Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story: Egypt's clash of religions
"Inside Story, discusses with Michael Mounir, a Coptic activist and lobbyist; Sharif Abdel Kouddous, a correspondent at Democracy Now!; and Rabab El-Mahdi, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo."
Real News Video: Saudis Rely on Pakistan's Military
Muhammad Junaid: Saudi Security Council Chief asks Pakistan's support to suppress dissent
Déjà Vu All Over Again, Just Like Fatah Before! Keep Chasing That US Bubble!
Another Pathetic Article
By Dr. Ahmed Yousef
(Former senior Advisor to Gaza-based Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.)
Palestine Chronicle
".....So I continue to have faith that sooner or later—and I very much hope sooner—the Obama team will ramp up pressure on Israel to get with the program, to recognize a Palestine state on pre-1967 borders and Jerusalem its capital. And I think that pressure has to contain the message, the threat, that if you continue to stall, continue to backtrack, continue to play with Jerusalem-a sacred place and a flash-point for 1.3 billion Muslim-you will be more and more left on your own, surrounded by neighbors who will no longer submit to being humiliated, and who will grow increasingly prepared to support Palestinian efforts—including all forms of resistance-to win their legitimate rights."
By Dr. Ahmed Yousef
(Former senior Advisor to Gaza-based Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.)
Palestine Chronicle
".....So I continue to have faith that sooner or later—and I very much hope sooner—the Obama team will ramp up pressure on Israel to get with the program, to recognize a Palestine state on pre-1967 borders and Jerusalem its capital. And I think that pressure has to contain the message, the threat, that if you continue to stall, continue to backtrack, continue to play with Jerusalem-a sacred place and a flash-point for 1.3 billion Muslim-you will be more and more left on your own, surrounded by neighbors who will no longer submit to being humiliated, and who will grow increasingly prepared to support Palestinian efforts—including all forms of resistance-to win their legitimate rights."
Fatah and Hamas’ Honeymoon Could Face Problems
Analysis by Mel Frykberg
"RAMALLAH - Despite the euphoria surrounding the recent signing in Cairo of the groundbreaking unity accord between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas, ending their four-year feud, numerous obstacles remain which could impinge on the implementation of a unity government.....
Hamas also showed pragmatism in meeting the PA and the international community’s demands in several other ways. The organisation stated that it would only continue armed resistance against the Israeli occupation in coordination with the PA [which means no resistance.] and would respect PA foreign policy in regard to previous agreements signed [which means implicitly accepting the Quartet conditions and the recognition of Israel.]with the international community.
Furthermore, Hamas said it wanted a Palestinian state established along the 1967 borders, as does the PA - in accordance with international law. Some Hamas leaders have stated in the past that a political accommodation with Israel based on recognition of its existence as a defacto reality on the ground was possible even if they questioned its justness.
IPS interviewed Ahmed Youssef, an advisor to Gaza-based Hamas defacto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, on whether Hamas would ever recognise Israel. "We would be prepared to implement a Tadhiya [long-term truce] for 40 years and then leave it to the next generation to decide the next steps,[More weasel words from Hamas about recognizing Israel.]" Youssef told IPS....."
"RAMALLAH - Despite the euphoria surrounding the recent signing in Cairo of the groundbreaking unity accord between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas, ending their four-year feud, numerous obstacles remain which could impinge on the implementation of a unity government.....
Hamas also showed pragmatism in meeting the PA and the international community’s demands in several other ways. The organisation stated that it would only continue armed resistance against the Israeli occupation in coordination with the PA [which means no resistance.] and would respect PA foreign policy in regard to previous agreements signed [which means implicitly accepting the Quartet conditions and the recognition of Israel.]with the international community.
Furthermore, Hamas said it wanted a Palestinian state established along the 1967 borders, as does the PA - in accordance with international law. Some Hamas leaders have stated in the past that a political accommodation with Israel based on recognition of its existence as a defacto reality on the ground was possible even if they questioned its justness.
IPS interviewed Ahmed Youssef, an advisor to Gaza-based Hamas defacto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, on whether Hamas would ever recognise Israel. "We would be prepared to implement a Tadhiya [long-term truce] for 40 years and then leave it to the next generation to decide the next steps,[More weasel words from Hamas about recognizing Israel.]" Youssef told IPS....."
دعوة مصرية لمسيرة إلى غزة
بمناسبة ذكرى النكبة
"دعا ناشطون شباب في مصر إلى مسيرة تنطلق من ميدان التحرير في قلب القاهرة, ومن محافظات مصرية أخرى تتوجه إلى فلسطين، ليبيت المشاركون فيها ليلة في قطاع غزة، وذلك بمناسبة ذكرى النكبة. أعلن ذلك ممثلون لاثني عشر تجمعا سياسيا شبابيا من بينهم شباب حركة كفاية.
وقال الشباب في مؤتمر صحفي إن المسيرة تستهدف تأكيد حق العودة لجميع اللاجئين الفلسطينيين, والمطالبة بفتح معبر رفح بشكل دائم, ووقف تصدير الغاز المصري لإسرائيل والإفراج عن جميع المعتقلين الفلسطينيين في السجون المصرية.
يأتي ذلك في وقت عبر فيه فلسطينيون في قطاع غزة كذلك عن ترقب كبير لما سيصدر عن مصر ما بعد الثورة، وبدا أنهم يعلقون آمالا وأحلاما كبيرة على التغيير الذي حدث في مصر
...."
"دعا ناشطون شباب في مصر إلى مسيرة تنطلق من ميدان التحرير في قلب القاهرة, ومن محافظات مصرية أخرى تتوجه إلى فلسطين، ليبيت المشاركون فيها ليلة في قطاع غزة، وذلك بمناسبة ذكرى النكبة. أعلن ذلك ممثلون لاثني عشر تجمعا سياسيا شبابيا من بينهم شباب حركة كفاية.
وقال الشباب في مؤتمر صحفي إن المسيرة تستهدف تأكيد حق العودة لجميع اللاجئين الفلسطينيين, والمطالبة بفتح معبر رفح بشكل دائم, ووقف تصدير الغاز المصري لإسرائيل والإفراج عن جميع المعتقلين الفلسطينيين في السجون المصرية.
يأتي ذلك في وقت عبر فيه فلسطينيون في قطاع غزة كذلك عن ترقب كبير لما سيصدر عن مصر ما بعد الثورة، وبدا أنهم يعلقون آمالا وأحلاما كبيرة على التغيير الذي حدث في مصر
...."
Bahrain topples its own people
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"March 14, 2011, will go down in history as the infamous day when the House of Saud launched - with full United States backing - a vicious counter-revolution designed to smash the Gulf chapter of the great 2011 Arab revolt. (See Exposed: The US/Saudi Libya deal Asia Times Online, April 2, 2011).
This is the day Saudi troops - with a token few from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - invaded Bahrain, theoretically at the request of the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty, to "help" in the crackdown on nationwide pro-democracy protests.....
Then there's the new House of Saud/al-Khalifa sport of "smash the mosque". At least 27 mosques and scores of religious buildings have been destroyed - including the 400-year-old Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque. Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla al-Khalifa, has claimed, "These are not mosques. These are illegal buildings."
That's the al-Khalifa icing on the cake after they virtually destroyed the Bahraini health care system (run essentially by Shi'ites); fired over a thousand Shi'ite civil servants and canceled their pensions; jailed scores of students and teachers who took part in the protests; beat and arrested journalists; and closed down the only opposition newspaper.
As part of the US/Saudi deal, Bahrain - and by extension the House of Saud - can get away with anything; all praise for the al-Khalifas for hosting the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. No UN sanctions or even a slap on the wrist; no no-fly or no-drive zone approved by a UN resolution; no arming of the "rebels"; no North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombing; no burning desire for regime change as in Libya; no Tomahawk diplomacy; and of course no target assassinations.
For the moment at least, sizable Anglo-American investments in Bahrain are "protected"; as for the British merchants of death who sell hand grenades, demolition charges, smoke canisters and thunder flashes to the al-Khalifa repression machine, business can only prosper. "
Egypt is still ruled by an iron fist
The government response to clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians smacks of Mubarak-era authoritarianism
Kate Allen
( The director of Amnesty International UK)
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 May 2011
"The threat by the Egyptian justice minister, Abdel-Aziz al-Gindi, that law-breakers in the country will face "an iron fist" after Muslim-Christian violence at the weekend is a worrying one.
The sequence of events at the Saint Mena Coptic Christian church is still unclear, but certainly this kind of communal violence in Egypt has a long and disturbing history. It's right that the authorities take a zero-tolerance approach to all signs of co-ordinated violence against the country's small Coptic Christian population. But an iron fist? And hauling nearly 200 people before military courts?
This all smacks of Mubarak-era authoritarianism. And it's just the latest instance of Egypt's caretaker military rulers behaving in a draconian fashion while the world looks away.....
Up to 10,000 people were held in administrative detention under longstanding emergency law powers in the final period of Mubarak's rule and some of these have now been released (1,659 by the middle of March). Yet the new Egyptian authorities have still not revealed exactly how many such prisoners are still held or set out a process for their release, even when there is a court order requiring it.
The unvarnished truth is that Egypt's jails have recently been filling up with men, women and teenagers and its new rulers are betraying the hope and promise of Egypt's massive February protests....."
Kate Allen
( The director of Amnesty International UK)
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 May 2011
"The threat by the Egyptian justice minister, Abdel-Aziz al-Gindi, that law-breakers in the country will face "an iron fist" after Muslim-Christian violence at the weekend is a worrying one.
The sequence of events at the Saint Mena Coptic Christian church is still unclear, but certainly this kind of communal violence in Egypt has a long and disturbing history. It's right that the authorities take a zero-tolerance approach to all signs of co-ordinated violence against the country's small Coptic Christian population. But an iron fist? And hauling nearly 200 people before military courts?
This all smacks of Mubarak-era authoritarianism. And it's just the latest instance of Egypt's caretaker military rulers behaving in a draconian fashion while the world looks away.....
Up to 10,000 people were held in administrative detention under longstanding emergency law powers in the final period of Mubarak's rule and some of these have now been released (1,659 by the middle of March). Yet the new Egyptian authorities have still not revealed exactly how many such prisoners are still held or set out a process for their release, even when there is a court order requiring it.
The unvarnished truth is that Egypt's jails have recently been filling up with men, women and teenagers and its new rulers are betraying the hope and promise of Egypt's massive February protests....."
Syria death toll rises as city is placed under siege
Amnesty International
9 May 2011
"At least 48 people have been killed in Syria by the security forces in the last four days, local and international human rights activists have told Amnesty International, as the crackdown on the coastal city of Banias intensified.
More than 350 people – including 48 women and a 10-year-old child – are also said to have been arrested in the Banias area over the past three days with scores being detained at a local football pitch. Among those rounded up were at least three doctors and 11 injured people taken from a hospital.
“Killings of protesters are spiralling out of control in Syria – President Bashar al-Assad must order his security forces to stop the carnage immediately,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Amnesty International has compiled the names of 28 people who were apparently shot dead by security forces on Friday and those of 12 others killed over the last three days.
The organization now has the names of 580 protesters and others killed since mid-March, when protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad began....."
9 May 2011
"At least 48 people have been killed in Syria by the security forces in the last four days, local and international human rights activists have told Amnesty International, as the crackdown on the coastal city of Banias intensified.
More than 350 people – including 48 women and a 10-year-old child – are also said to have been arrested in the Banias area over the past three days with scores being detained at a local football pitch. Among those rounded up were at least three doctors and 11 injured people taken from a hospital.
“Killings of protesters are spiralling out of control in Syria – President Bashar al-Assad must order his security forces to stop the carnage immediately,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Amnesty International has compiled the names of 28 people who were apparently shot dead by security forces on Friday and those of 12 others killed over the last three days.
The organization now has the names of 580 protesters and others killed since mid-March, when protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad began....."
Breathless in Egypt
The long-term effects of revolution highlight influences from Lenin to Serbian activism amid a new globalist approach.
NOTE:
This is the full version of the excellent analysis by Mark Levine which I posted yesterday.
Al-Jazeera
"....
Women and freedom
...
More broadly, many young and seemingly secular women are angry, not merely at their marginalisation in the emerging political system, but at the even greater harassment they are suffering at the hands - sometimes literally - of their conservative countrymen....
Claiming undue credit
...
Not surprisingly, more hardcore left and religious activists dismiss such claims of a substantial US role as baseless. "It's the most ludicrous claim I've ever heard," exclaimed prominent blogger and labour activist Hossam El Hamalawy, as we stood in the midst of an increasingly agitated anti-Assad protest at the Syrian embassy in Dokki. A constant presence at Tahrir who has spent years organising Egyptian workers, El Hamalawy was equally dismissive of the notion that the uprising was essentially non-violent, a la Gene Sharp's work.
"When the police attacked us we fought back, with rocks and molotov cocktails. Protesters burned down the NDP headquarters and police stations and in the case of northern Sinai, even blew up State Security facilities using RPGs. This is not a non-violent revolution."
He certainly has a point. A certain type of violence played a pivotal role early on in establishing the control of protesters over Tahrir, scaring off the police, and letting the army know that people were ready to fight to the death to take down Mubarak. But it's also true that the overall strategy was one of mass protest and strike actions to break down the regime, not armed rebellion.
Indeed, as we discussed this issue a squad of Egyptian riot police in full body armour showed up, ready to pounce on the increasingly rowdy demonstrators, who were shaking the gates of the Syrian embassy and beginning to throw things over the wall.
But then something fascinating happened. Organisers began shouting "Silmiyya, Silmiyya!" ["Peaceful"], a chant I first heard in Tahrir, and the local police officer trying to control the protest literally ran up to the riot police and implored them to back off, which they did, after which the protest continued without escalating. As several people commented to me, it's hard to imagine this scene, or the success of the uprising more broadly, had non-violence not been a primary strategic and moral choice of the protesters.
What is clear is that the larger claim of US influence is clearly much exaggerated.....
Lenin's revenge
Bassem Fathy, now with the Egyptian Democracy Institute, is still angry at how the New York Times imposed this narrative over his words, which created a lot of anger among other activists. "Look, how can I say that Gene Sharp, or meeting Optur activists didn't affect us at least somewhat? I read a lot, searching for a 'magic stick' that would help us succeed. And we've received support from the NED and NDI.
"But we didn't need Americans to teach us how to use Facebook, and they're not responsible for the revolution. It's too big to be owned by anyone, especially an outside force. It was the ordinary people who came out en masse on January 25 through 27 who are the heroes."
In previous articles, I have written about the influence of Lenin on the thinking and strategies of the organisers. Continued discussions with Revolutionary Socialist activists who played a crucial role organising Tahrir and now in the workers movement confirm this assessment. Certainly Lenin outdid the CIA in influencing young activists before, during, and since the uprising. The clarity of vision and organisational strategy provided by the Leninist model is one reason why, according to El Hamalawy, "the only social movement right now that is continuing the struggle is the labour movement [and not the Brotherhood]... There are strikes daily and they are over bread and butter and political issues".
"Lenin's 'What is to be Done' and 'April Notes' helped shape our strategy, as did Marx's theories," Ahmed Ezzat explained. Organising revolutionary committees, uniting labour leaders from various sectors of the economy, creating independent trade unions and launching strikes - despite regime violence against them, were all and remain among the most powerful tools in the ongoing struggle against the still military-dominated economic and political system.
Even the more mainstream wing of the democratic resistance, led by people like Google executive Wael Ghonem, understood intuitively that without the poor and working class, the pro-democracy movement would never succeed. And so they organised "test runs" of the protest tactics and slogans that would define Tahrir in the period leading up to January 25, and took the enthusiastic response to slogans focusing on economic issues by people in popular quarters as proof that the protests would have legs, once launched...... "
NOTE:
This is the full version of the excellent analysis by Mark Levine which I posted yesterday.
Al-Jazeera
"....
Women and freedom
...
More broadly, many young and seemingly secular women are angry, not merely at their marginalisation in the emerging political system, but at the even greater harassment they are suffering at the hands - sometimes literally - of their conservative countrymen....
Claiming undue credit
...
Not surprisingly, more hardcore left and religious activists dismiss such claims of a substantial US role as baseless. "It's the most ludicrous claim I've ever heard," exclaimed prominent blogger and labour activist Hossam El Hamalawy, as we stood in the midst of an increasingly agitated anti-Assad protest at the Syrian embassy in Dokki. A constant presence at Tahrir who has spent years organising Egyptian workers, El Hamalawy was equally dismissive of the notion that the uprising was essentially non-violent, a la Gene Sharp's work.
"When the police attacked us we fought back, with rocks and molotov cocktails. Protesters burned down the NDP headquarters and police stations and in the case of northern Sinai, even blew up State Security facilities using RPGs. This is not a non-violent revolution."
He certainly has a point. A certain type of violence played a pivotal role early on in establishing the control of protesters over Tahrir, scaring off the police, and letting the army know that people were ready to fight to the death to take down Mubarak. But it's also true that the overall strategy was one of mass protest and strike actions to break down the regime, not armed rebellion.
Indeed, as we discussed this issue a squad of Egyptian riot police in full body armour showed up, ready to pounce on the increasingly rowdy demonstrators, who were shaking the gates of the Syrian embassy and beginning to throw things over the wall.
But then something fascinating happened. Organisers began shouting "Silmiyya, Silmiyya!" ["Peaceful"], a chant I first heard in Tahrir, and the local police officer trying to control the protest literally ran up to the riot police and implored them to back off, which they did, after which the protest continued without escalating. As several people commented to me, it's hard to imagine this scene, or the success of the uprising more broadly, had non-violence not been a primary strategic and moral choice of the protesters.
What is clear is that the larger claim of US influence is clearly much exaggerated.....
Lenin's revenge
Bassem Fathy, now with the Egyptian Democracy Institute, is still angry at how the New York Times imposed this narrative over his words, which created a lot of anger among other activists. "Look, how can I say that Gene Sharp, or meeting Optur activists didn't affect us at least somewhat? I read a lot, searching for a 'magic stick' that would help us succeed. And we've received support from the NED and NDI.
"But we didn't need Americans to teach us how to use Facebook, and they're not responsible for the revolution. It's too big to be owned by anyone, especially an outside force. It was the ordinary people who came out en masse on January 25 through 27 who are the heroes."
In previous articles, I have written about the influence of Lenin on the thinking and strategies of the organisers. Continued discussions with Revolutionary Socialist activists who played a crucial role organising Tahrir and now in the workers movement confirm this assessment. Certainly Lenin outdid the CIA in influencing young activists before, during, and since the uprising. The clarity of vision and organisational strategy provided by the Leninist model is one reason why, according to El Hamalawy, "the only social movement right now that is continuing the struggle is the labour movement [and not the Brotherhood]... There are strikes daily and they are over bread and butter and political issues".
"Lenin's 'What is to be Done' and 'April Notes' helped shape our strategy, as did Marx's theories," Ahmed Ezzat explained. Organising revolutionary committees, uniting labour leaders from various sectors of the economy, creating independent trade unions and launching strikes - despite regime violence against them, were all and remain among the most powerful tools in the ongoing struggle against the still military-dominated economic and political system.
Even the more mainstream wing of the democratic resistance, led by people like Google executive Wael Ghonem, understood intuitively that without the poor and working class, the pro-democracy movement would never succeed. And so they organised "test runs" of the protest tactics and slogans that would define Tahrir in the period leading up to January 25, and took the enthusiastic response to slogans focusing on economic issues by people in popular quarters as proof that the protests would have legs, once launched...... "
Monday, May 9, 2011
Video: A Syrian Child Murdered by the Syrian Regime in Homs, Sunday May 8, 2011
Just As Israel Does With Palestinian Children.....
The Bloody Syrian Regime Slaughters Syrian Children:
شام - حمص - الحولة - الطفل الشهيد محمد قاسم الأحمد 8-5
The Bloody Syrian Regime Slaughters Syrian Children:
شام - حمص - الحولة - الطفل الشهيد محمد قاسم الأحمد 8-5
Syria just like Israel denies UN commission to enter Daraa
The UN has expressed concern about the situation in the southern Syrian city of Deraa as a government crackdown on dissent continues.
It said a humanitarian mission had not been allowed access to the city, and a UN agency had been unable to get medical supplies to refugees.
Deraa has been cut off for the past two weeks, after troops and tanks were sent in to restore government control.
Meanwhile, the EU has announced an arms embargo on Syria.
In a statement, the bloc said it was banning the shipment to Syria of "arms and equipment that could be used for internal repression".
Thirteen "officials and associates of the Syrian regime" are banned from travelling anywhere in the 27-nation union and have had their assets in EU countries frozen.
HopesThe UN announced last week that President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to a request from the global body's Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, for a humanitarian mission to be sent to Deraa, where scores of protesters are reported to have been killed in recent weeks.
But UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters on Monday: "We were expecting to go in with a mission to Deraa yesterday. That was postponed by the government."
She said no reason had been given, but added that she had been assured relief teams would be allowed to "go in later this week, which I very much hope will be possible".
Recorded in Damascus, security harassing women on the street and arresting peaceful protesters
عناصر الأمن تفض اعتصام عرنوس بالقوة وتعتقل المتظاهرين
Al-Jazeera Video: Syria Unrest: Syrians defiant despite mass arrests
"Journalists cannot work freely in Syria because of severe restrictions on reporting.
Therefore, Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr has been reporting from neighbouring Lebanon - and gives us the latest on some of the unverified footage uploaded to the internet by activists inside Syria."
Blindfolded, beaten and tortured: grim new testimony reveals fate of Bahrain's persecuted doctors
Horrifying evidence sheds light on brutality of state crackdown on medical staff. Jeremy Laurance reports
The Independent
"Harrowing testimony of torture, intimidation and humiliation from a doctor arrested in the crackdown on medical staff in Bahrain has revealed the lengths to which the regime's security forces are prepared to go to quash pro-democracy protests.
Interviews obtained by The Independent from inside Bahrain tell of ransacked hospitals and of terrified medical staff beaten, interrogated and forced into signing false confessions. Many have been detained, their fate unknown.
Inspired by the pro-democracy protests which swept Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year, Bahrainis took to the streets in their thousands in February, demanding greater political rights and more equality for the Shia Muslim majority, ruled over for decades by a Sunni monarchy.
The state launched a fierce counter-offensive in mid-March, swiftly and brutally crushing the uprising with the backing of Saudi security forces.
The campaign of intimidation against the doctors and nurses who bore witness to the bloody crackdown began two months ago at Salmaniya Medical Complex, the main hospital in the capital Manama. It has since been extended to at least nine health centres which have been systematically attacked by the security forces over the past month, an activist cataloguing the abuses says...."
The Independent
"Harrowing testimony of torture, intimidation and humiliation from a doctor arrested in the crackdown on medical staff in Bahrain has revealed the lengths to which the regime's security forces are prepared to go to quash pro-democracy protests.
Interviews obtained by The Independent from inside Bahrain tell of ransacked hospitals and of terrified medical staff beaten, interrogated and forced into signing false confessions. Many have been detained, their fate unknown.
Inspired by the pro-democracy protests which swept Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year, Bahrainis took to the streets in their thousands in February, demanding greater political rights and more equality for the Shia Muslim majority, ruled over for decades by a Sunni monarchy.
The state launched a fierce counter-offensive in mid-March, swiftly and brutally crushing the uprising with the backing of Saudi security forces.
The campaign of intimidation against the doctors and nurses who bore witness to the bloody crackdown began two months ago at Salmaniya Medical Complex, the main hospital in the capital Manama. It has since been extended to at least nine health centres which have been systematically attacked by the security forces over the past month, an activist cataloguing the abuses says...."
Syria will change – with or without Assad
A Rabbit is a Rabbit, Even Dressed in Military Uniform....
Even if Syria's president manages to quell the current uprising, it doesn't mean he has won
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 May 2011
"....As Patrick Seale, a longstanding expert on Syria points out, Assad inherited "a fossilised system of governance" from his father.
"Like other Arabs," Seale says, "Syrians want real political freedoms, the release of political prisoners, an independent judiciary, the punishment of corrupt bigwigs, a free press, a new law on political parties allowing for genuine pluralism ... and an end, once and for all, to arbitrary arrest, police brutality and torture."
The regime keeps hinting that such reforms are on the cards – but only after tranquillity has been restored. If that is the intention, though, mass arrests and the killing of demonstrators seem an odd way to go about convincing people of it.
Seale, who has been more inclined than many to give Assad the benefit of the doubt when it comes to reformist intentions, now acknowledges that his chances of stabilising the situation are slim. To do so, he would have to call a halt to the killing of protesters, take the lead towards reform and in effect carry out "a silent coup against the hardliners".
That all looks very doubtful, not least because the hardliners, as well as the "corrupt bigwigs" include members of his own family. Had he been seriously planning to take on the hardliners, he might also have distanced himself from the brutality of the crackdown on protesters. Instead, he has done the opposite by appearing in photographs dressed in military garb – a sudden change from his more usual appearance in suit and tie."
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 May 2011
"....As Patrick Seale, a longstanding expert on Syria points out, Assad inherited "a fossilised system of governance" from his father.
"Like other Arabs," Seale says, "Syrians want real political freedoms, the release of political prisoners, an independent judiciary, the punishment of corrupt bigwigs, a free press, a new law on political parties allowing for genuine pluralism ... and an end, once and for all, to arbitrary arrest, police brutality and torture."
The regime keeps hinting that such reforms are on the cards – but only after tranquillity has been restored. If that is the intention, though, mass arrests and the killing of demonstrators seem an odd way to go about convincing people of it.
Seale, who has been more inclined than many to give Assad the benefit of the doubt when it comes to reformist intentions, now acknowledges that his chances of stabilising the situation are slim. To do so, he would have to call a halt to the killing of protesters, take the lead towards reform and in effect carry out "a silent coup against the hardliners".
That all looks very doubtful, not least because the hardliners, as well as the "corrupt bigwigs" include members of his own family. Had he been seriously planning to take on the hardliners, he might also have distanced himself from the brutality of the crackdown on protesters. Instead, he has done the opposite by appearing in photographs dressed in military garb – a sudden change from his more usual appearance in suit and tie."
Déjà Vu All Over Again, Just Like The Traitor Abbas Who is His Partner Now.
مشعل يدعو الغرب لدعم المصالحة
COMMENT:
Next Hamas will recognize Israel (obliquely of course) and accept all the conditions of the Quartet (while denying that). It will still talk about the RIGHT of resistance while preventing any real resistance. All this for the sake of "national unity" and to get a seat at the "negotiating" table with Israel.
Hamas, Abbas and Israel are now partners in maintaining the status quo and keeping the charade of peace and negotiations going.
No problem, 20 more years with Hamas at the negotiating table, and nothing will be left of Palestine to negotiate about. But, hey the Palestinians will be united, in failure that is.
Celebrate the unity now!
COMMENT:
Next Hamas will recognize Israel (obliquely of course) and accept all the conditions of the Quartet (while denying that). It will still talk about the RIGHT of resistance while preventing any real resistance. All this for the sake of "national unity" and to get a seat at the "negotiating" table with Israel.
Hamas, Abbas and Israel are now partners in maintaining the status quo and keeping the charade of peace and negotiations going.
No problem, 20 more years with Hamas at the negotiating table, and nothing will be left of Palestine to negotiate about. But, hey the Palestinians will be united, in failure that is.
Celebrate the unity now!
Syria Crackdown: Syrian Dissident Haitham Al Maleh Speaks From Hiding As Al Jazeera Journalist Dorothy Parvez Remains Locked Up
"Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sent tanks into the country’s third city, Homs, escalating a military campaign to crush a seven-week-old popular uprising against his autocratic rule. According to the Syrian human rights organization, Sawasiah, as many as 800 civilians have been killed since the uprising began. More than 10,000 people have been arrested. Today, we look at two cases. One of Syria’s most prominent human rights defenders Haitham Al Maleh speaks from hiding, and we look at the case of detained Al Jazeera reporter Dorothy Parvez, an American, Canadian and Iranian citizen who used to work at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer...."
Sharif Abdel Kouddous Reports From Cairo on Rising Sectarian Tension in Egypt After Deadly Attack on Coptic Christian Church
"In Egypt over the weekend, 12 people died and more than 180 were wounded during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo. Egypt’s army has said that 190 people were detained after the fatal clashes and that they will face military trials. Saturday’s violence started after several hundred conservative Salafist Muslims gathered outside the Coptic Saint Mena Church in Cairo’s Imbaba district. They were reportedly protesting over a months-old allegation that a Christian woman was being held there against her will because she had married a Muslim man and wanted to convert to Islam. The woman had dismissed the allegations in an interview on a Christian TV channel. Coptic Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt’s population. We’re joined on the phone from Cairo by Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Democracy Now! correspondent and longtime Senior Producer. "This was a major attack," says Kouddous. "What many people, many Coptic people in particular, do not understand is why the military, who was present at the scene while the violence was happening stood by while the worst of it took place and did not intervene."...."
It’s All About Pakistan
America’s latest villain – and future victim
by Justin Raimondo, May 09, 2011
"With the assassination of Osama bin Laden, US foreign policy – or, rather, the rationale for it – has a giant hole in its very center: the task of the War Party is to fill it, and quickly.
Without a human face to put on the Terrorist Threat, without an ever-elusive target to lure us even deeper into the Muslim world, domestic political support for our post-9/11 multi-trillion-dollar excursion will quickly dry up. In a sense, the War Party is facing the same prospect they faced when the Soviet Union collapsed: total and complete irrelevance. That is particularly true at this conjuncture, with the US hurtling toward economic catastrophe and Americans getting noticeably restive in the face of cutbacks and severe economic straits.
What’s a warmonger to do?
Simple: come up with a new enemy, a fresh face – or, better yet, an entire nation that can be demonized and made to play the role of stand-in for bin Laden. That nation, as you’ve probably already guessed, is Pakistan......"
by Justin Raimondo, May 09, 2011
"With the assassination of Osama bin Laden, US foreign policy – or, rather, the rationale for it – has a giant hole in its very center: the task of the War Party is to fill it, and quickly.
Without a human face to put on the Terrorist Threat, without an ever-elusive target to lure us even deeper into the Muslim world, domestic political support for our post-9/11 multi-trillion-dollar excursion will quickly dry up. In a sense, the War Party is facing the same prospect they faced when the Soviet Union collapsed: total and complete irrelevance. That is particularly true at this conjuncture, with the US hurtling toward economic catastrophe and Americans getting noticeably restive in the face of cutbacks and severe economic straits.
What’s a warmonger to do?
Simple: come up with a new enemy, a fresh face – or, better yet, an entire nation that can be demonized and made to play the role of stand-in for bin Laden. That nation, as you’ve probably already guessed, is Pakistan......"
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