…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end

Bahrain: Fear grows for the most prominent opposition figure as woman poet jailed
Bahrain Freedom Movement – 12/06/2011 – 2:41 p | Hits: 54

The most senior political figure in Bahraini opposition is in a serious condition languishing in the Al Khalifa torture chambers. Mr Abdul Wahab Hussain, 55, has lost almost all sense in the left part of his body and is hardly able to walk.

His speech has become blurred after months of extreme forms of torture and ill-treatment. Apart from the quick glances during court appearances, his family has not been allowed to visit him in jail. He is accused, with 22 others, of calling for the overthrow of the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship, inciting the hatred of the regime and spreading false news about it. He was repeatedly beaten, tortured with electric shocks and subjected to various forms of physical and psychological abuse. Young prisoners were tortured in front of him in order to break his will. Bahrain’s dictator, his uncle the prime minister and his son, the crown prince, stand accused of committing serious crimes against humanity. Several international writs have been submitted to international bodies with compelling evidence and personal testimonies.

The people’s resolve to achieve a regime change have continued unabated. In the past few days many demonstrations took place demanding an end to the Al Khalifa rule after decades of absolute dictatorship, corruption and human rights violation. Yesterday, the people of Jidhafs went to the streets chanting anti-regime slogans; The people want the downfall of the regime, Down with Hamad… etc. They were mercilessly attacked by the regime’s security forces and Death Squads. Friday witnessed country- wide demonstrations in support of the women detainees many of whom have been subjected to torture, inhumane treatment and abuse. The people of Sfalah, Mhaza, Al Ekr, Duraz, Al Juffair , Bilad Al Qadim and other towns and villages went out to demonstrated against the Al Khalifa regime demanding its downfall and declaring support to the women hostages. Human rights bodies have expressed serious concerns at the lack of access to detainees and called for investigations into claims that some detainees had been subjected to rape and sexual assaults. …more

Tribunal sends Bahrain protester to prison

By Brian Murphy, Sunday, June 12, 4:44 PM

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A 20-year-old woman who recited poems critical of Bahrain’s rulers — and later claimed she was beaten in jail — was sentenced Sunday to a year in prison as part of the kingdom’s crackdown on Shiite protesters calling for greater rights.

The ruling by a special security tribunal sent a strong message that Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy is not easing off on punishments linked to the unrest despite appeals for talks with Shiite groups in the strategic Persian Gulf island nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Ayat al-Qurmezi became a minor celebrity among protesters after reciting poems critical of Bahrain’s king and prime minister during gatherings in the capital’s Pearl Square, which was the hub for Shiite-led demonstrations that broke out in February after drawing inspiration from the Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

One verse, addressed to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, included the lines: “We are the people who will kill humiliation and assassinate misery. Don’t you hear their cries? Don’t you hear their screams?”

She was convicted of anti-state charges, including inciting hatred, the official Bahrain News Agency reported. Her mother, Sada al-Qurmezi, said an appeal is planned. …more

Bahrain jails woman, 20, for reading poem
Published: June 12, 2011 at 1:30 PM

MANAMA, Bahrain, June 12 (UPI) — Bahrain sentenced a young female poet to a year in prison Sunday for speaking at a protest rally.

Ayat al-Qormozi, 20, was convicted of reading a poem at a banned demonstration in February at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, CNN reported.

“Freedom of speech in this country has its boundaries and cannot touch on the leadership, and cannot call for the overthrow of the government,” said Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Mubarak of the Information Ministry.

Al-Qormozi’s poem “caused incitement and hatred to his majesty the king and to the prime minister” with lines such as “We are the people who will kill humiliation and assassinate misery,” he said.

Amnesty International condemned the verdict.

Al-Qormozi was arrested March 30 after police threatened to kill her brothers if the family did not surrender her, relatives said. They say she has been tortured.

Meanwhile, authorities Sunday charged two former opposition legislators, Matar Matar and Jawad Fairooz, with “spreading malicious lies in an attempt to overthrow the government,” Mubarak told CNN.

The men, who quit Parliament along with fellow opposition members to protest repression, pleaded not guilty and will be kept in jail until their next hearing.

Thousands attended a protest rally called by their party Saturday. …source

(The Wall Street Journal, Monday June 12, 1995, p A1)

MANAMA, Bahrain — On Friday, armored vehicles rolled through the streets of this offshore-banking capital, as thousands of troops staged a show of force to keep angry Bahrainis at bay.

The crowds were gathered for Ashura, an occasion when Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves in public to mourn the martyrdom of the prophet Mohammed’s grandson. The day passed peacefully. But the transformation of downtown Manama into an armed camp was a grim reminder that this tiny island has recently been the site of the worst civil unrest to hit any of the Gulf Arab monarchies in years

In the past six months, Shiite youths have been rampaging through their villages, setting electricity substations on fire and igniting canisters of cooking gas in giant fireballs. On Saturday night, three cars were burned near Bahrain’s big U.S. military base, headquarters of U.S. naval operations in the Persian Gulf. The ruling family has responded by unleashing their foreign mercenaries, who have pulled young people off streets at random, beaten and jailed them.

For U.S. policy makers worried about security in the Persian Gulf, the strife in Bahrain could be a harbinger of turmoil to come. The island is connected to much larger and richer Saudi Arabia by the King Fahd causeway, and perhaps more. The same conditions that have spawned instability here — economic decline, uneven distribution of wealth, a hated monarchy — are also serious problems in Saudi Arabia, which has a large, disadvantaged Shiite population in its oil-rich Eastern Province.
[Read more →]

Repression in Bahrain
Ghazi Farhan
The Economist

Jun 10th 2011, 14:23 by N.P. | MANAMA

TO APPRECIATE how all-encompassing the dragnet sweeping Bahrain to quash the island’s Arab awakening has been, consider Ghazi Farhan. A dapper 31-year-old property executive, Mr Farhan manages three restaurants and a set of stables. Amid his pictures on Facebook is one of him at a tea party with Prince Charles.

On April 12th, plain-clothes police blindfolded him in his office car park, and took him for interrogation. This, he told his wife, was punctuated by whippings with a damp hose. Two days later, he was locked in “Dry Dock” jail with hundreds of other suspected demonstrators and given sun-tan lotion and told to rest in the sun to heal the scars. He seemed confident he would be out within 60 days—the period the state is allowed to hold suspects without charge. His wife said she did not want to hire a lawyer, for fear that might provoke the authorities. The announcement of the lifting of the State of National Safety, official-speak for emergency law, on June 1st gave all hope of a mass release.

But on May 31st, after 48 days inside and the day before the lifting of martial law, Mr Farhan was accused of “participating in an illegal gathering of more than five persons”, a charge carrying a three-year prison term. Like tens of thousands of others in this small archipelago of 600,000 nationals, he had occasionally stopped by Pearl Roundabout to observe the largest protest in Bahrain’s history. Driven by the blustery winds blowing from North Africa, opposition demands had escalated. Alongside calls for an elected government to replace the current one, largely filled with the ruling family’s princes, were growing cries for the downfall of the Sunni monarchy.

Mr Farhan was not among those protesting. The closest he came to activism, says a foreign observer, was organising charity galas at the Rotary Club. A month before his arrest, he had opened his latest café, Speed, on the racetrack that the crown prince had built for Formula One racing. But in the crackdown that followed, he came under pressure to sell his shares. On Twitter, a self-professed anonymous policeman sent a series of messages with the hashtag Haraqhum (“burn them”) calling for a boycott of another of his cafés where Bahrain’s streetwise go to smoke shishas. …more

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Martyr Hani Abdul Aziz was announced as a new martyr of Bahrain. He was kidnapped by Saudi forces from hospital. He martyred yesterday, March 24th, after being shot by Saudi forces, appeared the effects of heavy wounds all over his body especially the face and hands and feet. There is a pictures that shows parts of the bones of the hand and leg scattering as a result he was shot from a short distance and within the room in one of the buildings.

Take a look at Photos Washing Hani A.Aziz

President Obama said in his speech on May 17, 2011, “Bahrain is a longstanding partner, and we are committed to its security. We recognize[no evidence of this other than Iranian Rhetoric] that Iran has tried to take advantage of the turmoil there, and that the Bahraini government has a legitimate interest in the rule of law. ”

Hani Abdul Aziz was neither Iranian or a protester when he was assaulted, kidnapped form hospital and then murdered by Saud and Bahraini security forces, in an apparent bid to cover up their crime. This is the kind of brutal Crime Against Humanity that al Khalifa and Saud commit in the name of National Security for Bahrain. President Obama is well aware of the “real situation” but refuses to intervene and demand cessation to Bahrain’s terror and repression of it’s own people.

[watch for more privacy and surveillance on “security aware page”]

What privacy risks are presented by Gmail?

a. Non-Subscribers Do Not Consent to “Content Extraction.”Subscribers consent to “content extraction” and analysis of their e-mail (“We serve highly relevant ads and other information as part of the service using our unique content-targeting technology,” according to the privacy policy). But non-subscribers who are e-mailing a Gmail user have not consented, and indeed may not even be aware that their communications are being analyzed or that a profile may being compiled on him or her. (See 2.3 “Will Google Build Profiles of Subscribers and/or Non-subscribers?”)

b. Unlimited Data Retention.While the prospect of never having to delete or file an e-mail is an attractive feature for space-hungry users, the implications of indefinite storage of e-mail communications presents several serious implications. Although Google has is held in high esteem by the public as a good corporate citizen, past performance is no guarantee of future behavior — especially following Google’s IPO when the company will have a legal duty to maximize shareholder wealth. Although Google currently saysthat they will not record the “concepts” extracted from scanned e-mails, they could decide to do so in the future and thereby create detailed profiles of users. Building such profiles on years of past communication in addition to current communications is made easier if users never delete e-mails. Additionally, communications stored for more than 180 days are exposed to lower protectionsfrom law enforcement access; with Gmail, many such e-mails could be made easily available. …more

Bahrain:Student is in danger because of her hunger strike in solidarity with her brother in custody
June 11th, 2011

A 20-year-old Bahraini student is on the eighth day of a hunger strike.

Miss.Asma Darwish, better known as “eagertobefree” on Twitter, a business student who studies at Bahrain Polytechnic, began an open hunger strike on Saturday the 4th of June.

“I am demanding freedom for my brother, Mohamed Ghuloom Darwish (23 years old), my uncle and my cousin. I had to take this decision because nothing else is left for me to do. I don’t know where my brother is, and I have not heard from him for more than 20 days”. She informed the BYSHR

Mr.Darwish, a professional photographer who owns Abulphoto Photography, was arrested at 2 am on the 22nd of May; masked men and riot police first burst into his parents’ house, and when they did not find him they took his eldest brother , and later released him when they found him in his sister’s house in Sanad.

Miss.Darwish,stated to the BYSHR: “When the riot police break into our house, I was sleeping. I woke up with shock, and my legs started to shake, I was afraid. One of the masked men was yelling at me and threatening me of arrest as well. They have insulted every religious symbol in the house by removing them and throwing them disrespectfully on the floor. My mom got really sick at that moment as she suffers from a heart disease”

She is one of the brightest students in Bahrain Polytechnic. Although she is on a hunger strike, but that did not stop her from attending all her classes, and passing all her exams.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern regarding the medical condition of Miss.Asma Darwish, and requests international organizations to immediately intervene to determine the conditions of prisoners in Bahrain. …more

Published on Saturday, June 11, 2011 by Associated Press
US Defense Sales to Bahrain Rose Before Crackdown

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government approved $200 million in military sales from American firms to Bahrain in 2010, months before the autocratic regime was rocked by instability amid a harsh crackdown on protesters, according to a State Department report.

Bahraini Shiite Muslims chant slogans to free prisoners during a sermon Friday, June 10, 2011, in Diraz, Bahrain, when Sheik Issa Qassem, Bahrain’s top Shiite cleric, said Bahrain should free political prisoners and that the nation’s reputation is being damaged by prosecuting doctors, teachers, youths, women, clerics and other professionals arrested during the crackdown on anti-government protesters. Many Shiite Muslim clerics, including Sheik Ali Salman, leader of the largest opposition party, attended midday prayers in Diraz, an unusual move to show their solidarity with Qassem. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) The annual report, which provides totals of U.S.-authorized arms sale agreements between American defense firms and foreign governments, showed a $112 million rise in licensed defense sales to Bahrain between the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years. The U.S. had green-lighted $88 million in military exports to Bahrain in 2009.

Much of the flow of military hardware to Bahrain was for aircraft and military electronics, but the U.S. also licensed $760,000 in exports of rifles, shotguns and assault weapons in 2010. Since mid-February of this year, the Persian Gulf kingdom has confronted demonstrators with cordons of armed military and police firing live ammunition. At least 31 people have died and hundreds more injured in the clashes. …more

Anti-government protesters flee after riot police fire rounds of tear gas to disperse them in the mainly Shi’ite village of Diraz, west of Manama, March 25, 2011. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

By Erika Solomon

MANAMA | Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:00pm EDT

(Reuters) – Thousands of Bahrainis shouting “we are victorious” gathered for a rally for political reform on Saturday, in the first large demonstration since the Gulf Arab state crushed a democracy protest movement in March.

Bahrain brought in troops from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in March and introduced martial law, which ended last week, to stop the protests against the Sunni Al-Khalifa family that rules over a Shi’ite majority population.

The government said the protests had a sectarian agenda and help from Shi’ite power Iran, just across the Gulf waters. The opposition denies this.

“Some try to manipulate our demands, to make them Shi’ite demands. This is not true. We are not calling for an Iran, but to build up our political reforms together, Shi’ite and Sunni, which will benefit all Bahrainis,” said Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Wefaq opposition group which organized the event.

“We will continue peacefully and we will continue our peaceful demonstrations,” he said, as the crowd roared back: “Peaceful, peaceful!”

The rally will likely be seen as a show of strength by Wefaq, Bahrain’s leading Shi’ite opposition group, as it heads to a national dialogue called by the king for next month.

“Wefaq wants to encourage people to get back out after months of fear. It’s a good sign ,” said protester Fatima.

The government said it granted permission for the rally, held in a large square in the Shi’ite district of Saar, west of the capital and away from central Pearl Roundabout, epicenter of the earlier protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Protesters waving Bahraini flags spilled out into the streets and dozens watched from nearby rooftops.

People drove in from around the city, causing traffic jams of more than 2 km long. State helicopters buzzed over crowds raising signs that read “The nation is for everyone.”

Opposition figures more than 10,000 people attended the rally. The Interior Ministry said 4,000 people were gathered.

NATIONAL DIALOGUE

Barbed wire and armored vehicles guard Pearl Roundabout in Manama, where protesters camped out for about six weeks, to prevent it from becoming a focal point for protests again.

But protesters in Saar described a new sense of optimism.

“I think the crowd speaks for itself,” said Fadel, carrying his small son, wrapped in a Bahraini flag. “Hopefully, this will be the next Pearl Roundabout.”

King Hamad bin Isa has offered a new dialogue with opposition groups starting in July. Wefaq said it would organize more rallies until then, and may plan a march for next week.

“The dialogue should offer real political solutions, it should not be cosmetic talk. We are serious about this dialogue,” Salman said in his 30-minute speech.

“They say the Shi’ites want a special government for themselves. No, we want a civilian state and an elected government for all… This is what we demanded in Pearl Roundabout and it is what we will again call for here.”

Wefaq organizers quietened those in the crowd who tried to chant “Down with the government,” frustrating some protesters.

“I think the people want the fall of this regime. After the repression and the killings, how can we go back?” said protester Amal, swathed in a black veil.

The government appointed its parliament speaker on Saturday to lead the national dialogue, the state news agency said, but the opposition said Crown Prince Salman — seen as leader of a moderate wing of the ruling family — should head the talks.

Khalifa al-Dhahrani, speaker of the Council of Representatives, said he hoped to bring “all parties concerned with matters of the state” into the dialogue.

Wefaq’s Khalil al-Marzooq said Dhahrani was opposed to many of the opposition’s core demands.

“He has previously objected to discussing reforms over elections, constitutional amendments and the issue of discrimination,” he said. “Genuine dialogue must be with the prince or the king because we need to discuss the central issues which are between the people and the ruling family.”

Bahrain’s cabinet is dominated by the ruling family and the king also appoints all members of an upper assembly, minimizing the powers of the elected parliament.

At the rally, Shi’ites said they broke a barrier of fear after over two months of military rule, when hundreds were detained or dismissed from their jobs and dozens were put on trial on charges from incitement to trying to overthrow the system.

“This needed to happen. The government thought they could suppress everything with the state of emergency. It seems they did not,” one protester said.

(Reporting by Erika Solomon, writing by Andrew Hammond and Erika Solomon, editing by Alison Williams)
…source

[watch “security aware page” on The Crooked Bough for more interesting security tips]

June 9th, 2011
How to Disable Facebook’s Facial Recognition Feature
Announcement by Eva Galperin EFF

Back in December of 2010, Facebook debuted its tag suggestion feature, which works by using facial recognition technology to examine photos in which you’ve already been tagged, and then creating what Facebook calls your “photo summary” or “photo comparison information,” or what we’ll call your “facial fingerprint.” Using this information, FB suggests your name to your friends when they upload a photo of you, and invites them to tag you in that photo. Over the last few months, Facebook has been slowly rolling this feature out to all of its users, which caught the attention of security firm Sophos, The New York Times, and the European Union, which has launched a probe to investigate the new feature.

Like most new Facebook features, this one is turned on by default. If you would prefer not to have Facebook store your facial fingerprint and use it to suggest photos in which your friends can tag you, you will need to opt out manually. The following video will show you three ways to delete your facial fingerprint data from Facebook, and show you a privacy setting that lets you ensure that you are the only person who can see tags identifying you in photographs.

…source

15 Child Prisoners of Guantánamo Thursday, June 09, 2011
Mohammed Ismail Agha

It turns out that more children were detained at Guantánamo than the U.S. government previously admitted.

Based on documents newly released by WikiLeaks, the Center for the Study of Human Rights in Americas at the University of California Davis found at least 15 prisoners who were children (17 years old or younger) at the time of their arrival in Cuba.

Prior to this disclosure, the State Department had acknowledged the presence of only 12 non-adults at Guantánamo. In an earlier report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, State Department officials admitted to only eight juvenile detainees.

Thirteen of the 15 were eventually released by U.S. authorities. Of the remaining two, one, Omar Khadr of Canada, became the first child in history convicted of war crimes. Khadr was 15 years old when, during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002, he allegedly threw a grenade that killed U.S. soldier Christopher Speer.

The other child, Yasser Talal al Zahrani of Saudi Arabia, was 16 years old when he was captured in Afghanistan and accused of fighting for the Taliban. He reportedly hanged himself in his cell at the age of 21 in a case that is still considered controversial.

The youngest child held in the prison was Mohammed Ismail Agha of Afghanistan, who was 13 at time of his detainment. He was apparently trying to find construction work when a local militia tried to recruit him. He refused and the militiamen told U.S. soldiers that was a Taliban fighter. Agha spent 14 months in custody before being released from Guantánamo, at which time he shocked human rights advocates by claiming to have enjoyed his time in the camp and thanking American soldiers for having taught him some English and finding him books to read in his native Pashto. He was, however, critical of U.S. authorities for waiting ten months to tell his father (through the Red Cross) that he was alive. …more

Iranian blogger sentenced to 20 years in prison
09 Jun 2011

Sakhi Rigi was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for critiquing the 2009 Iranian presidential elections on his blog. He was arrested in 18 June 2009 and has received the longest sentence given to an Iranian blogger. Yesterday (8 June) Canadian-Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan lost his appeal against a 19-year prison sentence. Known as the “blogfather,” Derakhshan championed the internet as a means of social reform. He has been in prison since his arrest in 2008 for making disparaging remarks about important Shiite leaders. Both Derakhshan and Rigi were convicted of “aiding enemy states and propaganda against the Islamic system.” …more

Friday, Jun 10, 2011 12:44 ET
DC law firm defends Bahrain on human rights crackdown
A top law firm will be paid $550 per hour to help Bahrain respond to allegations it fired trade unionists
By Justin Elliott

The Bahraini government’s brutal crackdown on a Shiite protest movement has shifted from the public scenes of police attacking protesters in the streets to the detention and prosecution of opposition figures and doctors.

And now the Bahraini regime has inked a contract with a high-priced Washington law firm to help fight a labor complaint filed by the AFL-CIO about an under-reported aspect of the crackdown: the firing of hundreds of workers and union leaders for participating in strikes and other pro-democracy actions. Sorini, Samet & Associates will be paid at a rate as high as $550 per hour, plus expenses, to help Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lobby against the April complaint submitted by the AFL-CIO under the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement. …more

Bahrain Shiite cleric says no dialogue with Gulf nation’s Sunni rulers under crackdown climate
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, June 10, 9:16 AM

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain’s most senior Shiite cleric said Friday there is no chance for talks with the Gulf nation’s Sunni rulers while security forces maintain their clampdown on protesters calling for equal rights and political freedoms.

The sermon by Sheik Isa Qassim underscored the deep discontent among Bahrain’s Shiite majority despite the lifting of martial law-style rules earlier this month and appeals for dialogue by the Sunni monarchy. It also marked another blow to the ruling establishment after organizers of Bahrain’s prestigious Formula One race called off efforts to reschedule the 2011 event, which was canceled in March amid the unrest..

“We cannot negotiate in such conditions,” Sheik Qassim told worshippers in a mostly Shiite area outside the capital, Manama.

Sheik Qassim, who was joined by other Shiite clerics in a display of solidarity, denounced what he called “daily security harassment” in the form of checkpoints, arrest sweeps and other measures imposed to quell the protests that broke out in February.

He said the pressures were “building hatred among the people.”

Shiites represent about 70 percent of the population in the strategic island kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. But Shiites have long complained of discrimination at the hands of the ruling Sunni dynasty.

The internal battles also have become a showcase of Arab fears over widening influence by Shiite power Iran.

Sunni Gulf leaders, especially in nearby Saudi Arabia, have strongly rallied behind Bahrain’s monarchy, which has accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Shiite groups of aiding the protests. …more

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Meets with Defenders from the Arab World | 09/06/2011

On June 7, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) met with Ms. Navanethem Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and members of her office.

The meeting brought together human rights defenders from across the Arab world, who expressed appreciation to the dedicated efforts and consistent response of Ms. Pillay and her office to the situation in their countries since the beginning of the year. The delegation also presented the human rights situation in their respective countries and discussed further steps and ways to move forward.

Countries covered in the meeting were Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, and Lebanon.

The delegation was composed of Ms. Sihem Bensedrine of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia, Mr. Nadeem Mansour of the Egyptian Centre for Social and Economic Rights and the Front for Defense of Egyptian Protestors, Ms. Maryam Al-Khawaja of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Ms. Elham Saudi of the Lawyers for Justice in Libya, Mr. Majid Mastoor of the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies in Sudan, Ms. Rola Bardan of the Palestinian Human Rights Organization in Lebanon, and Ms. Sohair Riad, CIHRS researcher on Yemen.

The Arab NGO delegation also met with Ms. June Ray, OHCHR Chief of Civil Society Unit; Mr. Frej Fenniche, OHCHR MENA Department Chief, and several desk officers for the countries represented. ..more

Israeli police fire stun grenades in Al-Aqsa Mosque
Published yesterday (updated) 10/06/2011 21:11

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces fired stun grenades at worshipers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque after prayers on Friday, police and Palestinian officials said.

The Al-Aqsa Foundation said forces raided the mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, from the Bab Al-Maghariba entrance and clashed with Palestinian worshipers.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said forces entered the holy site after Palestinians threw stones at officers near one of the gates, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Rosenfeld said police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

A Jerusalem police spokeswoman said officers fired tear gas and one person was arrested.

A spokesman for the Islamic authorities that run the mosque said one or two youths had been throwing stones, but the incident ended quickly. …source

Lebanon fears being drawn into Iran-Saudi cold war
April 12, 2011

BEIRUT: A war of words between Lebanon’s pro-Western and Iranian-backed camps has sparked fears of a backlash in the Mediterranean state over a “cold war” between Shia Muslim Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia.

“This war of words is further evidence that the Lebanon’s internal crisis is intrinsically linked to a regional showdown,” said Fadia Kiwan, head of the political science department at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

She said that as Lebanon enters its fourth month without a government, the country “will only become increasingly mired in crises.” Riyadh, which backs the pro-Western camp led by caretaker premier Saad Hariri, has accused Iran of rousing anti-monarchy protests in Bahrain, a majority Shiite country ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

And Tehran, which along with Syria is a major supporter of Lebanon’s Shia militant group Hezbollah, has slammed back with accusations that Saudi sent its troops into the tiny kingdom to contain a legitimate popular uprising.

Experts say that with regional tensions on the rise, a protracted political crisis in Lebanon could take yet a turn for the worse as Hariri and Hezbollah trade increasingly harsh accusations.

“We have not yet reached the height of the crisis,” said Imad Salameh, political science professor at the Lebanese-American University. “We are only at the tip of the iceberg.” Saudi-backed Hariri, a US ally, has accused Iran of meddling in Lebanon’s affairs and taking Arab societies “hostage,” sparking a harsh rebuke from Hezbollah.

“Lebanon and a number of Arab countries… are suffering politically, economically and in terms of security from blatant Iranian interference in the Arab world,” Hariri said on Thursday.

Hezbollah, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Washington, was quick to respond and in a rare move, Iran also reacted to Hariri’s accusations, calling them “unfounded” and saying they served “US-Zionist” interests.

“Hariri’s position… is an open attempt to mask US interference in the region and the confiscation of the will of the people, who seek freedom and the end of American hegemony,” a Hezbollah statement said. …more

A US Embassy cable from Bahrain released by Wikileaks.
Volume 02, Issue 49 – Monday, 21 February 2011 23:25
Crown Prince Shaikh Salma Bin Hamad al Khalifa calls Iran a threat bigger than Israel. Here is verbatim of the us cable.

SUMMARY: During USAFCENT Commander Mike Hostage and CDA’s October 12 meeting with Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa, the CP assured them that Bahrain would keep the pressure on Iran to live up to the commitments it made in Geneva (reftel). Lt Gen Hostage explained that the threat posed by Iran was leading the U S to pursue a Regional Integrated Air and Missile Defense (RIAMD) strategy with GCC countries. Shaikh Salman welcomed this and stressed that Bahrain wanted to be part of the solution to the GCC’s defense integration challenges. Lt. Gen Hostage and the Charge thanked him for Bahrain’s commitment to contribute a small contingent for the effort in Afghanistan. …more

West must find moral compass over Bahrain
10/06/2011 – 3:15 p | Hits: 25

After a week of condemnation in which even Bernie Ecclestone cowed, the Bahrain Grand Prix again looks doomed.

FIA chiefs met in Barcelona last week with a human rights report on the kingdom that might have been written by the Bahraini Government, for all the light it shone on the fractured society. The event has been restored to the calendar in murky circumstances but the teams are refusing to race. Belatedly, the sport has rediscovered its moral compass. Western governments are having trouble locating theirs.
The Bahraini Crown Prince arrived in Washington this week as part of a charm offensive that has included an ill-advised handshake on the steps of No 10 with David Cameron, right Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa has been chided for his Government’s crackdown on protesters but Bahrain’s Western allies still appear unwilling to demand concrete action.
Bahrain remains a key strategic ally in the Gulf and the family provide a bulwark against Iranian expansionism. Britain also has a cosy relationship with the regime. In April a new generation of Bahrainis graduated from Sandhurst military academy, including Sheikh Salman’s son.
The trials at Bahrain’s military court however, are an affront to the Prince’s fine words on universal rights.
London and Washington must demand that the court be disbanded. Without this talk of reconciliation is futile. Sheikh Salman must also demand it. Among opposition groups he is seen as the country’s only hope.
Instead of reassuring the White House and No 10 of his commitment to human rights he must prove it to his people. …more

Shi’ite cleric warns Bahrain nearing “abyss”
June 10, 2011 1:30 PM EDT

A top Bahraini Shi’ite cleric said trials of dozens of people and the breaking up of Shi’ite religious marches were dragging the country towards destruction, not reconciliation, ahead of a planned national dialogue.

State officials have promised the talks, which King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said would start on July 1, can discuss all types of democratic reforms in the country, rocked by anti-government protests that were quashed by security forces in March.

But Sheikh Issa Qasim, the most revered Shi’ite cleric in Bahrain, told a crowd of hundreds in his Friday sermon that current conditions did not match government rhetoric.

“This country is being brought closer to an abyss of terrifying destruction unless quick reforms are offered to satisfy the people,” he said.

Opposition groups say hundreds of people, most of them Shi’ite, have been put on trial on charges ranging from illegal gatherings and fabricated news to plotting a coup with foreign terrorist organisations. They say over 1,000 people remain in detention. The government says the numbers are much lower.

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers said the democracy protests earlier this year, led mostly by the country’s Shi’ite majority, had a sectarian agenda and help from Iran. The opposition denies this.

Emergency law was lifted last week, and since then small protests have broken out daily in Shi’ite neighbourhoods that are quickly broken up by riot police.

Sheikh Abdul-Aziz bin Mubarak al-Khalifa, Senior International Counselor from the Information Affairs Authority, has encouraged protesters to stop and instead focus on national dialogue. “We hope people will channel their energy in a more positive direction,” he said. …more

Time to disband the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet

by News Source on June 10, 2011

Toby Jones writes:

After months of popular protests against the regime, Bahraini officials are desperate to convince anyone who will listen, and most importantly to their long time allies in Washington, that the Persian Gulf island nation is returning to normal. On Tuesday Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa visited the White House, where he offered assurances that the regime is serious about political reform and engaging in a “national dialogue” with the country’s beleaguered opposition. Although it has directed muted criticism toward the Bahraini government, the Obama administration has offered repeated reassurances that it intends to stand by the ruling family. The White House appears to believe, or is banking on hope, that the Crown Prince is both willing and able to shepherd the country through the current crisis. But it may be time for the U.S. to reconsider its largest commitment to the Bahraini monarchy — the massive U.S. Fifth Fleet docked on the island — and the complicated relationship of mutual dependency that got us here in the first place.

Whatever opening there was for real dialogue in Bahrain, it appears to have closed. While the Crown Prince is busy touring Europe and the U.S. promoting himself as a force for moderation, it’s the hardliners in the royal family who currently hold power. Rather than reconciliation, their priority continues to be to oppressing — and often punishing – the protesters calling for a more representative government. The regime has taken extreme, frequently violent measures to destroy the country’s political opposition and defeat the forces of democracy. …more

Bahrain: Targeting Cyber Activist to prevent the broadcasting of news and information
June 10th, 2011

Mr. Hussein Ali Makki – Cyber Activist, better known as “Hussain Bahrain” on Facebook.He was arrested on Thursday, June 9th 2011.

Security forces stormed his house and confiscated a computer.

Mr.Makki, Administrator of the Pages ( RASAD NEWS) on Facebook and Twitter.

“RASAD NEWS” is broadcast news and information about human rights violations in Bahrain, publish images and video of events and is considered an important source of information.

After the arrest of Mr.Makki, security forces have confiscated the pages password’s and broadcast news against the demonstrators and support Bahraini authorities actions against the protests.

On 9th April 2011, Mr. Zakariya Rashid Alashiri, 42 years who had died in police custody, was a cyber activist and was running the Aldair website. This website included forums that dealt with political discussion and developments.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its concern about the arrest of Mr. Hussein Ali Makki and demanding that he be released immediately. …source

Sports Briefing | Auto Racing
Bahrain Race Is Canceled
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 9, 2011

Organizers of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix said they would not pursue plans to reschedule the race and stage it in October. The Bahrain Grand Prix was originally scheduled to open the Formula One season in March, but was scratched because of political unrest.

Last week, Formula One’s world governing body announced a date for the race in October, sparking criticism by fans, some administrators and a driver, Mark Webber. …source

Bahrain Workers’ Rights
8 June, 2011

The more you become involved in the complexities of politics, even within a relatively small country like Bahrain, the more you see the fallacy of that maxim of natural law which states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”[1] . If only this were true. Sadly, it is because we are not all born free and equal that we must fight to claim the rights that we are all supposed to have. It is not enough to sit back and watch as supposedly ‘inalienable’ rights are taken away from others.

The International Labor Organisation know this, and while they may not have as much influence over western governments as they once did, supra-national organisations like the ILO are central in raising awareness about the abuse of labor rights in authoritarian states like Bahrain. From a legal perspective, it is important to note that it is not just ‘abstract’ multilateral treaties that Bahrain ignores when forcing the sacking of hundreds of workers for their political and religious beliefs, but also bilateral treaties which it has signed such as the 2006 US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement.[2]

Many international organisations have been alarmed that the current repression in Bahrain undermines all of the hard work that reformers on all sides of the political spectrum have done to modernize Bahrain’s anachronistic political system. The American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) noted in a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that the General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions (GFBTU), created during the reforms of the 1990s, has been targeted by the government, with more than half of its elected leadership sacked. …more