Egyptian cameraman at the heart of the Tahrir Square clashes

A jerky six-and-a-half minute video by a local journalist could be the most important document of the recent violent conflict

Jack Shenker in Cairo

guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 December 2011 18.09 GMT

  
Mostafa Bahgat's video of the recent conflict in Tahrir Square.

Through clouds of smoke, two black-clad and face-masked central security troops advance steadily towards the camera, pausing every few seconds to fire shotgun rounds that whistle perilously close to the screen.

On one side of the street is a column of armed riot police; on the other, hundreds of stone-throwing youths, their heads wrapped in scarves, bodies occasionally crumpling to the floor as another volley is fired.

And in the middle of it all stands the cameraman, Mostafa Bahgat. "This stretch [of road], this little distance, is the most important 15 metres of urban space in our country right now," says the 31-year-old film-maker. "If I'm not there to record what is happening then the lies of the state will go unchallenged. If I wasn't in that place, at that time, I couldn't live with myself. It's what I have to do."

The past two weeks have proved to be a turning point in Egypt's ongoing revolution, with huge anti-junta street protests coming under relentless assault from the security forces and millions of Egyptians defying the bloodshed to turn out and vote in elections for the first post-Mubarak parliament.

But although future historians looking back at this period will have ample primary source material available – from a mountain of ballot papers to the hundreds of hours of footage covering rallies in Tahrir Square – their most important asset may prove to be six-and-a-half minutes of jerky video, shot by Bahgat from the heart of the violence.

The film, which consists of a series of clips made over several days at the height of the unrest, directly contradicts many of the claims made by the ministry of interior regarding the type of weaponry deployed by its troops and its insistence that only "reasonable force" has been used to confront protesters.

Better than anything produced by more conventional media outlets, the footage captures the dramatic reality of Cairo's recent clashes. It is also one of the most intense recordings of guerrilla warfare ever produced and has rapidly become a viral sensation, clocking up over 100,000 hits on YouTube.
But for the quiet, softly spoken man behind the lens it's just another piece of work, albeit one that serves a vital purpose in the ongoing information war between the Egyptian authorities and the young revolutionaries who accuse the country's ruling generals of unleashing brutal violence against those who dare to speak out against them.

"People in Egypt who only have access to state TV find it hard to believe that the army could hurt or kill anyone, or that the police under the army's control could do the same.

I want to enable them to think differently," explains Bahgat, who stumbled into video journalism by accident while working as a moderator at Egyptian news outlet al-Masry al-Youm.

In early 2009 the multimedia desk wanted to cover a factory strike but was short of personnel; despite having no experience with a camcorder, Bahgat volunteered. "Since then, I haven't stopped," he grins.
At the outset of this year's anti-regime uprising, the tall, red-headed Egyptian found himself in Suez, an industrial city that in January and February played host to some of the biggest street battles between pro-change demonstrators and the hated central security forces – who after three decades of Mubarak's dictatorship had come to symbolise the detachment and brutality of Mubarak's all-powerful political elite.

Having witnessed the violence himself, Bahgat decided that footage shot by others failed to convey the real drama of the frontline, and resolved to do something about it.

"When I looked at the other videos, I didn't see in them what I'd seen with my own eyes on the ground," he says. "I knew I needed to start filming myself from the frontline, and that I had to get close to the armed police in order to get proper details of how they behaved, what they were doing."
It was in Suez too that Bahgat learned how to survive amid the rocks, molotov cocktails, teargas and live bullets. He wears no helmet or flak jacket, preferring instead to stay open to the elements, hyper-attuned to the situation unfolding around him, including the shifting position of all the combatants, the direction of the wind, and the precise location of every lamp-post, phone box and scattered piece of street furniture that could be pressed into use as an emergency barricade.

"Much of the time I'm not even looking at the viewfinder; instead I'm glancing all around me, calculating what's going to happen next and whether or not I need to move," he says.

"My strongest tactic is to think back to when I was younger. As a child we jump, roll, hide and play all the time; it feels instinctive to move around in a creative way. Those instincts don't leave us, and now I know what I can use them for."

Beyond those instincts, Bahgat's only protection is a pair of heat-resistant gloves that enable him to hurl back any teargas canisters landing near his feet, and some onions and eyedrops to help combat the effects of the gas.

Bahgat's exploits have earned him an almost mythical reputation among revolutionaries, many of whom describe him standing serenely with his camera in the thick of the action, seemingly immune to the ammunition and chaos exploding all around him.

But as Bahgat himself explains, rumours of his invincibility are wide of the mark: he has been hit by gas cylinders, sprayed with birdshot, and has had eight pieces of metal in his leg for 10 months; shrapnel embedded so deep that doctors are loth to remove it.

The distinction between activist and journalist is one that doesn't concern him; he also dismisses any claims to heroism, shuffling uncomfortably whenever passersby stop to offer praise.

"I take this risk because when you see people die in front of you who are on your side, you can't go around thinking of your own safety," he says.

"My bravery is nothing compared to those who walk forward with nothing, their hands held aloft, only to be shot down, rushed back to a field hospital for treatment, and who then swiftly return to the frontline to confront oppression once again."

Bahgat now works for a private television network called ONtv, but much of his footage ends up being distributed on social media and other independent channels.

The experience of seeing such police brutality up close has convinced him that a complete rebuilding of the security forces is needed if Egypt's stuttering revolution is ever to succeed. He says he has sympathy for the police conscripts who are placed on the frontline and are given little more than rocks to fight with, but he finds it hard to view with any humanity the officers with guns, who can sometimes be seen in the video beckoning protesters towards them before firing.

In Bahgat's eyes, military rule is also beyond redemption, and he remains determined to document the struggle against it.

He says that when Mubarak was toppled, the military generals told the young people they were amazing.

"'We always thought you were useless before, but you have proved us wrong,' they said. 'Now you've achieved what you want, go home and stop making trouble.' They did this because we were in a state of revolution and this was the best way to suck the oxygen out of that desire for change. But violence begets violence and they are running out of chances.

"They tell us to wait and be patient, but what are they waiting for? For the revolution to die out? We won't let that happen. And whenever they strike against us, we will be there to record their crimes."


US defends teargas exports

The US government says it has yet to see any evidence of the "teargas misuse" by the Egyptian authorities. Washington is under growing pressure for granting export licenses to US companies selling riot control agents to Egypt's police forces.

Brutal police assaults on anti-junta demonstrations have left more than 40 dead and thousands injured in Cairo and other major cities in recent weeks, but despite this the US State Department confirmed that a fresh shipment of US-made teargas arrived in Egypt on 25 November.

Officials insisted no more deliveries were pending, while the US Embassy in Cairo told the Guardian that any evidence of teargas misuse by the Egyptian government could jeopardise future exports.
Meanwhile, a police gunman who was caught on camera apparently targeting a protester's eye – prompting cheerful congratulations from his colleagues – has turned himself in after revolutionaries pasted "Wanted" pictures of him across the capital.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestini
an

Yossr Abdel Hadi: I stand with Tahrir

(Photo: Austin Gerassimos Mackell)

By: Austin Gerassimos Mackell

Published Saturday, December 3, 2011

After a career in a deeply corrupt organisation, Police Officer Yossr Abdel Hadi says that it is still possible for his institution to be purged of corruption and transformed into force that serves the people rather than harries and robs them.

Having graduated from the academy in 1990, Yossr Abdel Hadi was placed in the special forces. The first cases he worked were drug related, but by 1991 his unit was focused on violent Islamist groups, strengthened by experience and equipment brought back by jihadis returning from Afghanistan where they had been fighting the Soviet occupation. He described how his unit would be sent after targets named by the State Security Investigations Service.

Sometimes, he says, their mission was to capture, sometimes to kill. He describes a mission where he says his unit killed one such target in his sleep, walked up 13 flights of stairs so their target wouldn't hear the lift. This, he felt comfortable with, saying “we found a Magnum and a machine-gun under his pillow. And if we didn't kill him in his sleep he could have killed us all.”

He was bothered, however, when in 1992, the then interior minister, Abdel Halim Moussa, gave orders Abdel Hadi says resulted in many targets who could have been safely arrested being killed on the spot instead.

He was also alarmed by the way the net of suspects was constantly widened. His unit would be sent to raid addresses on flimsy intelligence, “they would sometimes send us to the wrong apartment, wrong floor, wrong building, or even the wrong street.”

Mass arrests also became common. “One time I had a prisoners truck with about 30 people inside”, he says, then recounted sitting in the back, and having one man whose sincerity he could “touch” tell him that he had been arrested for nothing more than growing a beard and praying.

Another memory that sticks with him is raiding the home of a college student, suspected of links to Islamists. He told us, “We could hear the father and mother and children, and they were chatting. My superior officer ordered me to break in the door. I suggested to ring the bell, but he insisted I should break in, so I did.”

A chaotic scene ensued with the father of the family castigating his son for soiling their good name only a week before the wedding of his sister. The only evidence seized in the raid was some Islamist literature found under the students bed, Abdel Hadi described them as “entry level religious books, nothing suspicious as they looked like regular books you can buy off the street.”

By then, he says, he “couldn't tell which was the good side and which was the bad,” and he asked to be transferred. He ended up first in Ismailia and then in Suez's infamous police station known as “Arba'een” (Forty), which has become a focus of popular anger, coming under repeated attack since the revolution began in January. He described it as “a strange world, it had its own laws, and techniques, and people getting electrified.”

From Suez he was transferred to the Red Sea town of Hurghada, where he worked in environmental protection. He told us of discovering illegal land reclamations by developers, which destroyed rare coral reefs. He claims he presented this evidence to his superiors but found that the developer's connections meant prosecution was impossible.

(Photo: Austin Gerassimos Mackell)

He says he encountered similar issues after becoming an explosives detective. His main role was the supervision of explosives in construction and other civilian uses. He spoke of coming to a site where he expected to supervise the creation of an artificial lake, and finding the explosives contractor in a wetsuit, preparing to use his explosives as part of another damaging land reclamation project. Again he was powerless to enforce the law. Meanwhile, he says most of his colleagues were only interested in what they could extort from the businesses within their beat.

After moving to Cairo, where he continued to work as an explosives detective, he said he encountered more unprofessionalism and corruption, such as officers using soldiers, probably conscripts, as a source of labor for performing renovations on their homes, and other inappropriate ways.

He also says that during the initial 18 day uprising against Mubarak, who he had once admonished his daughter for criticizing, he had felt compelled to take the side of the revolutionaries, and attempted to take medical supplies to Tahrir Square. This effort, he said, was thwarted by regime thugs, who he claims work in close concert with the police.

It was only during the latest round of clashes that he actually made it to the square. He arrived in uniform and while there, he says he gave an interview to journalist Moataz Matar of El-Modern Horreya, which was later aired by the network. He complained however that the aired statement omitted his critical message to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that:
Despite his stance, the reaction of many revolutionaries has been marked by severe reservations. Some suspect him of ulterior motives, or simply have too much built up animosity towards the police to accept one from their ranks as a comrade.

After a period he says lasted ten hours, he was asked to leave the square by a group of activists who feared his presence could lead to conflict. He reception has been different from others Abdel Major Tamer Badr, Captain Ahmed Shoman, and Captain Amr Metwally, who all recently left their posts in the armed forces to joined the square.

Officer Abdel Hadi's life has clearly taken its toll on him, and he told al-Akhbar that he suffers from depression.

His decision to speak out came at the height of the protests calling for the transition of executive power to a presidential council or “national salvation government” to manage the transition to democracy. It was under such a government he hoped he would be able to serve again, and hopefully even be involved in reforming the force.

The apparent loss of momentum suffered by the protests in Tahrir during the elections and the adjacent days make his situation even more precarious. Despite this, he refuses to go into hiding, instead sitting on his balcony, participating in what he calls a one man “sit-in.” He might be physically alone, but he says “in heart and soul” he is with the youth of Tahrir.

Abdel Hadi presented his Police ID to al-Akhbar but his identity could not be independently verified.

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Russia: UN Rights Council Vote on Syria “Unacceptable”

Al-Manar

Russia on Friday lambasted the UN Human Rights Council's findings of gross violations by Syria as "unacceptable" and warned against using them as a pretext for military action. "The positions [adopted] in the document, which include the veiled hint of the possibility of foreign military intervention under the pretext of defending the Syrian people, are unacceptable to the Russian side," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Rights council members in Geneva passed a resolution "strongly condemning the continued widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities." Thirty-seven voted in favor of the resolution, six abstained while four countries –including Russia as well as Cuba, Ecuador and China –voted against. "Unfortunately, the draft resolution... presented by Western countries has a politicized and partial character," the Russian ministry said. "It does not show the latest steps taken by the Syrian authorities to stabilize the situation, carry out reforms... and launch national dialogue." On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a halt to "ultimatums" against Syria and a "move toward political dialogue".

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Yossr Abdel Hadi: I stand with Tahrir

(Photo: Austin Gerassimos Mackell)

By: Austin Gerassimos Mackell

Published Saturday, December 3, 2011

After a career in a deeply corrupt organisation, Police Officer Yossr Abdel Hadi says that it is still possible for his institution to be purged of corruption and transformed into force that serves the people rather than harries and robs them.

Having graduated from the academy in 1990, Yossr Abdel Hadi was placed in the special forces. The first cases he worked were drug related, but by 1991 his unit was focused on violent Islamist groups, strengthened by experience and equipment brought back by jihadis returning from Afghanistan where they had been fighting the Soviet occupation. He described how his unit would be sent after targets named by the State Security Investigations Service.

Sometimes, he says, their mission was to capture, sometimes to kill. He describes a mission where he says his unit killed one such target in his sleep, walked up 13 flights of stairs so their target wouldn't hear the lift. This, he felt comfortable with, saying “we found a Magnum and a machine-gun under his pillow. And if we didn't kill him in his sleep he could have killed us all.”

He was bothered, however, when in 1992, the then interior minister, Abdel Halim Moussa, gave orders Abdel Hadi says resulted in many targets who could have been safely arrested being killed on the spot instead.

He was also alarmed by the way the net of suspects was constantly widened. His unit would be sent to raid addresses on flimsy intelligence, “they would sometimes send us to the wrong apartment, wrong floor, wrong building, or even the wrong street.”

Mass arrests also became common. “One time I had a prisoners truck with about 30 people inside”, he says, then recounted sitting in the back, and having one man whose sincerity he could “touch” tell him that he had been arrested for nothing more than growing a beard and praying.

Another memory that sticks with him is raiding the home of a college student, suspected of links to Islamists. He told us, “We could hear the father and mother and children, and they were chatting. My superior officer ordered me to break in the door. I suggested to ring the bell, but he insisted I should break in, so I did.”

A chaotic scene ensued with the father of the family castigating his son for soiling their good name only a week before the wedding of his sister. The only evidence seized in the raid was some Islamist literature found under the students bed, Abdel Hadi described them as “entry level religious books, nothing suspicious as they looked like regular books you can buy off the street.”

By then, he says, he “couldn't tell which was the good side and which was the bad,” and he asked to be transferred. He ended up first in Ismailia and then in Suez's infamous police station known as “Arba'een” (Forty), which has become a focus of popular anger, coming under repeated attack since the revolution began in January. He described it as “a strange world, it had its own laws, and techniques, and people getting electrified.”

From Suez he was transferred to the Red Sea town of Hurghada, where he worked in environmental protection. He told us of discovering illegal land reclamations by developers, which destroyed rare coral reefs. He claims he presented this evidence to his superiors but found that the developer's connections meant prosecution was impossible.

(Photo: Austin Gerassimos Mackell)

He says he encountered similar issues after becoming an explosives detective. His main role was the supervision of explosives in construction and other civilian uses. He spoke of coming to a site where he expected to supervise the creation of an artificial lake, and finding the explosives contractor in a wetsuit, preparing to use his explosives as part of another damaging land reclamation project. Again he was powerless to enforce the law. Meanwhile, he says most of his colleagues were only interested in what they could extort from the businesses within their beat.

After moving to Cairo, where he continued to work as an explosives detective, he said he encountered more unprofessionalism and corruption, such as officers using soldiers, probably conscripts, as a source of labor for performing renovations on their homes, and other inappropriate ways.

He also says that during the initial 18 day uprising against Mubarak, who he had once admonished his daughter for criticizing, he had felt compelled to take the side of the revolutionaries, and attempted to take medical supplies to Tahrir Square. This effort, he said, was thwarted by regime thugs, who he claims work in close concert with the police.

It was only during the latest round of clashes that he actually made it to the square. He arrived in uniform and while there, he says he gave an interview to journalist Moataz Matar of El-Modern Horreya, which was later aired by the network. He complained however that the aired statement omitted his critical message to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that:
Despite his stance, the reaction of many revolutionaries has been marked by severe reservations. Some suspect him of ulterior motives, or simply have too much built up animosity towards the police to accept one from their ranks as a comrade.

After a period he says lasted ten hours, he was asked to leave the square by a group of activists who feared his presence could lead to conflict. He reception has been different from others Abdel Major Tamer Badr, Captain Ahmed Shoman, and Captain Amr Metwally, who all recently left their posts in the armed forces to joined the square.

Officer Abdel Hadi's life has clearly taken its toll on him, and he told al-Akhbar that he suffers from depression.

His decision to speak out came at the height of the protests calling for the transition of executive power to a presidential council or “national salvation government” to manage the transition to democracy. It was under such a government he hoped he would be able to serve again, and hopefully even be involved in reforming the force.

The apparent loss of momentum suffered by the protests in Tahrir during the elections and the adjacent days make his situation even more precarious. Despite this, he refuses to go into hiding, instead sitting on his balcony, participating in what he calls a one man “sit-in.” He might be physically alone, but he says “in heart and soul” he is with the youth of Tahrir.

Abdel Hadi presented his Police ID to al-Akhbar but his identity could not be independently verified.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Hezbollah Defeats New Israeli Espionage Attempt

Local Editor

The Zionist army on Friday detonated an espionage device in southern Lebanon Zone that had been monitoring a communications network, Hezbollah said in a statement. "The Israeli enemy today detonated an espionage apparatus latched onto a communications network between the villages of Srifa and Deir Kifa by drone after the Islamic resistance succeeded in uncovering the device," read a statement released by Hezbollah Friday. No one of the Mujahedeen was injured in the explosion east of the coastal city of Tyre, the statement added. On December 3, 2010, the enemy aircrafts also detonated two espionage devices in the southern Lebanese village of Wadi al-Qaysiyya. Friday's incident came days after a rocket launched from southern Lebanon landed in the occupied territories, prompting the Jewish state to respond with a volley of rockets at Ayta al-Shaab.

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Is Erdogan okay?

Via FLC

Brain & colon cancers? How bad is the treatment with Epdantoin?

"...PanARMENIAN.Net - As United States Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled to land in Ankara late Thursday, December 1, his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was still not fixed due to the latter’s health condition.
“The two can still meet in Istanbul depending on the Prime Minister’s doctors’ consent,” a source from the Prime Minister’s office said, according to Hurriyet Daily News. ..."

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Divide to Rule: "Arab Spring" between Secularism and sectarianism.

"There is no compulsion in religion," – Holy Qur'an

Though, I hate Angry Arab's anti-Islam and anti-"Anti-Semites"  sentiments, I respect him because Palestine is his measuring stick, and in the final analysis he knows who is the ENEMY.

He is much better than Islamist's opportionists who would sell their mothers for a little political or sectarian "gain". They storm their shitty brains to justify their agandas.

"The Egyptian MB still is against the peace treaty but will not annul it at the moment because they are not idiots, are patient and understand that now is not the moment to open a front against Israel - they know when to pick their fights." the Islamist editor of "from Leeds to Palestine" claimed.

" Let's assume that the Egyptian government was replaced with new democratically elected one, what do you think would happen?" Hiatham answered  (Check my comment here)

• Believe me, it is very simple.The tag Is ready: Eygpt for is a terrorist state. Full Stop!
• Who can guarantee that the newly elected government and its president will not be the same as the previous regime?
• Israel will rush to occupy Gazan borders again (let's say they will intensify their occupation and bring back their soldiers to Gaza/Egypt borders).
• The Zionists will find it the moment of history when they can establish their dream of Greater Israel. They might not only occupy Sinai, but invade Egypt across the Red Sea until Israel reaches the Nile.

My comment was:

"Let us assume that Haitham's nightmare come true, and Israel dared to invade Egypt across the Red Sea. So what??

Why Israel stoped at the Canal in 1967, and Why Sharon stopped at Km 101 in 1973.
A stupid would think Israel would dare to open the gates to hell. It would be a Historical moment, a historical opportunity for Resistance (Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hams to raze that Zionist Entity. I wonder if the Grand Patriot heard Nasrallah Saying that An Israeli Inavasion would turn into a Great opportunity. [In case you missed it]

Haitham is talking about Greater Israel, while the Zionist Dream is Shrinking into a Jewish Ghetto surrounded by Walls."

I would tell the same to my brother "from Leeds to Palestine", Your BROTHERS, especially in Syria, are either stupids, to miss a Historical moment, a historical opportunity to open a front against Israel, and turn any stupid Israeli reaction into a Great opportunity to raze Israel as Nasrallah said, or power seeking oportionists   

Consequently, using the B.S. logic   

• We should blame the "Idiots" in Lebanese resistance for impatience and fighting the Israeli occupation and May 17 peace treaty,
• We should blame Hamas "idiots" for their impatience, and failing to understand that winning elections shall open the gates of hell on Gaza.
• We should blame Hezbollah "Idiot" leadership for capturing the Israeli Soldiers that opened the Israeli gates of hell in July war.
• We should blame the Idiot Nasrallah for refusing the Turkish-Qatari French deal
• We should hail MB's new "Brother", his message to Israel, assuring it that his council is against restoring the occupied Syrian Golan by force, for his plans to cut unnatural Damascus’s military ties with Iran and stop backing the Resistance of Hezbollah...as “part of a broader Syrian reorientation back into an alliance with the region's major Arab powers.” also here

BTW, it's Hezbollah "Idiots" who freed Sami Shihab, Muslim Brothers leaders and Hamas detains from Mubarak's Jail. I still remember, the BIG Muslim Brother, speaking on Al Jazeerah, informing Mubarak's regime that they MB leadership is patient, they did not escape, and under law.    

Let us check the MB's wisdom: 

• They, MB, picked the right time to fight Nasser. I cannot forget late Shiekh Shaarawi saying that he prayed to thank God for 1967 defeat because he hates victory with communist weapons.
•  They picked the right time to fight communism, for the American "People of the BOOK".
• They picked the right time to fight Hafez Assad in 1982, while he was fighting to stop the Israeli invading Lebanon.
• They joined Tahrir revolution in Egypt, 5 days late, because they are patient and understand that now is not the moment to open a front against Mubarak.
• They are picking the right time to fight Bashar.  

BTW, Secular Saddam picked the right moment to fight Iran

Angry Arab continues his descent  

In article for the pro-Bashar Lebanese Al-Akbar newspaper, Angry Arab continues his descent into bitterness, conspiracy theory and flawed analysis. The Islamists have won because people are tired of Western backed liberals and so-called 'leftists' destroying their country and being mere tools of Israeli and US interest.

His second paragraph especially is so full of bullshit; I don’t even know where to begin:

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood forgot about its past objection to the Egyptian-Israeli treaty, while the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood dispatched its former leader to reassure Israelis on Israeli TV. An-Nahda’s Ghannushi wanted to preserve all the key financial appointments of Bin `Ali and had dispatched the secretary general of his party to reassure Zionists in Washington think tanks. In Morocco, Bin Kiran (head of the Justice and Development Party) is a different story altogether because he has been a loyal royal Islamist who would not challenge the pro-Israeli and neoliberal policies of his master. But the story of Islamist victories may be overblown.

The Egyptian MB still is against the peace treaty but will not annul it at the moment because they are not idiots, are patient and understand that now is not the moment to open a front against Israel - they know when to pick their fights. Angry Arab's hero Nasser did not have this foresight and we lost all of Palestine because of his bluster. The Tunisian Al-Nahda have said in no uncertain terms that they will not have relations with Israel, Ghannoushi was pretty clear about this, saying that they are an occupying power and they will not recognise them:

The Syrian MB's leader Ali Bayanoni's gave an interview with an Israeli reporter in which he said if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, then there will be a peace - he gave no further clarifications as to what this peace entails. In any case, this position is supported by the majority of Palestinians. I dont know enough about Moroccan Islamists so I cant comment on their relationship with the king.

This is the kind of discourse that surrounds the issue of Islamists in left-wing circles - a discourse litterred with inaccuacies and downright lies. People like this professor have never gotten over the increased religosity of the Arab people and their rejection of secular forces and so resort to these smears.

With expectations like these from those out-of touch, living in the cold-war era, extreme secularists like the professor here then in their eyes the Islamists are of course destined to lose. Saifedean Ammous said the biggest scam in the Arab world is that the revolutionary secular left destroyed Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt and yet they insist the problem lies or will lie with the Islamists. The Arab people have spoken professor so by all means, continue in your arrogant condescending tone against your people who you claim to respect and speak for - they have rejected the likes of you and put their trust in Islamic forces. Live with it.

Posted by Leeds2Palestine at 16:33

Related

• Palestine and the Status Quo
• Angry Arab: The Egyptian protesters now need the equivalent of the storming of the Bastille.
• Note how the Angry Arab was fooled into helping the Zionist spies.
• The Abbas-Mishaal encounter: what is next? - The start of a ”real" Palestinian partnership
• Arab Spring and the Intellectual Divide
• Jordanian Opposition Divided Over Syria
• The Left, Secularism and Islam

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Once upon a time (Original article published on Jan. 3, 2009 here) Secular Haithan asked:

Mossad's Dagan: "Ahmadinejad is a sophisticated rational person!"

Via FLC

"... Dagan’s reply is quite interesting. He disagrees with her and says: Iran acts as a rational state. It takes into account the implications of its actions [and those of others]. Therefore, it’s not in a mad dash to get a nuclear weapon. Dayan responds: are you telling me that Ahmadinejad is a rational man [in Hebrew, she calls him a "rational goy" which is an odd, slightly racist locution]? Dagan answers: I think he is a sophisticated individual, but his audience is not an Israeli or western one. The Iranians are sophisticated, quite wise, and we should not make the mistake of dismissing them.

He says that for Israel enter into a regional war with its eyes open, this [going to war] should be necessary only if we are attacked or the sword is “beginning to cut the meat off living flesh.” To Dayan’s question whether or not Israel can successfully fight a war against Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and Syria, he concedes that it could. But he adds: what will happen the day after? We have to think about the high price we will have to pay for this victory. To Barak’s foolhardy claims that there will be no more than 500 Israeli dead after such an attack, Dagan responds that the level of destruction, of paralysis of normal life in Israel, the ability to conduct an orderly society for any length of time, the price we will pay in human lives [lost] will be higher..."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 12:49 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Russia Supplies Syria with Cruise Missiles, Syria Suspends Trade with Turkey

Local Editor

A military Diplomat in Moscow stated that Russia supplied Syria with Bastion coastal missile systems with Yakhont cruise missiles to Syria under a contract signed in 2007, RT reported Friday.
Another source told Interfax that "the Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles have been supplied as part of Bastion mobile coastal missile systems,” adding that “this is just the first part of the process, and now more time is needed to complete Syrian personnel training.”

“The missile system will enable Syria to protect its entire coast from a possible seaborne attack," he pointed out.
This comes after Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told reporters earlier this year that Russia intends to fulfill this contract despite US and Israel’s opposition.
“The United States and Israel are asking us not to supply Yakhonts to Syria, but we do not share their fears that these weapons might fall into the hands of terrorists,” he said.

Russia has constantly rejected the Western countries’ insistence to condemn what they call “oppression” in that country, and has also opposed the decision to impose sanctions on Damascus.
In parallel, Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Lukashevich stated that sending warships by the US to the East Mediterranean complicates finding a settlement for the situation in Syria, creates additional factors of tension in the region and do not help in finding political ways to settle issues.
On the other hand, the European Union issued a decision Thursday to increase the economic sanctions on Syria, adding 11 companies and 12 individuals to the blacklist of sanctions.

In addition, the United States imposed economic sanctions on the Syrian Republican Guards’ Chief, on President Bashar Al-Assad’s uncle Mohammad Makhlouf, and a number of governmental organizations.

In contrast, Syria responded to Turkey's measures against it by suspending the Free Trade Zone agreement between the two countries, SANA quoted official Spokesman of the Syrian Foreign and Expatriate Ministry as saying Thursday.

In parallel, Syria suspended its membership from the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in response to European Union’s measures against it.

Spokesman at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said Thursday that the decision came in light of the escalated political and media campaign launched against Syria.

• Russian Deputy Premier: No Reason Hampers Weapons' Shipments into Syria 
• Two Terrorists Killed in Idleb and Daraa…Explosive Devices Dismantled in Hama, Douma and Daraa
• Competent Authorities Kill 5 Armed men, Arrest 35 Others and Seize Large Amounts of Weapons in Hama

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Sayyed Nasrallah: We Reject STL Funding, But National Interest a Priority

Batoul Wehbe

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah renewed his rejection to the UN’s Special Tribunal for Lebanon as being illegal and unconstitutional asserting it is an American-Israeli tribunal aimed at undermining the resistance. “We continue to reject any form of funding or dealing with it. If the cabinet session was held to address STL funding, we would have voted against it, and the same matter would have happened if it was addressed at the Parliament. We also refuse to pay the money from the Lebanese people pockets,” Sayyed Nasrallah stressed in a speech at Sayyed Shohada’a complex in Beirut’s southern suburb through a huge screen via a video link. We choose stability despite ire His eminence indicated that the party “firmly rejects” what Prime Minister Najib Miqati had done in terms of funding the tribunal from the Higher Relief Committee but said “we will not cause a problem. We will give priority to the higher national interest.” “I disagree with Miqati’s logic on his considerations, the tribunal is unconstitutional and illegal, non-financing it does not affect a specific sect,” Sayyed Nasrallah said adding that “Miqati embarrassed himself too much when he committed himself to the financing of the tribunal apart from the cabinet’s desire, despite his knowledge that the majority of ministers refuses funding it.” His eminence blamed Miqati because he brought matters to a head when he announced his desire to resign if the funding issue was voted down. Sayyed Nasrallah thanked the forces that "stood by the refusal to STL funding and all parliamentary blocs and ministers who joined us." In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah said, the PM took a decision to fund the tribunal from the Higher Relief Commission budget, “I understood that this money is in form of donations from individuals and countries to the commission. I don’t know whether this measure was legal or not.” False witnesses and four generals case ought to be addessed His Eminence emphasized that “the PM, who spoke of justice and righteousness, is now before a test to be just to the oppressed, especially the four generals, through addressing false witnesses case on the cabinet agenda as two of the generals are Sunnis.” “Isn’t it requisite to justice, national and sectarian affiliation to resolve this issue?” he wondered. Hezbollah secretary general was addressing the case of the four generals who were illegally imprisoned for four years on suspicion of being involved in the 2005 assassination. Sayyed Nasrallah stressed the need for this government to enter the process of production without stalling and betting on event, asserting Hezbollah’s support for “all the rightful and logical Reform and Change bloc’s demands.” He hoped the government would continue work because the national interest remains above all other considerations. Qatari-Turkish agreement Sayyed Nasrallah Meets Turkey, Qatar Foreign Ministers Hezbollah secretary general revealed more facts about the deal presented to the former opposition which stated that the STL would be let fall in return for Saad Hariri to head the government. The deal included that funding would be stopped, judges to be withdrawn and the abolition of the cooperation protocol with the tribunal. Then, a conference for foreign ministers of several countries will be held followed by a conference in Paris chaired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in presence to bless the agreement. The agreement, which Sayyed Nasrallah read some of its items, implies Hariri’s pledge to implement the aforementioned items which would include the signature of the three presidents. It is also required, in return, that Hariri would be renamed as PM and given the majority in the government and the protection of his security and political team. His Eminence said that means the country will be handed over to Hariri in exchange with eliminating the risk away from us, thus we reject the deal for the interest of the country. To Al-Mustaqbal MPs: Be logical, stop sectarian incitement Hezbollah secretary general pledged for common sense and calm as well as avoiding sectarian incitement, calling on the Al-Mustaqbal (Future) Movement to stop the ongoing media policy. He warned against the danger of sectarian incitement policy that has been adopted, saying that they sometimes “take advantage of events to level accusations aiming at causing sectarian strife,” and provided Irsal town incident as an example. Hezbollah was accused of taking part in an army intelligence raid there. “Do Al-Mustaqbal MPs want for the coexisting Baalbeck-Hermel region to plunge into sectarian conflict? For who’s interest? Does the national interest require so? Is it for the interest of the Lebanese position? Or the Arab spring? I hope Al-Mustaqbal responds with logic not insults.” Sayyed Nasrallah also denied their allegations about arming groups in Tripoli. “Our allies in the north are political and resistance forces that have a history. They are genuine popular forces in spite of the fierce confrontation directed against them and the hundreds of millions of dollars paid in election campaigns to defeat them. These are the most people keen on their city,” his eminence said. He called on Al-Mustaqbal leadership to take lessons through an internal assessment of the size of popular participation that were not the required size in the last ceremony in Tripoli which was supposed to be central. Concerning this party’s incitement and campaign against the Islamic resistance through betting on regional developments, Sayyed Nasrallah said: “We don’t fear this incitement that doesn’t make a difference. They should put in mind that we faced through 28 years of resistance work the ugliest incitement campaigns which failed to harm our firm will.” He advised them not to bully on anybody in the region to eradicate other forces in Lebanon. In his review of the political discourse in the country, His eminence called on all Lebanese to agree on one rule that what is happening is a political struggle which has nothing to do with religion or beliefs, but is only linked to perceptions and political projects. “We should also agree that criticism of political leaders and even religious or political parties is not a criticism of the religion or sect itself,” Sayyed Nasrallah said asserting that personal insults are prohibited in law and values. His Eminence emphasized that Hezbollah is committed to this discourse. America's Next War Theater: Syria and Lebanon? River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Why the EU's Sanctions Against Assad's Syria Will Backfire

Via FLC

Why the EU's Sanctions Against Assad's Syria Will Backfire: When violence first erupted in Syria, the EU responded carefully, using sanctions to target members of Assad's government in Damascus. Since, European officials have ditched those concerns and moved toward heavy, or comprehensive, sanctions. The problem is that they will hurt the Syrian people more than the regime.  

• Analysts: Sanctions against Syria Null and Void, Will Yield Counter-Productive Results on Neighboring Countries
• Syrian Government Suspends Free Trade Zone Agreement with Turkey 
• Syria Suspends Its Membership in UfM until EU Reconsiders Sanctions against It

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 11:23 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Analysts: Sanctions against Syria Null and Void, Will Yield Counter-Productive Results on Neighboring Countries

Source

Dec 02, 2011

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – The Turkish political analyst Barakat Tar regretted that the Arab League (AL) which has never made a decision condemning the Zionist occupation of Palestine agreed today to punish a founding member through a set of sanctions, which Turkey based on and exploited to exert more pressures on Syria. In an interview with the Syrian TV on Thursday, Tar said the people of the region should be united in the face of the Israeli-American scheme to occupy Syria, Lebanon and Iran; Israel which still occupies the Arab territories and the U.S. which occupied Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. He added the Turkish people view whatever decisions the Turkish government made as null and void after they exposed its role with the NATO and the "New Middle East" project. In turn, the Lebanese strategic expert and analyst, Amin Hteit, highlighted a sharp difference between Turkey's official stance and that of the Turkish intellectual elites which recognize the reality of the whole situation. He added that the statement due to be published by the recently convened Syrian-Turkish Forum from the headquarters of the Turkish government in condemnation of the Development and Justice government which work against the interest of the Turkish people and Turkey in general will prove the Turkey's efforts to know what really happened and differentiate between reforms and corruption and destruction in favor of the West. For his part, Former Egyptian MP, Jamal Asa'ad, said what is taking place in Syria constitutes a part of the Zionist-American project which aims at fragmenting the region. "From the beginning, the AL made provocative decisions against Syria and Turkey took the lead talking about economic sanctions on Syria," he added. Syria's Ambassador to Lebanon: Sanctions against Syria will yield counter-productive results Syria's Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Kareem stressed Syria's keenness on establishing best relations with the Arab countries despite that some Arab leaders and politicians erred in prioritizing their interests and responding to foreign pressures. In a press conference following his meeting with the former Lebanese Premier Omar Karami, the Ambassador stressed that Syria has long experience in dealing with blockade and that the sanctions against it will yield the opposite results. He added that Syria has many ways to overcome the sanctions as the world's greatest powers are Syria's best friends and allies such as China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and Iran. Abdel Kareem added that Syria is punished because it is the supporter of all liberation movements in Iraq and Lebanon against the Israeli and U.S. ambitions in the region. He expressed confidence in that the public pressure will force the Arab countries to review their policies, adding that Syria will come out stronger from the current situation thanks to the Syrian people's unity. The Ambassador underlined cooperation between the Syrian and Lebanese armies to stop smuggling operations from Lebanon to Syria, calling upon the Lebanese government to have effective role in preventing all forms of smuggling arms and armed men to Syria. Jordanian analyst: Economic sanction against Syria will affect the neighboring countries The economic analyst and member of the Jordanian national initiative in solidarity with Syria George Haddadin said that the economic sanctions against Syria will affect the neighboring countries. He added that these sanctions serve particular ambitions in rebuilding the "new Middle East" in line with the American interests and the Capitalist powers in the world. He added that social classes in Jordan were the first to denounce the AL decisions against Syria as the two people have joint interests and the Jordanian farmers published a statement in rejection of the AL decisions which damage their interests. R. Raslan/ al-Ibrahim

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Gilad Atzmon: We Are All Palestinians

 

Most solidarity activists in this country would agree that the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) is potentially an invaluable institution. Yet, the National Office, under its current leadership, has made some serious mistakes.

The PSC’s task is not easy. We all operate in a Zionised environment and we’re subject to constant pressure and abuse. Moreover, it’s not always clear what we should do for Palestine. It is obvious that Palestinian resistance is more than just single political perception or a vision of conflict resolution. Palestine is basically a dynamic discourse of negation with Palestinians themselves divided on different issues to do with their struggle and their fate. Consequently, Palestinian solidarity is also far from being a rigid or monolithic discourse. Furthermore, the enemy also is far from being any obviously singular identity or monolithic political discourse. The Jewish national project is a varied discourse, driven by many conflicting thoughts such as Zionism, Israeli patriotism, Israeli escapism, Jewishness, Jewish messianic militancy, pseudo-peaceful propaganda, pre-traumatic stress and so on. So it makes sense that Palestinian solidarity must encompass many voices reflecting the immense complexity of the conflict and its possible resolution.
Initially, the PSC was an attempt provide an umbrella for diverse intellectual and political thoughts, ideas and tactics. However, because of internal political struggles and a relentless internal Jewish campaign, its national office has become a policing operation, engaged mainly in restricting the discourse and stifling freedom of speech, thought and expression. The organisation that was founded to fight for the rights of the expelled Palestinians, has itself, started to expel and abuse its most notable and dedicated activists and thinkers.

I believe that the PSC should never attempt to dominate the discourse. Anyway, it lacks both the political power and the intellectual capacity to do so. It should instead facilitate a wide debate that would transform this solidarity movement into a mass movement.

Instead of suggesting what is ‘right’ and who is ‘kosher’, the PSC should come up with a single, short, incisive but inclusive statement.

“WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS”
Dominated by a Zionist power structure and ideology, with 80% of our leading party’s MPs being Conservative Friends of Israel (CFOI), our media editorials being controlled by BICOM, and our country having been involved in criminal wars to serve Israeli interests - we are indeed, all Palestinians. So, like Palestinians, we also need to be liberated.

Our solidarity with Palestine should start, right here at home. We could begin by exposing our local MP who is more than likely to be a CFOI, LFI or Lib Dem Friends of Israel member. It’s about time the British public grasped that we have far too many ‘Friends of Israel’ in our government but nowhere nearly enough friends of Britain.
We live in unique times. Yesterday’s ideologies and political institutions are crumbling. We are living in a post-ideological and post-political age. Thanks to the internet and the social networks, each one of us is an independent broadcasting outlet. Each one of us is capable of disseminating information at the speed of light - wider and faster than any institutional media corporation. People are now free to choose who they follow and what they believe. In sum, this technology offers us a unique opportunity to democratise the realm of thoughts, ideas and action. It’s a window of opportunity and we’d better make the most of it.

To some extent the PSC - just like the JC, the Guardian, the Trade Unions the parties - belongs to the old world, the world of stagnation and political power games. Perhaps this explains why the PSC leadership is so desperate for the approval of the JC, the Guardian and Parliament.
Instead, the PSC should communicate with the masses and proclaim far and wide that same, vital, humanist message:

WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS

But, as ever, there’s some good news. The old Red Commissar is dead and so are the ‘liberal’ newspapers, radio and TV. Politics, as we knew it has become a meaningless activity. McCarthyism, witch-hunting and other Talmudic forms of excommunication and general abuse, they also belong to the past. Change is in the air and the PSC National Office had better get used to it – and fast. If it doesn’t, it will, quite simply and unfortunately, disappear.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian