Failing Islamic States - 2011

[57Chevy]

Makes me wonder.
Islamic law forbids a Muslim to kill another Muslim intentionally (Quran 4:92),
The religions of all of these failing states as we know are predominantly muslim, be it sunni, shia, or sufi as in the case of Egypt, and perhaps some other lesser tribal relatives.
The supreme leader Khomeini is no lenient man and clearly not open to dialogue in any way. He is the deciding factor to all Islamic adherents and declares that all Muslims form a single Nation.
And that is too bad.
(from Wikipedia)
[...Before taking power Khomeini expressed support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "We would like to act according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We would like to be free. We would like independence." However once in power Khomeini took a firm line against dissent, warning opponents of theocracy for example: "I repeat for the last time: abstain from holding meetings, from blathering, from publishing protests. Otherwise I will break your teeth..."]

Taking an easy out answer he states;
[excerpt from article;( http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171150.html )]
{...In a major address on Monday marking the Iranian New Year, Iran's Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khomeini called the US-led military intervention in Libya “unacceptable,” insisting that the major aim of the move was Western oil interests. He further argued that if the West was really concerned about the plight of anti-government protesters in Libya, they would act against the Libyan dictator much earlier and not allow the killing of so many so far.
Ayatollah Khomeini also reiterated that the American claim of supporting nations has always served as a deception to promote policy interest and in reality the US has “no mercy” on people of the region...}

All the while he does even less.....or does he perhaps actually make matters even worse ?

[excerpt of article from on board Air Force One by Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs Dan Restrepo; ( http://www.isria.com/pages/22_March_2011_94.php )]
{....the Bahrainians yesterday said that they had uncovered a foreign plot. Is the United States aware -- and this was clearly aimed at Tehran -- is the United States aware of any evidence of Iran trying to foment trouble with the Shia community in Bahrain?

MR. RHODES: I think that what’s clear is that the protests that originated in Bahrain were by the Bahraini people, and that led to the series of events that continues to play out. So we believe that these movements in some of these opposition forces are longstanding political parties, for instance within Bahrain, have contributed to the protests there.

That said, I think across the region, Iran always seeks to find ways to exert influence. That’s not unique to Bahrain. I think we’ve seen Iran and countries like Lebanon, for instance, and others, seek to exploit opportunities for their own interests. So it’s something we watch very closely. I wouldn’t say that -- I wouldn’t say that we’re going to spell out in precise terms what we think their role might be in Bahrain other than to say that we always monitor these types of situations for Iranian efforts to try to take advantage of situations for their own interests...}

The reasoning behind some muslim states abstaining from the UN resolution revolves around that law, and yet muslim are killing muslims intentionally in vast numbers all over the middle east and Africa.
I think that would be a good enough reason to protest.
However, they protest to expulse their rulers to become free of tyranny and corruption.
In Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere the massacre of the innocent is rampant and leaders pocket change hire mercenaries.

How are atrocities allowable within states if that law is not enforced when measures are called upon for protection and an end to bloodshed ?
And when things finally get really out of hand, What do you hear ? Where is the UN ? Where is Uncle Sam ?  We need help !  Help us !  Help us !
Is the mess they make only for Western Cowboys and Europeans to handle ? I think not.
I can easily see why the US wants out of Libya ASAP.
[article: US wants out of Libya as quickly as possible ( http://politicsreport.com/news/us-wants-out-quick-possible )]

Neighbouring Muslim States are fully equipped, capable militarily and without a doubt
substantially rich enough to enforce not only the no-fly zone for as long as necessary, but also to enforce the law wherever required in those uprising Muslim States. It would seem that "pocket" law is used conveniently whenever any sort of formal commitment is sought.
Is that something like a "in case of fire break open" type law ?

Open the eyes ! Laws are not in place only to be utilized when the need arises. If you abide within the law only half the time then you do not live within it, and become subject to the consequences.

How can they say it ? We will not intervene against the slaughter because it is against our law. What ! How precarious they stand in their boots !
Here we are arming and massively subsidizing the Egyptians with everything including the kitchen sink but when the time comes to take action they throw up their perverted version of the law and run to the sidelines.

Is the Muslim States 'military might' some kind of showpiece not to be rightfully used ? A treasure of uselessness or one to also be used against their own people ? Or to be found useful to protesters who one day may try to make good riddance of their leaders ? Because otherwise, in most cases, their armies are like teats on a boar.
They must learn to better use their military arsenal for the real reasons like those at hand.

The West has plenty of experience and will gladly offer valuable guidelines and thorough expertise in all fields.
By law, Muslim States cannot allow the open murder of more brotherly muslims no matter their denomination and leave the dirty work to others.
Muslims must look to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and exercise within the law the full spectrum of what it entails.
I think there is no better time for these Muslim States to shoulder the full burden of affairs and take action in a leading and Command Role.

 

[a_majoor]

I'm sure massive NATO airstrikes will be raining down on Syria any time now....

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110324/syria-police-gunfire-freedom-march-110324/

Thousands shout for freedom at funeral march in Syria

Anti-Syrian government protesters pass next to burning tyres set alight by the protesters, following clashes between the Syrian security forces and protesters, in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, Wednesday March 23, 2011. (AP / Hussein Malla)

Anti-Syrian government protesters pass next to burning tyres set alight by the protesters, following clashes between the Syrian security forces and protesters, in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, Wednesday March 23, 2011. (AP / Hussein Malla)

Date: Thu. Mar. 24 2011 9:23 AM ET

DARAA, Syria — Thousands called for liberty Thursday in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, defying a deadly government crackdown as they took to the streets in funeral marches for protesters killed by police gunfire, an activist said.

Media access to the marches was restricted but an Associated Press reporter heard sporadic bursts of gunfire echoing through the city in the afternoon. Almost all shops were shuttered, the streets were virtually empty and soldiers and anti-terrorism police stopped people at checkpoints and manned many intersections -- the heaviest security presence since the unrest began.

The activist in contact with residents of Daraa told The Associated Press that massive crowds shouted "Syria, freedom!" as they marched toward one of the agricultural hub's main cemeteries.

Others in Daraa held a sit-in in the al-Mahata neighbourhood to protest the killing of residents in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters, the activist said.

Inspired by the wave of pro-democracy protests around the region, the uprising in Daraa and at least four nearby villages has become the biggest domestic challenge since the 1970s to the Syrian government, one of the most repressive in the Middle East. Security forces have responded with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

Syrian police launched a relentless assault Wednesday on a neighbourhood sheltering anti-government protesters, fatally shooting many in an operation that lasted nearly 24 hours, witnesses said.

A resident of Daraa who was reached by phone from Damascus said witnesses there reported seeing at least 34 people slain.

He said at least 20 bodies were brought to Daraa National Hospital, and seven others taken to hospitals in neighbouring areas. In the early evening, people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Khirbet Ghazale and al-Harrah tried to march on Daraa but security forces opened fire and hit them with rifle butts as they approached. The resident said seven more were killed in that shooting. Hundreds were wounded, he said.

The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

"It was a very difficult, bloody day," he said. "There is a state of undeclared curfew in Daraa, whenever troops see four or five more people gathered they open fire," he said.

"Daraa today is like a ghost town, we are very scared," he said. "Everything is closed and the streets are empty, everywhere you look there's security."

Abdul-Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian Human Rights League, said authorities had begun a campaign of detentions against activists, writers and bloggers in different parts of Syria.

Rihawi said the last to be detained was Mazen Darwish, a journalist who headed the independent Syrian Media Center. He said Darwish was summoned to a security office Wednesday noon and has not been seen since then. Also detained were well-known writer Loay Hussein and blogger Ahmad Hdaithi.

"These arrests will only increase tension," Rihawi said.

A statement posted Thursday on the Facebook page "The Syrian Revolution 2011" held Syrian authorities led by President Bashar Assad responsible for the violence and called on the Syrian people to hold protests in all Syrian provinces on Friday, which it dubbed "Dignity Friday."

An official at the Daraa National Hospital told The Associated Press by telephone that the hospital received a large number of casualties Wednesday and was "overwhelmed" with wounded people. He declined to say how many people were dead or hurt, saying he was not authorized to give out numbers or talk to the press.

He said the hospital had not received any new casualties since Wednesday night and that Daraa was "very quiet this morning."

Videos posted by activists on Youtube and Twitter showed dead and wounded people lying on a street in Daraa, as heavy gunfire crackled nearby and people shouted in panic.

One video showed a man with a bloodied face, apparently shot in the head, raising his index finger and saying "There is no God but Allah" -- the credo Muslims are required to say before they die.

The authenticity of the videos could not be independently confirmed.

In a tacit admission that the protests hitting the Arab world have reached Syria, Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa said in remarks carried by state-media that "the developments in the Arab world should should be a catalyst to build nations and not for undermining national unity."

 

[a_majoor]

The Iranian leadership is preparing their population for the trials ahead:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/iranian-rulers-believing-pre-messianic-destruction-is-imminent-make-film-to-prepare-muslims/

Iranian Rulers, Believing Pre-Messianic Destruction Is Imminent, Make Film To Prepare Muslims
Posted By 'Reza Kahlili' On March 28, 2011 @ 12:00 am In Uncategorized | 26 Comments

Several months ago, I was informed by my contacts in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that the Basij had started work on a film that had the approval of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The purpose of the project: to inform Muslims across the globe of the immediate coming of the last Islamic messiah. As my English translation of the film makes clear (watch it exclusively at PJTV [1]), the Iranian leaders, now more than ever, feel that all the stars are aligned for such event.

Ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Islamic rulers of Iran have declared themselves representatives of God on Earth, believing their mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the Shiites’ 12th imam, Mahdi.

Their belief is based on the centuries-old Hadith by Prophet Mohammad and his descendants, who have provided clear guidance as to the timing of The Coming.

According to the Hadith, in the age of The Coming a revolution takes place in Iran. This is a key sign indicating that the reappearance is near, and serves as the initial preparation in the worldwide movement for The Coming of the last messiah. Based on this belief, the leaders of Iran see it as their duty to prepare the ground for The Coming.

One of the most important keys to securing the reappearance of the last messiah — as called for in the Hadith — is the annihilation of Israel, and the conquering of Beitol Moghadas (Jerusalem). They state with conviction that Islam will soon conquer the world, and that all infidels will be destroyed.

The pursuit of nuclear bombs by the radicals ruling Iran is directly connected to this belief: war, chaos, and lawlessness must engulf the world to pave the way for Imam Mahdi’s reappearance.

This movie has been produced in Iran by an organization called Conductors of The Coming [2], in collaboration with the Iranian president’s office and the Basij (Iranian paramilitary force). Also, reports indicate that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, President Ahmadinejad’s top adviser and chief of staff, was directly involved with this project. The movie was completed a few months ago and was recently screened for the high clerics by the Iranian president’s office, with one of its high-ranking official analyzing it.

Mashaei reflects the Iranian leaders’ belief very clearly:

Therefore let us shout out loud that The Coming is soon and that evil should be fearful. We live with these thoughts every day and our lives are filled with The Coming of the last imam. That human will reappear and fill the world with justice and establish his promised governance on earth. The very world has witnessed too much bloodshed of the innocent for others to build their palaces. The very world is filled with shouts for justice. The innocent and the oppressed are losing their lives to world powers. It is in this very world where the oppressors rule and this world that Allah will command the last imam to appear and forever put an end to injustice. At that time the world will belong to the righteous.

Currently this movie is being distributed throughout the Basij and Revolutionary Guards’ bases. The producers are in the middle of translating it into Arabic, with the purpose of mass distribution throughout the Middle East. Their intention is to incite further uprisings, with the hopes of motivating Arabs to overthrow U.S.-backed governments.

The final goal? The annihilation of Israel and Allah’s governance of the world.

Editor’s note: We can’t overstate the importance of the English translation of this film. Watch it exclusively at PJTV. [1]

Article printed from Pajamas Media: http://pajamasmedia.com

URL to article: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/iranian-rulers-believing-pre-messianic-destruction-is-imminent-make-film-to-prepare-muslims/

URLs in this post:

[1] watch it exclusively at PJTV: http://pjtv.com/v/5147
[2] Conductors of The Coming: http://u313.ir/index.php

Clearly they are far more open and agressive with their Info Ops strategy, and the only counter meme in play right now seems to be the "Arab Spring" and "Green Revolution" movement, although they are far from coherent and in constant danger of being hijacked by radical islamists, the military or simply the most ruthless thugs around.

 

[57Chevy]

from the article above;
"Therefore let us shout out loud that The Coming is soon and that evil should be fearful. We live with these thoughts every day and our lives are filled with The Coming of the last imam. That human will reappear and fill the world with justice and establish his promised governance on earth. The very world has witnessed too much bloodshed of the innocent for others to build their palaces. The very world is filled with shouts for justice. The innocent and the oppressed are losing their lives to world powers. It is in this very world where the oppressors rule and this world that Allah will command the last imam to appear and forever put an end to injustice. At that time the world will belong to the righteous."
                                                              _________________________
According to their own beliefs,
I wonder how many of their leaders have read this paragraph without being filled with fear of that fateful day.

 

[The Bread Guy]

.... according to Reuters:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted his government's resignation on Tuesday after nearly two weeks of pro-democracy unrest that has posed the gravest challenge to his 11-year rule.

But the move was unlikely to satisfy protester demands since the cabinet has little authority in Syria, where power is concentrated in the hands of Assad, his family and the security apparatus.

Tens of thousands of Syrians held pro-government rallies on Tuesday, awaiting a speech in which Assad was expected to announce a decision on lifting emergency laws that have served to crush dissent for almost 50 years.

That is a key demand of anti-government demonstrations in which more than 60 people have been killed.

"President Assad accepts the government's resignation," the state news agency SANA said, adding that Naji al-Otari, the prime minister since 2003, would remain caretaker until a new government was formed.

Protesters at first had limited their demands to greater freedoms. But, increasingly incensed by a security crackdown on them, especially in the southern city of Deraa where protests first erupted, they now call for the "downfall of the regime." ....

 

[sean m]

Considering what is going on in the Islamic world, there is a hope that hopefully democracy will sprout out of these conflicts will be democracy and strong economic, social conditions of these nations. This hopefully in turn would lead to the reduction of radical Islam.  As we know that jihadis greatly travel to other nations to engage in jihad. The Chechen men have been noted as having engaged in jihad in Afghanistan and possibly elsewhere. The Chechen extremists ave also been blamed for the Beslan and Moscow Theatre massacres. These are of course true, yet very few have looked at why there is so much religious extremism in this land.  Putin as leader and deputy leader has used military action to keep chechnya in it's grasp. Prior the actions of the Russian army was and is considered as war crimes by some.  There as been little coverage by the media do to the Russian government denying most media permitted to visit the nation. Some of those Russian journalists who have gone and reported on Chechnya have been murdered including Anna Politkovskaya, The Russian government has been suspected of being involved. Now The Russian armed forces have left yet they have placed their puppet  Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov has been living a living a life in luxury while the people suffer. During his rule his actions have caused Chechnya to become more of an Islamic state. The Russians seem to be fine with this since they are less attacks against Russia, even though that hasnt stopped Chechen extremists from fighting abroad. Kadyrov continues to commit human rights violations, It would seem capable to believe that as Chechnya remains  and continues in the future as a  islamic state, That this will only lead to future radicalism in the country. Here is a recent article about the current situation in the country:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jWKVXJoGiOK8KJFaJXgrCnrEC7Mg?docId=CNG.3c9302d7a8d3fe772d9bb86f058e598c.4a1
This video is old yet still shows the russian past occupation of Chechnya,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHVKSW6NKPk
What is your opinion on this problem? Should there be some sort of sanctions against this nation?

 

[nuclearzombies]

Seems to me that folks are running out of closet space to store all them skeletons......

Just read about that attack in Afstan, all I could do is shake my head....... things are lining up to get more than a little nuts, and that sorta bugs me....
All I can say is come hell or high water, I'm on one side: Canada's

To all our people serving in dangerous places:

Stay safe, take care of eachother and most important of all, please make it home in one piece
:yellow:

 

[Edward Campbell]

Considering what is going on in the Islamic world, there is a hope that hopefully democracy will sprout out of these conflicts will be democracy and strong economic, social conditions of these nations ...

I disagree (I do not know enough about Chechnya to comment on that part of your post). What is "going on" in North Africa and the Middle East appears, to me, to be a rebellion by disaffected young people. But I doubt it is democracy they are after: more likely it is a bigger piece of the pie - maybe just the power (and money) pie. Democracy is a lot more than just elections, even free and fair elections, and the peaceful, orderly transfer of power - they are the symptoms, the indicators of a healthy democracy, not its underlying causes. Democracy takes root and flourishes only when certain ideas, habits of mind, and institutions are in place, including but not just:

• The rule of law and a healthy, ingrained respect for the rule of law amongst the people;

• The equal application of the rule of law to everyone, governors and governed alike;

• Respect for the fundamental rights – life, liberty (which does not equal license), security of the person, and property;

• Established, independent and valued (by the people) institutions like parliaments, courts and e.g. regulatory bodies like law societies, colleges of physicians and surgeons and securities and exchange regulators; and

• Free and vibrant universities within which vigorous, public debate is heard about all issues, great and small, popular and unpopular.

I detect little evidence that any of these exist to any measurable degree anywhere from Morocco through Egypt and Iran and on to Pakistan and, I see them threatened by Saudi funded fundamentalist Islam in e.g. Malaysia.
 

 

[sean m]

Wouldn't it seem though if the youth wanted a "bigger piece of the pie" that they would have after the protests had escalated that they would have gone to these dictators or they dictators would have gone to them, and they would have demanded Mubarak or Ben Ali to give them more money or power or else the protest would continue. It could  be possible that these dictators did go up to the youth and offer more power or money but the youth declined, since nothing has been stated it is impossible to know.  At least in the media these youth have stated they want democracy and nothing more, of course though they wouldnt state that they want a bigger peace of the pie. Yet the protests by the youth and other Egyptians seem to show that they will continue to protest until they have full democracy. I believe that even if the youth were to gain more power, the rest of the population wouldnt accept it since they were also key in removing mubarak from power Most would believe that it takes time to go from a dictatorship to democracy.  In Egypt even though there has been violence by radicals muslims, there have been many peaceful muslims protecting those of other faiths ex. Christians. There has been no anarchy in the streets of Egypt or Tunisia, if the reports are true. There are protest, yet it would seem that they are not violent. As those here have said that the fate of these countries is unkown, yet at least we can say that nothing has taken for the worse yet in either nation. There seems to be a large grouping of pro democracy supporters in both Egypt and Tunisia. Pakistan and Yemen as well as Bahrain, seem to be questionable as you have stated, since it seems more unclear on why they want their governments removed. I believe if we want these nations to go they way we want, possibly a good application would be to do what the United States and other nations did to improve Ireland's situation by having businesses invest in the country and help in economic growth. Ireland used to be broke and the country was in a tough situation but through foreign countries providing advise and investment towards building a strong economy, Ireland became one of the wealthiest nations in Europe at the time. This is probably to soon for these Middle Eastern- North African nations. Yet hopefully at some point in time in the future it can be pursued.

I disagree (I do not know enough about Chechnya to comment on that part of your post). What is "going on" in North Africa and the Middle East appears, to me, to be a rebellion by disaffected young people. But I doubt it is democracy they are after: more likely it is a bigger piece of the pie - maybe just the power (and money) pie. Democracy is a lot more than just elections, even free and fair elections, and the peaceful, orderly transfer of power - they are the symptoms, the indicators of a healthy democracy, not its underlying causes. Democracy takes root and flourishes only when certain ideas, habits of mind, and institutions are in place, including but not just:

• The rule of law and a healthy, ingrained respect for the rule of law amongst the people;

• The equal application of the rule of law to everyone, governors and governed alike;

• Respect for the fundamental rights – life, liberty (which does not equal license), security of the person, and property;

• Established, independent and valued (by the people) institutions like parliaments, courts and e.g. regulatory bodies like law societies, colleges of physicians and surgeons and securities and exchange regulators; and

• Free and vibrant universities within which vigorous, public debate is heard about all issues, great and small, popular and unpopular.

I detect little evidence that any of these exist to any measurable degree anywhere from Morocco through Egypt and Iran and on to Pakistan and, I see them threatened by Saudi funded fundamentalist Islam in e.g. Malaysia.

 

[a_majoor]

Looking at most of these Arab countries, we see there was a demographic explosion but little corresponding economic development; most of these young people want to have a job in places where there arre few or none. The protesters were after the autocrats because they knew:

a. these autocrats have been siphoning money from the economy for years if not decades;
b. practicing croney capitalism (i.e. jobs and prospects go to their friends), and
c. have no real plan or ability to change things

The dangerous downside is the collapse of old politcal structures provides room for the "man on the white horse" to ride in and offer to set things right. Many people will chose that over chaos and anarchy. Here the "man on the white horse" could be Islamic radicals, organized crime, thuggish political parties like the Ba'ath Socialist party or just replace dictator A with dictator B. A military coup might be a big improvement...

 

[57Chevy]

Not only is there need for elected government but also the need for job creation.
I think that is one of the reasons for protests.....especially from the youth.

Instead of pocketing and stashing/investing billions all over the world for their private gain
they should have been investing it into their own economy.
Now the US will be doing it for them by providing more than 2 billion to catalyze their economy through OPIC
(Overseas Private Investment Corporation)
We buy oil from OPEC and give money to them through OPIC  :

provided by provisions of the Copyright Act:
(Thursday, March 17, 2011) Secretary of State Clinton announces initiative in Egypt; focus on small businesses and 'fast-track' project approvals    http://www.opic.gov/news/press-releases/2009/pr031711

OPIC is currently providing nearly $2.6 billion in support to projects in Middle Eastern and North African countries.

The OPIC financing is available for private sector investment in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, and potentially Algeria, Oman, and Yemen.

 

[a_majoor]

Well, the inevitable fallout of the Egyptian revolution is here:

http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/04/07/mass-media-on-egypt-admitting-in-april-what-was-obvious-in-february/

Mass Media on Egypt: Admitting in April What Was Obvious in February

Posted By Barry Rubin On April 7, 2011 @ 7:28 am In Uncategorized | No Comments

I now understand that the purpose of the mass media is to report on things that don’t fit the agenda only after they have happened and are so blindingly obvious that ignoring them is impossible. Oh yes, and by then it’s also too late to avoid catastrophes.

What prompted that conclusion is seeing that the mass media reports in April what was completely clear — and which I reported–in February. I mean, just look at this Los Angeles Times article:

“The secular reformers and twenty-something urbanites at the vanguard of Egypt’s Jan. 25 revolution have found themselves eclipsed. They lack experience and grass-roots networks to compete with the Muslim Brotherhood and other religious groups that have quietly stoked their passions for this moment. In a sense, Mubarak’s obsession with both co-opting and crushing Islamists instilled in them the discipline and organization that now propels their political agendas.”

Or in other words:

– Yes, it was obvious back in January that this was a small group that would inevitably be eclipsed, but the mass media and the Obama administration said they would run the country and transform it into a liberal, modern democracy.

– Yes, it was obvious back in January that the Brotherhood was well-organized, strong, determined, and possessing a compelling ideology. Will someone please compile a list of U.S. government, media, and “expert” statements saying the exact opposite?

– Ha! Notice how the last sentence tries to blame Mubarak for this outcome? What they should be saying is: We were wrong when we said that it was a lie perpetrated by dictatorships that the only choice was them or the radicals. You are welcome to dig up quotes on that point.

Paragraph 2:

“The military council ruling the country has astounded many by permitting Islam a wider role. The Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition party, expects a strong showing in September’s parliamentary elections. In Egypt’s first taste of true democracy, the Brotherhood and more fundamentalist Salafist organizations told followers that it was their religious duty to vote to approve a referendum on constitutional amendments that benefited Islamists by speeding up elections. One of Egypt’s leading ultraconservative sheiks, Mohamed Hussein Yacoub, influenced by Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi strain of Islam, was quoted as saying after the referendum had passed: ‘That’s it. The country is ours.’”

– I wasn’t astounded. We have been watching growing pro-Islamist feeling in the Egyptian army for years.

– Yes, I guess you never thought that an Islamist group in a highly religious country (even by Muslim and Arab standards) would tell people persuasively that it was their religious duty to vote for Islamists. Allah wants you to vote for me! Pretty good campaign slogan. Even better than: Yes we can (turn Egypt into an Islamist state, fight Israel, and tell America to go drink the Nile).

– Yes, we were repeatedly told that the Islamists were scared because peaceful democracy is shown to work.

Memo to experts, journalists, and government officials:

A revolutionary movement seeks to seize state power as its goal. A strategy is their long-term plan for doing so. Tactics are specific actions designed to fulfill that strategy and to achieve that goal. Violence and terrorism are only a tactic. If needed, other tactics — running for elections, building a base through social welfare services, etc. — can be used within the strategy to fulfill the goal.

Consequently, the use of elections or setting up afterschool activities for kids do not prove that a group isn’t a radical and dangerous organization. And, besides, afterschool activities are good for spotting potential suicide bomber candidates.

Is it too much to ask that highly trained, expensively educated, and well-paid people who make decisions and report or analyze events understand the previous two paragraphs?

Another factor ignored generally has been the upsurge by “Salafi” Islamists, that is, those even more radical than the Muslim Brotherhood. Many of these people, and certainly their leaders, have been radicalized by the Brotherhood but want a faster pace and higher level of violence for the revolution.

The Financial Times reports:

“Attacks against citizens by ultraconservative Muslims have deepened fears of a surge in religious violence in Egypt during the country’s political transition after the fall of Hosni Mubarak as president.”

And then it says something completely false:

“The attacks are being ascribed to followers of Salafi Islam, a purist form of religion whose conservative message was allowed to spread through society in the Mubarak years because it focused on morality rather than politics.”

No, these are the people who waged a virtual civil war in the 1990s and were repressed by the Mubarak regime. Indeed, many of them responded to repression and long imprisonment by declaring that they concluded violence had been a mistake. The Mubarak regime defeated an Islamist threat precisely by not appeasing it.

Now these ultra-radicals are being released from prison and returning to their old ways, or at least feeling emboldened by the new situation. The article blames the problem on the Mubarak regime which will make it impossible to understand what’s happening.

It continues:

“Egyptians have been shocked by news that Islamists cut off the ear of a Christian man in the southern city of Qena over allegations that he had a relationship with a Muslim woman. In the same week, hundreds of religious conservatives in a northern Nile delta town were reported to have ejected a woman from her flat and burnt it down because of rumours about her conduct. Salafis have also been accused this week of attacking and destroying the tombs of local Muslim saints in several small Nile delta towns. Salafis view the veneration of saints as a form of idolatry.”

This is only the start. Here’s what journalists miss: the key question is whether the army, police, and later an elected government will undertake the difficult, somewhat unpopular task of shooting it out with these people, catching them, and throwing them into prison, even if they “only” kill Christians or rough up women who don’t conform to Islamist norms. For ideological and electoral reasons, I don’t think this is going to happen.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org

Article printed from Rubin Reports: http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin

URL to article: http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/04/07/mass-media-on-egypt-admitting-in-april-what-was-obvious-in-february/

 

[a_majoor]

More fallout:

http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/04/07/schoolbus-attack-is-a-strategic/?print=1

Hamas Is Moving Toward War With Israel

Posted By Barry Rubin On April 7, 2011 @ 7:10 pm In Uncategorized | 56 Comments

Two events show us that an emboldened Hamas in the Gaza Strip is moving toward war with Israel.

First, an Israeli school bus, painted bright yellow, was hit by fire from the Gaza Strip and at least one child was seriously wounded. This is not just another terrorist attack but part of a wider strategy. What is strategically significant here is how the bus was attacked. Usually, attacks from the Gaza Strip — either carried out or sanctioned by the Hamas regime there — are by homemade rockets, mortars, or attempted cross-border ground attacks. Deaths and damage are usually random.

In this case, though, the attack was carried out with an advanced anti-tank rocket. In other words, a terrorist deliberately aimed at the bus and fired, hoping to kill the maximum number of children.

But there’s more. Hamas can fire an advanced anti-tank rocket because the Egyptian revolution has ended a regime that acted in its own interest to block most arms shipments to Hamas. The Egypt-Gaza border is now open. Terrorists and superior weapons are flooding into Gaza.

Another demonstration of this fact was the second major incident in which Hamas fired an Iranian-made Grad missile, far superior to the usual homemade rockets, at Israel. In this case, it was shot down by an Israeli anti-missile, part of the new defense system deployed only a few days earlier. A total of 50 rockets and mortars were fired on that one day, equaling the number shot from the Gaza Strip at Israel during the entire month of March. There were also several attempts at cross-border ground attacks, more in one day than at any time in the past.

It was clear to the Hamas leadership that this escalation — and probably more to follow — brings the situation closer to another war like the one fought in December 2008-January 2009 after Hamas ended the ceasefire and launched a massive rocket and mortar barrage against Israel.

While saved politically by Western intervention — which does not favor the overthrow of the Hamas regime and largely accepted Hamas propaganda portraying Israel as a villain — that war was a bad defeat for Hamas. Its forces fought quite poorly, especially when compared to Hizballah’s units in 2006 in Lebanon.

Why, then, is Hamas provoking a new war? Part of the answer, of course, is ideology. Hamas believes that the deity is on its side, that victory is inevitable, and that martyrdom is a substitute for good military strategy and strength. Hamas is also indifferent to casualties, material damage, and the suffering of its own people. Its goal is total victory, Israel’s destruction, and the mass murder of Israeli Jews.

But none of that is new. What is new is a shift in the strategic situation. The recent upheavals in the Arab world have emboldened revolutionary Islamists and Hamas most of all. Its close ally, the Muslim Brotherhood, can operate freely in Egypt. There is much support for Islamism in the Egyptian army. And even the “moderate” presidential candidate Muhammad ElBaradei said that Egypt would go to war if Israel attacked the Gaza Strip.

Does Egypt want war with Israel? Of course not. But Hamas calculates — and, of course, it often miscalculates — that crisis with Israel will increase its support from Egypt and perhaps even create a situation where Cairo intervenes on its side on some level.

At a minimum, thousands of Egyptian volunteers, mobilized by the Brotherhood, might fight on its side, money would be raised in Egypt on its behalf, and large amounts of arms would flow across the border.  Then, too, international public opinion could be mobilized against Israel with tales — often phony — of atrocities as happened last time. And the Palestinian Authority (PA), ruling the West Bank, could be shamed and subverted. While the PA can claim to be delivering some prosperity — which the West thinks is all people care about — Hamas can deliver heroism and jihad.

Thus, a dangerous crisis is being developed that could bring renewed war within two years and possibly far less time.  It’s a crisis for which U.S. and European policy is totally unprepared. And their most likely response — demands for a ceasefire and criticism of Israel — would benefit Hamas.

Article printed from Rubin Reports: http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin

URL to article: http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/04/07/schoolbus-attack-is-a-strategic/

 

[57Chevy]

A couple of interesting articles with regards to the Iranian influence in Egypt and the effect on Israel

reproduced under the fair dealings provisions of the Copyright Act

Netanyahu: Danger that Egypt will go in direction of Iran
By: Rebecca Anna Stoil
02/07/2011 22:14
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=207232
Speaking to delegation of European Parliament members PM warns there are numerous possible outcomes for gov't upheaval in Egypt.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday warned that there are numerous possible outcomes for the governmental upheaval in Egypt- and noted that not all of them are necessarily democratic. “There is the possibility that the Islamists will take advantage of the situation to take control of the state,” he warned and “a third option that Egypt will go in the direction of Iran,” in which, he said, the regime would oppress its citizens and threaten its neighbors.

Speaking to a massive delegation of over 400 members of the European Parliament at the Knesset, Netanyahu emphasized that whatever the outcome, Israel’s interest is to maintain the 30-year-old peace with Egypt.

He explained that this served the interests of the entire region.

Israel, he said, expects that the international community will demand that any future Egyptian leader maintain the peace agreement signed by the two states.

The prime minister added that Israel must expand its peace to encompass the Palestinians, but while maintaining dependable security arrangements in light of the fact that the situation in the Palestinian Authority remains volatile.

                                                  ________________________________________

Relations strained during Mubarak era
Stronger Iran ties likely in post-revolution Egypt
Sunday, 03 April 2011
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/03/144066.html

DUBAI (Mohamed Obaid)

Among the numerous speculations about the changes that will take place in Egypt after the January 25 revolution that ousted the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak is the future of the relationship between Egypt and Iran in the coming stage.

Although the nature of relations with the United States and Israel top the agenda of foreign affairs topic in the post-Mubarak era, ties with Iran seem to have become lately more pressing, possibly due to the strain they have suffered for more than three decades.

Relations with Iran have been regarded by observers as one of the most enigmatic of Egypt’s foreign policies with the Egyptian government giving mixed signals about the possibility of closer ties with the Islamic republic.

It was obvious that Egypt was willing to mend fences with Iran at the time of reformist President Mohamed Khatami, from 1997 till 2005, while the situation was completely reversed when hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005.

Relations between Egypt and Iran deteriorated remarkably during Ahmadinejad’s time as both countries exchanged incriminations of spying and infiltration in addition to Egypt accusing Iran of smuggling weapons to Hamas in Gaza and destabilizing Egypt’s national security.

In addition to tension on the level of governments, the Egyptian people were infuriated by a statement made by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei during the January 25 revolution.

Khamenei argued that the Egyptian revolution is an extension of Iran’s Islamic revolution and predicted that an Islamic renaissance would take place in Egypt.

Egyptians who took part in the revolution expressed their reservations on Khamenei’s statements which, they said, gave the revolution a religious character while in fact it focused on demanding social justice and an end to corruption. They also accused Iran of meddling in Egypt’s domestic affairs.

However, this tension dissolved when former President Mohamed Khatami gave a speech in which he praised the Egyptian people and said that Egypt has always been a source of inspiration for Iran.

First tests

The relationship between Egypt and Iran was put to the test a few days after Egypt’s Higher Council of Armed Forces took over after the ouster of the Mubarak regime when Iran asked for permission for two military ships to pass through the Suez Canal on their way to Syria.

Despite strong objections from Israel, Egypt allowed the two ships to pass, in the first step of its kind since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

A statement by newly-appointed Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi and which many perceived as a “political bomb” seemed to chart the path the relations between the two countries are expected to take in the future.

“Iran is our neighbor and we have long-standing historical ties throughout different eras,” said Arabi.

Arabi added that the Egyptian government does not consider Iran an enemy state and hinted that relations will not be the same as before.

“We are turning a new leaf with all countries and this includes Iran.”

The Egyptian minister noted the possibility of raising the level of diplomatic representation interest section to embassy level.

“This depends on what both parties agree on. From our part, we want to start anew and we’re waiting for their response.

Iran welcomes initiative

Arabi’s statement was greeted with enthusiasm on the part of the Iranian government as Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi lauded the historical ties that have always existed between Egypt and Iran despite recent strains.

“We hope that the new environment in Egypt will see the two countries and their great people getting closer,” he was quoted as saying by the Iranian Mehr News Agency.

Salehi added that stronger ties between Egypt and Iran will contribute to establishing stability in the entire region.

He also praised the Egyptian revolution and the struggle of Egyptians to achieve justice.

“Egyptians have written a new chapter in history.”

Salehi’s statements were followed by similar ones issued by head of the Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi who stated that restoring relations with Egypt is extremely important for Iranian diplomacy and urged the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up on the matter thoroughly until this end is reached.

Boroujerdi blamed the former Egyptian regime for being the main obstacle that hindered the resumption of relations between Egypt and Iran.
“Now that the regime fell and with the new developments taking place in Egypt, the environment is ready for this step,” he said.

Pending issues

Several issues that might have hampered the restoration of diplomatic ties between Egypt and Iran still need to be addressed like the approach to the peace process, nuclear proliferation, and security in the Gulf region.

However, preliminary signs indicate that both sides are willing to resolve pending issues in a rational manner that works towards guaranteeing stability in the region and reaching a formula of understanding that serves all parties involved.

(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)

 

[CougarKing]

More from Syria again:

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 4/22/2011

Syria forces fire at 'Good Friday' protesters

Syrian security forces fired at protesters in the central city of Homs as tens of thousands of people took to the streets for "Good Friday" rallies to test long sought-after freedoms, an activist said.
Syria forces fire at 'Good Friday' protesters

A day after President Bashar al-Assad scrapped emergency rule, his forces opened fire with live rounds to disperse the crowd in the central protest hub, wounding at least two people, the activist said on condition of anonymity.

Thousands of protesters also swarmed the streets of the northeastern city of Qamishli, southern flashpoint town of Daraa and Midan in Damascus, where an activist reported they were also dispersed by security forces, without elaborating.

"Freedom, freedom," and "God, Syria, freedom, that's all," the protesters, who witnesses said numbered around 6,000, chanted in Qamishli as they carried a giant Syrian flag.

Several thousand called for the fall of Assad's regime in Daraa, a key focus of the unprecedented demonstrations that broke out more than a month ago.

Assad, in power since replacing his father Hafez as president in 2000, issued decrees Thursday to overturn the state of emergency as well as abolish the state security court and allow citizens to hold peaceful demonstrations.

The demonstrations came after call by Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011 for rallies spanning the Christian and Muslim faiths on "Good Friday," which commemorates Jesus Christ's crucifixion.

Friday is also the Muslim day of rest when the biggest demonstrations have been staged across Syria after weekly prayers in mosques.

In Qamishli, a majority Kurdish city with Muslim and Christian communities, the protesters who started their march outside Qasmo mosque chanted "Liberty, fraternity," said one witness.

"Arabs, Syriac (Orthodox) and Kurds against corruption," said a banner they brandished.

In Daraa, a Syrian human rights activist said thousands of demonstrators staged a protest calling for the fall of Assad's regime and demanding the dissolution of his feared security services.

"Around seven to 10,000 people emerged from mosques and marched to the Saraya Square (governor's HQ) in Daraa," said a witness contacted by AFP by telephone from Nicosia.

The protesters called for "the abrogation of Article 8 of the constitution which describes the ruling Baath Party as the leader in the state and in society," the witness said.

Demonstrators also called for "the dissolution of the security services as well as the fall of the regime," the witness added.

Assad's move to scrap the emergency rule and abolish the state security court was the latest in a series of concessions he has unveiled over the past month to placate the protesters.

Two prominent rights activists welcomed Assad's action on Thursday but called for more changes while a key cyber activist insisted the people now want regime change.

"Lifting the emergency rule and the abolition of the state security court are positive steps but over the next few days we will monitor closely the security forces to see if they violate the law," said Rami Abdul Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Now we expect the release of thousands of people who have been sentenced" by the state security court, he said.

Beirut-based Syrian cyber activist Malath Aumran, a key player behind the protests, said ending emergency rule will "change nothing" in Syria, where the people now wanted a change of regime.

"From the first day people took to the streets with one goal in mind, the fall of the regime," Omran told AFP, reached by telephone from Nicosia.

Amnesty International urged Syrian authorities not to suppress what it termed the "Great Friday" protests.

"It is imperative that these demonstrations are policed sensibly, sensitively and in accordance with international law to avoid further bloodshed on Syria's streets," it said.

Human Rights Watch, for its part, urged the authorities "to permit Syrians to exercise their right to peaceful assembly" on Friday.

"President al-Assad has the opportunity to prove his intentions by allowing (Friday's) protests to proceed without violent repression."

Security forces and plainclothes police have killed about 220 people in a brutal crackdown on the protests, which broke out in Damascus on March 15, according to Amnesty International.

Syria's emergency law restricted many civil liberties, including public gatherings and freedom of movement.

The state security court operated outside the ordinary judicial system and prosecuted suspects considered a threat to the government's authority.

 

[a_majoor]

Video from Syria: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/pjm-exclusive-video-from-syrias-great-friday-uprising-content-warning/

 

[57Chevy]

                                    shared in accordance with provisions of the Copyright Act

Postmedia News April 23, 2011 5:10 PM
Canadians urged to leave Syria


With a month-long uprising turning even bloodier, the federal government is urging Canadians in Syria to leave that country while they still can.

The call comes as another dozen people were killed Saturday as Syrian security forces fired on mourners at a mass funerals in Damascus and surrounding areas. The mourners had been calling for the end of the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, who became leader in 2000 after the death of his father.

This past week has seen an eruption of violence in the country, which borders Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea.

Friday was by far the bloodiest day in over a month of demonstrations to demand political freedoms and an end to corruption, with at least 100 people killed, according to reports.

It came despite the president’s move to repeal his country’s emergency law, which has been in place since his Baath Party seized power 48 years ago.

On its website Saturday, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs said it is warning Canadians against any travel to Syria due to the volatility there.

“Canadians in Syria should consider leaving by commercial means while these are still available,” the statement said.

Travellers were urged to be extremely vigilant, and avoid political gatherings, crowds and demonstrations.

“Canadians requiring emergency assistance should contact the Embassy of Canada in Damascus,” the statement said.

With files from Agence France-Presse and Reuters

article link:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadians+urged+leave+Syria/4665648/story.html
                                      __________________________________

Embassy of Canada to Syria in Damascus

Street Address
Lot 12, Autostrade Mezzeh
Damascus, Syria

Tel.: (011 963 11) 611-6692
Fax: (011 963 11) 611-4000
Email: dmcus@international.gc.ca

 

[a_majoor]

Some people just ask for trouble:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/olive-tree-initiative/?singlepage=true

Abandon the Olive Tree Initiative Before It’s Too Late

Posted By Debra Galzer Esq. On April 24, 2011 @ 12:00 am In Culture,Education,Israel,US News,World News | 9 Comments

The following headline is fictitious, but just imagine a story like this in your newspaper (or laptop) sometime in 2011 or later:

    “Bodies of 12 UC Students Found Headless in West Bank Town”

    An official of the Palestinian Authority announced today that 12 headless bodies, believed to be students from the University of California’s Olive Tree Initiative program, have been located in the town of Nablus in the West Bank.The students were kidnapped over one week ago by Hamas terrorists, and efforts to secure their release were apparently unsuccessful. Hamas has announced that the slain students admitted in the moments before their execution that they were  “Jewish,  Christian, or Hindu infidels.” Hamas has issued a statement claiming that they continue to hold the other 6 OTI students, believed to be Moslem,  as ransom for the release of several of their fighters who have been imprisoned by the Palestinian Fatah party. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has assured the university that its forces are looking for the 6 kidnapped students and will bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. He also stated that the actions of Hamas do not advance the goals of the Palestinian people.

Is this horrible imagined event improbable? Not when  you recall that, as has recently been disclosed pursuant to a California Public Records Act filing [1][1] [2], UC Irvine’s Olive Tree Initiative students met with Aziz Duwaik during their 2009 trip.

Duwaik is a representative of Hamas who serves as speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council.Hamas actually contends that he (and not Mahmoud Abbas) is the president of the Palestinian Authority.  The United States does not recognize his claim to the presidency, largely because Hamas is on the U.S.’s list of terrorist organizations.

In addition, Duwaik served time in Israeli prisons for almost 3 years, and was released only a few weeks before his meeting with the students. Hamas detests America and Americans, and has special antipathy towards Jews, whose genocide it calls for in the Hamas Charter. It is not too far-fetched to imagine that this group of unarmed students might quickly have found themselves surrounded and overwhelmed by terrorists who had decided to use them as pawns in the never-ending internecine warfare among Palestinian factions.

Nor is the imagined tragic event improbable when you consider that over the past few years, at least three European and American activists with the Palestinian International Solidarity Movement were murdered by Muslim terrorists or placed in situations leading to their deaths while engaging in violent activism against Israel[2] [3]. Indeed, the OTI student itinerary in the West Bank includes many meetings and discussions with founders and leaders of the ISM. The murdered ISM activists were naive but sincere and earnest devotees of the Palestinian cause who had come to the West Bank and Gaza to help the Palestinians fight to eliminate Israel. All of them must believed that they were safe from harm. But they were dead wrong. In fact, they are all dead – murdered [4]by the very people they thought they were helping.[3] [5]

If activists who are allied with the ISM can be brazenly kidnapped and murdered, imagine the fates of innocent University of CA students who are just traveling around Israel and the West Bank to dialogue with diverse groups involved in the conflict and learn firsthand, with their own eyes, about the neighborhood and its problems. That is the mantra and mission [6] of the OTI.[4] [7]

Community activists like Ha-Emet [8] have been warning the university, and the charities and individuals who support this program and others like it — including the Jewish Federation of Orange County — that they are taking on great risk in continuing to bring students to the West Bank. They are recklessly endangering the lives of these young people.

We wonder if they have thought through the consequences, and if they have undertaken the requisite risk assessment of these feckless projects. Have they purchased kidnap, ransom, and torture insurance? Have they obtained waivers and indemnification from the participants, and have they received written opinions from credible counsel that the waivers and indemnification will stand up in court? They may want to take a look at their directors and officers liability policies while they’re at it.  As a business attorney, I routinely advise clients to review their insurance coverages in light of their actual business operations. That is obviously an elementary and prudent step to take.

And, by the way, meeting with Hamas may have violated U.S. law. Not only that, but having the OTI faculty and advisors instruct the students to conceal the meeting, as disclosed [1]in the October 2009 letter[5] [9], may have violated U.S. and Israeli law, not to mention the university’s own policies of professorial conduct. Plus, it reeks of cover-up by all parties involved, including the Jewish Federation which failed to disclose this meeting with its own disgruntled community. The university, the Jewish Federation, and other supporters of OTI programs should be consulting with their compliance departments as well as with their risk managers.

If they haven’t assessed the risk and purchased enough coverage, which in and of itself is a very costly proposition, the taxpayers of California, as well as the generous donors to the Jewish Federation of Orange County, may be in for a great shock when they learn the extent of the multi-million dollar liabilities that these enterprises may someday face.

It is time to wise up, face reality, and act like adults. Abandon the Olive Tree Initiative before it is too late — before it spreads from UC Irvine to UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and elsewhere. Or else, the University of California, and the organizations that fund ventures like the OTI, better use their hard-earned and scarce dollars to buy insurance and set aside the necessary reserves for when tragedy strikes.

And then explain to the taxpayers and benefactors why it is more worthwhile to spend their money on these programs rather than on advancing core programs. In the case of the university, for example, it might want to consider using state funds and student fees to offer more courses and class sections so that students can actually graduate in four years instead of the five or six that it now routinely takes. And the Jewish Federation might decide that it should focus on strengthening local synagogues and Hebrew schools, and helping community members facing economic hardship, rather than play-acting the diplomatic game with hardcore Palestinian propagandists.

It is time that the university and the Jewish Federation come to the proper conclusion. The  OTI and similar programs are not worth the risk. Indeed, they jeopardize the very ability of the university and the Jewish Federation to carry out their other fine work. It is all a question of priorities. Setting priorities is what administrators are paid and expected to do wisely. Let’s hope that wisdom prevails.
[1] [10] http://www.ha-emet.com/oti_students_meet_hamas.html [1] contains the text of  a letter written in October 2009 by the Jewish Federation of Orange County to UCI Chancellor Michael Drake,

[2] [11] These include Vittorio Arrigoni, Rachel Corrie, and Angelo Frammartino.  You could add Juliano Mer-Khanis,  the Jewish-Arab Israeli citizen who founded a cultural theatre group in Jenin, to the list.

[3] [12] For a revealing look at the brutal treatment often accorded to Western volunteers by the Palestinians, especially women, see  http://frontpagemag.com/2011/04/18/how-supporters-of-palestinian-terrorism-are-murdered-and-raped-by-their-palestinian-sponsors/

[4] [13] http://www.olivetreeinitiative.org/

[5] [14] http://www.ha-emet.com/oti_students_meet_hamas.html

Article printed from Pajamas Media: http://pajamasmedia.com

URL to article: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/olive-tree-initiative/

URLs in this post:

[1] filing: http://www.ha-emet.com/oti_students_meet_hamas.html

[2] [1]: #_ftn1

[3] [2]: #_ftn2

[4] murdered : http://frontpagemag.com/2011/04/18/how-supporters-of-palestinian-terrorism-are-murdered-and-raped-by-their-palestinian-sponsors/

[5] [3]: #_ftn3

[6] mission: http://www.olivetreeinitiative.org/

[7] [4]: #_ftn4

[8] Ha-Emet: http://www.ha-emet.com/index.html

[9] [5]: #_ftn5

[10] [1]: #_ftnref1

[11] [2]: #_ftnref2

[12] [3]: #_ftnref3

[13] [4]: #_ftnref4

[14] [5]: #_ftnref5

 

[a_majoor]

Syria becoming another flashpoint:

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/04/23/war-in-syria-next/

War In Syria Next?
Walter Russell Mead

The long-brewing crisis in Syria has entered a critical phase and it is changing the rules of the Middle East.  If the people keep marching and the regime keeps shooting, the Obama administration could face its toughest Middle East choices yet.  Will Samantha Power bomb yet another country in the region, or will she try to sleep nights with the blood of thousands of Syrians on her hands?

A poster of Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo (Wikimedia)

The bloody-minded and repressive Syrian regime — after Saddam Hussein, the slave-trading Sudanese and the gay-murdering and woman-stoning Iranians, the worst bunch of thugs in a nasty neighborhood — has ripped off the mask.  An estimated 80 plus protesters were killed Friday; at least 6 more when relatives tried to bury Friday’s dead.  The violence can easily escalate.

The outside world, preoccupied by the dramatic events unfolding across northern Africa and in Yemen, had not paid much attention to Syria until the last 36 hours.  But now the scale of the protests and the brutal response have caught the world’s attention.  Britain, France and the US have all condemned the latest violence, with the White House using some of its sharpest language yet.

This crisis could have legs.  Although Syria is not an oil exporter, every moral and political argument that led to the intervention in Libya applies more strongly to Damascus.  And while the political, national interest rationale for regime change in Libya is a little sketchy, the case for regime change in Damascus is close to ironclad.

If the danger of genocidal repression was the reason we intervened in Libya, Syria is a much more clear cut case of genocide waiting to happen.  Perhaps the single worst incident of Arab-on-Arab violence ever recorded was committed by the Assad government in February 1982 when somewhere between 10,000 (the low estimate) and 40,000 (according to the Syrian Human Rights Commission) people were murdered to crush popular demonstrations against the dictatorship.

The city of Hama in 1982

The current Syrian president did not order the 1982 massacre himself, but the people who did it still populate the Syrian security forces.  Syria’s unhesitating use of mass violence against the current wave of protests suggests that the bad guys are still (literally) calling the shots. Samantha Power, check out the “duty to protect;” everything you said about Libya is true, in spades, for Syria.

The Great Loon of Libya was frothing and raving about his plans for vengeance before the allied intervention and he might well be capable of genocidal violence; in Syria, a security establishment bathed in the blood of past victims stands ready to murder again. If the repression intensifies, and the Syrian government murders thousands and tens of thousands of its citizens once more, it will make a hollow mockery of the fine words NATO and the Arab League used to justify their actions in Libya.

If the humanitarian case against Syria is strong, the national interest case is stronger.  For decades now, Syria has been a principal state sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East.  Hezbollah and Hamas would not exist in their present forms without Syrian protection and support.  On its own behalf, and as Iran’s closest strategic ally in the Arab world, Syria has a long record of arming, training and sheltering terrorists.

Moreover, regime change in Syria would be a body blow to Iran.  Iran is hated and feared by most of the Arab countries.  Only Syria, where a Shi’a-leaning Alawite minority tries to conceal its corrupt dictatorship behind a fig leaf of secular (and often rabid) Arab nationalism, is a reliable ally for the Iranian mullahs.  In the entire Middle East, no other country cooperates with Iran on anything like the Syrian scale.

Regime change in Syria would greatly increase the chance that Iran might come to its senses.  The shock of Assad’s downfall might rekindle the enthusiasm of the democracy protesters in Tehran; alone and friendless, a rattled Iran might be more willing to compromise on the nuclear issue.  Either way, there is a good chance that regime change in Syria would reduce the likelihood of a major confrontation between the US and Iran.

From a US point of view, regime change in Damascus has several possible upsides.  There is not only the sobering and isolating effect on Iran.  Regime change would likely strengthen the moderate camp among Palestinians (including the more realistic elements in Hamas) and could improve the chances for Israeli-Palestinian peace.  It would substantially reduce the chance of new Hezbollah attacks on Israel and could open the door toward a more effective and more democratic government in Lebanon as well as Syria.

There is something else to be gained.  The Assads, père et fils, have been among America’s most consistent opponents for decades.  (Like Gaddafi, they were somewhat more cooperative on anti-Al Qaeda after 9/11; their record on interdicting anti-US fighters crossing into Iraq was more mixed.)  Relying on a hysterical and hypocritical Pan-Arab nationalism, they took every opportunity to frustrate peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and did everything they could to whip up reflexive and unthinking anti-Americanism around the region.  They cooperated with the Soviet Union during the Cold War; they work with Iran today, and they apparently have worked with the North Koreans to develop nuclear weapons.  The fall of this regime will not only remove a long-term annoyance; it will offer an important intelligence windfall by giving the US access to vast amounts of information about what the bad guys have been up to.

Even though the US and its allies have their hands full with three wars in the region already, I would not discount the possibility of military action to protect civilians if the Syrians continue down their current path.  The list of people who want Assad gone is long and influential.  The Saudis have a personal grudge against Syrians for their presumed role in the murder of Rafiq Hariri, a former Lebanese Prime Minister who was very close to the Saudi royals.  More, Syria and the Saudis have been competing for influence in Lebanon for some time, and the Saudis have not been happy to watch the rise of Syria’s Shi’ite Hezbollah allies in a country the Saudis think belongs in the Sunni column.

Rafiq Hariri, who was murdered in Beirut in 2005 (Wikimedia)

Regime change in Syria would knock the keystone out of the “Shi’a Crescent” — the string of countries under Shi’a or Shi’a aligned rule stretching from Iran and Iraq through Syria and Lebanon.  This Crescent haunts the imagination of Sunni Arab strategic thinkers.  Some of the fury at the US invasion of Iraq reflected fears that this would give Shi’ites a strategic advantage and offer the Iranians an avenue of influence into the Sunni heartland.

Those fears are not as fanciful as they sometimes sound to American ears.  The Syrian connection gives Iran the opportunity to do more than bluster and fume about Israel; by supporting Hezbollah and the Sunni group Hamas Iran is burnishing its credentials as the leader of the Muslim world.  Taking a strong line against Damascus might help the Obama administration repair badly frayed ties with the Saudis, who have been deeply unimpressed by Obama’s track record in the Middle East.

The French also have reason to resent Syrian meddling in Lebanon.  The French have long had a ‘special relationship’ with their former colony and many educated Lebanese (especially but not only) Christians speak French and have close personal and business ties with the former imperial power.  The marginalization of the Maronite Christians in Lebanon and the reduction of French influence as Syrian power grew did not make many new friends for the Assads on the boulevards of Paris.

Note to aspiring dictators: If France, Saudi Arabia, the US and Israel all have reasons to wish you ill, you should perhaps behave more cautiously than President Assad has recently chosen to do.

If the current government collapses, Syria is likely to rejoin the Sunni Arab world — the overwhelming majority of its people are Sunnis who deeply resent the decades of corrupt and brutal rule by the Alawi minority and Clan Assad.  What that government will look like and how stable it will be are different questions.  While Syria has had a long dictatorship, and has communal tensions as intense as those that have made Lebanon the site of repeated civil wars in the past, it also has some very thoughtful and well-educated people.

Regime change is not a smooth process.  There are many reasons that the neighbors (Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Israel and Iraq) don’t want to see turmoil in Syria.  The Turks in particular have invested money and energy in building a relationship with the Damascus regime.  A porous Syrian border can be a source of weapons and foreign fighters into the still-restive river valleys of Iraq.  There is a chance that an unfriendly Sunni Syria would drive Iraq closer to Iran.  The Jordanians have more than enough on their hands without wanting more refugees and more turbulence.  And while the Israelis don’t love the Assad government, the Golan front has been reasonably quiet for a long time.

Nevertheless, the Syrian government should tread carefully.  Ordinary people in Syria have been watching the events unfolding around the region, and they have followed the news of the international intervention in Libya.  Our actions have encouraged them to risk their lives by standing up for their freedom.  Words like “duty to protect” are ringing in their ears.  If coalition planes weren’t bombing Gaddafi’s forces in Libya, the crowds in Syria might have stayed home.

If the people keep protesting, and the government keeps shooting, can the White House really afford to stand by?

I personally do not want to see the US involved in yet another Middle Eastern war.  The potential that the conflict would spread into Lebanon and plunge both countries into a long period of chaos and civil war is far too significant for me to start beating the war drums.

But the situation in Syria has turned much more critical since Friday’s demonstrations.  Intervention in Syria is likely to involve higher stakes, more bloodshed and greater risks than the intervention in Libya.  We need this like we need a hole in the head.  But the courage of the Syrian people, the brutality of their government, the wishes of our allies and the logic of our interests may yet force our hands.

For the Obama administration, the prospect of making the painful choice between war in Syria or genocide in Syria cannot be welcome.  Whatever it does, the administration will run serious risks and invite bitter criticism; it may also start engaging in some serious introspection.  Both in substance and in the way it was handled the Libyan intervention makes a Syrian intervention both harder to pull off and harder to avoid. That is not normally what a successful policy looks like — but in the administration’s defense, these are not normal times.

 

[57Chevy]

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Familiar headlines

Canada 'deeply concerned' by Syria crackdown
AFP April 24, 2011 11:01 AM
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canada+deeply+concerned+about+Syria/4667174/story.html#ixzz1KSpjUZx5

OTTAWA, April 24, 2011 (AFP) - Canada voiced deep concern Sunday over the Syrian regime’s bloody crackdown on demonstrators, which activists say left more than 120 people dead in two days.

Security forces in Syria were Sunday raiding homes to arrest regime opponents, a day after authorities opened fire on mourners at funerals for people killed at earlier protests, activists said.

The Canadian government "is deeply concerned by reports of the use of violence by security forces against peaceful demonstrators in Syria, resulting in many deaths," the foreign ministry said.

Canada calls on Damascus "to exercise restraint and to respect the rights of the Syrian people to freedom of expression and assembly," and urges Damascus engage in a "genuine dialogue on democratic reforms with all groups in Syria and to accelerate the implementation of measures already announced."

More than 300 people have been killed in Syria since protests were launched March 15, according to a compilation of figures provided by Amnesty International and Syrian activists.

"Officials at the Embassy of Canada in Damascus are closely monitoring the security situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens as required," said the foreign ministry statement.

Ottawa also advised against all travel to Syria and said Canadian citizens who were in the country should leave while commercial flights were still available.