Syria: Attacks on Schools Endanger Students

Children Interrogated, Arrested; Schools Shelled

Human Rights Watch

"(London) – The Syrian government has interrogated students and carried out violent assaults on their protests and military attacks on schools, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.Both government forces and opposition armed groups have used schools as military bases, barracks, detention centers, and sniper posts, turning places of learning into military targets and putting students at risk.

The 33-page report, “Safe No More: Students and Schools under Attack in Syria,” is based on more than 70 interviews, including with 16 students and 11 teachers who fled Syria, primarily from Daraa, Homs, and greater Damascus. The report documents the use of schools for military purposes by both sides. It also describes how teachers and state security agents interrogated and beat students for alleged anti-government activity, and how security forces and shabiha, pro-government militias, assaulted peaceful student demonstrations. In several instances reported to Human Rights Watch, government forces fired on school buildings that were not being used for military purposes.

“Syrian children have had to face things in the horrors of war that no child should have to bear – interrogated, targeted, and attacked,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “Schools should be havens, but in a country that once valued schooling, many Syrian children aren’t even getting basic education and are losing out on their future.”......."

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Larry Wilkerson: The appointment of Susan Rice as National Security Advisor and nomination of Samantha Power to the UN is a concern as both favor using military power to intervene in other countries affairs  

Austria to withdraw Golan Heights peacekeepers over Syrian fighting

Austrians account for about 380 of the 1,000-strong UN force monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 June 2013

"........"This morning's developments show that a further delay (in pulling out soldiers) is no longer justifiable," the Austrian statement said.
As the only passage between Syria and the Golan Heights, Quneitra crossing has significant symbolic importance to the Syrian regime. The town itself also marks a strategic gateway connecting Damascus to the Syrian south.
Regime forces were reported to have reclaimed the position within hours of the rebel victory, but fighting continued, resulting in three mortars landing in Israeli territory. Israeli officials described the development as "very worrying".

"There are three major issues of concern in Syria: strategic weapons, chemical weapons and the Golan Heights," one senior official explained.

"The [Assad] regime has assured us [of]quiet on the Golan border for 40 years. Now it seems we have someone in control of that border who has their back to us now but may turn around and face us at any point."....."

Guardian Video: Israel shuts down parts of Golan Heights after Syrian rebels seize border crossing

"The Israeli military has shut down the area leading to the old city of Quneitra in Golan Heights after fighting between the Syrian opposition and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's forces. Ronen Gilboa, who manages fields at a nearby kibbutz, says no crops were harvested on Thursday as a result of the safety order"

Flogging a Dead Horse in Geneva, by Khalil Bendib

A Great Cartoon by Emad Hajjaj

On the 46th Anniversary of the Fall (and Occupation) of the Golan Heights (by Israel).......
Assad Declares "Liberation" of Qusayr! 

Obama Shakeup Puts Syria Action on Front Burner

Rice and Power Both Outspoken Supporters of Intervention in General

"The ouster of Tom Donilon from the position of National Security Adviser (NSA) in favor of Susan Rice portends a much more hawkish voice in the powerful advisory position, and introduces another hawk, Samantha Power, to a position of influence.
The NSA position, under Obama, has been arguably more important than the Secretary of State position, and Rice’s move into it makes her the nation’s top foreign policy planner, and one with a keen eye on military intervention in Syria.
Donilon, by contrast, was focused on the “Asian pivot” and getting the US relatively less militarily involved globally, while staying out of the policy limelight. Rice, by contrast, is likely to be more public and more bellicose on her belief in the US military as a global force for change.
Taking Rice’s place at the UN is Samantha Power, a long-time adviser for Obama who is seen as having driven US involvement in the attack on Libya and the NATO-imposed regime change, arguing that the US had a “moral obligation” to do so. She is seen to be bringing that same position to the Syria situation, again on “humanitarian” grounds."

Egypt's gathering economic gloom leaves millions facing food shortages

As post-revolution Egypt faces its worst financial crisis since the 1930s, food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty rates are rising

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 June 2013

People buy bread in Cairo. Government-subsidised bakeries can only go so far in addressing Egypt's growing nutrition crisis. Photograph: Shawn Baldwin/Getty Images

"The queues get longer every day. The rising cost of food in Egypt is sending more people to the thousands of government-subsidised bakeries across the country offering a lifeline to a population struggling to cope.
As they wait for bread, customers in Cairo's Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood say they are feeling the pinch acutely. "Rice and beans suddenly seem so expensive," says one mother of four. "And the price of tomatoes is rising so fast you'd think there were none in the country."

As she joins the queue, another customer says she is having to avoid meat entirely now. "I have three children and I know they're lacking in protein. When I look at them, I see they're not growing properly," she says.

Levels of food insecurity in Egypt have risen significantly over the past three years, according to a report by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Egypt's official statistical agency, Capmas. In 2011, about 13.7 million Egyptians – 17% of the population – experienced food insecurity, compared with 14% in 2009.........

Although Egypt's economy has foundered since the 2011 revolution, experts say the growing nutrition crisis has deeper roots. "This increase in food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty rates has not happened overnight, during this year or even during the past year," says WFP Egypt director Gian Pietro Bordignon. "People's inability to have adequate and nutritious food is largely attributed to rising poverty rates and a succession of crises from 2005.""

Al-Jazeera Video: ما وراء الخبر- التداعيات السياسية لمعركة القصير

حكومات فلسطينية لا تحكم

"......

الهروب من الحقيقة
الحقيقة الماثلة في الضفة الغربية تقول إن الفلسطينيين ليسوا أصحاب قرار، وإن الأميركيين والإسرائيليين هم في النهاية الذين يقررون.

هناك هامش ثانوي ضئيل أمام الفلسطينيين لاتخاذ قرارات، وهو متعلق ببعض العلاقات الداخلية الثانوية والمنافسات والإمعان في الفساد والمناكفات التي تستنزف الطاقات، لكنهم لا يستطيعون القفز عن إرادة الغير فيما يتعلق بمسائل تتعلق بإسرائيل.

فمثلا لا يستطيع الفلسطينيون فتح شارع جديد داخل مدينة إذا اعترضت عليه إسرائيل، ولا يستطيعون حفر بئر ماء داخل مدينة إلا بإذن من إسرائيل.

يسمح الإسرائيليون أحيانا للسلطة بتصرف يقيم لها شأنا أو هيبة، لكن هذا السماح موسمي ولا يشكل ظاهرة.

ولهذا ما هو متوقع الآن على الساحة الفلسطينية مع رئاسة الوزراء الجديدة يتعلق بصورة كبيرة بإعادة ترتيب مراكز القوى داخل السلطة الفلسطينية، بحيث يخسر بعض المتنفذين السابقين بعض مواقعهم وحظوظهم المالية والترفيهية لصالح آخرين ممن كانوا بعيدين عن الحلقة السياسية الأولى.

وسيبقى الخاسرون والرابحون تحت المظلة الخارجية رغم إطلاقهم للشعارات الوطنية الساخنة بين الحين والآخر.

والحقيقة المرة التي يحاول قادة السلطة الفلسطينية الهروب منها تتعلق بأزمة الشرعية. أين هي الشرعية الفلسطينية إذا كان رئيس السلطة يلعب في الوقت الضائع، وكذلك المجلس التشريعي ومجالس منظمة التحرير، ورئاسة الوزراء بدون ثقة المشرع؟

"

Al-Jazeera Video: Lebanese authorities impose curfew on Syrian refugees

As U.S. Deploys Patriot Missiles and F-16s to Jordan, Could Syrian Conflict Engulf the Middle East?

Democracy Now!

"Pro-government Syrian forces have seized control of the key border town of Qusair, which had been controlled by rebel fighters for the past year. This comes as the United Nations accuses both sides of the Syrian conflict of reaching "new levels of brutality." Since fighting broke out over two years ago in Syria, more than 80,000 people have been killed and another 1.6 million Syrian refugees have fled. We’re joined by longtime foreign correspondent Patrick Cockburn of The Independent, who recently returned from Syria where he reported on how the conflict is spreading across the Middle East. Cockburn warns that pending global peace talks will have no effect without a ceasefire on the ground. "The best you could really hope for at this stage is a ceasefire, get the level of violence down, and then later you might have talks of sharing power," Cockburn says. "But you are not going to have that at the moment."...."

War, Arab Style! By Emad Hajjaj

USRAEL IS LAUGHING ITS HEAD OFF.......
THE PLAN IS WORKING PERFECTLY!
WITHOUT USRAEL FIRING A SHOT.

Egypt must overturn jail sentence for NGO workers

Amnesty International

"Egypt’s authorities must overturn the conviction of 43 people for working at unregistered non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Egypt and receiving illegal foreign funding, Amnesty International said.

The NGO workers were sentenced to between one and five years in prison by the Cairo Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Amnesty International urges the Egyptian authorities to respect freedom of association and enable NGOs to carry out work in the country without hindrance.

“The verdict appears to be intended to deal a deadly blow to civil society in Egypt,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“The Egyptian authorities must act now to protect independent civil society in Egypt and respect their commitment to human rights. This ruling sends a message that the Egyptian authorities continue to view NGOs with suspicion because of their work addressing and exposing human rights violations.”

Five of the 43 NGO workers were sentenced to two years in jail and fined 1,000 Egyptian pounds (US$143). ...."

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Egypt's double standards on sovereignty

Politicians caught plotting against Ethiopia

By Brian Whitaker

"Foreign plots, real or imagined, are the bread and butter of Arab politics. No country guards its sovereignty more jealously than Egypt and even the merest hint of external interference is liable to bring a tough response – hence the jail sentences imposed yesterday on 43 NGO workers accused of receiving funds from abroad.

But the sovereignty principle doesn't necessarily apply when Egypt is the country doing the interfering.

On Monday, President Morsi held a "national dialogue" meeting with senior politicians from various parties to discuss Ethiopia's construction of a dam on the Blue Nile – a move that will affect Egypt's water supplies.

Those attending assumed the discussions were private but Morsi had decided the issue was so important that the discussions should be broadcast live. 

Unfortunately, presidential officials forgot to tell the other politicians who – unaware that others were listening – came up with a succession of ideas for pressurising (or scaring) Ethiopia into changing its mind about the dam.

• Abul Ela Mady, chairman of the Wasat Party, suggested sending army destroyers to the Bab al-Mandab strait at the entrance to the Red Sea and spreading rumours that Egypt wass about to attack the Ethiopian dam.
• Yunis Makhyun of the conservative-Islamist Nur Party
  proposed offering support to Ethiopian rebels in order to "put pressure on the Ethiopian government."
• Ayman Nour of the liberal Ghad Party proposed spreading rumours that Egypt was buying advanced military planes (which he described as an intelligence technique of intimidation). He also suggested Cairo send political, intelligence and military teams to Addis Ababa because "we need to intervene in their domestic affairs".

The presidential office has now apologised for embarrassment caused to the politicians by not telling them about the broadcast. But so far there has been no apology to Ethiopia.

While many Egyptians have been shocked by the incident, some have been amused.

TV talk show host Reem Magued commented: "It's true that we asked for transparency from the government, but not like this ...""
  

Syrian town of Qusair falls to Hezbollah in breakthrough for Assad

Rebels confirm they have pulled out of strategic town after three-week siege by Lebanese militia

Martin Chulov in Beirut
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 June 2013

"....The majority Sunni town also stands incongruously between the Shia villages of northern Lebanon and along the border itself and Syria's Alawite heartland, which spreads from near Homs north-west to the Mediterranean cities of Latakia and Tartous.

Maintaining a contiguous link between the areas is believed to have been a military goal for regime officials in the event that the war leads to a breakdown of borders in the region and a need to consolidate a safe zone for the Alawite and Shia populations.

Buoyed by victory in Qusair, a broader role for Hezbollah is now thought to be on the agenda. Unconfirmed reports in recent days have suggested that the group will now be moved to Aleppo in similarly large numbers, where it will attempt to dislodge rebel groups who have controlled 60% of Syria's largest city for the past 10 months."

Guardian Video: Syrian rebels fight for border town of Qusair

"Footage uploaded to the internet by opposition activists purports to show a recent battle between Syrian rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in orchards said to be close to the contested town of Qusair near the Lebanese border. "

France says tests from Syria show sarin use

Foreign minister says there is "no doubt" that regime and accomplices used nerve agent, without specifying details.

"France says it is certain that the nerve agent sarin has been used in Syria on several occasions following tests it has carried out on samples recovered from the country.

"These tests show the presence of sarin in various samples in our possession," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the test results had been handed to the United Nations.

The Syrian regime and the opposition have traded accusations that the other side have used chemical weapons during the two-year-long conflict.

"We have no doubt that the gas is being used ... the laboratory tests are clear," he told France 2 television about the blood and hair samples later on Tuesday. "There is no doubt that the regime and its accomplices" are using them, he added.

France has been testing samples of suspected chemical weapon elements for several weeks, including some smuggled out by reporters from the French daily Le Monde.

"It would be unacceptable that those guilty of these crimes remain unpunished," Fabius said.

Use of chemical weapons is illegal under international law.

An exiled chemist who worked on developing Syria's chemical weapons told Al Jazeera last month that the country's stockpile comprises 700 tonnes of sarin agent......"