Letter to a Revolutionary

Ya Qalbi,

Yesterday I read a letter from Mashrou3 Leila:

“Today I found myself walking down Hamra Street, humming Abdul-Halim Hafez’s ‘Ana Leik Ala Tool’ to myself, and I could swear I heard you singing the harmony into my ear. It made me giggle a little burn into my chest. I worry you might get caught in a protest, imprisoned, kidnapped, missing, gone. But I know you need to do what you need to do; I wouldn’t ask you not to, but please be safe. Someday, I promise, worry will be a sentiment completely alien to us.”

These words spoke to me, they spoke to the little demon worrier that seems to have taken residence up in my head. The letter spoke of fears of loss, it spoke of courage and of strength. It spoke of accepting the evidence of the need to fight, despite the dangers and the intimidation, despite the worry and the dread. You know this is what I struggle with the most, you know I couldn’t bear to lose you to the claws of an absurd regime. You know me, inside and out.

Leila’s story is fictional but for us it is all too real, or maybe she’s just a projection of a million fears experienced by a million hearts, making her more real than we could ever be.

You and I my friend are the children of the demise and disappointment of all our comrades before us, and the parents of an angry movement of hope : we tried and are still trying to revive the spark of contestation and revolution , and we’ve managed to a certain extent, or so I would like to believe. We’re marching for our present, yes, for our future, certainly, but we are also marching for our fallen friends, the ones who got killed and crushed and harassed and silenced. The ones who are still alive, They’re older now, they’re bitter, too, they don’t seem like they still can find the strength in them to carry on, yet you can find them next to us, their eyes barely daring to believe again, carrying in their hearts the memory of all they have lost, just like we carry in ours the smiles of those of whom we’re separated from by the inexorability of death or by the atrocity of prison walls and tortures.

My love, it seems like we have lost the innocence of youth and with it the ability to enjoy things in their superficiality. We can not be fooled anymore, and perhaps some days this realization is too painful for us to bear. My love, we are too dangerous for them to avoid us, they will hunt us down, we shall be prepared.

I keep hearing people comfortably sitting on plush chairs pompously labeling what we do: the Iranian “Green Movement” or the “Twitter Revolution”, as if Evin had never existed, as if the Iranians had never risen before the invention of social media. “The Arab Spring” now being replaced by the “Arab Autumn” or even “Winter”, as if revolutions could ever be expressed in terms of fucking seasons, as if we were sleeping and awoke like some sort of natural process, what are we, fruits or something? Pardon my language my sweet friend, but condescension irks me and I’ve never been one to shut up.

It has been a long time since we’ve started my beloved, and we are tired, yet the road up ahead seems even more tortuous and long, paved with too many traps for us to comprehend. Some of us decide to retreat, others become suicidal, we lose a few along the way, the sufferings are too much for anyone to bear.

Yet there we still are, despite the tears and the frustration and the tension and the deaths and the threats. Yet we continue, doing what we can, each at its own level, because we owe it to ourselves, to those who died, to those who fight, to those who lost, to those who are too deprived of privilege to attract wide attention to their cases.

This isn’t a Winter, this isn’t a season, this isn’t a moment that shall pass. This is a Revolution, a process, and it shall take its own sweet time.

We’re ready for it.

…source

Bahrain: Justice Delayed for the 13 Detained Political and Human Rights Figures
14 August, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The higher court of appeal held a session today to issue its verdict in the appeal trial of the 13 political and Human Rights activists, however the verdict has been delayed until the 4 September 2012 for no reason. The activists were originally sentenced in a military court to between five years and life imprisonment and the court of cassation has voided the verdicts on 30 April 2012, however the activists were not released.

Bahrain center for Human Rights believes this appeal trial is not more than a show and a delay of justice that adds up to the violations to the rights of the detained activists as it’s based on the invalid verdicts of the military court at time those verdicts should be called void for the unconstitutionality of the military courts and for being proved to be solely based on coerced confessions taken under severe torture as openly described in the report by the independent commission of inquiry (BICI) appointed by the king.

The activists had submitted their appeals since Oct 2011, however the court of cassation didn’t hold any hearing session until April 2012 when it ruled on 30 April 2012 that the National Safety Court (military court) verdict does not outline the crime elements, neither in its Mens rea nor its Actus reus, and is therefore “a void verdict that should be reversed”. As such, the activists should have been released immediately, however they were dragged into another show of trials at the higher court of appeal were a fast trial was held between 8 May 2012 until 27 July 2012 through 16 hearing sessions.

The activists have detailed to the court the torture they were subjected to throughout their detention and even though their torturers have been named. There has not been any investigation into these allegations.

Instead of prosecuting the officers involved in torture, the coerced confessions taken under torture and the interrogation records prepared by the military prosecution were used against the activists at the higher court of appeal as sole evidence. The file in the court’s possession lacks any decisive evidence that links activists to the charges in question. …more

Libyan fighters join Syrian revolt against Assad
14 August, 2012 – By Mariam Karouny – Reuters

BEIRUT: Veteran fighters of last year’s civil war in Libya have come to the front-line in Syria, helping to train and organise rebels under conditions far more dire than those in the battle against Moammar Gadhafi, a Libyan-Irish fighter has told Reuters.

Hussam Najjar hails from Dublin, has a Libyan father and Irish mother and goes by the name of Sam. A trained sniper, he was part of the rebel unit that stormed Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli a year ago, led by Mahdi al-Harati, a powerful militia chief from Libya’s western mountains.

Harati now leads a unit in Syria, made up mainly of Syrians but also including some foreign fighters, including 20 senior members of his own Libyan rebel unit. He asked Najjar to join him from Dublin a few months ago, Najjar said.

The Libyans aiding the Syrian rebels include specialists in communications, logistics, humanitarian issues and heavy weapons, he said. They operate training bases, teaching fitness and battlefield tactics.

Najjar said he was surprised to find how poorly armed and disorganised the Syrian rebels were, describing Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority as far more repressed and downtrodden under Assad than Libyans were under Gadhafi.

“I was shocked. There is nothing you are told that can prepare you for what you see. The state of the Sunni Muslims there – their state of mind, their fate – all of those things have been slowly corroded over time by the regime.”

“I nearly cried for them when I saw the weapons. The guns are absolutely useless. We are being sold leftovers from the Iraqi war, leftovers from this and that,” he said. “Luckily these are things that we can do for them: we know how to fix weapons, how to maintain them, find problems and fix them.”

In the months since he arrived, the rebel arsenal had become “five times more powerful”, he said. Fighters had obtained large calibre anti-aircraft guns and sniper rifles.

…more

Israeli Antiwar Protests chant ‘Ehud, are you out of your fucking mind’

Israel will not launch “stupid” attack: Iran
14 August, 2012 -Al Akhbar

Iran on Tuesday said it is dismissing Israeli threats of an imminent attack against it, explaining that even some Israeli officials realized such a “stupid” act would provoke “very severe consequences.”

“In our calculations, we aren’t taking these claims very seriously because we see them as hollow and baseless,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in a weekly briefing.

“Even if some officials in the illegitimate regime (Israel) want to carry out such a stupid action, there are those inside (the Israeli government) who won’t allow it because they know they would suffer very severe consequences from such an act,” he said.

Iran’s defense minister, General Ahmad Vahidi, was quoted by the ISNA news agency saying that Israel “definitely doesn’t have what it takes to endure Iran’s might and will.”

He called the Israeli threats “a sign of weakness” by “brainless leaders.”

The comments were a response to bellicose rhetoric from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in recent days suggesting they were thinking more seriously of military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

“We are determined to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear (armed), and all the options are on the table. When we say it, we mean it,” Barak told Israeli radio last Thursday.

Israeli media have underlined the threat, reporting that a decision could be made within weeks. They have also highlighted opposition to the idea by current and former Israeli military officials.

The United States has recently multiplied visits by top officials to Israel in what appears to be an attempt to dissuade the Jewish state from targeting the Islamic republic.

“We continue to believe there is time and space for diplomacy,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.

…more

Turkish army stages military drill at Syria frontier: report
14 August 14, 2012 – Agence France Presse

ANKARA: The Turkish army on Tuesday staged a new military drill near its border with Syria, in the throes of an uprising that has led to deteriorating relations between the neighbouring nations, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Turkish tanks accompanied by advanced armoured personnel carriers and tactical missile-launching platforms were deployed at the Oncupinar crossing in southern Kilis province for the drill, the report said.

Tuesday’s drill follows several military exercises at the Syrian border after the government warned that it would pursue Kurdish rebels across the frontier.

Turkish media has interpreted the drills as a show of force against Damascus, which Ankara accuses of giving a freehand to Syrian Kurds allowing them to launch cross-border attacks in Turkey.

The relationship between Ankara and Damascus hit an all-time low after a Turkish Phantom jet was brought down by Syrian fire on June 22, killing its two-men crew and leading Ankara to brand Damascus as a “hostile” opponent.

The Syrian regime counters the Turkish accusations with claims that Turkey is supporting “terrorists” to bring down the regime, referring to the Free Syrian Army of defecting soldiers, currently based on Turkish soil near the border.

The jet shoot-down, still under investigation, triggered a massive military build-up all along the 900-kilometre (550-mile) border, shuttered by large numbers of Turkish tanks, weapons, missile batteries and troops.

Turkey is currently home to more than 60,000 Syrian refugees in several camps along the border where rebel forces made up of army defectors are also based.
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1917 Russian Revolution

The 1917 Russian Revolution was not, as many people suppose, one well organised event in which Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and Lenin and the Bolsheviks took power. It was a series of events that took place during 1917, which entailed two separate revolutions in February and October (with a great deal of political wranglings inbetween), and which eventually plunged the country into Civil War before leading to the founding of the Communist State.

Growing Unrest

The first major event of the Russian Revolution was the February Revolution, which was a chaotic affair and the culmination of over a century of civil and military unrest. The causes of this unrest of the common people towards the Tsar and aristocratic landowners are too many and complicated to neatly summarise, but key factors to consider were ongoing resentment at the cruel treatment of peasants by patricians, poor working conditions experienced by city workers in the fledgling industrial economy and a growing sense of political and social awareness of the lower orders in general (democratic ideas were reaching Russia from the West and being touted by political activists). Dissatisfaction of the proletarian lot was further compounded by food shortages and military failures. In 1905 Russia experienced humilating losses in the Russo-Japanese war and, during a demonstration against the war in the same year, Tsarist troops fired upon an unarmed crowd – further dividing Nicholas II from his people. Widespread strikes, riots and the famous mutiny on the Battleship Potemkin ensued.

Such was the climate in 1905 in fact that Tsar Nicholas saw fit, against his will, to cede the people their wishes. In his October Manifesto, Nicholas created Russia’s first constitution and the State Duma, an elected parliamentary body. However Nicholas’s belief in his divine right to rule Russia meant that he spent much of the following years fighting to undermine or strip the Duma of its powers and to retain as much autocracy as possible. (Modern historians might note that Russian rulers haven’t come a long way in the last hundred years!).

When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by political activists in Serbia in 1914, the Austro-Hungarian empire declared war on its neighbours. Serbia turned to Russia for help. Tsar Nicholas II saw a chance to galvanise his people against a common enemy, and to atone for the humiliations suffered in the Russo-Japanese war. It didn’t quite work out however…

World War I

In many ways Russia’s disastrous participation in World War I was the final blow to Tsarist rule. In the very first engagement with the Germans (who had sided with the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the Battle of Tannenberg, the Russian army was comprehensively beaten suffering 120,000 casualties to Germany’s 20,000. A continuing series of losses and setbacks meant that Nicholas left St. Petersburg in the autumn of 1915 to take personal control of the army. By this time Russia was sending conscripts and untrained troops to the front, with little or no equipment and fighting in an almost continual retreat. In 1916 morale reached an all time low as the pressure of waging the war fell hardest on prolaterian families, whose sons were being slaughtered at the front and who severe suffered food and fuel shortages at home. The Tsar and the Imperial regime took the blame as civil unrest heated up to boiling point.

The February Revolution (1917)

On 23rd February 1917 the International Women’s Day Festival in St. Petersburg turned into a city-wide demonstration, as exasperated women workers left factories to protest against food shortages. Men soon joined them, and on the following day – encouraged by political and social activists – the crowds had swelled and virtually every industry, shop and enterprise had ceased to function as almost the entire populace went on strike.

Nicholas ordered the police and military to intervene, however the military was no longer loyal to the Tsar and many mutinied or joined the people in demonstrations. Fights broke out and the whole city was in chaos. On October 28th over 80,000 troops mutinied from the army and looting and rioting was widespread.

Faced with this untenable situation Tsar Nicholas abdicated his throne, handing power to his brother Michael. However Michael would not accept leadership unless he was elected by the Duma. He resigned the following day, leaving Russia without a head of state.

The Provisional Government

After the abdication of the Romanovs a Provisional Government was quickly formed by leading members of the Duma and recognised internationally as Russia’s legal government. It was to rule Russia until elections could be held. However it’s power was by no means absolute or stable. The more radical Petrograd Soviet organisation was a trade union of workers and soldiers that wielded enormous influence. It favoured full-scale Socialism over more moderate democratic reforms generally favoured by members of the Provisional Government.

After centuries of Imperial rule Russia was consumed with political fervour, but the many different factions, all touting different ideas, meant that political stability was still a long way off directly after February Revolution.
[Read more →]

Anti-government protests rock heart of Tunisia revolt
14 August, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated against Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party during a general strike Tuesday in Sidi Bouzid, hub of the 2011 uprising, an AFP journalist reported.

Residents of Sidi Bouzid were among hundreds of members of the political opposition and trade unions, as well as civil society groups and employer organizations to march towards the court house on the outskirts of the town.

They shouted slogans including: “The people want the fall of the regime!” and “Justice, woe to you, Ennahda has power over you!” in reference to the moderate Islamist party that heads Tunisia’s ruling coalition after winning elections last October.

Offices and shops were shut in the town center, although some butchers stayed open to allow customers to prepare for the iftar evening meal, when Muslims break their day-long fast during Ramadan.

Tunisia’s main union, the UGTT, had called the strike in Sidi Bouzid to put pressure on the government to release detained activists, and to develop the marginalized region.

Government spokesman Samir Dilou said the strike was unjustified, and criticized the opposition for exploiting legitimate social grievances.

“I don’t think the call for a general strike is justified… I think there are only political considerations here, with political parties involved,” Dilou, who is also human rights minister, told private radio Mosaique FM.

Dilou acknowledged that “difficult living conditions in certain regions” are provoking people to take to the streets and pledged that the government would address those hardships with “understanding.”

The demonstrators also denounced authorities for suppressing recent protests and urged them to free activists arrested last week during demonstrations that were dispersed by police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

By 1100 GMT the activists had gathered outside the court house, which was protected by a heavy deployment of police.

Some protesters smashed the window of a car belonging to an Al-Jazeera TV crew – the Qatar-based satellite news channel is accused by government critics of supporting Ennahda – but otherwise no violence was reported.

Separately, around 150 Ennahda supporters staged a rival protest in the town center.

Tunisia’s Islamist-led government has faced growing dissent in recent weeks.

On Monday thousands of people demonstrated in the capital Tunis for women’s rights, in the biggest show of force by the opposition since April.

The central town of Sidi Bouzid is the birthplace of the 2011 uprising that toppled strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and touched off the Arab Spring in several countries of the region ruled by autocratic regimes.

The Tunisian uprising was triggered when a street vendor immolated himself in December 2010 in protest over his own precarious livelihood.

The town is located in a particularly marginalized region, and analysts warn that poor living conditions and high youth unemployment there and elsewhere – driving factors behind the revolution – have improved little since then.
…source

‘Turkey support for anti-Syria terrorism to backfire’
13 August, 2012 – PRessTV

Interview with Mohammad Marandi, Professor at the University of Tehran

It [Turkey’s illegal support of al-Qaeda terrorist gangs] will most probably backfire.”

Mohammad Marandi, professor at the University of Tehran
Turkey, along with the US and Persian Gulf Arab dictatorships, is actively playing a part in fueling the armed crisis in Syria to topple the Syrian government, arming and sponsoring the al-Qaeda terrorists on Syria’s soil.

The US Republican congressman, Ron Paul has warned that Washington is driving Syria into a war by interfering with the ongoing unrest in the Middle Eastern country.

“We are told that ever-harsher sanctions finally will force the targeted nations to bend to our will. Yet, the ineffectiveness of previous sanctions teaches us nothing; in truth sanctions lead to war more than they prevent war,” he has said.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Tahsin al-Halabi, political analyst from Damascus, to further discuss the role of the US-Arab-Turkish triangle in arming and supporting the al-Qaeda armed gangs in Syria.

The video offers the opinions of two additional guests: Don debar, anti-war activist from New York, and Mohammad Marandi, professor at the University of Tehran.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Professor Marandi our guest in Damascus talked about the atrocities that had been committed and that it should be obvious for everyone.

Is it obvious? Let us look at the international community because we know how the mainstream media is projecting this situation and portraying the situation in Syria.

Do you think that the majority of people living in these countries as far as the mainstream media really realize what is going on and I want to look at the role, in general in your perspective, that the media has played in this situation in Syria?

Marandi: Well, obviously the media has been completely one-sided and every massacre that were taking place in Syria before even any evidence being provided, the Western media would immediately blame the [Syrian] government and what was interesting was; after the first massacre that was carried out, which was right before a UN meeting on the country, the Syrian government was immediately condemned and for a long time people were discussing and debating who is behind it and who is responsible.

Not only on the mainstream press, but online and on more investigative websites.

But then a pattern emerged, every time there would be a UN meeting on Syria, there would be a massacre the day before, which worked very well and was very convenient for the so-called rebels. So the fact that the Western media would immediately blame the Syrian government, created this atmosphere where extremists could carryout atrocities and know that the blame would be pinned on the government.

So not only is the Western media completely biased and providing a one sided story but they are also helping atrocities being carried out by blaming the [Syrian] government for things they have no information about and for, basically, keeping silent about atrocities carried out by the opponents of the government.

Press TV: Professor Marandi, talking about these different entities like Qatar, like Saudi Arabia and Turkey, how likely is it, especially Turkey being right there on the Syrian border that is opening a can of worms that may actually backfire on itself.

We have the whole al-Qaeda and the lack of security in general now like instability. How likely is this possibly going to backfire on Turkey itself?

Marandi: Well, upon history, it will most probably backfire. Thirty years ago Pakistan was a country that really did not have such a serious problem of sectarianism that it does today; and in the 1980’s and the 1990’s largely due to American support and money from dictatorships in the Persian Gulf, specially the Saudi regime; sectarianism began to grow in Pakistan for the sake of Afghanistan.

They were supporting the rebels and so on in that country, but gradually this spread inside Pakistan itself and now we see the horrific crimes that are carried out on a very regular basis in the country.

Turkey can not align itself with Saudi Arabia and other sectarian regimes with extreme ideologies such as Wahabis and so on; and not pay the consequences ultimately.

In fact their own population condoning racial, sectarian hatred and religious hatred which is what the Saudis are doing in the other countries.

If one looks at the television stations funded by these Persian Gulf, Arab dictatorships, one can see them clearly…, there are many clips on Youtube, where the so-called clerics in Saudi Arabia say that one third of Syrians can be killed for the other two thirds or where they condone the rape of women and the murder of the children, these are all Youtube clips; these are things that people can see. Or when for example, the grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia says that all Churches in the Arabian peninsula should be destroyed.

This intolerance is something that is spread by petrodollars and Turkey can not remain normal and uninfected when it is involved in perusing such policies in Syria. So Turkey … …more

Bahrain Court Postpones Rajab Verdict
POMED – 13 August, 2012

The appeals verdict for prominent Bahraini human rights leader Nabeel Rajab, imprisoned after sending a tweet calling for the kingdom’s prime minister to resign, will be issued Thursday according to Rajab’s lawyer. The decision had been scheduled to be announced Sunday for Rajab’s twitter comments as well as three other charges relating to illegal assemblies. Nineteen U.S. lawmakers had written a letter prior to the original Sunday appeals date calling for Rajab’s release, as did the rights leader’s family calling for the international community to put pressure on the Bahraini government.

In addition, another court sentenced a 19 year-old Shiite man to two years in prison after he insulted Aisha, the Sunni-revered wife of the Prophet Mohammed in comments made on the Internet. The court alleged the man’s comments were ”phrases that are too dirty and degrading to mention, defaming the mother of the believers, Aisha.”

Also, the kingdom’s foreign minister announced that Bahrain’s ambassador to Iran will return to his post in Tehran for the first time in over a year. The ambassador had been recalled after Iran heavily criticized the government’s response to the protest movement. …more

Bahrain returns ambassador to Tehran
13 August, 2012 – Tehran Times

Bahrain said Sunday it reinstated its ambassador in Iran, more than a year after recalling the envoy over Tehran’s strong condemnation of Manama’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

“The ambassador of the kingdom to the Islamic Republic of Iran has returned to his work in Tehran,” announced Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa on his Twitter page, AFP reported.

Manama recalled its ambassador from Iran on March 15 last year.

Tehran retaliated by recalling its envoy from Manama.

Iranian officials had severely criticized the violent crackdown in Bahrain, and the dispatch of Saudi troops there to help confront pro-democracy protests.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging regular demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.

According to Amnesty International, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested in the crackdown.

Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police” in the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Human rights groups and the families of protesters arrested during the crackdown say that most detainees have been physically and mentally abused and that the whereabouts of many of them remain unknown. …source

Iran, Saudi Arabia in direct talks
Atul Aneja – 14 August, 2012 – The Hindu

Ahmadinejad in kingdom at the personal invitation of King

Arch rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia would hold direct talks in Mecca to address the crisis in Syria and cool the region’s growing sectarian divide.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is leading the Iranian delegation which arrived in Medina on Monday — a day ahead of the two-day conference in Mecca of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Iranian President is visiting the Kingdom at the personal invitation of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz — in itself a strong signal of the urgency that Riyadh attaches to this meeting.

Syria is expected to top the agenda of the talks, where forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad — backed by Iran — appear to have rooted out opposition fighters — backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey — from the embattled city of Aleppo.

The visiting delegation has been carefully chosen: it includes Ali-Akbar Velayati, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s trusted lieutenant on foreign affairs. Also in the team are Mr. Ahmadinejad’s two insiders — Rahim Mashaee, the head of the presidential office, who also happens to be the President’s brother-in-law; and senior adviser Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi, known also for his close ties with the elite Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is also part of the high-powered delegation, which represents all the major pillars of the Iranian establishment.

Analysts point out that with the Syrian regime refusing to cave-in to the externally-backed onslaught by the opposition’s so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), a recalibration of tactics may be on the cards.

Expressing a sense of realism, the Iranian delegation acknowledged that the two countries had major differences to bridge. “By attending the summit, we will express our viewpoints and try to bridge the gaps and narrow the differences through dialogue,” said Mr. Salehi, the Foreign Minister.

Iran’s solid support for Mr. Assad was recently underscored by Saeed Jalili, the head of the Iranian National Security Council, during a visit to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. But without referring to Mr. Assad directly, Mr. Jalili told a Lebanese television channel on Sunday — a day ahead of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s departure — that Iran was ready for a transition in Syria, provided it was internally driven; without external intervention; and based on genuine democratic elections.

Iran’s recent spurt of diplomatic activism includes the hosting of a conference last week in Tehran on Syria in which 29 countries participated. At the month-end, Tehran will also play host to a summit of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), during which the situation in Syria is likely to feature strongly.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have been at loggerheads over the human rights situation in Bahrain, following the intervention of Saudi troops to quell pro-democracy protests. Saudi Arabia, on its part, has been suggesting that Iran is supporting the unrest in its oil-rich eastern province. . …more

We’re Still Arming the King of Bahrain? There Oughta Be a Law!
13 August, 2012 – By Robert Naiman- Truthout

Don’t you think it’s wrong for the US government to send US weapons to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain at a time when his government is attacking Bahrainis who try to peacefully demonstrate for democracy and human rights?

Rep. Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, thinks there oughta be a law against that. So far, 24 other members of the House agree.

Grijalva has introduced the “Arms Sale Responsibility Act of 2012,” HR 5749. So far, 24 members of the House have agreed to co-sponsor the bill.

The Arms Sale Responsibility Act would prohibit US arms sales to a government unless the president certifies that the government is not engaging in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including the use of excessive force against unarmed protesters; systematic official discrimination on the basis of race, religion or ethnicity; or blocking the free functioning of human rights organizations.

Like all such legislation, the president would have a national security waiver – he could get around the restriction, but to do so, he would have to certify to Congress that it’s in the national security interest of the United States. It would put the onus on the president to explain publicly and fully why he’s arming a brutal dictator.

There is existing legislation that tries to restrict US support for human rights abuses. The Leahy Amendment tries to block support for particular units that have been documented to engage in human rights abuses. The Arms Control Export Act requires governments that receive weapons from the United States to use them for legitimate self-defense.

Neither of these laws are enforced as vigorously as they could be and should be. But even if they were fully enforced, they leave a huge gap. Under current law, as interpreted by the administration, the US can export weapons to brutal dictatorships so long as it can be argued that these particular weapons are not going to be used in human rights abuses and the particular units being armed are not committing human rights abuses.

The problem with that is that US weapons sales are seen by regime supporters and opponents alike as a US “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” When a government that is cracking down on peaceful protest is armed by the United States, that is seen as a tacit US endorsement of the government’s actions and as a green light to proceed with its crackdown.

That’s been true in the case of the King of Bahrain. When the Obama administration announced that it was resuming a large arms sale to the King of Bahrain, the Christian Science Monitor reported that it “incensed opposition activists … who see the deal as a signal” that the US supports “repression of opposition protests.”

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) says the Bahraini monarchy is engaged in systematic and disproportionate use of tear gas on its Shiite majority, The New York Times recently reported. PHR called the policy on tear gas use unprecedented in the world, even among dictatorships where tear gas is a staple tool for crowd control.

Cole Bockenfeld of the Project on Middle East Democracy noted in Foreign Policy that the King of Bahrain is blocking peaceful protests, but the US government isn’t saying boo.

Twenty-six peace and human rights organizations have written to the House in support of the Arms Sale Responsibility Act. So far, twenty-five members of the House are supporting the bill. …more

Drop all charges against Zainab al-Khawaja : Amnesty
Shia Post – 13 August, 2012

Zainab Al-Khawaja was arrested in the evening of 2 August 2012 when she was protesting alone outside the capital, Manama, at al-Qadam roundabout in Budaya road, Two days later her detention was extended for a further seven days and she was charged with “destroying government property”, as she had allegedly torn up a picture of Bahrain’s King while detained in May.

In the past nine months Zainab Al-Khawaja has been arrested and released several times. She has been put on trial several times for “illegal gathering” and “insulting officials” .

She is still facing three more trials. The first is an appeal hearing on a charge of “insulting an officer” in a military hospital. She had been acquitted of this charge on 2 May but the prosecution appealed and the appeal hearing is now under way; the next session will be on 16 October.

She faces two further trials: the first trial together with Ma’suma Sayyid Sharaf, for “illegal gathering” and “inciting hatred against the regime” has been postponed until 5 September. The second, for obstructing the traffic during a protest has been postponed until 1 November.

Zainab al-Khawaja was reportedly injured in the leg when she was hit by a teargas canister fired by riot police breaking up a protest she was monitoring a few weeks ago. It is not clear whether she has been given any medical treatment in detention. …more

To the governments of the USA, the UK and all governments who have influence on Bahrain And to the UN and all Regional and International Human Rights Organisations

Bahrain: An open letter from the family of Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab

11 August, 2012 – Gulf Center for Human Rights

My name is Sumaya Rajab, the wife of the prominent Bahraini human rights defender, Nabeel Rajab, who is currently detained in Bahrain. I write this letter in my name, and the names of our son Adam and our daughter Malak to urge you to use your influence and act quickly to guarantee my husband’s release immediately and unconditionally.

The Bahraini government fabricated a number of cases against Nabeel to take revenge because of his human rights activities. He was recently convicted as a result of his tweets in which he criticized the Prime Minister who has been in his post for 42 years. It is well-known that Nabeel exercised his right to freedom of expression in his tweets, which was guaranteed by all international conventions for human rights. Other cases taken against Nabeel related to his criticism of the security forces and the use of excessive force and torture and also his calls for peaceful protests through social networks. The right to assembly to demand civil rights is guaranteed by Bahraini laws.

My husband Nabeel is a prominent Bahraini rights activist and he is the head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, and a member of Human Rights Watch’s MENA Advisory Board. He is also the Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights. Nabeel has worked in human rights for 20 years and he has held important positions in several countries.

With the beginning of what is known as the Arab Spring, Nabeel initiated many peaceful activities to support the right of all peoples to decide their destinies. This came at the same time as the Bahraini revolution in February 2011 which demanded the Bahraini people’s legitimate rights to democracy, social justice and the end of corruption. Nabeel initiated a campaign on social networks to support Bahraini people’s rights, erase corruption and uncover violations of human rights. He also tried to uncover the role of the ruling regime in Bahrain in these violations. Nabeel has become one the most prominent activists on social networks, especially Twitter. He has at present more than 166,000 followers from all around the world. He travelled around the world and he met several international officials both in the West and the Middle East and officials in human rights organizations and institutions to uncover the human rights violations carried out by the regime and to explore ways to stop these violations and end the impunity. Nabeel and his team at the BCHR succeeded in uncovering the lies of the regime in front of the world. As a result, the Bahraini regime manipulated the politicized judicial authorities to fabricate cases against him in order to imprison him and stop his influential activities. …more

Verdict tomorrow in Bahraini opposition activists’ appeal
13 August, 2012 – Amnesty International

Tomorrow (Tuesday 14 August) the final verdict in the appeal by 13 opposition activists and prisoners of conscience in Bahrain is due to be handed down.

Amnesty International has mandated Dr Ghanim Hamad Alnajjar, an internationally recognised human rights expert, to attend and observe the proceedings at the High Criminal Court of Appeal in Manama.

Dr Ghanim will be available for interviews, in English and Arabic, after the hearing.

The 13, who include prominent activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, were originally sentenced by a military court in June 2011 to between two years and life in prison on charges including “setting up terror groups to topple the royal regime and change the constitution”. All of the 13 maintain their innocence.

Several of the defendants have described in previous court hearings how they allegedly suffered torture (including sexual assault) during their detention to coerce “confessions” from them.

Amnesty considers the 13 to be prisoners of conscience, held solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly and has repeatedly called on the Bahraini authorities to quash the activists’ convictions and release them immediately and unconditionally. …more

CFP: Post Arab-Spring: Structural Changes and New Directions in Media and Society.

by danjackson – 13 August, 2012

The focus of this special issue of the Global Media Journal-American Edition is:

Post Arab-Spring: Structural Changes and New Directions in Media and Society.

Deadline for Submission: September 15, 2012

Communication technology and media services are advancing more rapidly than ever before. Throughout the entire world, average citizens have the ability to receive — and transmit — more and more unfiltered content to larger and larger audiences. The results can range from public empowerment to unabated chaos. Governments and regulators of every philosophy are struggling to keep up with the changes.

“Arab Spring,” now well into its second year, is but one example of societal change based — in part — on technological advancements. In just two short years throughout the “Arab World” some governments have cracked down with an iron fist while in other countries regimes have changed. Some revolutions have been violent, other transitions orderly. Other nations, at least on the surface, have felt no effect of the systemic changes to technology and society.

As a special issue of the American edition of Global Media Journal, the editors encourage submissions that focus on personal, mass, and computer-mediated communication within and to and from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in this new and still changing environment. Broad topic areas include, but are not limited to matters such as:

● Changes in how governments communicate with their populace and how the people communicate with government.

● Evolution in sociopolitical communication in the region.

● Western adaption to the new communication publics in the MENA region.

● Media representation of the various groups and factions involved in MENA change.

● The roles played by new media in recent changes in the MENA region.

● The relationships between traditional and new media in the pre and post Arab Spring events/

● Theoretical frameworks explaining the triangle relationships among governments, media and publics.

● Spill-over effects of Arab Spring on other nations and regions.

Graduate Student Research: In keeping with the mission of the journal to provide opportunities for graduate student publication, this special issue of Global Media Journal will have a graduate research section.

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US Savagery Abu Grahb HERE

US Troops Desecrate Bodies in Afghanistan

Custer massacres Cheyenne on Washita River, 27 Novemebr 1868

Without bothering to identify the village or do any reconnaissance, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an early morning attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living with Chief Black Kettle.

Convicted of desertion and mistreatment of soldiers earlier that year in a military court, the government had suspended Custer from rank and command for one year. Ten months into his punishment, in September 1868, General Philip Sheridan reinstated Custer to lead a campaign against Cheyenne Indians who had been making raids in Kansas and Oklahoma that summer. Sheridan was frustrated by the inability of his other officers to find and engage the enemy, and despite his poor record and unpopularity with the men of the 7th Cavalry, Custer was a good fighter.

Sheridan determined that a campaign in winter might prove more effective, since the Indians could be caught off guard while in their permanent camps. On November 26, Custer located a large village of Cheyenne encamped near the Washita River, just outside of present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Custer did not attempt to identify which group of Cheyenne was in the village, or to make even a cursory reconnaissance of the situation. Had he done so, Custer would have discovered that they were peaceful people and the village was on reservation soil, where the commander of Fort Cobb had guaranteed them safety. There was even a white flag flying from one of the main dwellings, indicating that the tribe was actively avoiding conflict.

Having surrounded the village the night before, at dawn Custer called for the regimental band to play “Garry Owen,” which signaled for four columns of soldiers to charge into the sleeping village. Outnumbered and caught unaware, scores of Cheyenne were killed in the first 15 minutes of the “battle,” though a small number of the warriors managed to escape to the trees and return fire. Within a few hours, the village was destroyed–the soldiers had killed 103 Cheyenne, including the peaceful Black Kettle and many women and children.

Hailed as the first substantial American victory in the Indian wars, the Battle of the Washita helped to restore Custer’s reputation and succeeded in persuading many Cheyenne to move to the reservation. However, Custer’s habit of boldly charging Indian encampments of unknown strength would eventually lead him to his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. …source

Horrific videos show rebel brutality in Syria
13 August, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Horrific videos purportedly showing Syrian rebels throwing the bodies of postal workers off a roof and a man’s throat being savagely cut triggered outrage among rights activists on Monday.

Three videos all showing the apparent atrocities in the province of Aleppo, including a bound man being repeatedly shot, were posted on YouTube on Monday but their authenticity could not immediately be verified.

Both sides in the 17-month conflict have been accused of human rights violations as reports of cold-blooded killings mount.

“What is the difference between them and a wild animal in the jungle? At least a wild animal does not kill unless it is hungry,” said Massoud Akko, a Kurdish activist and co-founder of the Association of Syrian Journalists.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdelrahman, not his real name, said he strongly condemned such atrocities, whoever was behind them, if the videos were confirmed.

Graphic footage showed a crowd of people shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as they gathered around several bodies on the ground before another three victims were seen being hurled from the top of the building.

The incident was said to have taken place in rebel-controlled al-Bab near the northern metropolis of Aleppo and the victims were identified as postal workers, but it was not clear when it occurred.

“These are the heroes of Bab city who are inside the post office,” the man shooting the video said.

When the body of one man was thrown to the ground, the crowd is heard shouting: “This is a shabiha,” referring to the pro-government militia.

The video could not be independently verified.

In another shocking amateur video, a blindfolded man, with his hands tied behind his back, struggled as a group of men forced him to lie down on a pavement in Aleppo.

The man calls out: “I would rather die by a bullet.” A man retorts: “Shut up.”

As the group chanted “Allahu Akbar,” the assailant forced what appeared to be a small knife repeatedly across his throat as his blood spurted onto the pavement.

“This is the fate of all the shabiha and those who support Bashar (al-Assad),” said the man filming the video.

And a third clip, purportedly shot in Aazaz, also in Aleppo province, showed a bearded man being hauled out of a car boot with his hands tied behind his back and pushed to the ground.

One man opens fire on him with a small pistol, only to be joined by another with a rifle. They shoot many times at the man, who dies face down in a field.

“If these videos are confirmed, such atrocities harm the revolution. They only benefit the regime and the enemies of the revolution,” Abdelrahman told AFP.

Online activists also condemned the killings, which highlight the escalating brutality of a conflict that started out as a peaceful uprising but which has deteriorated into a brutal civil war.

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August 2012 …source

Mit Romney’s GOP Vice Presidential Candidate, Congressman Paul Ryan, embraces the extreme philosophy of Ayn Rand. Ryan heaped praise on Ayn Rand, a 20th-century libertarian novelist best known for her philosophy that centered on the idea that selfishness is “virtue.” Rand described altruism as “evil,” condemned Christianity for advocating compassion for the poor, viewed the feminist movement as “phony,” and called Arabs “almost totally primitive savages. Though he publicly rejected “her philosophy” in 2012, Ryan had professed himself a strong devotee. “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand,” he said at a D.C. gathering honoring the author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.” “I give out ‘Atlas Shrugged’ as Christmas presents, and I make all my interns read it. Well… I try to make my interns read it.”

Among the most detrimental policies for Native Americans in U.S. history began in the early 1800s. By 1830, Andrew Jackson had signed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized a plan to appropriate Indian land, a practice that had been followed since Europeans arrived in North America. The idea of segregating Indians onto poor land was first suggested by Thomas Jefferson after the Louisiana Purchase. Thus began a system of appropriating Indian land and undermining Indian culture that has been expressed throughout U.S. history. Although many Indians had taken on European cultural traits, including religious conversion, and worked their land using white methods, they were still considered incapable of assimilating into white society. Despite continuing efforts by Europeans to convert Indians to Christianity, they continued to be viewed as heathens in both popular cultural and society. ….more

Syria: Terrorism As Weapon
August 13, 2012 – John Cherian – Stop NATO

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The terror groups operating in the country have been lavishly funded and trained by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and also by Turkey and the U.S., two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking after the rebels had briefly seized two border crossings and massacred the soldiers manning the posts, said that cooperation with the armed rebels should increase. Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Adnan al Assadi told the media that the Turkey-based Free Syrian Army (FSA) “executed 22 Syrian soldiers in front of the eyes of Iraqi soldiers” after they briefly overran a border post at Abu Kamal, in eastern Syria, close to Iraq, in the third week of July.

The Iraqi government has obviously drawn a parallel with what is happening across its borders to the recent terror attacks in Iraq. Many of the Iraqi “jehadis” have transformed themselves into Syrian freedom fighters.

July became one of the bloodiest months for Syria as the foreign-backed armed groups made a concerted attempt to further destabilise the government led by Bashar al Assad. The terror attack on July 18, which claimed the lives of Defence Minister Dawoud Rahja and three senior officials (Assef Shawkat, deputy head of the Syrian Army and brother-in-law of Bashar al Assad; Hassan Turkmani, Chief of Crisis Operations; and Hisham Bakhtiar, head of Intelligence) who were in the forefront of the security drive to clear the armed groups from their strongholds, was indeed a serious blow to the government. The fact that the bombing occurred in the National Security Building where meetings are often chaired by the President himself is a serious cause for alarm as it could not have happened without the help of hostile foreign powers.

The Turkish newspaper Habberturk reported that Israeli Intelligence played an important role in the attack. It quoted an unidentified former American intelligence analyst as saying that the “entire attack smelled of Mossad”. Israeli President Shimon Peres has publicly stated that he wants the Syrian government to collapse. If a pro-Western government is installed in Damascus, then Israel can turn its full attention to Hizbollah, and the United States can focus on regime change in Iran.

The Syrian government said that foreign powers were behind the attack and named “Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel” as the countries responsible for the act of terror. A Reuters report in the last week of July said that a secret base located in Adana province near Turkey’s border with Syria was the “nerve centre” from where operations to topple the government in Damascus were being launched. The U.S’ military base of Incirlik is also based in Adana.

The leaders of the countries ranged against Syria virtually applauded the terror attack. The U.S. State Department spokesman, while saying that Washington was against further bloodshed in Syria, “noted” that those killed and injured “were key architects of the Assad regime’s assault on the Syrian people”. A palpable regret could be noticed in the statements issued by some governments that the primary target of the bombing – the President – was not among the casualties. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the American reaction to the Damascus blasts “as a direct endorsement of terrorism”. He said that the position Washington had adopted was “a sinister one”.

The terror groups operating in the country have been lavishly funded and trained by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and also by Turkey and the U.S., two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking after the rebels had briefly seized two border crossings and massacred the soldiers manning the posts, said that cooperation with the armed rebels should increase. Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Adnan al Assadi told the media that the Turkey-based Free Syrian Army (FSA) “executed 22 Syrian soldiers in front of the eyes of Iraqi soldiers” after they briefly overran a border post at Abu Kamal, in eastern Syria, close to Iraq, in the third week of July. …more

US, UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey stand accused of state sponsorship of terrorism. UN failure to enforce own resolutions will resign their legitimacy, necessitate their expedient removal and replacement with multipolar system.

UN Designates “Free Syrian Army” Affiliates as Al Qaeda
12 August, 2012 – Land Destroyer – Tony Cartalucci

August 12, 2012 – The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) currently arming, funding, and commanding entire brigades of the so-called “Free Syrian Army” (FSA), is designated an Al Qaeda affiliate by the United Nations pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011), in addition to being listed by both the US State Department and the UK Home Office (page 5, .pdf) as a foreign terrorist organization and a proscribed terrorist organization respectively.

Image: From UN.org – LIFG, who is now leading, arming, and funding (via Qatari, Saudi, Turkish, US, and British cash) entire brigades of the so-called “Free Syrian Army,” is clearly listed as an integral part of Al Qaeda, with the UN noting several prominent LIFG terrorists occupying the highest echelons of Al Qaeda’s command structure. These resolutions reflects other reports previously covered, including the US Army West Point Combating Terrorism Center report, “”Al-Qa’ida’s Foreign Fighters in Iraq” (summary here).
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This means that the United States, the UK, NATO, and the Gulf State despots of Saudi Arabia and Qatar are knowingly and willfully funding, arming, and politically backing designated affiliates of Al Qaeda contrary not only to US and British anti-terror legislation, but contrary to numerous UN resolutions as well. Western and Gulf State support of the FSA constitutes state sponsorship of terrorism.

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