February 2011

Anti-government protests continue in Bahrain

by News Sources 02.21.2011

The Washington Post reports: Saudi Arabia said Sunday that it stands ready “with all its capabilities” to shore up Bahrain’s ruling royal family if a standoff with the Shiite-led opposition is not resolved soon, underscoring the kingdom’s deep concern about its neighbor’s ongoing political crisis. Sunni-led Saudi Arabia props up Bahrain’s al-Khalifa family with cash [...]

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Gaddafi cruelly resists, but this Arab democratic revolution is far from over

by News Sources 02.21.2011

In agreement with Gilles Kepel who has dubbed events unfolding across the Middle East as the “Arab democratic revolution,” David Hirst writes: [S]ome now say, this emergence of democracy as an ideal and politically mobilising force amounts to nothing less than a “third way” in modern Arab history. The first was nationalism, nourished by the [...]

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William Astore: six vows to support our troops

by TomDispatch 02.21.2011

Reprinted with permission of TomDispatch.com Last year, in a joint investigation Propublica and National Public Radio reported that “[t]he military medical system is failing to diagnose brain injuries in troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom receive little or no treatment for lingering health problems.” This year, the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, [...]

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Revolutions televised and untelevised

by Paul Woodward 02.20.2011

As unrest spreads across Libya, The Guardian reports: In fast-moving developments after midnight, demonstrators were reported to be in Tripoli’s Green Square and preparing to march on Gaddafi’s compound as rumours spread that the leader had fled to Venezuela. Other reports described protesters in the streets of Tripoli throwing stones at billboards of Muammar Gaddafi [...]

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Secular intifadas

by News Sources 02.20.2011

Robert Fisk writes: Mubarak claimed that Islamists were behind the Egyptian revolution. Ben Ali said the same in Tunisia. King Abdullah of Jordan sees a dark and sinister hand – al-Qa’ida’s hand, the Muslim Brotherhood’s hand, an Islamist hand – behind the civil insurrection across the Arab world. Yesterday the Bahraini authorities discovered Hizbollah’s bloody [...]

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Palestinians shout: ‘Obama, you despicable man, we want self-determination!’

by News Sources 02.20.2011

Gideon Levy writes: This weekend, a new member enrolled in Likud – and not just in the ruling party, but in its most hawkish wing. Located somewhere between Tzipi Hotovely and Danny Danon, U.S. President Barack Obama bypassed Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan on the right and weakened their position. The first veto cast by [...]

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Intifada update

by News Sources 02.19.2011

Gaddafi fights for his future as up to 200 die in Benghazi Libya was approaching a “tipping point” last night as widespread protests against Colonel Gaddafi’s regime were met with increasing violence from security forces. Dozens of protesters were reported killed by sniper fire from security forces in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, yesterday when violence [...]

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Who gave the order to kill at Pearl Roundabout?

by Paul Woodward 02.19.2011

When Bahrain’s army opened fire on unarmed protesters yesterday there was little reason to suppose that this was anything other than a cold and calculated show of force. The lesson from Cairo for many Arab leaders was that a regime that is timid about killing its own people will quickly fall. Political dissent cannot be [...]

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Obama’s support for Bahrain’s hereditary dictatorship

by Paul Woodward 02.19.2011

The New York Times reports: At a town-hall-style meeting in Bahrain two months ago, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton got a pointed question from a member of Bahrain’s Parliament: was the United States letting Bahrain, a Persian Gulf ally, off the hook for a string of arrests of lawyers and human rights activists? The [...]

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Protesters in Bahrain retake Pearl Roundabout

by News Sources 02.19.2011

CNN reports: Thousands of joyous Bahrainis retook a major square in the heart of the island nation’s capital Saturday — a dramatic turn of events two days after security forces ousted demonstrators from the spot in a deadly attack. The sight of citizens streaming into Pearl Roundabout came as the Bahrain royal family appealed for [...]

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The moral bankruptcy of Barack Obama

by Paul Woodward 02.18.2011

Who would have thought that two years after George W Bush’s departure from the White House we could look back and say: there was a man with greater integrity and moral stature than the current occupant. Believe me, that is not a compliment to Bush. It is an expression of utter contempt for Barack Obama [...]

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Libyan protesters plead to Obama and the world to take a stand against Qaddafi

by News Sources 02.18.2011

Libyan protesters plead to Obama and the world not to be ignored Libyans are painfully aware of the fact that their country does not attract nearly the same level of interest as Egypt or Iran, except perhaps when it comes to the eccentricities of their notoriously flamboyant dictator. This, despite the fact that the Qaddafi [...]

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Intifada update

by News Sources 02.18.2011

View Protests across the Middle East in a larger map Egypt revolution unfinished, Qaradawi tells Tahrir masses Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a leading Egyptian Islamic theologian popularized by Al Jazeera, returned to Cairo today to deliver a stirring but overtly political sermon, calling on Egyptians to preserve national unity as they press for democratic progress. “Don’t let [...]

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Obama stands for democracy — but only after all other alternatives have failed

by Paul Woodward 02.18.2011

Yet again, Bahrain’s government has initiated a brutal crackdown on demonstrators — and this time the army is reported to be firing live rounds. A doctor has been killed and paramedics injured while trying to help injured protesters. Ambulances are being denied access to the scene of the massacre. The BBC reports: Thousands of people [...]

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Tom Engelhardt: waist deep in the Washington quagmire

by TomDispatch 02.18.2011

Cutting $100 billion?… easy — if only Washington had a brain By Tom Engelhardt Here’s the latest news from Congress, in case you’ve been in Afghanistan for the last couple of weeks.  A debate about slashing the federal budget is now upon us, while fears of a possible government shutdown as spring approaches are on [...]

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Bahrain crackdown will make citizens more determined

by News Sources 02.17.2011

Abdulnabi Alekry writes: The 14 February marked the 10th anniversary of the National Action Charter, which is considered to be the blueprint of the Bahraini reform project. In 2001, the charter was accepted almost unanimously by eligible voters, with the aim of leading to a constitutional monarchy. This chapter in Bahrain’s history was supposed to [...]

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Gene Sharp’s theories of non-violent revolution

by News Sources 02.17.2011

The New York Times profiles Gene Sharp, whose writings on non-violent revolution have inspired dissidents around the world. Based on studies of revolutionaries like Gandhi, nonviolent uprisings, civil rights struggles, economic boycotts and the like, he has concluded that advancing freedom takes careful strategy and meticulous planning, advice that Ms. Ziada said resonated among youth [...]

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Intifada update

by News Sources 02.17.2011

Death toll hits 19 in Libya’s “Day of Rage” The death toll in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Libyan cities of Benghazi and al-Baida on Thursday rose to 19 as Muammar Gaddafi ‘s regime sought to overshadow an opposition “Day of Anger” with its own rally in the capital Tripoli. Meanwhile, violent [...]

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Britain’s role in Bahrain’s torture regime

by Paul Woodward 02.17.2011

Colonel Ian Henderson, who from 1966 until 1998 was Bahrain’s security chief, is alleged to have instituted and overseen a brutal torture regime in the Gulf state, as a result of which he came to be known as the “Butcher of Bahrain.” Numerous human rights organizations have investigated and confirmed the allegations against him, yet [...]

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US-backed state-terrorism in the Middle East

by Paul Woodward 02.17.2011

The pro-democracy rally at Bahrain’s Lulu Roundabout was brought to a violent end at 3am this morning when police launched a brutal assault against what at that time were mostly sleeping protesters. Was this one of the “difficulties along the way” down “the democratic path that Bahrain is walking on” for the nation Hillary Clinton [...]

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Police in lethal crack down on peaceful mass protest in Bahrain

by News Sources 02.16.2011

Al Jazeera is now reporting that at least two people have been killed and dozens injured as Bahrain police attacked sleeping demonstrators in the early hours of Thursday morning. The New York Times said: Hundreds of riot police surrounded the nation’s symbolic center, Pearl Square, in the early morning Thursday, raining tear gas and percussion [...]

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Egypt and the global economic order

by News Sources 02.16.2011

Philip Rizk writes: When an online petition urged Egyptians to protest on January 25, the call was not only taken up by an internet savvy minority. The demonstrators who took to the streets on that day – many of whom remained there until they forced Hosni Mubarak, the country’s autocratic ruler, to step down – [...]

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Those living under occupation must look to Egypt’s uprising in order to find their own path to freedom

by News Sources 02.16.2011

Amjad Atallah writes: If you live in Washington, DC, the question of what does the Egyptian Revolution mean for Palestine might seem like a strange question. The question du jour here is what does the Egyptian Revolution mean for Israel? The subtext to that second question is what does the Egyptian Revolution mean for Israel’s [...]

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AJE Inside Story – Arab anger

by News Sources 02.16.2011

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