع أحد أيقافها.
"
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Has Egypt's revolution been hijacked?
"Egypt's Supreme Military Council, SCAF has issued a series of amendments to its own Constitutional Declaration that effectively limit the powers of the country's incoming president, and many would argue, cement the authority of the army generals in this post-Mubarak era.
SCAF also seeks to control the drafting of Egypt's new consitution.
The once all-powerful position of president has been made largely ceremonial and the move to civilian rule has been put on hold in the interests of what the military calls "national stability"."
Al-Jazeera Video: Egypt's political crisis deepens
"Egypt's transition from dictatorship to democracy has been turned on its head. There is still no official winner in the country's presidential elections, and whoever is declared victor looks likely to occupy only a ceremonial role.
The ruling military council, SCAF, has decreed the new man will not be commander in chief, and that it alone will retain control over the budget. Opposition groups say the decision amounts to a coup.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports from Cairo."
Leading article: The storm clouds are gathering over Egypt
The Independent
Tuesday 19 June 2012
".....The election has certainly proved a close-run thing. So much so that both sides are making early claims of victory, ahead of Thursday's official result. Although neither candidate merits unqualified support, it is Mr Morsi who must be preferred of the two. The election of Mr Shafik simply looks too much like a return to the bad old days, even more so in light of the military's latest moves.
That said, a Morsi presidency carries significant risks of its own. For all his efforts to cast himself as a liberal, the prospect of Islamist rule remains a disconcerting one. More concerning still, given recent developments, is that Mr Morsi may prove no more effective a break with the past than Mr Shafik. The Muslim Brotherhood was a latecomer to the protest movement, and has been a vocal supporter of the military council since. If the SCAF is bent on pulling the President's constitutional claws, it would be up to Mr Morsi to fight it. And whether or not he did so would determine Egypt's political future....."
Tuesday 19 June 2012
".....The election has certainly proved a close-run thing. So much so that both sides are making early claims of victory, ahead of Thursday's official result. Although neither candidate merits unqualified support, it is Mr Morsi who must be preferred of the two. The election of Mr Shafik simply looks too much like a return to the bad old days, even more so in light of the military's latest moves.
That said, a Morsi presidency carries significant risks of its own. For all his efforts to cast himself as a liberal, the prospect of Islamist rule remains a disconcerting one. More concerning still, given recent developments, is that Mr Morsi may prove no more effective a break with the past than Mr Shafik. The Muslim Brotherhood was a latecomer to the protest movement, and has been a vocal supporter of the military council since. If the SCAF is bent on pulling the President's constitutional claws, it would be up to Mr Morsi to fight it. And whether or not he did so would determine Egypt's political future....."
Saudi Arabia ramps up clampdown on human rights activists
"A prominent Saudi Arabian human rights defender was brought before a Riyadh court on Monday on 11 activism-related charges in the latest example of what Amnesty International called a “troubling string of court cases” aimed at silencing human rights campaigners.
The charges against 46-year-old Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani relate to his human rights activism. They include setting up an unlicensed organization, understood to be the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) of which he is a founding member, “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, accusing the judiciary of allowing torture and accepting confessions made under duress, describing the Saudi Arabian authorities as a police state, inciting public opinion by accusing authorities of human rights violations, and turning international organizations against the Kingdom.
His appearance in Riyadh’s Criminal Court is part of a series of recent trials aimed at silencing human rights activists in the Kingdom.
“The Saudi Arabian authorities’ trial of Mohammad al-Qahtani is just one of a troubling string of court cases aimed at silencing the Kingdom’s human rights activists,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“The case against him should be thrown out of court as it appears to be based solely on his legitimate work to defend human rights in Saudi Arabia and his sharp criticism of the authorities.”
The Saudi Arabian authorities have recently targeted a number of human rights defenders, both through the courts and through arbitrary measures such as the imposition of travel bans......."
Egypt: From 'Election first' to 'SCAF first'
The military's latest decree will either crush dissent - or empower activists to retake the streets.
Larbi Sadiki
Al-Jazeera
"The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) may have just shot itself in the foot.
While Egypt and Egyptians have been engaging in one exercise to reclaim popular sovereignty , won on the back of a glorious revolution, SCAF has, seemingly, been scheming a different game: to stem the tide of revolution and fledgling democratisation, and usurp public office. This chapter of the Egyptian revolution will require close historical scrutiny.
In three days, SCAF has committed two massive blunders: on June 14, a judicial coup (the dissolution of the Lower House based on the unconstitutionality of the Elections Law and the Isolation Law, qanun al-'azl), aggravated by a constitutional coup (issuing non-democratic amendments to the interim constitution). The Field Marshal and company may turn out to be out of their depth for misusing law to uphold illegal practices.
In principle, by issuing the interim constitution, SCAF has suspended both Egypt's revolution and more than one year of popular voting in referendum, bicameral parliamentary elections and this weekend's presidential elections. Even the ousted president never exercised "dropping the writ" with such disregard for popular will.....
Three assets have been gained from Egypt's revolution, and they could prove fatal to SCAF.
First, Egypt now has leaders of all political colours. SCAF may have ignored this detail. What is certain is that, in the days to come (and it may not take as long as 18 days), SCAF will not be left alone ot go about its business.
Second, the fear that was psychologically conditioned by the apparatus of the pre-revolution state, coercive and otherwise, has for ever dissipated like the Egyptian winter morning fog on the streets and squares of resistance. That resistance, when weariness transpires, could come back to haunt SCAF's cavalier attitude, and animate Egypt's squares once more.
Last, the integration of Islamists in the political process is now unstoppable, and with all its imperfections, it provides a formidable pole and a bulwark against the deep state.
Today, they may be giving Egypt the taste of their first democratically elected president.
Tomorrow, who knows? An Egypt for all its people - Copt and Muslim, secular and Islamist and man and woman - in which SCAF is a mere footnote in the interval between dictatorship and good government. "
Monday, June 18, 2012
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you expect a peaceful transition of power in Egypt?
With over 800 responding, 65% said no.
Time for Egypt to unite against the military
Refusing to take sides between the Muslim Brotherhood and a military awarding itself sweeping powers is self-indulgent folly
David Hearst
guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 June 2012
"Millions of Egyptians went to bed last night thinking they had elected a president with full executive powers and woke up this morning in a military dictatorship. Just after the presidential polls closed, the generals granted themselves sweeping powers in a constitutional declaration that completes the coup started by dissolving parliament......
If the 1,200 young people said to have been killed during the uprising against Mubarak (plus 8,000 wounded) did not make their sacrifice in vain, the overwhelmingly clear mission of all those groups that took part in the revolution is to unite around a common purpose – to disband the military council, clear away the old regime, send the army back to the barracks and establish democratic institutions.
To continue to declare a plague on both their houses, meaning both the military and the Brotherhood, is not just self-indulgence. It is political folly, wherever you are on the secular or religious spectrum. The revolution has to finish first, and the important – less telegenic – part begins today."
David Hearst
guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 June 2012
"Millions of Egyptians went to bed last night thinking they had elected a president with full executive powers and woke up this morning in a military dictatorship. Just after the presidential polls closed, the generals granted themselves sweeping powers in a constitutional declaration that completes the coup started by dissolving parliament......
If the 1,200 young people said to have been killed during the uprising against Mubarak (plus 8,000 wounded) did not make their sacrifice in vain, the overwhelmingly clear mission of all those groups that took part in the revolution is to unite around a common purpose – to disband the military council, clear away the old regime, send the army back to the barracks and establish democratic institutions.
To continue to declare a plague on both their houses, meaning both the military and the Brotherhood, is not just self-indulgence. It is political folly, wherever you are on the secular or religious spectrum. The revolution has to finish first, and the important – less telegenic – part begins today."
Al-Jazeera Video: Egypt's military sets out its powers
"Egyptians are waking up to a new reality, The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF], has made a last minute power grab leaving the new incoming president with very limited powers. On Sunday they made their terms explicit. Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna reports from Cairo."
Al-Jazeera Video: Update: the latest from Morsi and Shafiq headquarters
"People are gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square just hours after the Muslim Brotherhood declared it's candidate will be Egypt's next president.
The group said Mohamed Morsi has won enough votes in Sunday's run-off to put him in charge of the Arab world's biggest country.
His rival Ahmed Shafik disputes the claim."
Occupy Will Be Back
By Chris Hedges
"In every conflict, insurgency, uprising and revolution I have covered as a foreign correspondent, the power elite used periods of dormancy, lulls and setbacks to write off the opposition. This is why obituaries for the Occupy movement are in vogue. And this is why the next groundswell of popular protest—and there will be one—will be labeled as “unexpected,” a “shock” and a “surprise.” The television pundits and talking heads, the columnists and academics who declare the movement dead are as out of touch with reality now as they were on Sept. 17 when New York City’s Zuccotti Park was occupied. Nothing this movement does will ever be seen by them as a success. Nothing it does will ever be good enough. Nothing, short of its dissolution and the funneling of its energy back into the political system, will be considered beneficial........
We live in a period of history the Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul calls an interregnum, a period when we are enveloped in what he calls “a vacuum of economic thought,” a period when the reigning ideology, although it no longer corresponds to reality, has yet to be replaced with ideas that respond to the crisis engendered by the collapse of globalization. And the formulation of ideas, which are always at first the purview of a small, marginalized minority, is one of the fundamental tasks of the movement. It is as important to think about how we will live and to begin to reconfigure our lives as it is to resist......"
"In every conflict, insurgency, uprising and revolution I have covered as a foreign correspondent, the power elite used periods of dormancy, lulls and setbacks to write off the opposition. This is why obituaries for the Occupy movement are in vogue. And this is why the next groundswell of popular protest—and there will be one—will be labeled as “unexpected,” a “shock” and a “surprise.” The television pundits and talking heads, the columnists and academics who declare the movement dead are as out of touch with reality now as they were on Sept. 17 when New York City’s Zuccotti Park was occupied. Nothing this movement does will ever be seen by them as a success. Nothing it does will ever be good enough. Nothing, short of its dissolution and the funneling of its energy back into the political system, will be considered beneficial........
We live in a period of history the Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul calls an interregnum, a period when we are enveloped in what he calls “a vacuum of economic thought,” a period when the reigning ideology, although it no longer corresponds to reality, has yet to be replaced with ideas that respond to the crisis engendered by the collapse of globalization. And the formulation of ideas, which are always at first the purview of a small, marginalized minority, is one of the fundamental tasks of the movement. It is as important to think about how we will live and to begin to reconfigure our lives as it is to resist......"
Egypt’s military junta says power transfer at end of month
By Joseph Mayton
Bikya Masr
"......But there is a caveat. Under the country’s previous constitution, the president was the head of the military, but on Sunday, a new constitutional declaration did away with that and puts the military in firm control of the country’s political and economic future.
Activists, politicians and observers say the move is paramount to a military coup in the country and makes the presidency weak and potentially impotent......
Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former presidential candidate, warned that the declaration is a “full military coup that must be confronted.”"
Bikya Masr
"......But there is a caveat. Under the country’s previous constitution, the president was the head of the military, but on Sunday, a new constitutional declaration did away with that and puts the military in firm control of the country’s political and economic future.
Activists, politicians and observers say the move is paramount to a military coup in the country and makes the presidency weak and potentially impotent......
Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former presidential candidate, warned that the declaration is a “full military coup that must be confronted.”"
Prediction Updated
By Tony Sayegh
In spite of the declarations of the Muslim Brothers that their candidate has won by a small margin, I stick by my earlier prediction that Ahmed Shafiq will be declared the winner. The official announcement will come Thursday.
Why am I so confident of my prediction? This election was stolen fair and square, and the result was determined even before the voting began.
SCAF's old dogs have many tricks up their sleeves, and will have the final word. For now they are letting the Brothers celebrate their imaginary "victory."
حكم القرين
حكم القرين
عبد الحليم قنديل
"في كتابي (الأيام الأخيرة) ـ صدرعام 2008 ـ رسمت صورة للمشهد السياسي في مصر عقب خلع مبارك، وتوقعت فوز جماعة الإخوان بالأكثرية، وبنفس النسب التي تحققت في أول انتخابات جرت بعد ثورة 25 يناير 2011، لكني توقعت أن يكون الحكم محنة لا نعمة للإخوان، ورجحت تراجعا منتظما في شعبية الإخوان، ولأسباب بدت منطقية جدا .
لم أكن وقتها أقرأ الرمل ولا أضرب الودع، بل بدت التوقعات مبنية على تحليل اجتماعي لجماعة الإخوان، وخاصة عند قيادتها بالذات، ودوائر التحكم في عملها، وهي ذات طابع يميني خالص لا تخطئه العين، فقيادة الإخوان تطرح الجماعة كحزب أمة، بينما هي ـ في الحقيقة ـ حزب طبقة، ومليارديراتها أقرب لنمط مليارديرات جماعة مبارك، وما من فارق جوهري بين ملياردير إخواني كالمهندس خيرت الشاطر ـ مثلا ـ وملياردير مباركي كالمهندس أحمد عز، فلهما ذات المصالح ، وربما نفس السلوك الاجتماعي، وذقن الشاطر مجرد قناع ديني، ولو حلق الشاطر لحيته لوجدنا تحتها وجه أحمد عز، والقصة أكبر من مشابهة أشخاص، إنه الشبه في العمق والجوهر، الشبه في السياسات الاقتصادية بالذات، فقد كانت جماعة مبارك عنوانا على اقتصاد سوق من نوع خاص جدا، كانت عنوانا على اقتصاد ريع لا اقتصاد إنتاج، وتبنت نوعا من الخصخصة عرفه المصريون باسم 'المصمصة'، وتضمن تجريفا كليا للقواعد الإنتاجية الكبرى، وتدميرا تاما للصناعة المصرية، وبيع ماتبقى منها للأجانب، والتفرغ لتأجير البلد كسكن استثماري، والتركيز على عوائد السياحة وعمل المصريين في الخارج والملاحة في قناة السويس، وجعل كلمة المستثمرين ـ أي المشترين ـ هي العليا في التشريع والتوجيه اليومي، وزيادة معدلات النهب العام إلى حدود جنونية، والنتيجة :
أن تكونت في مصر حالة ملغومة اجتماعيا، ففي مصر أغنى طبقة في المنطقة، وفيها أفقر شعب، والطبقة الأغنى في مصر أكثر ثراء من طبقة أمراء وأغنياء الخليج، وهي الطبقة ذاتها التي ينتمى إليها خيرت الشاطر وحسن مالك وغيرهم من مليارديرات جماعة الإخوان، ولا تكاد تلحظ لهؤلاء نشاطا إنتاجيا من أصله، بل مجرد توكيلات تجارية لشركات أجنبية، أو أنشطة مقاولات وممارسات طفيلية، وقد بدأوا بتكوين جمعية رجـــال أعمال على طريقة أقرانهم من جماعة مبارك، وتواجــــدوا فيـــــها جنبا إلى جنب مع رجال أعمال من جماعة مبارك، ويعيدون طــرح ذات القصص التي كانت تطرحها جماعة مبارك، ومن نوع اختيار مناطــــق استثمارية، والتوسع في تقديم إغراءات جاذبة للأجانب وشركائهم المحليين، ومضاعفة الإعفاءات الضريبية والجمركية، والحديث عن اتفـــاقات جاهزة مع مستثمرين، وترويج اقتصاد 'الضحك على الذقون' بأرقام افتراضية، وهو ما لن تكون نتيجته مختلفة نوعيا عما كان، وقد كان الملياردير الإخواني حسن مالك صريحا ومباشرا ، وقال ـ ما معناه ـ أن اقتصاد مبارك يحتاج فقط إلى بعض الإصلاح.
وقد كنت، ولا أزال، مع احترام نتائج الانتخابات العامة، وفتح الطريق لذهاب جماعة الإخوان إلى سدة الحكم إن إختارهم الناس، وقدرت أن قيادة الإخوان أقرب إلى معنى التعايش مع جماعة مبارك، وأن خلافهما الذي يثور أحيانا ليس عراكا على مبادئ، بل خلاف في التفاصيل، وفــــي طرق تقسيم الكعكة، وهو ما أثبتت صدقه الأيام، وسوف يثبت صدقه أكثر مع تــــوريط الإخوان في الحكم، فقيادة الإخوان جماعة براجماتية جـــــدا، والقوى المحركة فيها هم مليارديراتها لاشيوخها، بل ربما لاتكاد تلحظ لهم شيوخا، فباستثناء حالة الشيخ يوسف القرضاوي، وهو فقــــيه مسن ترك تنظيم الجماعة من زمن، لاتكاد تجد للجماعة شيخا ولا مفتيا يعتد به، وما تبقى من مشايخهم رجال ضعاف في التكوين الديني، وكثير منهم أقرب في التكوين إلى خدم أو أئمة المساجد القروية، وما يغلب على التكوين القيادي في الإخوان صنف آخر من البشر، نعم هناك المهنيون من أطباء ومهندسين ومعلمين ومحامين وأساتذة جامعات، وهم كثرة عددية ملحوظة، لكن القوة الضاربة في يد المليارديرات، وفي يد خيرت الشاطر بالذات، فمن يملك يحكم، ومن يدفع يتحكم في جماعة تحولت إلى شركة كبرى للحشد السياسي، شركة بإنفاق ملياري ضخم، وهو ما يفسر الإختيار الاقتصادي للجماعة حين تحكم بلدا كمصر، فليس في وسع مليارديرات الإخوان أن يخونوا مصالحهم، ولا أن تغيب عنهم طبيعة 'العروة الوثقى' التي تربطهم بمليارديرات جماعة مبارك.
وما تبقى من خطابهم الأخلاقي الديني لا يكاد يستر العورات، يغيرون أقوالهم كل يوم، وينسون وعود الليل المدهونة بزبدة تسيح في حر النهار، ولا يؤمن لهم جانب في أي اتفاق سياسي، وتحركهم المصالح الثابتة لا المبادئ التي تتقلب بطبائع الأحوال الجارية، صحيح أنهم يختلفون في المبنى عن جماعة مبارك المخلوع، لكن الاتفاق في المعنى قائم، فهم يكررون ذات النسق من السياسات، يكررون خط الاتفاق وقبول وصاية الأمريكان، ويكررون خط اقتصاد 'المصمصة' وانتظار الريع، ويكررون خطة إعطاء الأولوية للمستثمرين والمشترين، ويكررون خط الإفقار العام لأغلبية المصريين المنهكين أصلا، ويبدون كجماعة شابة تحل في الخدمة محل أختها العجوز، كانت جماعة مبارك قد تحولت إلى كيان معلق بلا قواعد إجتماعية تسند، بينما تبدو جماعة الإخوان مسنودة بقواعد إجتماعية كبرى، تكونت من حولها بفضل الخطاب الديني والممارسة الخيرية، وحين تحكم الجماعة، سوف يحل الخطاب البراجماتي محل الخطاب الديني، وتحل الممارسات الاحتكارية محل الأنشطة الخيرية، وهو ما يفسر الإنخفاض المطرد في شعبية الإخوان بعد خمسة شهور من عمل البرلمان المنحل، وهو تحول سوف تزداد وتيرته بمرور الوقت، حتى وإن استعانوا بفوائض الخطاب الديني الخام لإخوتهم السلفيين ، فقد يفيدهم ذلك لبعــــض الوقت، وفي معــــركة إنتخابية هنا أو هناك، لكن الفائدة تبدو عابرة جدا، ومع المزيد من انغماس قيادة الإخوان في الحكم، وترك العـــنان لشهوة الاحتكار، واتضاح الطابع البراجماتي الصرف لقيادة الإخوان، وضمن أحوال بلد يمر في أخطر مراحله ومآزقه، وتتزايد معدلات الوعى العام فـــيه بصورة طفرية، مع كل هذه الظروف يبدو تجنب المآل من المحال، فسوف تنحسر شعبية الإخوان، وتتخلخل قواعدهم الإجتماعية، ويزداد الميل للخروج من صفوف الإخوان، خاصة مع احتمالات تكون تيار إسلامي جديد أكثر وسطية، ومع احتمالات نهوض حركة وطنية إجتماعية ديمقراطية إلى اليسار والوسط الإجتماعي، توازن ما يتبقى من النفوذ اليميني لجماعة الإخوان، وتكسر أنفها فى مباريات انتخابية مقبلة .
مشـــكلة قيادة الإخوان أنها توحي ببديل عن جماعة مبارك، لكن الإيحاء لا يبدو في محله، فهي أقرب إلى معنى القرين لا البديل.
"
Mubarak's 300,000-strong army of thugs remains in business despite elections
The Long View: The military has played a shrewd game – insisting Mubarak go on trial while realigning supporters to preserve their privileges
By Robert Fisk
".....The association of corruption with the ancien regime has been a staple of all revolutions. Justice sounds good. And today's Egyptians still demand dignity. But surely Nasser got it right; better to chuck the old boy out of the country than to stage a distracting and time-consuming trial when the future of Egypt, the "other purposes of the revolution", should be debated. Today's military played an equally shrewd but different game: they insisted Mubarak go on trial – bread and circuses for the masses, dramatic sentences to keep their minds off the future – while realigning the old Mubarakites to preserve their own privileges.
The ex-elected head of the judges' club in Egypt, Zakaria Abdul-Aziz, has rightly pointed out that even if Mubarak was put on trial, the January-February 2011 killing went on for days, "and they [the generals] did not order anyone to stop it. The Ministry of Interior is not the only place that should be cleansed. The judiciary needs that."....
The belief among journalists and academics that Tahrir Square would fill once again with the young of last year's rebellion, that a new protest movement in its millions would end this state of affairs, has – so far – proved unrealistic. Over the weekend, Egyptians wanted to vote rather than demonstrate – even if the country's security apparatus would end up running the show as usual – and if this is democracy, then it's going to be of the Algerian rather than the Tunisian variety. Maybe I just don't like armies, while Egyptians do......"
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Al-Jazeera Video: حديث الثورة - مآلات الوضع السياسي في مصر
"مناقشة الفراغ الدستوري في مصر في أعقاب قرار المحكمة الدستورية العليا ببطلان مجلس الشعب واستعادة المجلس العسكري السلطات التشريعية عشية انتخابات الرئاسة
تقديم/ محمود مراد
تاريخ البث/ 2012/06/15
الضيوف: عمرو جمعة
أحمد ماهر
صلاح عبد المقصود
"
'Down with the next Egyptian president'
Whoever is declared the next president of Egypt will not be the person most Egyptians want
Ahdaf Soueif
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 17 June 2012
".....As I write, it's looking as if the turnout for this round will settle at about 15%. Compare this to the 80% turnout in March 2011, when Scaf (the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces), which had been running the country since Hosni Mubarak was deposed in 2011, put us through our first "democratic" exercise, a referendum: "Constitution first or parliamentary elections first?" The people queued, celebrated and debated – and Scaf twisted the result and cheated in its implementation to stay in power, then worked to spread chaos and division and to brutalise the nation.......This will be Scaf's proudest achievement: that it has disabused the country of any notion that the machinery of the existing state will deliver the system the majority long for.........
On Saturday alone, during the last round of the elections, 35 activists from the 6th April group were detained (under the new powers granted by the minister of justice to the military two days earlier); western journalists warned that it was illegal to conduct interviews in the street; a young woman translating for a Finnish journalist was arrested; security troops went round a number of towns making inquiries about foreign Arabs who might be staying there; 22 Palestinians and Jordanians were detained; seven Syrian activists manning the protest tent in front of the Arab League offices were detained; the ministry of the interior issued warnings that armed Palestinians had been sent by Hamas from Gaza to commit acts of terror in Egypt; the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, wrote that Friday's rockets "were launched after a request by senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt". Xenophobia, division, fear of the Palestinians (on the "they want to lead us into war" ticket) are all being stoked......
The revolution will continue because neither the old regime nor the Islamist trend in its current form are going to deliver "bread, freedom, social justice". Neither of them are going to validate the sacrifices made by the 1,200 young people murdered by the regime, the 8,000 maimed, the 16,000 court-martialled. As the weekend's spectacle unfolds, thousand of young men are in military jails, many of them on hunger strike......
The people have, at every turn, done the right thing. They have taken to the streets when the cause has been theirs, they've stayed away when it's been manufactured. They've been brave and resilient and resourceful. They have learned lessons. They voted the Brotherhood into parliament, and when they performed abysmally they withheld 50% of their vote from the Brotherhood's presidential candidate. They are demanding and trying to push forward effective, unified, progressive representatives who can turn their courage into political gains. Most important, they have taken their revolution to their factories, universities, towns and streets.
For the last several months, a favourite slogan has been: "Down with the next president". Amen."
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Syria - Has the UN observer mission failed in Syria?
"The UN observer mission in Syria was suspended on Saturday. Mission chief Major General Robert Mood announced the decision, citing increasing violence against the observer teams.
He said: "In this high risk situation, UNSMIS is suspending its operations. UN obververs will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations until further notice. Engagement with the parties will be restricted. This suspension will be reviewed on a daily basis. Operations will resume when we see the situation fit for us to carry out our mandated activities."
The announcement came as members of Syria's opposition groups were concluding their latest meeting in Turkey. For two days, Syrian opposition groups have met in Istanbul in a fresh attempt to settle their differences and reach a consensus for a post-Assad Syria. But discussions failed to yield a statement, or indeed any sense of unity."
Greece: What Can be Done?
By James Petras
"Introduction: Greece faces the unenviable choice between accepting the terms of “the Troika” and facing the continuation and deepening of a socio-economic crises, which includes five years of negative growth, over 23% unemployment, an astronomical rise in poverty (from less than 15% to over 40%) and mounting suicides, or a rejection of the “memorandum”, and a likely cut-off of Eurozone funding and capital markets with virtually few reserves to cover salaries, pensions or public services.....
Conclusion
SYRIZA has been raised to a serious contender for state power by the most devastating capitalist crises to affect a Western European country since WWII. It gained adherence through its dynamic grass roots organizing and the relative cohesion of its disparate components. It’s clear and forthright exposé of the corruption and pillage of the dominant parties and its image as a party with ‘clean hands’ has propelled it forward among a broad spectrum of classes, regions and generational groups. However, the very depth of the crises, the total pillage and emptying of the treasury by the kleptocratic political-business class and the dismantling of the entire productive sector and the transfer of billions of Euros abroad by the millionaire rentier class, has created an immensely difficult terrain from which to launch the necessary transformation. The new government can and must guarantee the sovereignty of the nation by rejecting imperial dictates and end any further degradation (“austerity”) of the Greek people. Emancipation requires that first and foremost the new leadership takes the lead in making sacrifices: cutting out all the perks of office, salaries and overseas commitments. The new social priorities demand severe cuts in military budgets – bases, NATO, arms purchases. The new leaders must tell the Euro-bankers to collect payments from the accounts of the overseas billionaires who borrowed, bled the country and are now sheltered in the same banks.
The Left must move from criticism to practical deeds; from theorizing to creating jobs! Greece with a new government can put an end to open-ended austerity and decay. It can and must change its place in the international economy. In the final analysis, it is Greece’s last best hope."
Brotherhood Vs Former Regime in Egypt Runoff
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
"......Worryingly, Thursday’s constitutional court decision was coupled with a second ruling, which declared the law governing last year’s legislative polls to be similarly unconstitutional. The decision is likely to result in the dissolution of Egypt’s Islamist-led parliament, throwing the country’s post-revolution political scene into further confusion.
“Whichever candidate wins the presidency, there’s little doubt that the coming period will be marked by a degree of political volatility unseen in Egypt’s recent history,” said Maher.
He added: “The victory of either candidate will certainly be met with another wave of mass demonstrations, especially if Shafiq – a symbol of the regime we just got rid of – wins the country’s highest office.”"
"......Worryingly, Thursday’s constitutional court decision was coupled with a second ruling, which declared the law governing last year’s legislative polls to be similarly unconstitutional. The decision is likely to result in the dissolution of Egypt’s Islamist-led parliament, throwing the country’s post-revolution political scene into further confusion.
“Whichever candidate wins the presidency, there’s little doubt that the coming period will be marked by a degree of political volatility unseen in Egypt’s recent history,” said Maher.
He added: “The victory of either candidate will certainly be met with another wave of mass demonstrations, especially if Shafiq – a symbol of the regime we just got rid of – wins the country’s highest office.”"
Al-Jazeera Video: Absence of 'revolutionary fervor' in Egyptian polls
"Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, says that though there has been "brisk voting" in the second day of Egypt's presidential runoff, the "revolutionary fervor ... has all but disappeared".
Additionally, our correspondent says this round of the vote pitting Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate against Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Hosni Mubarak, has been plagued with rumours "compared to a relatively calmer first round" last month."
The next battle will take longer than 18 days
Issandr El Amrani
Al-Masry Al-Youm
Sun, 17/06/2012
"........This may be unpopular to say, but a good part of the blame for the lack of a clear idea of what the revolution is lies with the revolutionaries themselves. Some seem to be content with constant attempts to recreate the mood of those magical 18 days in Tahrir Square, but any recent visit to the square tells another story. The revolution was not the occupation of the square itself, but the act of taking it and routing security forces in order to do so. If you’re allowed to retake the square anyway, if it becomes a dedicated protest zone like the steps of the Journalists Syndicate once were, it’s hardly a transgressive measure anymore.
The revolutionaries also failed to define what it was they wanted from this revolution, and to sell this idea to the wider population that, most of the time, is not interested in protests and marches. To recapture the imagination of the population, to take their rivals off-balance once again, the revolutionaries have to strike where it’s least expected, and in a manner that is novel. The next battle might not be won in public squares, but in courts, in Parliament, in activism that takes place in dirty alleyways and isolated villages, and in the field of ideas and civil society, with humility and perseverance. And it’s going to take a lot longer than 18 days."
Al-Masry Al-Youm
Sun, 17/06/2012
"........This may be unpopular to say, but a good part of the blame for the lack of a clear idea of what the revolution is lies with the revolutionaries themselves. Some seem to be content with constant attempts to recreate the mood of those magical 18 days in Tahrir Square, but any recent visit to the square tells another story. The revolution was not the occupation of the square itself, but the act of taking it and routing security forces in order to do so. If you’re allowed to retake the square anyway, if it becomes a dedicated protest zone like the steps of the Journalists Syndicate once were, it’s hardly a transgressive measure anymore.
The revolutionaries also failed to define what it was they wanted from this revolution, and to sell this idea to the wider population that, most of the time, is not interested in protests and marches. To recapture the imagination of the population, to take their rivals off-balance once again, the revolutionaries have to strike where it’s least expected, and in a manner that is novel. The next battle might not be won in public squares, but in courts, in Parliament, in activism that takes place in dirty alleyways and isolated villages, and in the field of ideas and civil society, with humility and perseverance. And it’s going to take a lot longer than 18 days."
What went wrong in Egypt?
For a revolution to succeed, it takes more than elections, and more than popular support, for a break with the past.
A GOOD COMMENT
By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera
"Cairo, Egypt - Egypt is holding presidential elections in amid a constitutional, political and economic mess.
Once elected, it is not clear who will swear in the new president, or what authority the new leader will have - these powers are yet to be defined in the new permanent constitution. Many are asking what happened to the promise of change.
It is complicated, to say the least. There is no simple answer as to how or why, after a breath-taking revolution, Egypt is stuck, once again polarised between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood.
And today, Egyptians find themselves obliged to choose between a new version of the old regime and what many fear to be the coming of Islamist rule.
Indeed, speaking to people here, one gets the impression that many Egyptians are voting not for a preferred candidate but against the other.
In other words, many of those who will put either Mohamed Morsi or Ahmed Shafiq on top are doing so not out of conviction in their vision or agenda. Many Morsi voters want to ensure that the old regime doesn't come back with a vengeance, and many Shafiq voters want to prevent the Islamists from taking over the state.
More than a few revolutionaries blame others for the country's predicament. In reality, the revolution wasn't simply "stolen", it was mostly surrendered.
A mixture of youthful naivete and Islamist overreach allowed the old regime to recover its force, unify its assets and move centre-stage once again.
Just as the revolution imploded, the old regime consolidated.
Competition and convergence
The revolution was totally united against dictatorship and in favour of freedom and social justice.
But as soon as it succeeded in ousting Hosni Mubarak and his inner circle in spring 2011, there emerged contradictory interpretations as to what the revolution's slogans meant or entailed.
Short-sighted, the revolutionaries soon split as they rushed to compete in general elections without finishing what they started, the most important element of which was agreeing a new constitution.
The challenge for the revolution hasn't been to change Mubarak but to change the regime. Or, as I put it then: the central question facing Egypt is not who will replace Mubarak but what will replace his regime.
Be that as it may, what started as a unified revolution soon imploded and splintered into Islamists, nationalists, liberals and leftists and more opportunists jostled for influence.
As the revolutionaries and their allies bickered, bragged and drifted, the two pillars of the old regime - divided by the ousting of Mubarak - the military and the old political establishment - began to recover, converge and consolidate their efforts once again.
The so-called "deep state" that comprises the institutions, elites, and businesses that profited from the Mubarak administration began to recover their common voice and influence during the military-managed transitional state.
Islamists' takeover of more than two-thirds of the parliament gave the military and the old bureaucracy the needed scare to unite their forces against the revolution. And once again, the youth found themselves alienated and isolated.
The military and the old bureaucracy deployed all their assets, including those in big business, the judiciary, and security forces to undermine the revolution and undo much of what has transpired since spring 2011, including dissolving the elected parliament and reinstating emergency-like laws that allow for extraordinary arrests and imprisonment of activists, as witnessed in the first day of voting, against supporters of the April 6 movement.
Indeed, much of the political and electoral process and all the regulations imposed this year have been managed by SCAF and forces from the old regime, whether in the interior ministry, the security forces or the judiciary.
Revolutionaries who hoped they could create revolutionary change by playing by the rule of the regime and within the old system have since been "lost in transition".
SCAF vs SCRF
There's nothing unexpected in what the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is doing. Anyone who thought the military would just roll over and return to the barracks is dangerously naive.
As I wrote at the beginning of the revolution, much of the adulation for the generals was either misplaced or exaggerated. The brass saw the writing on the wall, understood change was coming to Egypt, and moved to get rid of Mubarak in order to safeguard their own influence.
The generals saw an opportunity in removing an ailing dictator to renew and reinforce their role in the post-Mubarak political vacuum. They have too much at stake in the state, its institution and economy to step aside. That's their world and what they know best in the absence of war.
What is utterly incomprehensible is why a successful revolution didn't finish the job by creating the necessary circumstances for a second republic. That meant no less than creating a unified Supreme Council of the Revolutionary Forces (SCRF) to manage the political transition in the country with the support of the public squares. Then, the revolution would have enjoyed wide popular domestic support and unprecedented international sympathy.
Has the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood been too ambitious and opportunistic? Have the youth been too naive to let go of their accomplishments and abandon the squares too early? Perhaps. What is clear is that decades of dictatorship and one-party rule don't just evaporate because the powers that be lost the first or second round to the people they long treated unworthy of government.
For a revolution to succeed, it takes more than wide popular support for a break with the past. It also takes more than elections. It requires translating the control of the streets and public squares into people's control over the pillars of the state."
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Egypt's troubled transition
"The latest twists and turns of Egypt's troubled transition since the fall of Hosni Mubarak 16 months ago have left many wondering where the country is heading next. A cloud of uncertainty now hangs over its political future after two decisions handed down on Thursday - ahead of a scheduled run-off election to choose the new president this weekend. The Muslim Brotherhood has warned that Egypt's fragile democratic gains are under threat after a court ruling that dissolved the religious-dominated parliament. The Supreme Constitutional Court has also upheld the right of Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister in Hosni Mubarak's government, to run for president. It leaves Egypt with no parliament and concentrates power even more firmly in the hands of the generals who took over from Mubarak. So, where does this leave Egypt's transition to democracy? And what is left of the Egyptian revolution?"
Egypt: dangerous tricks
Manoeuvring on the eve of the second round of the election has created the risk of fresh confrontations and uncertainties
Editorial
The Guardian, Friday 15 June 2012
"The Egyptian military and security establishment has not been a steady, skilled, or unbiased manager of the political process in the almost year and a half of post revolutionary ups and downs the country has endured. Its manoeuvring on the eve of the second round of voting in the presidential election risks creating fresh confrontations and uncertainties.
Whether or not it is the case, few in Egypt seem to believe that the decisions to dissolve parliament and to give the police and armed forces wide-ranging powers of arrest are unrelated, or that they just happened in the normal course of the supreme constitutional court's deliberations or the defence ministry's planning processes. Coupled with the rigging which marked the first round of voting, and which is unlikely to be abandoned in the second, they point, many say, to a deliberate orchestration. It seems designed not only to ensure a victory for Ahmed Shafiq, the old regime's presidential candidate, but to undercut the power of the Muslim Brotherhood in the other institutions of the state, and to further marginalise the liberal and secular forces which carried so much of the burden of the revolution....."
Editorial
The Guardian, Friday 15 June 2012
"The Egyptian military and security establishment has not been a steady, skilled, or unbiased manager of the political process in the almost year and a half of post revolutionary ups and downs the country has endured. Its manoeuvring on the eve of the second round of voting in the presidential election risks creating fresh confrontations and uncertainties.
Whether or not it is the case, few in Egypt seem to believe that the decisions to dissolve parliament and to give the police and armed forces wide-ranging powers of arrest are unrelated, or that they just happened in the normal course of the supreme constitutional court's deliberations or the defence ministry's planning processes. Coupled with the rigging which marked the first round of voting, and which is unlikely to be abandoned in the second, they point, many say, to a deliberate orchestration. It seems designed not only to ensure a victory for Ahmed Shafiq, the old regime's presidential candidate, but to undercut the power of the Muslim Brotherhood in the other institutions of the state, and to further marginalise the liberal and secular forces which carried so much of the burden of the revolution....."
Mohamed ElBaradei warns Egypt it is letting a 'new emperor' take over
Nobel laureate blames Muslim Brotherhood and revolutionary youth for letting the generals engineer coup
Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 June 2012
"Egypt is suffering under worse conditions now than under Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship, Mohamed ElBaradei has told the Guardian, and it is on the brink of allowing a "new emperor" to establish total domination over the country.
He gave a withering assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which dominated the now defunct new parliamentary assembly and whose presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsi, will face a run-off against Mubarak's last prime minister in elections this weekend.
ElBaradei said political Islamists had tried to take "the whole cake" for themselves following the overthrow of Mubarak last February, and as a result Egypt's ruling generals had been able to engineer an assault on the revolution.
"We are in a total mess, a confused process that – assuming good intentions – has led us nowhere except the place we were at 18 months ago, but under even more adverse conditions," said the Nobel laureate, who withdrew from the presidential race this year arguing that a fair vote could not be held while the country remained in the grip of a military junta.
"We are going to elect a president in the next couple of days without a constitution and without a parliament. He will be a new emperor, holding both legislative and executive authority and with the right to enact laws and even amend the constitution as he sees fit."......
ElBaradei, a former UN nuclear weapons inspector turned prominent Egyptian dissident, predicted Ahmed Shafiq – Mubarak's last prime minister and the man seen by many as an embodiment of the old regime – would emerge victorious from the poll.
"Shafiq as president of the 'new Egypt' is an oxymoron," said the 69-year-old. "In this scenario the new president would be backed by Scaf and political authority in the country will continue to be held by Scaf, but I think it most likely that he is the one that is going to win.".......
....... with his harshest words reserved for the Muslim Brotherhood – whose role in the past year's "transition process" has led many pro-change activists to blame political Islamists for empowering the military and being sucked into an electoral game designed to give the old regime a façade of democratic legitimacy.
......... And that created a backlash, which will be visible in the next couple of days. People have called on them to withdraw from the presidential race, but they insist on going forward – why?" ......."
Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 June 2012
"Egypt is suffering under worse conditions now than under Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship, Mohamed ElBaradei has told the Guardian, and it is on the brink of allowing a "new emperor" to establish total domination over the country.
He gave a withering assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which dominated the now defunct new parliamentary assembly and whose presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsi, will face a run-off against Mubarak's last prime minister in elections this weekend.
ElBaradei said political Islamists had tried to take "the whole cake" for themselves following the overthrow of Mubarak last February, and as a result Egypt's ruling generals had been able to engineer an assault on the revolution.
"We are in a total mess, a confused process that – assuming good intentions – has led us nowhere except the place we were at 18 months ago, but under even more adverse conditions," said the Nobel laureate, who withdrew from the presidential race this year arguing that a fair vote could not be held while the country remained in the grip of a military junta.
"We are going to elect a president in the next couple of days without a constitution and without a parliament. He will be a new emperor, holding both legislative and executive authority and with the right to enact laws and even amend the constitution as he sees fit."......
ElBaradei, a former UN nuclear weapons inspector turned prominent Egyptian dissident, predicted Ahmed Shafiq – Mubarak's last prime minister and the man seen by many as an embodiment of the old regime – would emerge victorious from the poll.
"Shafiq as president of the 'new Egypt' is an oxymoron," said the 69-year-old. "In this scenario the new president would be backed by Scaf and political authority in the country will continue to be held by Scaf, but I think it most likely that he is the one that is going to win.".......
....... with his harshest words reserved for the Muslim Brotherhood – whose role in the past year's "transition process" has led many pro-change activists to blame political Islamists for empowering the military and being sucked into an electoral game designed to give the old regime a façade of democratic legitimacy.
......... And that created a backlash, which will be visible in the next couple of days. People have called on them to withdraw from the presidential race, but they insist on going forward – why?" ......."
Egypt to vote, but will there be democracy?
Joseph Mayton
Bikya Masr
16 June 2012
"CAIRO: Egyptians are heading back to the polls to elect the country’s first post-uprising president on Saturday, but with no parliament, no constitution and a military junta seemingly taking complete control of the country, fears are mounting that the entire democratic process, which began with the now voided parliamentary elections in November, are a sham.
Activists say the two candidates, Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, and ousted and jailed President Hosni Mubarak’s last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, offer little hope to a revolution that has seen change stifled by the military power that took control of the country on February 11, 2011.
“What are we supposed to do, just wait and hope that the situation gets better?” asked Mona Radwan, an activist who said she plans to void her ballot as part of a campaign to not acknowledge either candidate as viable for the future of Egypt.
“It is the right thing to do. We cannot be part of this sham that is looking like a military coup,” she told Bikyamasr.com.
Others agree, with calls for a boycott gaining steam in the past 48 hours since the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved parliament and allowed Shafiq to continue in the race, ruling that the “Azl” law, or political isolation, which bars former regime politicians from participating in politics, to be unconstitutional.......
Many leading political figures in the country have called Thursday’s moves a “military coup.”
Former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh said on Thursday evening the moves by the military junta were an obvious military coup.
Leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei, who for months has called the entire election process without a constitution in place was a sham.
On Thursday, after the court threw the future of Egypt into uncertainty, ElBaradei was quick to reiterate the point, while also warning against dictatorship, alluding to a potential Shafiq president.
“Electing president without constitution or parliament means pres has powers unreached by most notorious dictatorships,” he said in response to the court verdict.
And with an election to vote for the country’s first post-revolution president, to give their oath of office to the military, on Saturday and Sunday, uncertainty seems to reign over Egypt at the present moment."
Bikya Masr
16 June 2012
"CAIRO: Egyptians are heading back to the polls to elect the country’s first post-uprising president on Saturday, but with no parliament, no constitution and a military junta seemingly taking complete control of the country, fears are mounting that the entire democratic process, which began with the now voided parliamentary elections in November, are a sham.
Activists say the two candidates, Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, and ousted and jailed President Hosni Mubarak’s last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, offer little hope to a revolution that has seen change stifled by the military power that took control of the country on February 11, 2011.
“What are we supposed to do, just wait and hope that the situation gets better?” asked Mona Radwan, an activist who said she plans to void her ballot as part of a campaign to not acknowledge either candidate as viable for the future of Egypt.
“It is the right thing to do. We cannot be part of this sham that is looking like a military coup,” she told Bikyamasr.com.
Others agree, with calls for a boycott gaining steam in the past 48 hours since the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved parliament and allowed Shafiq to continue in the race, ruling that the “Azl” law, or political isolation, which bars former regime politicians from participating in politics, to be unconstitutional.......
Many leading political figures in the country have called Thursday’s moves a “military coup.”
Former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh said on Thursday evening the moves by the military junta were an obvious military coup.
Leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei, who for months has called the entire election process without a constitution in place was a sham.
On Thursday, after the court threw the future of Egypt into uncertainty, ElBaradei was quick to reiterate the point, while also warning against dictatorship, alluding to a potential Shafiq president.
“Electing president without constitution or parliament means pres has powers unreached by most notorious dictatorships,” he said in response to the court verdict.
And with an election to vote for the country’s first post-revolution president, to give their oath of office to the military, on Saturday and Sunday, uncertainty seems to reign over Egypt at the present moment."
Friday, June 15, 2012
Egyptian Presidential Elections: A Prediction
A BRIEF COMMENT
BY TONY SAYEGH
(Scroll down for more new posts)
I am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction on the eve of the Egyptian presidential elections.
After connecting the dots for a while it became abundantly clear that SCAF was still in full control in Egypt and was playing a very smart game.
Also, taking the sum total of the actions and inaction of the Muslim Brothers, it became equally clear that they are opportunists, politically gullible and should not be trusted.
The decisions of the Egyptian "Constitutional" Court yesterday was a checkmate move by SCAF and was meant to ensure only one thing: the "election" of a new Pharaoh, Ahmed Shafiq.
Other decisions by SCAF, including that it will be in charge of writing a new "constitution" and its re imposition of the emergency law under a different name, giving the military the power to arrest protesters, are steps to tighten the grip on power and to prepare for the next phase of the revolution.
A new "elected" Pharaoh is much more dangerous than the old Pharaoh because he will have been "legitimately elected," unlike the old Pharaoh.
The right thing to do would have been for the Muslim Brothers to boycott the elections in the next two days and to protest this coup by SCAF. That would have left Shafiq exposed and would have shown the elections to be a sham, just like those under the old Pharaoh.
But, true to form, the Brothers miscalculated again and put their narrow and selfish interests above all else, and decided to play ball. Just as the Brothers miscalculated in all of their previous moves, and as a result lost about half of their support, this move could prove fatal for this movement.
Make no mistake about it, SCAF and Shafiq are not taking any chances and they know the results of this coming round of "elections" in advance. He is already speaking as if he is the president. One way or another Shafiq will be "elected." The Muslim Brothers are being used as a stage prop to give the appearance of legality and legitimacy to this unfolding fraud.
SCAF has prepared the ground work and the troops will use full force to suppress the expected massive protests against the new Pharaoh.
The Muslim Brothers should never be forgiven for their dishonest betrayal of the revolution and for making this possible.
I can already read the headlines after the declaration of a Shafiq win. The Brothers will declare that they are ready to work with the new Pharaoh, since he was "fairly" elected. They have made similar declarations before welcoming the old Pharaoh and pledging to work with him.
BY TONY SAYEGH
(Scroll down for more new posts)
I am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction on the eve of the Egyptian presidential elections.
After connecting the dots for a while it became abundantly clear that SCAF was still in full control in Egypt and was playing a very smart game.
Also, taking the sum total of the actions and inaction of the Muslim Brothers, it became equally clear that they are opportunists, politically gullible and should not be trusted.
The decisions of the Egyptian "Constitutional" Court yesterday was a checkmate move by SCAF and was meant to ensure only one thing: the "election" of a new Pharaoh, Ahmed Shafiq.
Other decisions by SCAF, including that it will be in charge of writing a new "constitution" and its re imposition of the emergency law under a different name, giving the military the power to arrest protesters, are steps to tighten the grip on power and to prepare for the next phase of the revolution.
A new "elected" Pharaoh is much more dangerous than the old Pharaoh because he will have been "legitimately elected," unlike the old Pharaoh.
The right thing to do would have been for the Muslim Brothers to boycott the elections in the next two days and to protest this coup by SCAF. That would have left Shafiq exposed and would have shown the elections to be a sham, just like those under the old Pharaoh.
But, true to form, the Brothers miscalculated again and put their narrow and selfish interests above all else, and decided to play ball. Just as the Brothers miscalculated in all of their previous moves, and as a result lost about half of their support, this move could prove fatal for this movement.
Make no mistake about it, SCAF and Shafiq are not taking any chances and they know the results of this coming round of "elections" in advance. He is already speaking as if he is the president. One way or another Shafiq will be "elected." The Muslim Brothers are being used as a stage prop to give the appearance of legality and legitimacy to this unfolding fraud.
SCAF has prepared the ground work and the troops will use full force to suppress the expected massive protests against the new Pharaoh.
The Muslim Brothers should never be forgiven for their dishonest betrayal of the revolution and for making this possible.
I can already read the headlines after the declaration of a Shafiq win. The Brothers will declare that they are ready to work with the new Pharaoh, since he was "fairly" elected. They have made similar declarations before welcoming the old Pharaoh and pledging to work with him.
Assad will breathe a sigh of relief at death of Arab Spring
The 1991 Algerian parallel is relevant: a poll won by Islamists, special powers for the army, torture
By Robert Fisk
"......And the Brotherhood – as uninvolved in Tahrir as Ahmed Shafik – moved in to take over after years of clandestinity and government torture. Mubarak's men and the Brotherhood were never represented in Tahrir. "All we want is for Mubarak to go," the young of Egypt used to shout. And that was all. Easy for the "deep state" to resolve. Almost all the top "Stasi" officers were acquitted. The police murderers are still at work. These men are happy with this latest instalment in Egypt's tragedy.
The 1991 Algerian parallel is all too relevant. A democratic poll which the Islamists won, suspension of second-round elections, emergency laws that give the army special powers, torture, the round-up of elected members, savage guerrilla war – give and take a slight variation, only the last two have not yet begun in Egypt. But Algeria was less preposterous: le pouvoir had staged a coup and all who opposed it were "terrorists". This process has also begun in Cairo. The army has been given powers of arrest. These powers are meant to be used.
In Egypt, the holding of a presidential election when the parliamentary power base of one of the candidates, Mohamed Morsi (the Brotherhood) has been dissolved by the supporters of his opponent, Shafik, before the final presidential poll is ridiculous......
Desperate days, then. But one thing to remember. The Mubarak-appointed Egyptian judges didn't just get up on Thursday morning and decide to dissolve parliament. This was decided a long time ago. So was the retention of military power.
There will be plans ready for this weekend. They may even know the election result. I dare not think what this means for Egypt. The Arab Spring may be dead (the Arab awakening less so). But the security establishment in Washington will be pleased...."
By Robert Fisk
"......And the Brotherhood – as uninvolved in Tahrir as Ahmed Shafik – moved in to take over after years of clandestinity and government torture. Mubarak's men and the Brotherhood were never represented in Tahrir. "All we want is for Mubarak to go," the young of Egypt used to shout. And that was all. Easy for the "deep state" to resolve. Almost all the top "Stasi" officers were acquitted. The police murderers are still at work. These men are happy with this latest instalment in Egypt's tragedy.
The 1991 Algerian parallel is all too relevant. A democratic poll which the Islamists won, suspension of second-round elections, emergency laws that give the army special powers, torture, the round-up of elected members, savage guerrilla war – give and take a slight variation, only the last two have not yet begun in Egypt. But Algeria was less preposterous: le pouvoir had staged a coup and all who opposed it were "terrorists". This process has also begun in Cairo. The army has been given powers of arrest. These powers are meant to be used.
In Egypt, the holding of a presidential election when the parliamentary power base of one of the candidates, Mohamed Morsi (the Brotherhood) has been dissolved by the supporters of his opponent, Shafik, before the final presidential poll is ridiculous......
Desperate days, then. But one thing to remember. The Mubarak-appointed Egyptian judges didn't just get up on Thursday morning and decide to dissolve parliament. This was decided a long time ago. So was the retention of military power.
There will be plans ready for this weekend. They may even know the election result. I dare not think what this means for Egypt. The Arab Spring may be dead (the Arab awakening less so). But the security establishment in Washington will be pleased...."
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you believe that the rulings of the constitutional court in Egypt have decisively shifted the results of the election in favor of Ahmed Shafiq?
With over 1,100 responding, 62% said yes.
The True Face of Egypt’s Military
Revolution 2.0
A VERY GOOD PIECE
by ESAM AL-AMIN
CounterPunch
"The masks dropped. The cards are shown.
For over a year, Egyptians have wondered who was leading the efforts to frustrate and obliterate their nascent revolution, or what was dubbed in the local media as the “third party” or the “hidden bandit.”
But the mystery is no more.
It was none other than the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the same body that took power from deposed president Hosni Mubarak under the guise of leading the transitional period towards democracy. It was a masterful work of political art....
Disappointed, yet again, with the MB’s attitude to ignore their consensus, most of the revolutionary groups have vowed to press on with their revolution that has been deeply, but not yet gravely, wounded. Former presidential candidate Dr. Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a favorite among many revolutionary and youth groups, has declared that the latest decisions by the High Court allowing the candidacy of Shafiq and the dissolution of parliament were nothing short of a soft coup d’état orchestrated by the military. He called for the immediate establishment of a revolutionary leadership council comprised of all pro-revolution groups and leaders to challenge the military hold on power and Shafiq’s inevitable presidency.
Sensing these threats dozens of such groups that have sacrificed so much since the early days of the revolution, have vowed to join in and continue the difficult struggle to dislodge the military and achieve the main objective of the revolution in establishing a true democratic civil state and ending the culture of the deep security state. Thousands have taken to the streets, while hundreds started a sit-in in Tahrir Square.
They now quietly admit that a hard lesson has been learned. This time their slogan is not “the people and the army are one.” Rather their cry is: “This time we are serious, we will not leave it (the revolution) to anyone.”"
A Judicial Coup in Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood-Controlled Parliament Dissolved, Military Gains Power
Democracy Now!
"Days before Egypt’s presidential runoff, the Egyptian Supreme Court has dissolved the newly elected parliament, handing power back to the military. The court also confirmed Hosni Mubarak’s former prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, can run for president against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi. Protests have erupted in Egypt, with critics saying the decision is tantamount to a judicial coup. We go to Cairo for an update from Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous. "These court rulings have really dealt the final fatal blow to a military-managed transitional process that’s been so deformed as to barely make sense anymore," he says. "Right now Egypt is in a state where there’s no parliament, no constitution or even a clear process for drafting one, and a presidential runoff that will leave Egypt with a ruler who will be a very divisive president."......"
"Days before Egypt’s presidential runoff, the Egyptian Supreme Court has dissolved the newly elected parliament, handing power back to the military. The court also confirmed Hosni Mubarak’s former prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, can run for president against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi. Protests have erupted in Egypt, with critics saying the decision is tantamount to a judicial coup. We go to Cairo for an update from Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous. "These court rulings have really dealt the final fatal blow to a military-managed transitional process that’s been so deformed as to barely make sense anymore," he says. "Right now Egypt is in a state where there’s no parliament, no constitution or even a clear process for drafting one, and a presidential runoff that will leave Egypt with a ruler who will be a very divisive president."......"
Al-Jazeera Video: Wael Abbas reacts to court decision to dissolve parliament
"Wael Abbas a journalist and human rights activist, and one of Egypt's most well known bloggers gives his reaction on the constitutional crisis in Egypt."
Al-Jazeera Video: Update: Mike Hanna reports on the latest from Egypt
"Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna report on the latest as protestors are preparing for a mass rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square a day before elections to replace ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is warning of a threat to democracy after a consitutional court dissolved the country's first democratically elected parliament."
Al-Jazeera Video: UN observers find 'ghost town' in Syria
"The road to Haffa, once a town of 24,000 people and popular with tourists, is now empty with most of the people gone. Left are burnt-out cars, bombed buildings, and according to the United Nations observers, a stench of dead bodies.
The UN had been trying to get into Haffa for a week, amid fears of a brutal assault by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
What observers found was evidence of a recent battle, and a strong Syrian army presence.
Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane reports."
Women Targeted in Tahrir Square
By Mel Frykberg
"CAIRO, Jun 15 2012 (IPS) - It is becoming increasingly uncomfortable to be female or foreign in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, birthplace of the January 2011 Egyptian revolution.
A wave of sexual assaults against female protestors and foreign female journalists by mobs of men, some armed with sticks and belts, has taken place in the last few weeks in broad public view.
An American photographer witnessed a Danish woman being seriously sexually assaulted as she was dragged into a building on Tahrir Square by a group of men. Other Egyptian men who tried to come to her aid were attacked. An AP reporter witnessed another foreign woman being attacked similarly.
Several veiled Muslim women had their hijabs pulled off and were sexually molested. The men involved tried to remove more clothing.
“Don’t go there you will be attacked, there are many bad men here,” a young man warned this reporter. “I saw a foreign woman being stripped here the other night.”...."
Crowds Form in Tahrir Square to Protest 'Counter-Revolutionary Coup' in Egypt
Egyptian court rulings seen as reversal of last year’s ‘revolution’
Common Dreams
"A pair of judicial decisions on Thursday by Egypt's high court have set the nation back into revolutionary mode on the eve of presidential elections that were suppose to solidify a pathway to a new democracy. Instead, the parliament was dissolved and legislative authority was handed back to the military council.
Growing crowds are now gathering in Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest the court decisions, which many are calling a 'coup' coordinated by 'counter-revolutionary' forces from the old regime and military circles.
“This series of measures shows that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the head of the counter-revolution, is adamant to bring back the old regime and the presidential elections are merely a show,” six prominent parties and movements said in a statement.
"Egypt is entering into a very dangerous stage, and I think a lot of people were caught by surprise," Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center, told CNN. "We knew it was getting bad, but we didn't think it was getting this bad."
He called the court rulings the "worst possible outcome" for Egypt and said the transition to civilian rule was "effectively over.""
Common Dreams
"A pair of judicial decisions on Thursday by Egypt's high court have set the nation back into revolutionary mode on the eve of presidential elections that were suppose to solidify a pathway to a new democracy. Instead, the parliament was dissolved and legislative authority was handed back to the military council.
Growing crowds are now gathering in Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest the court decisions, which many are calling a 'coup' coordinated by 'counter-revolutionary' forces from the old regime and military circles.
“This series of measures shows that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the head of the counter-revolution, is adamant to bring back the old regime and the presidential elections are merely a show,” six prominent parties and movements said in a statement.
"Egypt is entering into a very dangerous stage, and I think a lot of people were caught by surprise," Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center, told CNN. "We knew it was getting bad, but we didn't think it was getting this bad."
He called the court rulings the "worst possible outcome" for Egypt and said the transition to civilian rule was "effectively over.""
Egypt's dissolution of parliament is a counter-revolution in all but name
Will the coup by the old regime, and its attempt to install Ahmed Shafiq as president, reignite Egypt's revolutionary forces?
David Hearst
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 June 2012
"......Then there are the byzantine ways of what is called "soft rigging". In the first round, 2m false ID cards were issued to members of the armed forces and security services who are by law forbidden to vote. The ballot boxes in roughly half of the polling stations were left unguarded by representatives of all political parties for 11 hours. About 40% of the 90m electorate fall below the international poverty line, and in rural areas voters were given 500 Egyptian pounds to vote for any candidate other than the brotherhood.
This is certainly not the last throw of the dice for the old regime, but the challenge is whether the rigging will be enough to tilt the balance in Shafiq's favour......
Not all army generals are in favour of Shafiq, and some see the writing on the wall. Whatever happens, Egypt has been changed by the revolution. It is no longer forbidden to challenge authority. The Pharonic mask has slipped from the face of Egypt's new rulers.
But to get to a political order which reflects this new reality may yet be hard and possibly bloody work. Like the Nile running below the children on the bridge, the revolution is still running a turbulent course."
David Hearst
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 June 2012
"......Then there are the byzantine ways of what is called "soft rigging". In the first round, 2m false ID cards were issued to members of the armed forces and security services who are by law forbidden to vote. The ballot boxes in roughly half of the polling stations were left unguarded by representatives of all political parties for 11 hours. About 40% of the 90m electorate fall below the international poverty line, and in rural areas voters were given 500 Egyptian pounds to vote for any candidate other than the brotherhood.
This is certainly not the last throw of the dice for the old regime, but the challenge is whether the rigging will be enough to tilt the balance in Shafiq's favour......
Not all army generals are in favour of Shafiq, and some see the writing on the wall. Whatever happens, Egypt has been changed by the revolution. It is no longer forbidden to challenge authority. The Pharonic mask has slipped from the face of Egypt's new rulers.
But to get to a political order which reflects this new reality may yet be hard and possibly bloody work. Like the Nile running below the children on the bridge, the revolution is still running a turbulent course."
Syria: Sexual Assault in Detention
Security Forces Also Attacked Women and Girls in Raids on Homes
June 15, 2012
"New York) – Syrian government forces have used sexual violence to torture men, women, and boys detained during the current conflict. Witnesses and victims also told Human Rights Watch that soldiers and pro-government armed militias have sexually abused women and girls as young as 12 during home raids and military sweeps of residential areas.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 10 former detainees, including two women, who described being sexually abused or witnessing sexual abuse in detention, including rape, penetration with objects, sexual groping, prolonged forced nudity, and electroshock and beatings to genitalia.Many of the former detainees told Human Rights Watch that they were imprisoned because of their political activism, including for attending protests. In other cases, the reason for the detention was unclear but detainees suffered the same abusive tactics.
“Syrian security forces have used sexual violence to humiliate and degrade detainees with complete impunity,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The assaults are not limited to detention facilities – government forces and pro-government shabiha militia members have also sexually assaulted women and girls during home raids and residential sweeps.”
Human Rights Watch documented over 20 specific incidents of sexual assault, five of which involved more than one victim, that took place between March 2011 and March 2012 across Syria, including in Daraa, Homs, Idlib, Damascus, and Latakia governorates.........."
Egypt must urgently cancel 'dangerous' new powers given to military
14 June 2012
"A decision by Egypt's Justice Ministry to extend the military's power to arrest and investigate civilians for a wide range of offences would pave the way for fresh human rights violations and must be urgently revoked, Amnesty International said.
According to the decision, announced on Wednesday by Minister of Justice Adel Abdel Hamid Abdallah, military police and intelligence officers are now granted the same powers as judicial police when dealing with civilians suspected of offences related to national security and public order.
In the unrest since early 2011, peaceful protesters have routinely been punished for such offences, which include resisting public authorities and disobeying their orders, assaulting by insults and other acts, damaging public property, blocking traffic, strikes in key public places and “thuggery”.
“Instead of investigating the serious abuses committed by military officers and soldiers against protesters and others since January 2011, Egypt's authorities are giving them carte blanche to arrest and detain civilians,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International......."
Thursday, June 14, 2012
US preparing Air Strikes against Syria ?
Debka is shady and full of Zionist Propaganda , watch with caution ...
Is Egypt’s revolution dead?
By Joseph Mayton
Bikya Masr
"......However, despite the current tension and uncertainty, there remains a glimmer of hope. Almost everyone I have spoken with in recent weeks, from taxi drivers to cafe workers and average citizens have all voiced their desire to not see a Shafiq presidency. They want the military out, however much they might respect the armed forces.
This is a dramatic change in public opinion than previous months. There seems to be a sense that the activists who took to Tahrir Square following the acquittal of security officials in the case of killing protesters are not aberrations, troublemakers and people who don’t want Egypt to be better. They are more in support of their calls for an end to the Mubarak era. Once and for all.
This is in stark contrast to other protests, and violence, that had erupted over the past 8 months in the country. Then, many people were antagonistic to the protesters, demanding they leave the square and return to daily life.
It is beginning to change. The military is fomenting a new charge of strength that only one segment of Egyptian society can wield: the people. They are coming.
If Shafiq wins in the run-off it will undoubtedly be a result of vote rigging. Egyptians will not accept the country to return to the era of the Pharaoh. Too much blood has been spilled in the past year and a half for the country to be passive against the return of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Today did go a long way to solidifying the military coup we witnessed on February 12, but it is not unbreakable. We have seen activists push the military junta in the past year for changes. We have seen democracy in action.
Activists should understand this and, if needed, head back to the square and start the next phase in the revolution.
The revolution may be wounded, but the country can, and depending on the people’s will, remove their legs from the snare currently trapping them and make the new Egypt so many want to see manifested."
Bikya Masr
"......However, despite the current tension and uncertainty, there remains a glimmer of hope. Almost everyone I have spoken with in recent weeks, from taxi drivers to cafe workers and average citizens have all voiced their desire to not see a Shafiq presidency. They want the military out, however much they might respect the armed forces.
This is a dramatic change in public opinion than previous months. There seems to be a sense that the activists who took to Tahrir Square following the acquittal of security officials in the case of killing protesters are not aberrations, troublemakers and people who don’t want Egypt to be better. They are more in support of their calls for an end to the Mubarak era. Once and for all.
This is in stark contrast to other protests, and violence, that had erupted over the past 8 months in the country. Then, many people were antagonistic to the protesters, demanding they leave the square and return to daily life.
It is beginning to change. The military is fomenting a new charge of strength that only one segment of Egyptian society can wield: the people. They are coming.
If Shafiq wins in the run-off it will undoubtedly be a result of vote rigging. Egyptians will not accept the country to return to the era of the Pharaoh. Too much blood has been spilled in the past year and a half for the country to be passive against the return of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Today did go a long way to solidifying the military coup we witnessed on February 12, but it is not unbreakable. We have seen activists push the military junta in the past year for changes. We have seen democracy in action.
Activists should understand this and, if needed, head back to the square and start the next phase in the revolution.
The revolution may be wounded, but the country can, and depending on the people’s will, remove their legs from the snare currently trapping them and make the new Egypt so many want to see manifested."
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