Saturday, February 9, 2013
Guardian Video: West Bank violence following settlement protest
"Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank on Saturday at a protest against Jewish settlements in the area. Six people, two of them journalists, are detained at the site in South Hebron. Israeli forces used foul-smelling water to disperse demonstrators and dismantled tents set up in protest."
Saudi Arabia beheading nearly two people per week this year
Amnesty International
"A spree of executions that has sent10 prisoners to their deaths since the beginning of the year in Saudi Arabia must be halted, Amnesty International said today.
The beheadings included the death of Abdullah Fandi al-Shammari on 5 February 2013 who had originally been convicted of manslaughter, but was tried again on the charge of murder in proceedings that did not meet fair trial standards.
The case has attracted significant attention in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Shammari was beheaded having spent over 30 years in prison.
“This case has thrown the country’s flawed justice system into especially sharp relief, highlighting the serious lack of transparency, patently unfair trials, and fatal results,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa........"
"A spree of executions that has sent10 prisoners to their deaths since the beginning of the year in Saudi Arabia must be halted, Amnesty International said today.
The beheadings included the death of Abdullah Fandi al-Shammari on 5 February 2013 who had originally been convicted of manslaughter, but was tried again on the charge of murder in proceedings that did not meet fair trial standards.
The case has attracted significant attention in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Shammari was beheaded having spent over 30 years in prison.
“This case has thrown the country’s flawed justice system into especially sharp relief, highlighting the serious lack of transparency, patently unfair trials, and fatal results,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa........"
Is This the Secret U.S. Drone Base in Saudi Arabia?
WIRED
"
"
These satellite images show a remote airstrip deep in the
desert of Saudi Arabia. It may or may not be the secret U.S. drone base revealed
by reporters earlier this week. But the base’s hangars bear a remarkable
resemblance to similar structures found on other American drone outposts. And
its remote location — dozens of miles from the nearest highway, and farther
still to the nearest town – suggests that this may be more than the average
civilian airstrip.
According to
accounts from the Washington
Post and The
New York Times, the U.S. built its secret Saudi base approximately two
years ago. Its first lethal mission was in September of 2011: a strike on Anwar
al-Awlaki, the American-born propagandist for al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen,
which borders Saudi Arabia. Since then, the U.S. has launched dozens
of drone attacks on Yemeni targets. News organizations eventually found out
about the base. But they agreed to keep it out of their pages — part of an
informal arrangement with the Obama administration, which claimed that the
disclosure of the base’s location, even in a general way, might jeopardize
national security. On Tuesday, that loose embargo was broken.
The location of the airfield. Click to enlarge.
Image: via Bing Maps
The image of the
airfield, available
in Bing Maps, would be almost impossible to discover randomly. At moderate
resolutions, satellite images of the area show nothing but sand dunes. Only on
close inspection does the base reveal itself. In Google’s catalog of satellite
pictures, the base doesn’t appear at all.
The images show a
trio of “clamshell”-style hangars, surrounded by fencing. Each is more than 150
feet long and approximately 75 feet wide; that’s sufficient to hold U.S.
Predator and Reaper drones. The hangars are slightly larger, though similar in
shape, to ones housing unmanned planes at Kandahar
Air Field in Afghanistan. Shamsi
Air Field in Pakistan, which once held U.S. drones, boasts a group of three
hangars not unlike the ones of the Saudi base. No remotely piloted aircraft are
visible in the images. But a pair of former American intelligence officers tell
Danger Room that they are reasonably sure that this is the base revealed by the
media earlier this week.
“I believe it’s the facility that the U.S. uses to fly drones
into Yemen,” one officer says. “It’s out in eastern Saudi Arabia, near Yemen and
where the bad guys are supposed to hang out. It has those clamshell hangars,
which we’ve seen before associated with U.S. drones.”....."
Friday, February 8, 2013
CODEPINK Repeatedly Disrupts Brennan Hearing Calling Out Names Of Civilians Killed in Drone Strikes
Democracy Now!
"Thursday’s confirmation hearing for CIA nominee John Brennan was briefly postponed to clear the room of activists from CODEPINK after they repeatedly disrupted Brennan’s testimony. One woman held a list of Pakistani children killed in U.S. drone strikes. Former U.S. diplomat Col. Ann Wright interrupted Brennan while wearing a sign around her neck with the name of Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old Pakistani boy who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011. Wright and seven others were arrested. We speak to CODEPINK founder Medea Benjamin who also disrupted the meeting and recently visited Pakistan to speak with victims of drone strikes. “It’s not only the killing, it’s the terrorizing of entire populations, where they hear the drones buzzing overhead 24 hours a day. Where they’re afraid to go to school, afraid to go to the markets, to funerals, to weddings. Where it disrupts entire communities,” Benjamin says. “And we are trying to get this information to our elected officials, to say, 'You are making us unsafe here at home,' to say nothing about illegal, immoral and inhumane these policies are.”....."
"Thursday’s confirmation hearing for CIA nominee John Brennan was briefly postponed to clear the room of activists from CODEPINK after they repeatedly disrupted Brennan’s testimony. One woman held a list of Pakistani children killed in U.S. drone strikes. Former U.S. diplomat Col. Ann Wright interrupted Brennan while wearing a sign around her neck with the name of Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old Pakistani boy who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011. Wright and seven others were arrested. We speak to CODEPINK founder Medea Benjamin who also disrupted the meeting and recently visited Pakistan to speak with victims of drone strikes. “It’s not only the killing, it’s the terrorizing of entire populations, where they hear the drones buzzing overhead 24 hours a day. Where they’re afraid to go to school, afraid to go to the markets, to funerals, to weddings. Where it disrupts entire communities,” Benjamin says. “And we are trying to get this information to our elected officials, to say, 'You are making us unsafe here at home,' to say nothing about illegal, immoral and inhumane these policies are.”....."
Jeremy Scahill: Assassinations of U.S. Citizens Largely Ignored at Brennan CIA Hearing
Democracy Now!
"President Obama’s nominee to run the CIA, John Brennan, forcefully defended Obama’s counterterrorism policies, including the increase use of armed drones and the targeted killings of American citizens during his confirmation hearing Thursday. “None of the central questions that should have been asked of John Brennan were asked in an effective way,” says Jeremy Scahill, author of the forthcoming book “Dirty Wars.” “In the cases where people like Sen. Angus King or Sen. Ron Wyden would ask a real question, for instance, about whether or not the CIA has the right to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. The questions were very good — Brennan would then offer up a non-answer. Then there would be almost a no follow-up.” Scahill went on to say, “[Brennan has] served for more than four years as the assassination czar, and it basically looked like they’re discussing purchasing a used car on Capitol hill. And it was total kabuki oversight. And that’s a devastating commentary on where things stand...."
"President Obama’s nominee to run the CIA, John Brennan, forcefully defended Obama’s counterterrorism policies, including the increase use of armed drones and the targeted killings of American citizens during his confirmation hearing Thursday. “None of the central questions that should have been asked of John Brennan were asked in an effective way,” says Jeremy Scahill, author of the forthcoming book “Dirty Wars.” “In the cases where people like Sen. Angus King or Sen. Ron Wyden would ask a real question, for instance, about whether or not the CIA has the right to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. The questions were very good — Brennan would then offer up a non-answer. Then there would be almost a no follow-up.” Scahill went on to say, “[Brennan has] served for more than four years as the assassination czar, and it basically looked like they’re discussing purchasing a used car on Capitol hill. And it was total kabuki oversight. And that’s a devastating commentary on where things stand...."
Real News Video: Brennan Hearings: Who's Overseeing Who?
Ray McGovern: Hearing exposes how little oversight the Senate Intelligence Committee exercises over the CIA
Tunisia is no longer a revolutionary poster-child
Tunisia's revolution was
held up as a model. But rising political violence is a real threat to
progress
"......A report just released by Human Rights Watch cites attacks on activists, journalists, intellectual and political figures – all the incidents apparently "motivated by a religious agenda". Others have worried that the perpetrators of attacks on secular figures are not pursued rigorously by the coalition, thereby encouraging more of them.
There's concern that Ennahda has failed to act on verbal and physical attacks (for instance against a TV station, intellectuals and an art gallery last year) by the ultra-religious Salafi movement. And opposition groups, the General Labour Union and campaigners, including the Centre for Press Freedom, have voiced mounting concern at the Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution – neighbourhood protection groups claiming to fight corruption and old regime remnants. The opposition views them as Ennahda enforcers (though the party has dismissed claims of any affiliation with the leagues), and some Tunisians suspect them of being behind the murder of Belaid......."
Thursday, February 7, 2013
New regime, same brutality in Egypt
By Cam McGrath
Asia Times
"Video footage of Hamada Saber, an Egyptian protester, being dragged naked across a Cairo street and beaten by riot police has sparked outrage and intensified calls for police reform, a key demand of the 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak. With no change in a security culture that condoned torture, President Mohamed Morsi is accused of relying on the same brutality as his predecessors to crush dissent....."
Asia Times
"Video footage of Hamada Saber, an Egyptian protester, being dragged naked across a Cairo street and beaten by riot police has sparked outrage and intensified calls for police reform, a key demand of the 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak. With no change in a security culture that condoned torture, President Mohamed Morsi is accused of relying on the same brutality as his predecessors to crush dissent....."
New Actors in Middle East Peace Charade
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle
"Despite much saber-rattling by Israel and the US administration and hyped-up expectations by the Palestinian leadership, the recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state last November is fast becoming yet another footnote in the protracted conflict.......
Until Palestinians find an alternative to this sorry trio of Israel-US-PA peacemakers, all they can expect is more of the same – a secret conference here, another settlement there and an occasional Israeli handout, oddly enough, taken from Palestinians’ own tax money."
Palestine Chronicle
"Despite much saber-rattling by Israel and the US administration and hyped-up expectations by the Palestinian leadership, the recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state last November is fast becoming yet another footnote in the protracted conflict.......
Until Palestinians find an alternative to this sorry trio of Israel-US-PA peacemakers, all they can expect is more of the same – a secret conference here, another settlement there and an occasional Israeli handout, oddly enough, taken from Palestinians’ own tax money."
US media yet again conceals newsworthy government secrets
The
collective self-censorship over a US drone base in Saudi Arabia is but the
latest act of government-subservient 'journalism'
The US media, over the last decade (at least), has repeatedly acted to
conceal newsworthy information it obtains about the actions of the US
government. In each instance, the self-proclaimed adversarial press corps
conceals these facts at the behest of the US government, based on patently
absurd claims that reporting them will harm US national security. In each
instance, what this media concealment actually accomplishes is enabling the
dissemination of significant government falsehoods without challenge, and
permitting the continuation of government deceit and even illegality......"
Tunisia: Urgent need for investigation into Chokri Belaid’s killing
Amnesty International
".........In recent months, there have been a number of incidents of violence against political activists, premises of political parties and gatherings, including a meeting which Chokri Belaid attended as recently as last Saturday. He had reportedly been receiving threats.
“The Tunisian authorities should be under no illusion that they can condemn the killing and move on. Only a fully independent and transparent investigation can help shed light on the circumstances of the killing of Chokri Belaid. There is a need, today more than ever, for justice to be done and to be seen to be done”, said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.
“Two years after the ousting of former President Ben Ali, there is an increasing mistrust in the institutions that are supposed to protect human rights and Tunisians will not be satisfied with a sham investigation”.
“Today’s shocking killing must serve as a wake-up call to the authorities. It is their duty to protect all individuals, including those who criticize the government or Tunisia’s leading Ennahda party, from violence. No group, regardless of its affiliation, can be above the law”.
Amnesty International has raised serious concerns over the lack of independence of the judiciary and the need for reform of the security sector......"
".........In recent months, there have been a number of incidents of violence against political activists, premises of political parties and gatherings, including a meeting which Chokri Belaid attended as recently as last Saturday. He had reportedly been receiving threats.
“The Tunisian authorities should be under no illusion that they can condemn the killing and move on. Only a fully independent and transparent investigation can help shed light on the circumstances of the killing of Chokri Belaid. There is a need, today more than ever, for justice to be done and to be seen to be done”, said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.
“Two years after the ousting of former President Ben Ali, there is an increasing mistrust in the institutions that are supposed to protect human rights and Tunisians will not be satisfied with a sham investigation”.
“Today’s shocking killing must serve as a wake-up call to the authorities. It is their duty to protect all individuals, including those who criticize the government or Tunisia’s leading Ennahda party, from violence. No group, regardless of its affiliation, can be above the law”.
Amnesty International has raised serious concerns over the lack of independence of the judiciary and the need for reform of the security sector......"
Egypt: Impunity fuels sexual violence
"Letting perpetrators in Egypt get away with sexual harassment and assault has fuelled violent attacks against women in the vicinity of Tahrir Square in recent months - continued impunity will only lead to further crimes, Amnesty International warned today in a new briefing.
Based on the accounts of survivors and activists gathered by Amnesty International, mob-led sexual assaults follow a clear pattern.
Women are attacked alone or separated from friends by a group of men that quickly escalates in number; the survivors are dragged inside the mob as hands and sometimes weapons violate their bodies and the men attempt to remove their clothes.
“Horrific, violent attacks on women including rape in the vicinity of Tahrir Square demonstrate that it’s now crucial President Morsi takes drastic steps to end this culture of impunity and gender-based discrimination, and for all political leaders to speak out,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“Impartial, thorough investigations are vital to determine whether these mob attacks are co-ordinated by state or organized non-state actors and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice...."
Connect the Dots From Tunisia to Egypt: Incitement of violence against Egypt's opposition condemned
A religious edict sanctioning death for National Salvation Front opposition
members sparks outrage and controversy; Islamists join calls for action against
incitement
Mahmoud Shaaban, an Al-Azhar professor who also hosts a television show on the Islamic satellite Al-Hafez channel, made the statements, considered a religious fatwa, last week directly targeted at National Salvation Front (NSF) leaders Mohamed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabbahi, granting a green light for their killing.
Another Islamic, ultraconservative cleric, Wagdi Ghoneim, echoed Shaaban's statements by calling on all Muslims to "kill the thugs, criminals, and thieves who burn the country."
In response, ElBaradei on his official Twitter account Wednesday criticised the government for its silence over the statements made against him......"
Ahram Online , Thursday 7 Feb 2013
"Following controversial statements by an Al-Azhar professor claiming the
opposition should be punished by death for attempting to bring down a leader
elected by the public, a large number of Egyptians — Islamists and non-Islamists
alike — have expressed their condemnation.
Mahmoud Shaaban, an Al-Azhar professor who also hosts a television show on the Islamic satellite Al-Hafez channel, made the statements, considered a religious fatwa, last week directly targeted at National Salvation Front (NSF) leaders Mohamed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabbahi, granting a green light for their killing.
Another Islamic, ultraconservative cleric, Wagdi Ghoneim, echoed Shaaban's statements by calling on all Muslims to "kill the thugs, criminals, and thieves who burn the country."
In response, ElBaradei on his official Twitter account Wednesday criticised the government for its silence over the statements made against him......"
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Al-Jazeera Video: Egyptians take to streets against sexual violence
"In Egypt, thousands of men and women have marched against the sexual harrassment of female protestors.
More than 20 women were sexually assaulted last month during the second anniversary of the so-called "Arab Spring" protests that led to the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, former president.
But sexual violence is nothing new in Egypt, one study estimates that more than 80 percent of women have experienced it at least once.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from Cairo."
Al-Khatib’s Negotiation Proposal: A Crisis of Leadership?
by Karl Sharro
Moaz al-Khatib’s conditional proposal for negotiation with the Syrian regime has created much controversy among the ranks of the Syrian opposition, dominated by discussions about principles and tactics.
A more significant aspect of the proposal is that it reveals the improvised nature of decision making among the leadership of the ‘external’ opposition.
This makeshift approach to leadership will continue to squander the sacrifices of the Syrian people if not rectified urgently.
Such a change will require a bold decision to build a legitimate leadership on the ground in Syria.
Many criticized the head of the Syrian National Coalition’s proposal on the grounds that it represents a departure from the principle of not negotiating with Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Others argued that his conditions of releasing the estimated 160,000 political prisoners within Syrian jails and renewing the passport of Syrians abroad were worthy aims that justify such a negotiation.
But the merits of the proposal itself are, in fact, irrelevant.
The reality is that al-Khatib is in no position at the moment to make such proposals, nor is al-Assad disposed to recognising the National Coalition as the leading body of the uprising.
It is no secret that al-Khatib’s attempts at establishing control of the armed groups since his election in November have not been successful, nor have his attempts at consolidating the political leadership of the uprising within Syria.
Al-Khatib’s leadership, and that of the National Coalition, remains more dependent on external recognition than internal legitimacy.
In light of that and the apparent reluctance of Western governments to support the Syrian rebels, it is plausible to see al-Khatib’s proposal as an attempt at escaping forward and trying to change the dynamics of the situation to guarantee a role of the National Coalition.
The short-sightedness of this manoeuvre, however, is that it ignores that the ever-changing reality on the ground in Syria. The political vacuum left by the withdrawal of the government and the absence of the external opposition is being filled by emerging groups that are consolidating their power where it matters the most.
In fact, the Western reluctance to support the rebels is caused mainly by the anxiety towards the emerging Islamist and Jihadi elements within Syria and the increasingly larger role they are playing not only militarily but also politically and administratively.
No amount of external funding can compensate for this grassroots-type action. In highly fluid situation like that of Syria now, the pace of change can be quite fast and the rise of new Islamist organisations can galvanise within months. (Much like what happened in Iraq and Lebanon before).
The success of the Islamists on the ground isn’t only a logistical and military matter, the role of ideology is very important. Islamists build on a certain interpretation of religious texts that gives meaning to their fight and instils a sense of purpose among their supporters.
Meanwhile, the external opposition continues to talk in vague generalities that lack any substance. And the recently released National Coalition ‘vision for transition’ was an uninspiring technocratic document that epitomised this failure in building a convincing political discourse.
The only way for the National Coalition to gain legitimacy and a sense of purpose is to be on the ground among the Syrian people, to engage, lead and project their demands.
If the opposition cannot administer the regime-free areas and establish a foothold there, there’s very little chance that it could actually play an important role in Syria’s transition towards democracy. The testing ground for any leadership is their effectiveness in those areas and among the hundreds of thousands of refugees scattered around the neighbouring countries.
Al-Khatib’s mistake was not realising that one cannot negotiate from a position of weakness. If he is serious about turning the situation around, he and the National Coalition will have to compete with the likes of Al-Nusra Front for the support of the Syrian people, on the ground.
The opposition should not rule out a negotiated political settlement that can avoid the prospect of an elongated civil war which will only add to the devastation and loss of life, but it must earn a seat at the negotiating table first.
The ‘political opposition’ has repeatedly failed the Syrian uprising and did not rise to the level of representing the aspirations and sacrifices of the Syrian people.
This is not about personalities or frictions as many argue, it is because this process of political formation is happening in a sterile external environment that is disconnected from the realities of Syria.
The only way forward is grounding this process within its natural environment and among the people that are its real constituency.
Lawmakers Threaten Funding of Brooklyn College for Hosting Event on BDS Campaign Against Israel
Democracy Now!
"New York politicians are threatening to cut funding to Brooklyn College if the school hosts a forum Thursday night about the Palestinian-led campaign to boycott and divest from Israel. The Brooklyn College Political Science Department is among the event’s co-sponsors. In response, a group of New York City Council members has raised the possibility of Brooklyn College losing taxpayer support. The council members’ threat is just one of several efforts by local lawmakers, from Congress on down, to pressure Brooklyn College to remove its sponsorship or even cancel the event. As the school vows to proceed with the event, we’re joined by one of its featured speakers, author and activist Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the BDS movement and author of "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights." On BDS, Barghouti says, "It follows in the steps of the civil rights movement in this country, in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. … It’s just when we talk about Palestinian rights, that some people are trying to criminalize and make it completely unacceptable speech to address Palestinian rights under international law." We’re also joined by Glenn Greenwald, columnist for The Guardian and author of "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful." ...."
"New York politicians are threatening to cut funding to Brooklyn College if the school hosts a forum Thursday night about the Palestinian-led campaign to boycott and divest from Israel. The Brooklyn College Political Science Department is among the event’s co-sponsors. In response, a group of New York City Council members has raised the possibility of Brooklyn College losing taxpayer support. The council members’ threat is just one of several efforts by local lawmakers, from Congress on down, to pressure Brooklyn College to remove its sponsorship or even cancel the event. As the school vows to proceed with the event, we’re joined by one of its featured speakers, author and activist Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the BDS movement and author of "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights." On BDS, Barghouti says, "It follows in the steps of the civil rights movement in this country, in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. … It’s just when we talk about Palestinian rights, that some people are trying to criminalize and make it completely unacceptable speech to address Palestinian rights under international law." We’re also joined by Glenn Greenwald, columnist for The Guardian and author of "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful." ...."
Al-Jazeera Video: Reaction & Analysis: Tunisian opposition leader killed
"A top Tunisian opposition figure, Shokri Belaid, leader of the left-leaning opposition Democratic Patriots party, has been shot dead as he was leaving his home.
He was transported to a hospital in the suburbs of Tunis on Wednesday, where he died of his wounds, his bother confirmed."
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