Friday, July 26, 2013

Azmi Bishara Tweets (Sent by Zarathustra)

  1. 27-لا بد من طرح حلول في مصر عبر الحوار ووقف سياسة الارتهان للشارع، والجماهير مفهوم دورها في الثورة على الاستبداد وليس في رسم السياسات
  2. 26-لا تقوم ثقافة ديمقراطية في بلد الشارع فيها اقوى من الاحزاب، والجيش أقوى مؤسساتها، وسياسة أعداد الجماهير لا تؤدي إلى حوار عقلاني
  3. 25-اختيار النظام البرلماني في مصر سيجنب مصر من الدخول في ثنائية اما رئيس علماني او اسلامي، وان يصبح الرئيس رمزي لتوحيد الامة
  4. 24-في 25 يناير كان هناك مطلب بالغاء النظام الرئاسي والتحول إلى النظام البرلماني، ووضع الصلاحيات في الحكومة وهذا مخرج في #مصر
  5. 23-النزعة العامة في تونس نحو تشكيل حكومة تحالف ويوجد استعداد للنهضة نحو الشراكة رغم الاخفاقات، كما ان الجيش التونسي غير المصري
  6. 22-جرت محاولات مباشرة لنسخ تمرد مصر في حالة #تونس لكن هناك يظل استعداد أكثر للانفتاح بين القوى السياسية والاحتكام إلى الانتخابات
  7. 21-على القوى السياسية الالتزام بقيم ثورة 25 يناير وان لا تدير ظهرها لها بالتحالف مع الفلول
  8. 20-جهاز الدولة في مصر ادرك مبكرا أن مرسي كان ضعيفا، ومارس القضاء دورا في اسقاط شرعية المجالس المنتخبة، وقيدت الحريات من قبل جهاز الامن
  9. 19-مؤسات الدولة بعد 30 يونيو تلقي بالعبئ على الشارع ما يثير الفوضى، ولكن هذا بدأ مع مرسي الذي لم يحاسب جهاز الدولة والمسؤولين الأمنيين
  10. 18-ضخ الاموال والتحريض الاعلامي في مصر يهدف إلى تشويه ثقافة المصريين، وادانة العنف الحالي ليس كافيا ولابد من الاشارة بوضوح إلى الجناة
  11. 17-التحريض على الفلسطينيين والعرب يتم تحت غطاء حراك شعبي ضد اخونة الدولة وليس فقط ضمن اوساط رسمية كزمن مبارك وهذا خطير ويمس الهوية العروبية
  12. 16-الخصومة مع الاخوان أدت إلى تحالف جزء من ثوار 25 يناير مع فلول النظام السابق في النهاية، عززها اعلام عنصري تحريضي مدعوم من بعض دول الخليج
  13. 15-الاخوان المسلمين في مصر كان نهجهم خاطئ، ولم ينفذوا وعودهم عندما وصلوا للرئاسة، والفرصة الاخيرة للشراكة سقطت في نوفمبر 2012
  14. 14-الثورات العربية فتحت مسار التاريخ وسيسمح للفوضى بعض الوقت، والاسلاميون فشلوا وتم افشالهم، لكن قيم الديمقراطية ستنتصر في النهاية
  15. 13- لو عاد رموز من النظام المخلوع فإن ثورة 25 يناير في نهاية الأمر أحدث تغييرا جوهريا في مصر، ولن يعود النظام السابق بنفس ادواته
  16. 12-الجيش هو المنظمة الوحيدة المتماسكة في دول العالم الثالث واقوى من الاحزاب وهذا ما كان يبرر الانقلاب العسكري، لكن هذا التبرير لم يعد مقبولا
  17. 11-في الحالة الراهنة اي رئيس قادم سيظل رهينة الجيش المصري وهذا ليس مسارا سليما للتحول الديمقراطي، والمفترض ان يقوم الجيش بوظيفة حماية الحدود
  18. 10-دعوة السيسي غطاء سياسي لخلق زعيم شعبي جديد #مصر
  19. 9-طلب وزير الدفاع السيسي لتفويض من أجل مكافحة الارهاب، يمثل سياسة شعبوية لارتكاب اي شيئ دون الحاجة للعودة إلى القانون
  20. 8-الاخوان المسلمين دخلوا في صراعات سياسية بدلا من من الاتفاق على اصلاح جهاز الدولة
  21. 7-مهمة اصلاح جهاز الدولة المرتبط بنظام المبارك، كان يتطلب اتفاقا بين قوى ثورة 25 يناير، وهذا لم يحصل وأخطأ الاخوان باعتمادهم على الصندوق فقط
  22. 6-تنافس القوى السياسية وعدائها في ما بينها، جعل الفلول خارج الصورة، والاعلاميين الذين بكوا للتبرؤ فيهم الآن صوت نظام مبارك
  23. 5- في 30 يونيو كانت احتجاجت لتصحيح مسار الثورة وليس اسقاط النظام، ولذا فهي ليست ثورة وانما استكمال لثورة وتصحيح الاخطاء التي وقعت
  24. 4-ثورة 25 يناير كانت ضد استبداد الأمن وتطورت إلى اسقاط النظام وليس مبارك فقط، وانضم الجيش لها بعد ان ايقن مضطر للانحياز للشعب
  25. 3-مصر ستتحول في النهاية إلى الديمقراطية، والاستقطابات الحالية ومنها الاحتفالية بثورة 23 يوليو جاءت لتبرير خطوة انقلاب الجيش حاليا
  26. 2-بيان الجيش بشان مهلة الأسبوع شجع على خروج المتظاهرين، والحديث عن عدد المتظاهرين ليس مهما، المهم أن الحدث كان منسقا وواضح انه لاسقاط مرسي
  27. 1-#30_يونيو حدث هام جمع مشارب من اطياف الشعب المصري للاحتجاج على الاخوان المسلمين، لكن كان لجهاز الدولة دور اساسي في رفض حكومة الاخوان

From Azmi Bishara


"عناصر تنذر بالفاشية، ولا تحتم انتصارها، ولكنها تشي ببداياتها، وللقوى الديمقراطية أن تستنفر لتمنع وقوعها، الذي ليس حتمي الوقوع بعد.
  1. 1. ديماغوغيا تقديس الجيش والدولة، ليس في سياق تحرري ضد عدو محتل، بل في سياق مواجهة داخلية لفرض وحدة على مجتمع مقسم.
    2. إثارة الهستيريا الجماعية بدل الحوار السياسي العقلاني.
    3. لجوء صغار الساسة والفاشلين بينهم الى تفخيم وتعظيم الوطنية الشوفينية لاكتساب شعبية بأرخص ثمن....
    4. السيطرة على وسائل الإعلام، ونشر الأكاذيب والشائعات التي لا أساس لها بشيطنة الخصم.
    5. اتهام الخصم السياسي بجميع الشرور وبكل ما يحصل ويراه الناس سيئا.
    6. تحويل القضاء الى أداة بيد السياسة.
    7. ميل المثقفين الانتهازيين لتبرير كل ما يقوم به الأمن والجيش، وانضمامهم الى الهستيريا الجماعية، وخوف المثقفين المبدئيين من التعبير عن رأيهم
    "


    English Translation 

    There are features which augur of fascism and, while their dominance remains uncertain, they remain harbingers of fascism. It falls on democratic forces to be vigilant in preventing the following features, the fruition of which is an open question, from prevailing. 

    1) The demagogic sanctification of the army and the state, not in the context of a liberation struggle against occupying foreigners, but rather in a situation where unity is being imposed on a divided society through a domestic political feud.

    2) In place of rational political debate, mass hysteria is induced.

    3) The recourse of small-time, failed politicians to the aggrandisement of chauvinist jingoism to win popularity at the least possible cost.

    4) The commandeering of the media and the spreading of unfounded rumours as part of the demonization of domestic opponents. 

    5) Accusing political opponents of all possible evils, and of standing behind every event which is viewed unpopularly.

    6) The transformation of the judiciary into an institution subservient to politics. 

    7) The tendency of exploitative intellectuals to justify every action by the military and security apparatus, and the way they join in the mass hysteria. Likewise, the fear which principled intellectuals have of expressing their opinions.


Al-Jazeera Video: Morsi supporters react against arrest warrant decision


"Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal reports from Nasr City where pro-Morsi rally take place as deposed president detained for 'spying for Hamas'."

Egyptian army questions Mohamed Morsi over alleged Hamas terror links

News of overthrown president's alleged help in 2011 attacks comes as showdown looms between Muslim Brotherhood and opponents

in Cairo
guardian.co.uk,
The overthrown Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, is under investigation for aiding Hamas attacks on Egyptian security facilities during Egypt's 2011 revolution, state media reported on Friday, in the first official update on his status since the Islamist was forced from office and detained incommunicado by the Egyptian army on 3 July......

According to state media, Morsi is under investigation for colluding with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, during the 2011 uprising that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak. It is alleged that Morsi and other senior Muslim Brotherhood figures were rescued from jail during the revolution with help from Hamas, and then helped the Palestinians attack Egyptian police facilities during Mubarak's removal. The Muslim Brotherhood says the fugitives left with the help of locals – and that Hamas had no role in the 2011 uprising.

"It's laughable," said Gehad al-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, reacting to the news. "It's every crime that you would think of if you were looking at the 2011 revolution through the eyes of Hosni Mubarak. It's retaliation from the Mubarak state."
Haddad's argument spoke to the belief that Morsi's overthrow has enabled the return of Mubarak-era officials and institutions sidelined by the 2011 revolution.

The decision by Egypt's judiciary to focus their investigations against Morsi on allegations from before his presidency began, rather than on human rights violations that occurred during the presidency itself, indicates that they may be wary of implicating state institutions such as the police, who were also complicit in the torture and killing of protesters under his tenure.........."

Thursday, July 25, 2013

إسقاط الإخوان لتعميق الثورة لا لتدعيم النظام.. لن نفوّض

 

رغم جرائم الإخوان المسلمين ضد الأهالي والأقباط، وكل الجرائم التي ارتكبوها دفاعاً عن كرسي الحكم بإسم الدين، لن نفوض السيسي في أي شئ! لن ننزل الشوارع يوم الجمعة لنعطي شيكاً على بياض لارتكاب المذابح. إن كان لدى السيسي ما يفعله في إطار القانون، فلِمَ يطلب من الناس الاصطفاف في الشوارع؟! ما يطلبه السيسي هو استفتاء شعبي على تنصيب قيصر جديد لا يردعه قانون.
نعم أذاق الإخوان الجماهير الشعبية الويل أثناء فترة حكمهم، واليوم تعود العمليات الإرهابية في سيناء والعريش وهجمات ضد الأهالي في المنيل والنهضة، لكن الجيش لا يحتاج إلى تفويض شعبي للتعامل مع أي أعمال إرهابية، فهناك من القوانين ما يتيح له ذلك وأكثر. ولكنه يريد المزيد، يريد حشد الجماهير وراءه لزيادة تماسك الدولة والطبقة الحاكمة تحت قيادته. يريد طمس أحد أهم معالم الثورة حتى الآن وهو وعي الجماهير بدور أجهزة الدولة القمعية وعدائها الشديد لها. يريد استكمال كذبة "الجيش والشرطة والشعب ايد واحدة". يريد أن يبايعه الشعب في الميادين بعد أن كانت الجماهير تصرخ من عام واحد: "يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر".
إنهم يريدون عودة الاستقرار أخيراً: استقرارهم هم. يريدون عودة "النظام". يريدون الإجهاز على الثورة ويفعلون ذلك باستخدام الإخوان. فالإخوان بعد عام واحد في الحكم نجحوا في أن يكونوا فصيلاً منبوذاً من الجميع: الدولة القديمة بجيشها وشرطتها، الطبقة الحاكمة، الطبقة العاملة والطبقات الشعبية، الأقباط، الأحزاب السياسية والثورية. لقد كان سقوط الإخوان حتمياً، وكان أن احتفل الناس في الشوارع فرحاً بسقوط مرسي قبل أن ينزلوا في 30 يونيو.
المؤسسة العسكرية التي تحالفت مع الإسلاميين على مدار سنتين قررت إنهاء هذا التحالف بعد فشل التيار الإسلامي في احتواء الحركة الاجتماعية والغضب المتصاعد في الشارع، وانتهزت هذه الفرصة للإطاحة بمرسي، ولقطع الطريق على تطور الحركة الثورية وتعمقها، وقيادة هذه الحركة في اتجاه أكثر أماناً: التخلص من الإخوان وإعادة النظام القديم. قامت هذه الاستراتيجية على تبرئة الفلول والعسكر والشرطة وإلصاق جرائمهم في قائمة جرائم الإخوان، وفوق ذلك جعلوا ثورة 25 يناير نفسها، تهمة الصقوها بالإخوان أيضاً. فلا نجدهم يريدون محاكمة مرسي على قتل شهداء بورسعيد أو غيرهم، فلقد كانت شرطة مبارك/مرسي التي فعلت ذلك. والأهم أن هذا سيفتح باباً قد أغلق بالاتفاق مع مرسي: القصاص للشهداء.
إن الجرائم التي ارتكبها مرسي ارتكبها مع العسكر والشرطة ودولة مبارك. ويجب أن يُحاكموا جميعاً. إن تفويضاً للدولة القديمة بأجهزتها القمعية لتفعل ما تشاء في شركاء جرائم الأمس لا يعني إلا إطلاق يد الدولة لتقمع كل معارضة بعد ذلك، لتقمع كل الحركات الاحتجاجية، الإضرابات العمالية والاعتصامات والتظاهرات. ولا يمكن أن ننسى أن الجرائم التي تم ارتكابها من قبل الإخوان في المحافظات والمناطق المختلفة تمت أمام أعين الجيش والشرطة دون أي تدخل منهما لحماية المتظاهرين أو الأهالي.
إن نزول الجماهير يوم الجمعة خطوة تضر بالثورة مهما خلصت نوايا المشاركين. التفويض الشعبي للجيش للتخلص من الإخوان سيؤدي حتماً إلى ترسيخ أركان النظام الذي قامت الثورة لإسقاطه. علينا أن نجعل من إسقاط الإخوان تعميقاً للثورة لا تدعيماً للنظام.
علينا أن نُجهز على الإخوان على المستوى الشعبي والسياسي، علينا التصدي لأعمال عنفهم بمنتهى الحزم، لنبني لجاننا الشعبية للدفاع عن أنفسنا ضد هجمات الإخوان، ولنحتمي بثورتنا التي لن تهدأ قبل أن يسقط النظام، قبل أن تنتزع العيش والحرية والعدالة الاجتماعية، والقصاص للشهداء من القتلة.. كل القتلة.
الاشتراكيون الثوريون
25 يوليو 2013 

Al-Jazeera Video: Al Jazeera talks to political analyst from Cairo

Al-Jazeera Video: قتلى بقصف صاروخي على مخيم اليرموك

Tunisia opposition party leader gunned down outside his home

Leftist Arab nationalist People's party leader Mohammed Brahmi shot dead by gunmen on motorbike in Tunis

guardian.co.uk,

"Gunmen have shot dead the leader of a leftist Tunisian opposition party outside his house, according to a party member .

Mohammed Brahmi, 58, of the Arab nationalist People's party was standing outside his home when he was gunned down, according to party member Khaled Khichi.

It is the second killing of an opposition member this year, following that of Chokri Belaid of the leftist Popular Front, who was shot dead in February. His killing provoked a political crisis that nearly derailed Tunisia's political transition......"

Yemeni Reporter Who Exposed U.S. Drone Strike Freed From Prison After Jailing at Obama’s Request

Democracy Now!


"Prominent Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye has been released from prison after being held for three years on terrorism-related charges at the request of President Obama. Shaye helped expose U.S. cruise missile attack on the Yemeni village of al-Majalah that killed 41 people, including 14 women and 21 children in December 2009. Then-Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced his intention to pardon Shaye in 2011, but apparently changed his mind after a phone call from Obama. In a statement, the White House now says it is "concerned and disappointed" by Shaye’s release. "We should let that statement set in: the White House is saying that they are disappointed and concerned that a Yemeni journalist has been released from a Yemeni prison," says Jeremy Scahill, national security correspondent for The Nation, who covers Shaye’s case in "Dirty Wars," his new book and film by the same name. "This is a man who was put in prison because he had the audacity to expose a U.S. cruise missile attack that killed three dozen women and children." We’re also joined by Rooj Alwazir, a Yemeni-American activist who co-founded the Support Yemen media collective and campaigned for Shaye’s release......"

Egypt: Arrests of Syrians Raise Deportation Fears

Asylum Seekers, Legal Residents Taken from Checkpoints
July 25, 2013

"(New York) – Egyptian authorities should stop arbitrarily detaining Syrians and threatening to summarily deport them. The authorities should release the Syrian detainees unless they are promptly charged with a valid offense, and not deport Syrians with visas or asylum seekers without their claims being impartially reviewed.

On July 19 and 20, 2013, Egyptian police and military police arrested at least 72 Syrian men and nine boys at checkpoints on main roads in Cairo. Those who remain in custody, including registered asylum seekers and at least nine Syrians with valid visas or residence permits, have apparently not been charged with any offense. The authorities have threatened to deport at least 14 of them to countries neighboring Syria, Human Rights Watch said.

“There is growing hostility in Egypt to the Syrians who fled there seeking refuge from the war,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But a tense political climate is no excuse for police and army officers to pull dozens of Syrian men and boys off of public transport and throw them in jail without regard for their rights.”......"

When Egyptians are right and wrong



Will revolution, uprising and a coup lead to chaos, repression or reconciliation?

By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"......
A new realism

The optimism about a transition to democracy has proved to be wishful thinking as Egyptians take the longer route towards achieving a common vision of the new Egypt - their second republic.

History might be on the side of those who oppose dictatorship and deposed a dictator in favour of “bread, freedom and social justice”.  But while time is of the essence, the future is not tied to an egg timer.
I wrote in The Invisible Arab, that this revolution isn’t a sprint affair. It’s more like a marathon, or indeed, a relay.

“Every surge of democratisation over the last century,” wrote historian Sheri Berman in Foreign Affairs, “ […] has been followed by an undertow, accompanied by widespread questioning of the viability and even desirability of democratic governance in the areas in question.”

The lesson from two centuries of transformation since the French revolution is that dictatorships can be imposed and deposed in far shorter time than it takes to arrive at a constitutional democracy.
One can only hope that instead of repeating the mistakes of their predecessors who took too long to effect positive change, Egyptians learn from the lessons of history."

Forgotten Iraq

Violence grows as political paralysis continues

By Brian Whitaker

"August is still a week away but July has already become the bloodiest month in Iraq so far this year. Yesterday brought at least 14 more deaths to add to the toll, including nine officers killed when insurgents attacked a police station near Mosul.

Meanwhile, the mass breakout from Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons – for which al-Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility – has raised fears that hundreds of previously captive fighters will become active again.
Amid political turmoil in Egypt and seemingly endless slaughter in Syria, the deteriorating situation in Iraq is largely ignored by the rest of the world. 

Only a handful of journalists from the international media remain based in Baghdad and the security situation restricts their ability to travel around the country. Media coverage, such as it is, relates mainly to the growing violence but, because of events in neighbouring Syria, even this month’s death toll of well over 600 in Iraq has caused less alarm than it should.

Although this is still well below the peaks reached by the insurgency in 2006-2007, there was a period around 2009 when Iraq’s future looked relatively hopeful. Not any more. “All the trajectories are moving in the opposite direction,” Prashant Rao, AFP’s Baghdad bureau chief, said yesterday during a visit to London.
The problem is not only what’s happening but also what isn’t happening......" 

Syria refugee crisis – a day in the life

A year after the largest camp for Syrian refugees, Zaatari, opened on the Jordanian border, the Guardian is devoting a day of coverage to the plight of those uprooted by the civil war, collecting refugees' stories and investigating the way they live
• Syria refugee crisis: how to donate


guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Syria gov't rocket attack kills 15 Palestinian refugees: Activists

Reuters , Thursday 25 Jul 2013

"Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 15 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in a rocket attack on a rebel-held refugee camp on the southern edge of Damascus on Wednesday, opposition activists said.


On Saturday they launched a ground infantry assault backed by tanks and multiple rocket launchers to capture the camp but were being met by stiff resistance, opposition sources said.Palestinian militia from the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), as well as Syrian army and intelligence troops, have been surrounding the camp for months.

"The rockets hit a residential and shopping area way behind the front line. The victims were civilians," activist Rami al-Sayyed from the Syrian Media Centre opposition monitoring group, said from the area, adding that 45 people were wounded.

The report could not be independently confirmed. The Syrian government restricts access to journalists.
The Yarmouk Camp Coordination Committee said two Grad missiles fired by PFLP-GC militia hit the Hamdan Bakery area. Five women and five children were killed. One family living in the area, Fadlon, had five members killed, the organisation said.

Video footage taken by activists, which could not be immediately verified, showed one destroyed building and extensive damage to surrounding structures.
Located at the southern entrance of Damascus, the sprawling camp was home to hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Palestinians before the uprising against the 13 year rule of Assad.
Yarmouk links the large rebel held Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods of Hajar al-Aswad and Asali with the capital and its capture is a key objective for loyalist forces seeking to regain control over southern Damascus, opposition sources said.
Syrian rebels aided by Palestinian fighters who had joined the revolt captured Yarmouk at the start of this year and took the PFLP-GC headquarters in the camp. The PFLP-GC, headed by long time Assad ally Ahmed Jibreel, is classified as a terrorist organisation by the United States."

Syria's exodus: a refugee crisis for the world

• Exodus from Syrian civil war is overwhelming region – UN
• Britain may be asked to take thousands of displaced people
• Aid officials say population flight is becoming permanent


in Zaatari, Jordan, and
The Guardian,

"Western countries including the US and Britain may be asked to accept tens of thousands of Syrian refugees because the exodus from the civil war is overwhelming countries in the region, the UN's refugee chief has warned.

With no end to the war in sight, the flight of nearly 2 million people from Syria over the past two years is showing every sign of becoming a permanent population shift, like the Palestinian crises of 1948 and 1967, with grave implications for countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, UN and other humanitarian aid officials say.

One in six people in Lebanon are now Syrian refugees. The biggest camp in Jordan has become the country's fourth-largest city. In addition to those who have crossed borders, at least four million Syrians are believed to have been displaced within their own country, meaning that more than a quarter of the population has been uprooted......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Al Jazeera talks to Fellow in Arab Studies about Cairo tension


"Sarah Eltantawi is a Fellow in Arab Studies at University of California, Berkeley.In an interview with Al Jazeera she analyses the statement of Egypt's army chief Abdul Fatah al-Sisi and the importance of terms he used.She also addresses the posibility of a deal to be reached between Muslim Brotherhood and the military within 48 hours."

Al-Jazeera Video: Syrian rebels claim control of western Aleppo

Al-Jazeera Video: لقاء اليوم- محمود بدر.. حركة تمرد المصرية

Defective Israeli Puppets, by Khalil Bendib

Let Terrorists (Hizbullah and Al-Qaeda) Destroy Each Other! By Emad Hajjaj

Click on the Cartoon to send it to a friend!

Insight: By relying on Iran, Syria's Assad risks irrelevance

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

"(Reuters) - Military support from Iran and its Shi'ite ally Hezbollah has given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad new impetus in his fight against the insurgents intent on ousting him, but at a price.

Assad now risks losing much of his autonomy to Tehran and becoming a pawn in a wider sectarian war between Sunni Muslims and Shi'ites that may not end even if he is forced to step down, military experts and diplomats in the region say.

Having lost thousands of troops and militiamen from his Alawite sect as the war grinds through its third year, and anxious to preserve his elite loyalist units, Assad is now relying on Hezbollah from Lebanon and other Shi'ite militias allied with Iran to turn the tide of battle.

Alawite army units with their vast arsenal of artillery and missiles have been taking a back seat in combat, using these weapons supported by the air force to obliterate rebellious neighborhoods and blow holes in rebel lines for Iranian-and Hezbollah-trained local militias.

In some cases men from Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group that is one of Lebanon's most powerful military and political forces, have been doing the street fighting, according to rebel commanders and other opposition sources..........."

Egypt: Security forces abandon Coptic Christians during deadly attack in Luxor



"Security forces stood by and failed to intervene during a brutal attack on Coptic Christians in Luxor, Amnesty International said in a briefing published today. During the sectarian violence, security forces left six besieged men –four of whom were then killed and one hospitalized – to the mercy of an angry crowd.

In an attack lasting 18 hours on 5 July, four Coptic Christian men were killed and four others were seriously injured. An angry mob armed with metal bars, knives, tree branches and hammers attacked Christian homes and businesses in Nagah Hassan, 18 km west of Luxor, after the dead body of a Muslim man was discovered near the homes of Christian families. Despite local residents’ and religious leaders’ repeated calls for help, security forces on the scene made only half-hearted attempts to end the violence and sufficient reinforcements failed to arrive.

“It is outrageous that this attack was left to escalate unhindered in this way. Amnesty International has documented a series of cases in the past where Egypt’s security forces used unnecessary force or live fire during demonstrations, yet in this case they held back even though people’s lives were threatened,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“A thorough, impartial and independent investigation must be conducted into the events in Luxor and the grossly inadequate response of the security forces to the attack.”......"

Immutable Egypt

Gaza Bonds

by NICOLA NASSER
CounterPunch

"Gaza will remain a matter of national security for Egypt. And regardless of who is in charge in Gaza, Egypt will also remain a strategic asset for Gaza, a lifeline for its people, and a mainstay of its peace and stability.
These are the irreversible facts of the ties between Egypt and Gaza. In other words, when Egypt sneezes, Gaza catches a cold.
Now some people are trying to drive a wedge between Gaza and Egypt, but they will fail. Even at the lowest point of relations between Gaza and the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak, few challenged the fact that Gaza and Egypt care for one another.
Today, we hear analysts in the West Bank and Israel predicting the end of Hamas rule in Gaza, just because the Muslim Brotherhood was ousted from power in Egypt.
To those, I wish to say that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood never hid their ties, were proud of their connections, and made no secret of their cooperation. But the political adversaries of both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt would have us believe that anything that befalls the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will befall Hamas in Gaza, which is a massive exaggeration.
It is true that the recent events in Egypt have put an end to the high hopes Hamas had of strategic cooperation between Gaza and Egypt. It is also true that the image of Hamas as a resistance movement has been shaken. But let’s not believe everything the political adversaries of Hamas say. Let’s not believe their lies, for their only aim is to undermine the Palestinian resistance.
It has to be said, however, that Hamas was optimistic about the Arab Spring and was pleased to see like-minded governments take over in some Arab countries. It is also true that Hamas, perhaps too hastily, assumed that an alliance with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and its backers in Qatar would make up for the loss of its allies in Syria and Iran. Still, we must not forget that Hamas is a resistance movement first and foremost. Its connections with the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt don’t change this fact.
Hemmed in by the Israelis, Hamas was always hoping for Egypt to come to its rescue. But even during Mohamed Morsi’s presidency, relations between Egypt and Hamas were not free from tensions and differences. Hamas also had problems with Qatar’s view of the Arab peace plan.
Now the adversaries of Hamas would have us think that just as Egyptians brought down the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinians in Gaza should expel Hamas from government. It is quite telling that Mahmoud Abbas was one of the first Arab presidents to congratulate the Egyptian army on appointing Adli Mansour as president.
Now Hamas stands accused of interfering in Egypt’s domestic affairs. This accusation was made when Morsi was in power and after he was removed from power. Hamas denied time and again that it interfered in Egypt or in any other Arab countries. And the Palestinian ambassador to Cairo, Barakat Al-Farra, said that no such accusation was ever made by Egyptian officials.
Those who make such allegations not only harm the Palestinians, but also may cause lasting damage to ties between Gaza and Egypt.
I recently heard someone claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood’s fall from grace in Egypt will weaken Hamas to the point that makes it more amenable to Palestinian reconciliation. This is nonsense. For one thing, the Palestinian schism predates the Muslim Brotherhood’s accession to power in Egypt, and it has nothing to do with Hamas-Muslim Brotherhood ties. In fact, the real reason for the delay in reconciliation is that Mahmoud Abbas is still hoping that US Secretary of State John Kerry will succeed in restarting peace talks with Israel.
Also, the Palestinian presidency continues to oppose any acts of resistance in which Hamas and other Palestinian factions living in Gaza choose to engage.
Implicating the Palestinians in Egypt’s currently divisive scene is neither to the benefit of Palestinians nor Egyptians. But it is good news for Israel."

Applaud the EU decision on settlements



"The most significant development on the Arab-Israeli scene last week was not U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s announcement of a vague agreement by Palestinian and Israeli leaders to resume negotiations for a peace agreement. It was the European Union’s decision to formally have its 28 member states differentiate between Israel and the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, and to refrain from any official dealings with Israeli institutions in these occupied areas. The EU directive issued by foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton prohibits funding, investing in, or awarding grants and prizes to any organizations that are active in settlements in the occupied territories. Ashton also said that any new agreements with Israel should include a provision excluding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which are not part of Israel. The implications of the decision can only contribute constructively to the quest for a comprehensive negotiated resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, for several reasons......

Fifth, such moves frighten Israel perhaps more than any other actions that could be taken by Arab or international parties, because they make the loudest and clearest possible statement equating Western political reactions to Israeli behavior with similar global punitive reactions decades ago to South Africa’s apartheid system. That criminal apartheid regime was finally changed into a pluralistic South African democracy for all.

Something similar probably must occur in Israel and Palestine in order to reach a peaceful end to the conflict, allowing all the people there to live in peace and equal dignity. The EU move may hasten that day. How refreshing it is to see a coalition of countries with considerable global power striking a blow for the rule of law and human decency."

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

التجمع يدعو القيادة الفلسطينية إلى سحب الموافقة على تجديد المفاوضات

عـ48ـرب

"في أعقاب الإعلان عن استئناف المفاوضات الفلسطينية الإسرائيلية، أصدر التجمع الوطني الديمقراطي بيانا، اليوم الثلاثاء، أكد فيه رفضه ومعارضته لتجديد المفاوضات بين إسرائيل والقيادة الفلسطينية، الذي جرى التوصل الى اتفاق بصدده وفقاً لمقترحات وأفكار جون كيري وزير الخارجية الأمريكي، دون الحصول على تعهد إسرائيلي بالالتزام بشيء من الشروط الفلسطينية المعلنة بشأن تجديد المفاوضات وهي وقف الاستيطان وتحرير الأسرى القدامى واعتماد القرارات الدولية كمرجعية للتفاوض.
واعتبر التجمع أن تجديد المفاوضات دون تجميد الاستيطان هو خرق فاضح لالتزام القيادة الفلسطينية أمام الشعب الفلسطيني والعالم أجمع بعدم العودة إلى التفاوض دون وقف معلن وفعلي للاستيطان، مشيرا إلى أن إسرائيل استغلت المفاوضات العبثية لتكثيف الاستيطان، حتى حين التزمت بالتجميد.
ونوه البيان إلى أنه لم يحدث أي تغيير في الموقف الإسرائيلي إلا إلى الأسوأ، فالحكومة الحالية هي حكومة مستوطنين موغلة في التطرف وهي غير معنية وغير مستعدة لوقف الاستيطان، ولا حتى صورياً.
وأضاف البيان أن القبول بالدخول في المفاوضات قبل تحرير كل الأسرى القدامى يتناقض مع الموقف الفلسطيني الرسمي المعلن، وهو ضربة للأسرى وللحركة الأسيرة.
وقال "إن الصيغ الفضفاضة والوعود الوهمية لا تفي بالمطلوب بهذا الشأن، وهناك ضرورة  لوضع تحرير الأسرى كمقدمة وليس كنتيجة للمفاوضات. يجب أن يكون إطلاق سراح الأسرى القدامى، بمن فيهم أسرى الداخل والقدس، شرطًا سابقاً للتفاوض وليس مطلبًا تقبله أو ترفضه إسرائيل".
وقال التجمع في بيانه "إننا نؤكد معارضتنا الشديدة لتجديد المفاوضات خارج إطار الأمم المتحدة وقراراتها ذات الصلة بشأن إنهاء الاحتلال، وإقامة الدولة وعاصمتها القدس، وضمان حق اللاجئين في العودة إلى ديارهم. لقد رفضت إسرائيل الالتزام بمرجعية القرارات الدولية، ولم تقبل حتى أن تكون حدود 1967 أساساً للتفاوض، مما يكشف طبيعة الموقف الإسرائيلي الرافض للسلام العادل، ومما يفضح حقيقة أنه لا يوجد شريك إسرائيلي لأي مفاوضات جدية ولو بالحد الأدنى".
كما أشار البيان إلى أنه لم يتغير شيء في الظروف التي دفعت القيادة الفلسطينية إلى رفض العودة إلى المفاوضات. ومع ذلك، وافقت على تجديدها، علماً بأن المستفيد الوحيد من ذلك هو الاحتلال الذي يستخدمها غطاء للتهويد والاستيطان ولحماية إسرائيل من الضغوط الدولية. 
واعتبر التجم أن الموافقة على تجديد المفاوضات العبثية هي استهتار بالرأي العام الفلسطيني، الذي عبر عن رفضه لها، وهي ضربة لحركة المقاطعة العالمية، التي حققت في السنوات الأخيرة، إنجازات هامة في رفع مستوى التضامن مع الشعب الفلسطيني، وفي حشد الضغوط على الحكومة الإسرائيلية.
وقال البيان إن المطلوب فلسطينيا في هذه الظروف هو سحب الموافقة على تجديد المفاوضات وتحميل إسرائيل المسؤولية، بعد أن تبين أنها ليست مستعدة للالتزام بالتنفيذ الفعلي لتعهداتها خلال الاتصالات السابقة للمفاوضات، وبالأخص بكل ما يتعلق بمرجعية حدود 67، والوقف الفعلي للاستيطان، وتحرير كل أسرى ما قبل اوسلو.
وخلص التجمع إلى أن "المسؤولية الوطنية في هذه المرحلة تقتضي اتباع إستراتيجية وطنية تستند إلى تفعيل المقاومة الشعبية، وحشد الضغط والعقوبات الدولية على إسرائيل، وتعزيز الصمود والإسراع في إتمام المصالحة وإنهاء حالة الانقسام واستعادة الوحدة الوطنية، والتمسك بالثوابت والبرنامج الوطني".
"

Revolution in Egypt

Pavel Constantin, Cagle Cartoons, Romania

Real News Video: EU 'Hypocritical' in Declaring Hezbollah a Terrorist Organization

Shir Hever: Europe Union declares Hezbollah a terrorist organization but does not give similar designation to Israel  


More at The Real News

Egypt: Sectarian Attacks Amid Political Crisis

Scant Protection As Christians Attacked in Several Cities

".....

“Egyptian security forces should be on high alert to prevent and halt sectarian violence in the current tense and polarized situation,” said Nadim Houry, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Egypt’s religious and political leaders should denounce the dangerous escalation of sectarian attacks.”

Since Morsy’s ouster on July 3, at least six attacks on Christians have taken place in governorates across Egypt, including Luxor, Marsa Matrouh, Minya, North Sinai, Port Said, and Qena. In many of the incidents, witnesses told Human Rights Watch that security forces failed to take necessary action to prevent or stop the violence. Authorities should hold accountable the people responsible for the sectarian killings and attacks on houses of worship and property, and investigate whether security forces took inadequate measures to prevent or stop the attacks, Human Rights Watch said......."

Dubai's ruler pardons himself

No need for reform as rape case woman is 'forgiven' 

By Brian Whitaker

""I'm very, very happy. This is the perfect ending," Marte Dalelv told reporters yesterday after learning that she had been pardoned by the ruler of Dubai.
The 24-year-old Norwegian woman had been convicted of having extramarital sex and sentenced to 16 months in jail after complaining to Dubai police that she had been raped.
But while Ms Dalelv and those who campaigned on her behalf through social media have good reason to celebrate her release, it is far from a "perfect ending".
Officially, Ms Dalelv remains guilty as charged – she has merely been "forgiven" by the ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Royal pardons are an integral part of Dubai's system
 of arbitrary government and arbitrary justice and the Norwegian foreign minister really ought to have known better than to tell AFP: "I'm ... thankful to the emir, who has it within his power to give such a pardon."
That is exactly what Sheikh Mohammed wants. He expects people to doff their caps and express gratitude rather than blame him for the flaws in his own system.

In effect, Dubai's ruler has pardoned himself, and his system. There is no need to change anything. Women who dare to complain about being raped will continue being sent to jail, with the possibility of "forgiveness" in some cases (mostly involving westerners) where adverse publicity threatens to damage Dubai's image or its international relations.
Western governments are complicit in this too. Where rich Gulf autocrats are concerned they bend over backwards to avoid upsetting them. It's doubtful whether Ms Dalelv would have been released so quickly if the Norwegian government had been left to its own devices without pressure from Facebook groups and an online petition that collected 72,000 signatures.
In 2008, the Australian government was notably unhelpful when Alicia Gali, from Brisbane, was imprisoned for having extramarital sex after complaining she had been raped by co-workers at a hotel in the neighbouring emirate of Fujairah. 
Australian embassy staff advised her and her family not to make a fuss through the media while she remained in custody – with the result that Ms Gali served eight months in jail before eventually being pardoned."

Monday, July 22, 2013

How obsession with "nonviolence" harms the Palestinian cause



Nowadays, Israelis and internationals and unfortunately even some “enlightened” Palestinians champion “nonviolent resistance” and consider throwing a rock to be a violent act. The argument goes that throwing rocks tarnishes the reputation of Palestinians in the western world and immediately negates the “nonviolent/peaceful” resistance movement. This argument falls into the trap of western- (read, colonizer) dictated methods of acceptable means to resist.
Oppressed people do not and should not have to explain their oppression to their oppressor, nor tailor their resistance to the comfort of the oppressors and their supporters
There can be no peace without justice, and justice means decolonization, allowing the implementation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and obliterating all the racist laws and policies of Israeli apartheid and occupation. That means no Jewish state, no supremacist laws and no different systems for people of different ethnic backgrounds.
-
The fact that Israeli activists live on Palestinian colonized land spurs them to want to do more and be considered as more than solidarity activists, as they claim that they are connected to the Palestinian cause, which is true enough. The problem lies with what sort of actions are implemented, and what these Israeli activists can do to chip away at the occupying, colonizing system."

Syrian Sunnis fear Assad regime wants to 'ethnically cleanse' Alawite heartland

Homs land registry fire and handing out of arms to villagers fuel concerns that an Alawite-Shia enclave is being formed in Syria

and
The Guardian,
Sunni residents in the heartland of Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect say they are being repeatedly threatened and forced to flee their homes, amid fears that the likely fall of the nearby city of Homs will lead to widespread sectarian cleansing in parts of Syria.
Communities of Sunnis that live in the country's coastal stretch and along the so-called Alawite spine that runs south-east towards Damascus claim evidence has emerged of attempts by the Assad regime to reshape the area's fragile ethnic mix – moves that go far beyond consolidating security in loyalist areas.
Concerns are particularly focused on Homs, Syria's third city, which western observers believe is likely to fall to the regime military and Hezbollah by the end of the summer, in what would be the most striking gain yet by resurgent pro-Assad forces during the civil war.
All property records for Homs were destroyed in a fire earlier this month at the office of the city's land registry and residents fear they can no longer enforce a claim to their land and homes......

A lawyer in Tartus, which is still home to large numbers of Sunnis, said: "In Tartus City there haven't been actual ethnic-cleansing incidents, but there are tens of thousands of refugees and the wide spread of arms among Alawites gives an eerie feeling of an approaching massacre."
Despite the fact that they are completely unarmed, Sunni districts are seeing heavier security, he said.
"The general mood among pro-Assad people started to include the possibility of the fall of Damascus, which leaves them under the rule of the FSA [Free Syrian Army rebels] and the Sunnis ... and for the majority of people here it is better to live in an Alawite state, which they feel should include Homs."
Captain Juma, a former Syrian military officer who defected seven months ago after helping build walls around Alawite communities in Homs, said: "The Syrian regime is using a few military men who served during the civil war in Lebanon as military advisers and they came up with this plan of isolating Alawite villages and Sunni districts. A plan they executed in Lebanon is now history repeating itself."
In Homs city, Abu Ahmed, a commander of the FSA-aligned al-Farouq brigade, said: "The regime is encouraging Alawite families in the Homs countryside who have friction with Sunnis to head to Alawite districts in the city. We are pretty sure that the regime wants to take Homs city and countryside and make it just for Alawites.
"Nine months ago, the regime created the National Defence Army, which is Shabiha [loyalist militia of Shia and Alawite] volunteers," he said. "They are the most bloody killers, even more brutal than the army.""

71% of Egyptians unsympathetic with pro-Morsi protests: Poll

July opinion poll surveying 2,214 adults across Egypt shows public disapproval for protests backing toppled Islamist leader

Ahram Online , Monday 22 Jul 2013
Baseera
Chart showing sympathy with continuing protests backing Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi (Photo: Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research-Baseera)


"Egyptians are by and large unsympathetic to protests calling for the reinstatement of Egypt’s toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

71 percent of Egyptians voiced their disapproval of the Brotherhood-led protests which have been taking place for three weeks, according to a poll conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research (Baseera).
Baseera's July opinion poll found that 20 percent of those polled were in support of the pro-Morsi demonstrations, while 9 percent remained uncertain about how to view the matter.
The report stated that residents of urban governorates seem less sympathetic to the pro-Morsi protests than those of rural areas.  Urban residents polled at 17 percent approval, 77 percent disapproval, whereas the numbers were 21 and 67 percent, respectively, for rural residents.
Morsi's Islamist backers have maintained a sit-in in north Cairo since 28 June.  They have been staging protests in Cairo and other provincial towns demanding his reinstatement ever since Morsi’s 3 July ouster by the army amid mass anti-Brotherhood demonstrations.
The independent Cairo-based organisation polled 2,214 adults from across Egypt's 27 governorates via telephone on 20 and 21 July. The poll’s margin of error is less than 3 percent.
Based on the report's findings, male respondents are more disapproving of the protests (78 percent) than female ones (65 percent).
15 percent of women remained uncertain, versus 3 percent of men.
The report revealed that age and education levels affect reactions to the pro-Morsi protests. According to the poll, sympathy declines with age, recording at 24 percent sympathetic amongst those aged 18-19 compared to 14 percent amongst those 50 and up.
Sympathy for pro-Morsi protests was higher among university graduates (26 percent) than those with a mid-level education (18 percent)."

Egypt reinstates no-visa-fee entry for Syrian refugees

Foreign affairs minister Nabil Fahmy waives entry fees for Syrian refugees and promises Syrian National Coalition president Ahmed Jarba to do more in the coming days

Ahram Online, Monday 22 Jul 2013

"Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy said Syrians will be allowed to enter Egypt without paying visa fees starting on Monday, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.


On 9 July, Egyptian authorities imposed new conditions for admission into the country that made visa and security clearances mandatory for Syrians.The move came after Fahmy met with Syrian National Coalition president Ahmed Jarba in Cairo on Sunday.
The decision, which coincided with one banning Palestinians from transit in Egypt, came after a number of Syrians were alleged to be carrying weapons and appearing at pro-Morsi rallies.
Prior to the removal of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, Syrians were allowed unconditional entry.
During the meeting, Jarba complained to the Egyptian official about the country's recently imposed visa and security restrictions on Syrian refugees who are escaping oppression at the hands of the Assad regime.
Fahmy, in turn,  stressed Egypt’s understanding of the plight of Syrians and reiterated support for their cause. He promised Jarba that Egypt would take more steps to help Syrian refugees in the coming period, according to Ahram Arabic news website......"

Syria: The crucible

Although the carnage has slipped under the radar, Syria's destiny will define the future of the Arab revolutions. 


By Hamid Dabashi
Al-Jazeera
Hamid Dabashi
".....
The drama of Egypt is today overshadowing Syria, but Syria will remain the crucible of the future of Arab revolutions - every force and every ferocity brought to bear on the body politic of a nation dismantled under the pressure. Silenced are now the overwhelming majority of Syrians themselves - ordinary people waiting their turn, beyond sectarian divisions, beyond the vicious cycle of the ruling regime and its militant nemesis.

There are no blueprints for these Arab revolutions. No one knows for sure where they are headed. Militant lslamists, outflanked Wahhabis, outdated Salafis, combative Shias, petrodollar arrogance, bewildered Zionism, Russian and Chinese opportunism, and above all the Yankee Doodle Dandy imperialism of Obama administration are all in the crucible boiling to affect the future.
But nations from Morocco to Afghanistan and from Turkey to Yemen have crossed a psychological barrier and reached the point of no return, a clear consciousness has dawned upon the horizon of history and all these retrograde forces are in one way or another waging a losing battle against each other and against themselves - their heated transmutation the fuel of history as it delivers itself to a vastly different posterity.

As a potent political category, "the people" has never been a more pertinent force, and people's public self-consciousness never a more critical factor in outlasting all these feeble treacheries. In the midst of all the carnage remain the Syrian people themselves, those peaceful protestors who are the silent majority that might now be quiet in the midst of the violence, but will be heard again (in the form of labour unions, women's rights organisations, student assembles, and any other form of voluntary association) once these brutish conquerors come down off their horses and Humvees to rule.

There and then they will see that a cartoon of Ali Ferzat, a documentary of the late Omar Amiralay , a film by Mohammad Malas or Usama Muhammad, a poem of Adonis or Salim Barakat, or a fiction of Khaled Khalifa or Samar Yazbek has enriched the moral imagination of a nation far from being ruled by the combined banalities of these forces now vying for power.    "

لماذا يريدون إطالة النزيف السوري؟!


"منذ شهور لم تعد قليلة، والنظام يحرز بعض التقدم في عدد من المناطق، بدءا بتلك التي تؤمِّن مسارات الدويلة العلوية (وعموم مناطق العلويين) كخيار أخير يمكن أن يلجأ إليه، وليس انتهاءً بالعاصمة التي تراجع وضع الثوار فيها نسبيا بسبب تركيز النظام عليها، في مسعًى منه لإلغاء اقتراب معركة الحسم فيها من أذهان الثورة وداعميها.
لا ينفي ذلك بالطبع حدوث بعض التقدم للثوار في مناطق مثل حلب وسواها، لكن المسار العام للمعركة لا يبدو في صالح الثوار في المجمل، مع التأكيد على أن قدرة النظام على استعادة ما يقرب من ثلثي مساحة البلاد التي يسيطر عليها الثوار ليست واردة؛ لا في المدى القريب ولا المتوسط، هذا إن كانت واردة أصلا، ولا تبدو كذلك.
وفي حين جرى بث الوهم بأن هناك قرارا قد اتخذ في الأوساط الدولية (الغربية) يقضي بضرورة تعديل ميزان القوى على الأرض من أجل تمهيد الأجواء لانعقاد مؤتمر جنيف2 لإيجاد حل للمعضلة السورية، فقد تم التراجع عمليا عن ذلك، وبدا واضحا أن الجميع قد استسلموا بقناعة ورضا أو بقرار أو غير ذلك لحقيقة استمرار النزاع إلى أمد لا يُعرف مداه، وها هي المصادر المقربة من الحكومة البريطانية تتحدث عن رفض تزويد الثوار بأية أسلحة، ولا تتوقف عند ذلك، بل تضيف إليه حديثا عن إمكانية بقاء بشار الأسد في الحكم لسنوات، مع القول بأن مؤتمر جنيف لن يعقد هذا العام؛ هذا إذا كان سيعقد أصلا بحسب نفس التسريب.
والحال أن الموقف البريطاني لا يعدو تقليديا أن يكون صدًى للموقف الأميركي في سائر القضايا الحساسة، فيما يعلم جميع المعنيين أن المواقف الأميركية من الملف الشرق أوسطي لا تعدو أن تكون صدًى للإرادة الإسرائيلية التي ترى في استمرار المعركة وطول أمدها فرصة تاريخية لإخراج سوريا من معادلة الصراع بعد تدميرها وإشغالها بنفسها لعقود، فضلا عن استنزاف قوًى أخرى مزعجة مثل إيران وحزب الله وتركيا، مع ضرب الربيع العربي وخلق فتنة سنية شيعية
......"

Netanyahu, Abbas back to square none

By Ramzy Baroud
Asia Times

"......Israel is in desperate need to remold its scruffy image, which has resulted from too many bombs, damming evidence of war crimes, and arrogant speeches made by numerous politicians. Any "peace process" at this time would indeed do Israel's image some good, although it will make no lasting difference.

Lastly, the Palestinian Authority, an entity that was created with Israeli consent, and funded by US-led donor countries, cannot operate outside the US political sphere. According to a reading of the just-published annual report by the Palestinian Monitory Authority, as reported by Ma'an news agency, the West Bank economic indicators for 2012 were terrible, and prospects for the next two years are even worse.

The PA has no political vision, and even if it did, it is too overwhelmed by economic dependency to act as a self-respecting political entity. The PA has to play the game, fully knowing that the game has been rigged from the very start.

All three parties know this very well, but they are willing to return to the negotiations table. Any table will do while they pause for photos, smile and shake hands over and over. By doing so, a media circus made of experts will resume, and are ready with metaphors, cliches and sound bites, as long as they are crammed into 30 seconds or less."

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Al-Jazeera Video: حديث الثورة- توجهات السياسة الخارجية لمصر

A GOOD VIDEO, Worth Watching

Real News Video: Israeli parliament approved the deportation of 40,000 Bedouin from their land

In order to Judify the Naqab, the south of Israel, Israel initiates a unilateral plan to confiscate Bedouin land. Most of the Israeli public remains indifferent

More at The Real News

On fascism and fascists

In focusing on the Muslim Brotherhood's fascist tendencies do we not risk losing sight of the largest elephant in the room — the perils of army intervention in the name of protecting liberty?

A GOOD PIECE
By Khaled Fahmy , Sunday 21 Jul 2013
Ahram Online

"In March, I wrote an article here in response to an article written by Wael Abbas, author of the blog Misr Digital, in which he had warned of the threat of a spread of armed militias belonging to different groups, from the Brotherhood to the Ultras to thugs, expressing apprehension at what he viewed was the rise of militarism and fascism in Egypt. Abbas concluded his article with a comparison between our state a year ago (when the article was written) and the state of Germany in the last days of the Weimar Republic in the 1920s, on the eve of the Nazis coming to power.

In my own article, I mentioned that a comparison between the Brotherhood and the Nazis might be disturbing, yet it might also be useful if used to analyse and understand the current moment. And I argued that there are many differences between the Brotherhood and the Nazis, most importantly the fact that the Nazis had already exercised effective control over the institutions of official violence — the military and police — before they gained political power, while the Muslim Brotherhood lacked control over these two key institutions even after being voted into office.
And I believe that the Brotherhood's record in power clarifies how this factor, i.e. their inability to control the army and the police, rendered their leaders paranoid and anxious. In light of the ongoing revolution and daily protests against their policies, the Brotherhood felt a need to reach an understanding with these two institutions. And indeed, in every incident of street confrontations between protestors and the police, the Brotherhood sided against the people.
Brotherhood MPs denied that the police had used live ammunition during the interior ministry clashes; they turned a blind eye to the dire transgressions committed by the police in the events of Port Said II, and the Hisham Qandil cabinet aborted every serious initiative for security sector reform, all the while flirting with the police to the extent that Mohamed Morsi even thanked them for their role in the January 25 Revolution!
The Brotherhood’s relationship with the army was no different. They forbade their followers to chant against the military; after Morsi had launched his presidential term by forming a fact-finding committee to investigate human rights violations that took place under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, he refused to make the results of the report public after finding out that it was strongly critical of the army; awarded Field Marshal Tantawi and his deputy, Anan, with the highest accolades, the flirtatious attitude towards the army culminating with the constitution maintaining all the economic, social and political perks that the army previously enjoyed, and even added some more.
And after they thought that they had succeeded in neutralising these two key institutions, the Brotherhood dedicatedly sought to control the public domain. Thus, they drafted laws to control civil society organisations; to control demonstrations; to gerrymander electoral districts in favour of their candidates; and to control the judiciary, all in the shadows of a constitution that they drafted in an exclusionary and flawed manner.
Due to all that, in addition to the nauseating discourse systematically waged against Shia Muslims and Copts, the people finally rose in one large uprising on 30 June. In this revolution, Egyptians strongly expressed their rejection of the Brotherhood's project, a project that was seen as restricting the public domain and clamping down on the people’s hard-won liberty. On 30 June, Egyptians from all walks of life rose to oppose a group that was steadily undermining the principles of their revolution while holding on only to the narrowest definitions of democracy, that which reduced it to ballotocracy.
And after the Brotherhood had refused to revise their policies in the wake of the 30 June revolution, and after their leaders had incited their followers to violence, and after such violence had indeed erupted in Manial, Bein El Sarayat, Sidi Gaber, and Ramsis, I understand the apprehension of many towards allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to continue to exist in the political scene except if the group fundamentally revised its philosophy, its self-image, its message and its practices. I also understand the necessity of holding Brotherhood leaders legally accountable for their inciting to violence. And I understand further the demand of many to ban Brotherhood leaders from running for or assuming public posts, similar to the ban imposed on leaders of the ousted National Democratic Party.
And yet do we not, by focusing on these demands, ignore the elephant in the room? Are we not ignoring the army and its blatant intervention in the political process since 3 July?
In the article I previously mentioned, which I wrote in response to Wael Abbas, I tried to warn that our concern about the Muslim Brotherhood's fascist tendencies should not distract us from the risks we face when dealing with the military. I concluded my article, which was titled "Weimar Republic or 18 Brumaire" with an allusion to the coup d'état conducted by Napoléon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in the years 1799 and 1851, respectively, and ended by saying that "my fear of the validity of our comparison (between our current state and the state of the Weimar Republic) is not exceeded by anything other than my fear that the more accurate comparison is not that between the Brotherhood and the Nazis in 1933, but rather between our situation today and the status of France on the eve of the eighteenth Brumaire." And unfortunately, my fear was valid. The army's intervention on 3 July sent a confusing message to the Brotherhood. Instead of the clear message sent to them by millions on the street, which said, "You have failed; you must leave," the army's message effectively said, "You are victims, and we will always persecute you."
What complicated matters further was that the public, which throughout SCAF's rule chanted against the military, is now flaunting General El-Sisi's photos and is taking him to be their prophet and saviour. The people forgot, or decided to forget that the army, whose jets they now dance under in Tahrir Square, is the same army that conducted virginity tests on female protestors, trampled the “blue-bra girl”, abducted and tortured protesters in the Egyptian Museum and the Cabinet headquarters, performed surgical operations on protesters in military hospitals without anesthesia or sterilisation, and above all, has run, and continues to run, an economic empire that is estimated to be equal to a quarter of the country’s GDP.
This revolution erupted for the sake of liberty and it was able to topple Mubarak and to end his rule that had humiliated and impoverished the people. And on 30 June we revolted once more when we felt that the Muslim Brotherhood was slamming the door of liberty in our faces. We will not allow the army to steal away our revolution yet again or to oppress us and exercise its will over us in the name of protecting our liberty."

THE ROAD TO NOWHERE – KERRY MIDEAST JOURNEY

By Eric Margolis

July 20, 2013

"Here we go again, another round of Mideast peace talk kabuki.
A process in which Washington, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization hold intense talks over holding talks, a ritual as stylized as the traditional Japanese dance. In the end, it’s the same empty, cynical ritual, year after year.
This past week, US Secretary of State John Kerry has been leading the dance in the latest attempt to restart peace talks between Israel and the Mahmoud Abbas’ PLO. As of this writing, the talks appear off. But they may be on again just as quickly. It depends on how much Washington offers its feuding clients, Israel and the PLO.
Watching this annual charade is both painful and exhausting. It makes cynics of the most idealistic hopers for Mideast peace.
Israel holds all the cards, and knows it. Jewish settlements, roads, and security walls are roaring ahead, relentlessly gobbling up the occupied West Bank, Golan and their water resources. West Bank Palestinians are being crammed into future native Bantustans patterned after South Africa’s apartheid-era reservations for blacks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vows there will be no Palestinian state, appears to have an impregnable hold on power. Israel’s economy is doing very well, thanks in part to billions in US economic and military aid, privileged access to the US market, and exports of arms and electronics. Israel’s high tech and medical industries are among the world’s leaders. New gas and oil finds between Israel and Cyprus may make Israel an energy exporter within a decade.
The United States has eliminated any possible Arab military challenge to Israel’s absolute military domination of the Mideast by destroying Iraq as a functioning state and then fueling Syria’s civil war. Egypt, once Israel’s leading foe, has been bought off by American money.
Israel has finished deploying an indestructible triad of nuclear forces based on missiles, aircraft and, most lately, submarines that can fire cruise or, possibly, ballistic missiles, all targeted by Israeli and US satellite networks. This means that Israel can survive any nuclear attack and retaliate in kind against attackers. Israel’s Mideast nuclear monopoly remains secure.
Equally important, Israel, through its American supporters, effectively guides much of America’s Mideast policy. Almost 50% of Republican voters are now rural born-again Christian Zionist for whom Israel is an essential part of their Biblical prophecy of the return of the Messiah.
President Barack Obama’s feeble efforts to press Israel into real peace negotiations with the Palestinians were quickly squashed by the pro-Israel lobby and its partisans in Congress. Netanyahu probably exerts more influence over the US Congress than President Obama.
Moreover, Israel is “negotiating” with a PLO that has become a sock puppet for the US and Israel after its former leader, Yasser Arafat, was very likely assassinated to make way for the compliant Mahmoud Abbas. The PLO is run and financed by the US and Israel, its security forces trained and directed by CIA, its intelligence agency an arm of Israel’s Mossad. Its elected rival, Hamas, remains jailed in Gaza.
Yet even this is not enough. Netanyahu now demands the Arabs recognized Israel as a “Jewish state,” knowing this is unacceptable. Twenty percent of Israel’s population is Christian and Muslim.
Tragically, Israel right wing parties have spurned the sensible 2002 peace offer led by Saudi Arabia. The plan calls for a withdrawal to 1967 borders, with some minor rectifications for large Jewish settlement blocs, full peace and recognition between Israel and 57 Muslim nations, and a “just” solution to the Palestinian refugee crisis – meaning some token repatriation of refugees and compensation for Jews who fled the Arab world.
This is clearly the best solution. But it is rejected by Israel’s Likud Party and other rightists because they refuse to define Israel’s borders. As the late Israeli Moishe Dayan stated, it is up to god, not man, to determine Israel’s future growth. Israel’s right wingers have long looked with desire upon Lebanon and parts of Syria. Baghdad once had a large Jewish population.
Why sacrifice all this for the sake of little Palestinian rump state that will anyway become an Israeli protectorate? Just keep talking about talks while the bulldozers roar ahead."