Kuwait: Lift Protest Ban

Respect Right to Demonstrate Peacefully 

"(Beirut) – Kuwait’s authorities should revoke a ministerial order to ban all demonstrations because it denies the right to peaceful assembly. Since October 15, 2012, security forces have used teargas and stun grenades to disperse at least three large rallies protesting an effort by the country’s ruler to amend the country’s electoral law in a way that might reduce opposition representation in parliament.

Opposition groups – consisting of Islamists, liberals, and nationalists – have called for another gathering in al-Erada Square in front of the National Assembly building in Kuwait City on November 11, marking the 50th anniversary of the country’s constitution.

“The right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in the constitution Kuwaitis will be celebrating,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities should lift the ban and permit people to express their views.”

Some of the rallies brought out tens of thousands of protesters, such as a “March of Dignity” on October 20 – the largest in the country’s history....."

'Assad faces same fate as Gaddafi'

The Guardian

"....
'Assad faces same fate as Gaddafi'

Bashar al-Assad faces the same fate as Muammar Gaddafi after vowing, like the Libyan leader, to die in his country, a rebel commander told the Guardian.

Assad told Russia Today  "I have to live in Syria and die in Syria." His remarks echoed Gaddafi's February 2011 pledge to "die as a martyr at the end".

Mustafa Sheikh, who heads the military council running the Free Syrian Army, said Assad had learnt nothing from recent history.

Speaking to the Guardian's Mona Mahmood, he said:

I can't believe Bashar hasn't learnt the lesson of Gaddafi's fate. Gaddafi was bought down by his own arrogance and his denial of the Libyan revolution. He could not see it until he was surrounded by it and it killed him.

Bashar wants to show the world that he is still defiant and steadfast but we all know that this is the disease of dictatorship. He thinks he can last forever and defy the rules of nature.

But Sheikh welcomed Assad's pledge not to flee Syria because it would mean he would face justice. "If he stayed in Syria it would be a favour from God, because he will be punished by the Syrian people," Sheikh said....."

Real News Video (with Transcript): The Obama Drone Doctrine

Vijay Prashad: President Obama plans to expand the use of drone attacks as a way to project US power

Noam Chomsky: Impressions of Gaza

By Noam Chomsky – 4 Nov 2012
http://chomsky.info/articles/20121104.htm

"Even a single night in jail is enough to give a taste of what it means to be under the total control of some external force.  And it hardly takes more than a day in Gaza to begin to appreciate what it must be like to try to survive in the world’s largest open-air prison, where a million and a half people, in the most densely populated area of the world, are constantly subject to random and often savage terror and arbitrary punishment, with no purpose other than to humiliate and degrade, and with the further goal of ensuring that Palestinian hopes for a decent future will be crushed and that the overwhelming global support for a diplomatic settlement that will grant these rights will be nullified.

The intensity of this commitment on the part of the Israeli political leadership has been dramatically illustrated just in the past few days, as they warn that they will “go crazy” if Palestinian rights are given limited recognition at the UN.  That is not a new departure.  The threat to “go crazy” (“nishtagea”) is deeply rooted, back to the Labor governments of the 1950s, along with the related “Samson Complex”: we will bring down the Temple walls if crossed.  It was an idle threat then; not today......"

عباس يستفز الناس

".....

صفد ليست من حقه

طلع علينا عباس بتاريخ 1/11/2012 بتصريحات عبر وسيلة إعلام صهيونية تستهتر بالحقوق الوطنية الثابتة للشعب الفلسطيني، إذ قال إنه من حقه أن يرى مسقط رأسه مدينة صفد الواقعة في شمال فلسطين المحتلة/1948، لكن ليس من حقه أن يعيش فيها. وأضاف أن فلسطين بالنسبة له هي الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة (الأرض المحتلة/1967)، وأنه كرئيس للشعب الفلسطيني لن يسمح بقيام انتفاضة ثالثة مسلحة.

عندما يعلن عباس أن لا حق له بالعيش في صفد إنما هو يعلن رفض حق العودة للشعب الفلسطيني، وبهذا ينفي حقوق ملايين الفلسطينيين اللاجئين، وحقوق الذين فقدوا أراضيهم أو جزءا منها عام 1948 ودون أن يفقدوا أماكن سكنهم. ويؤكد هذا الرفض بقوله إن فلسطين لم تعد تلك التي كانت وإنما التي تقلصت إلى الضفة وغزة. وما دام يرفض حق العودة، فهو يرفض حق تقرير المصير. أي أنه يرفض الثابتيْن الفلسطينييْن اللذين تم الاتفاق عليهما بين مختلف الفصائل والقوى الفلسطينية وهما حق العودة وحق تقرير المصير.
.....

العبرة في ضعف الشعب

من المتوقع أن يتعلم القادة من تجاربهم، لكن هذا التوقع لا ينطبق على عباس في الكثير من تصريحاته بما فيها التصريحات الأخيرة على التلفاز الصهيوني. كان بإمكان عباس أن يقدم إجابات دبلوماسية حتى لا يستفز الشعب الفلسطيني أو يحقره أو يعتدي على حقوقه. كالعادة، عباس لم يوازن كلامه، ولم يحسب حسابا للشعب الفلسطيني في كافة أماكن تواجده، ولم يفكر بأن ما يتمنى أن يجنيه من هكذا أقوال لن يتحقق.
ويظهر أن عباس قدّر أن الشعب الفلسطيني قد أصابه ما أقعده فأصبح أعجز من أن يرد الفعل فيرفع إصبعه في وجه من يتحدثون باسمه. على مدى سنوات، لم يستطع الشعب الفلسطيني الوقوف في وجه سياسات قياداته التي لم تنجز له شيئا ملموسا فيما يتعلق بحقوقه الوطنية الثابتة، واستطاع خمسون فاسدا أن يسيطروا على الناس في الضفة الغربية، ويسيروهم وفق إرادتهم. وإذا كان لشعب أن يقف شاردا تائها أمام قيادات تستهتر بتطلعاته، فإن عليه ألا ينتظر حبل نجاة من السماء، أو عامود مشنقة ينصبها له عدوه. هو يشنق نفسه
".

Al-Jazeera Video: Empire - Choosing the American President

Hosted by Marwan Bishara
"The voting is over and President Obama has won a second term. This election took place against a background of rallies and conventions, social media, biting political satire, and billions of dollars of television commercials blanketing the airwaves. Through it all, the debate on the role of the federal government became increasingly polarised. The US has not been this divided since perhaps the civil war. But this is a battle that has been brewing for decades."

Al-Jazeera Video: الطيران الحربي للنظام السوري يكثف غاراته

"يكثف الطيران الحربي التابع للنظام السوري غاراته الجوية على الأحياء السكنية، مستخدما براميله المتفجرة وقنابل يرجّح الأهالي أنها فراغية. مراسلنا بيبه ولد مهادي رصد من مدينة حلب أنموذجا جديدا من الدمار الذي تحدثه تلك الغارات في مناطق شبه مهجورة ولا وجود فيها لمسلحين.
"

Twenty-six Syrian army officers defect to Turkey: report

"(Reuters) - Twenty-six military officers, including two generals, defected from the Syrian army to Turkey overnight, Turkish state media reported on Friday.

It was the biggest mass desertion of senior soldiers from President Bashar al-Assad's forces in months.
The officers, among them two generals, 11 colonels, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors, four captains, and five lieutenants, crossed into Turkey's border province of Hatay with their families and other foot soldiers, making a total of 71 people, state-run Anatolian news agency said....."

Syria Live Updates

The Guardian

"9,000 Syrians crossed Turkey

Whatever Feller and the UNHCR said to Turkey about opening its border to Syrians appears to have had a dramatic impact.

Last night a record 9,000 people came across the border, according to the UNHCR's Sybella Wilkes.
Last month Human Rights Watch said up 10,000 people have blocked at the Turkish border since restrictions were imposed in August......

The UN has warned that the number of people inside Syria needing humanitarian aid could rise sharply from 2.5 million now to 4 million by early next year, AP reports.

John Ging, operations director for the UN humanitarian office, said the UN was also forecasting that the number of refugees fleeing the violence will increase to 700,000 by early 2013. Speaking ahead of Friday’s fifth Syria humanitarian forum in Geneva, Ging said: “People need to be aware of just how desperate the situation is inside Syria for the people there ... It’s just getting a lot worse very rapidly for the ordinary people.”....." 

Arab caricature, first prize

Foreign Intervention. Muwaffaq Abdullah Qat, Syria.

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

Do you agree with the declarations of Mahmoud Abbas regarding his city of birth (Safad) and other Palestinian areas occupied in 1948?

With more than 200 responding so far, 92% said no.

Al-Jazeera Video: Blast near presidential palace in Damascus

"There have been reports of at least three deaths in an explosion near the Syrian presidential palace.

The Wednesday blast in Damascus' Mazzeh 86 district injured several people and caused damage to nearby government buildings.

Fighters reportedly targeted the palace with mortars, but apparently missed and instead hit nearby residential areas.

Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane reports."

Clinton Effort to Create Syrian Government in Exile Collapses

By Joshua Landis

"Shortly before the Doha effort to put together a Syrian government in exile collapsed, Ambassador Ford, the State Department’s ambassador to the Syrian opposition, inisted to exiles that Syrians must find a “political solution and not a military solution to their problem.” He reportedly told Syrian Opposition leaders that the international community will not create a “no fly zone” over Syria and that it will not support the Free Syrian Army militarily.” “There is no military solution to the Syrian problem,” he insisted. There is only a political solution.” This is what the Engineer Muti’a al-Batiin  مطيع البطين reports on his Face book page.
there will be no  لن يكون هنالك دعم عسكري ولن يكون هنالك حظر جوي ثم يقول:الصراحة راحة
....

Bassam Al-Khouri wrote on his Face book:

الصفحة الرسمية للمهندس مطيع البطين

في لقاء أمس مع فورد السفير الامريكي هو ومساعدة وزيرة الخارجية الامريكية كانا يتحدثان معنا عن الهيئه الجديدة المنتظر ولادتها،سألنهم ماهو الذي ستقدمه أمريكا للشعب السوري بعد ذلك ؟ فصار يتحدث عن المساعدات الاغاثية،وعندما تكلمنا عن دعم الجيش الحر من المجتمع الدولي فقال لن يكون هنالك دعم عسكري ولن يكون هنالك حظر جوي ثم يقول:الصراحة راحة…
وعند الكلام عن سقف مطالبنا قال: معنى هذا أنكم مرتهنون بقرار الشارع عندكم ..قلنا له فكيف نكون معارضة تمثل الشعب إن لم نتبن مطالب شعبنا فقال :أنتم لازم أن تؤثروا على الشعب حتى يخفض سقف مطالبه.وقال ايضاً: الحل لن يكون عسكريا في سوريا لا يوجد إلا حل سياسي.
لم يكن اللقاء الا موضحا لموقف لا يبالي بدم الشعب السوري والحقيقة التي يقرؤها أي متأمل هنا وعن دعوات هؤلاء لتوحيد المعارضة ماهي الا شماعة لتعليق وتبرير مواقف هذه الدول المناقضة لكل فضيلة
إن شعبنا في سوريا داخلا وخارجا عليه أن يعتمد أولاً على الله ثم يسعى الصادقون والمخلصون لتوحيد جهودهم والثبات حتى يأتي الله بالنصر والفرج.
بالمختصر الدعوة للتوحيد بما فيها الهيئة المنتظرة أمر محمود لكن لا يريد منه هؤلاء إلا تقطيع الوقت وانتظار أن ينهك الشعب السوري حتى يضطر للقبول بأي حل يطرح فيما بعد لانعرف مالحد الذي يمكن أن تصل اليه الأمور عند هؤلاء..

أحببت أن أكتب هذا صراحة حتى يكون شعبنا وإخوتنا على بصيرة وعلم ومعرفة فيما يجري وما يعد

"

Syria Live Update

The Guardian

"....Red Cross struggling to cope in Syria

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is struggling to cope with the growing humanitarian crisis in Syria despite an increase in its operations.

Speaking at a press conference ICRC president Peter Maurer said:

We are in a situation where the humanitarian situation due to the conflict is getting worse. And despite the fact that the scope of the operation is increasing, we can't cope with the worsening of the situation.
We have a lot of blank spots, we know that no aid has been there and I can't tell you what the situation is.

The medical aid group, the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations, claimed Syrian troops had seized foreign aid or channelled it towards government loyalists.

Spokesman Doctor Tawfik Chamaa said:

When the regime attacks one of our medical facilities, whether it's a hospital or something else, they load up everything they can carry, and they burn the rest. They take as much as they can, and that just depends on how many soldiers they have, but most of the time they resell it on the black market......

A US-backed initiative to form a new united Syrian opposition looks to have collapsed after key opposition movements from inside the country pulled out, according to the Telegraph.

Representatives from the National Coordinating Committee, the Syrian Democratic Platform, and the Kurdish ethnic minority rejected the idea of serving on the proposed Syrian National Initiative. The Syrian National Council also voted against the proposal and the member most prominent in backing it, Riad Seif, lost his seat on the group's executive council......"

Guardian Video: Bomb explodes in Houla, Syria

                   
                   
                                 

"A bomb is dropped on the town of Houla, near Homs in Syria, just metres from where a group of people are filming. The local men are filming the destruction left in the town when they rush to take cover after hearing the thunder of a jet engine. Just seconds later there is a large explosion at the end of the street."

The politics of money in Palestine

By Ramzy Baroud
Asia Times

"Most outside funds that go into Palestine, including Gaza, come with a clear, political manual dutifully followed by those who provide the cash and those who receive it.

Palestinians face a difficult challenge to untie these impossible entanglements, but those who rent their sovereignty to the highest bidder have no business speaking of national liberation, popular resistance and empty slogans....."

Bahrain: Don’t Arbitrarily Revoke Citizenship

Thirty-One Deprived of Nationality Without Due Process, Leaving Many Stateless 

"(Beirut)–Bahraini authorities should rescind their announced decision to strip citizenship from 31 people for allegedly damaging the country’s security. The people affected included opposition political activists, lawyers, and rights activists. The order was imposed without due process of law and will leave the majority of the people affected stateless.

On November 6, 2012, the Interior Ministry issued a statement revoking the citizenship of the 31 people under article 10(3) of the Bahraini Citizenship Act of 1963 because they were “damaging the security of the state.” Article 10 provides that “the ruler” has the authority to revoke a person’s citizenship.

“The Bahrain government’s summary decision to deprive 31 people of citizenship seems to completely disregard their basic rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “There is no justification for equating political dissent with damaging Bahrain’s security.”

Revoking citizenship without due process violates the rights of Bahraini nationals under international law, Human Rights Watch said. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is considered reflective of customary international law, states that, “Everyone has the right to a nationality” and, “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.” Unlawful deportations may also violate other rights......"

Al-Jazeera Cartoon: Abbas' Latest Declarations About the Right of Return

بابا الكنيسة القبطية الجديد: لا زيارة للقدس إلا وهي محررة، ونعتز بأول رئيس مدني منتخب

عــ48ـرب

"أكد بابا الإسكندرية وبطريرك الكرازة المرقسية المنتخب حديثًا، تواضرس الثاني، أنه سيواصل سياسة الراحل شنودة الثالث، وأنه لن يسمح بزيارة المدينة المقدسة إلا بعد تحريرها، قائلا: "إلا بصحبة الإخوة المسلمين بعد تحريرها".

ويعتبر ملف زيارة أقباط مصر لمدينة القدس المحتلة، تحديًّا مستمرًّا أمام بابا الكنيسة القبطية على مدار سنوات، وعقب وفاة البابا شنودة الثالث في آذار/مارس الماضي، تصدر الملف أبرز التحديات التي تواجه البابا الجديد، إلى جانب ملفات أخرى تفرضها التطورات السياسية التي تشهدها مصر ما بعد مبارك.

لا خشية من صعود الإسلاميين إلى الحكم

وحول تطورات الوضع في مصر ووصول تيارات الإسلام السياسي إلى سدة الحكم، أوضح البابا أن الكنيسة القبطية لا تخشى صعود الإسلاميين إلى الحكم، معتبرًا أن الكنيسة تعتز بالرئيس محمد مرسي بصفته أولَ رئيس مدني منتخب.

وعبر عن أمله في أن يقود الرئيس مرسي البلاد إلى مشروع نهضة حقيقية، حيث يشعر المصريون بهذه النهضة على أرض الواقع وليست نهضة ورقية.

وشدد البابا الجديد لأقباط مصر على أن ما يطالب به الأقباط هو المواطنة الحقيقية، معتبرا أنهم يعانون من التهميش، ولم يستبعد أن يكون للكنيسة توجه رئاسي رغم أنها مؤسسة روحية."

Real News Video: Obama Wins, the System is Broken

TRNN Panel: It's not about who Obama is, it's about a system that only values money and power is in the hands of a very few