Blogging the democratic revolution
Regime Change Iran’s week in review is up. It’s interesting to note that while the media has been abuzz about a potential North Korea nuclear test in June, Iran has given the same date as its deadline to start enriching uranium.
After 15 years of exile in France since the end of the civil war, Michel Aoun has returned promising an end to “political feudalism.” Gen. Aoun pledged to struggle for a new Lebanon free of rampant political feudalism upon his return Saturday from 14 years of exile in France. “The era of unchecked political feudalism is over. I promise you change will come soon. It is inevitable,” said Aoun from a bullet proof podium set up at Downtown Beirut’s Martyrs Square. Thunderous chants of ‘freedom, sovereignty, independence’ rang out from hundreds of thousands of welcomers celebrating the return of the…
The London-based Arab daily Al-Quds al-Arabi reported Friday that protesters have taken to the streets again in Bahrain. The English-language media is ignoring this almost entirely, but we have tried to cover it here at Publius Pundit (see Mass March Urges Reform in Bahrain and Crackdown Coming in Bahrain?). This is a translation of the Al-Quds article, “Thousands Protest in Bahrain to Demand Reforms“: Thousands of Bahrainians engaged in mass protest to demand the implementation of constitutional reforms through a call from the four political associations… near the village of Sanabis in the west of the capital Munama carrying Bahrainian…
The Palestinian Authority held local elections yesterday, and the results, released earlier today, indicate a win for the secular Fatah but a clear gain for Hamas. This is an excerpt from the Reuters report, “Fatah prevails but Hamas gains in Palestinian polls“: Unofficial results released on Friday showed Hamas making strong inroads in key urban centres in the West Bank and Gaza, an indicator it could do well in this summer’s parliamentary ballot, possibly complicating Abbas’s peace efforts. Fatah won control of 52 of the 84 municipal councils being contested in the West Bank and Gaza in Thursday’s vote, while…
I have just posted the Midweek Edition of my Middle East News Bulletin, a roundup of some news since the weekend. This is the link: http://www.arabworldanalysis.com/blog/
The two major developments in Iraq over this past week have been (1) the formation of Iraq’s first democratically elected government and (2) the reaction of the terrorist opposition, which has expressed its views by a string of bloody attacks. I’m sure you have read enough of these things elsewhere, so I decided not to do a full post on this, but what I haven’t seen elsewhere in English is a list of the names of the ministers in the new government. This is the new government list according to the Iraqi newspaper Al-Bawaba. Obviously this is a government with…
Is Jordan heading toward a constitutional crisis? It is rare for Al-Jazeera to report from Jordan on anything, but just now (about 8:00 a.m. Wednesday in Jordan time) I saw a report on a sudden outburst of public anger from opposition parliamentarians over the lack of democracy. Jordan has had an elected parliament for years, but elections are always rigged and the institution has been kept pretty harmless under both the late King Hussein and his son, the current monarch, King Abdullah. I took special interest in the story because I spent a year living there. Jordan is a pretty…
Tip of the hat to The Emirates Economist for letting me know about this item. Two weeks ago, the parliament voted 24-20 to give women the right to vote in municipal elections. This was heralded as a great first step, but skepticism still remained. And for good reason. The bill failed to pass the second round of voting. Kuwait City: A Bill granting Kuwaiti women the right to vote and contest in municipal council elections failed to pass muster in the second round in the parliament yesterday. The Bill was passed in principle by the parliament on April 19. However,…
Instapundit links a superb items on how technology is fuelling revolution in the Middle East and Central Asia. It’s a must-read. Read it here.
Natan Sharansky, author of perhaps my favorite book “The Case For Democracy,” has submitted his resignation to Ariel Sharon to protest the unilateral disengagement of the territories. JERUSALEM (AP) – Cabinet minister Natan Sharansky, a frequent critic of Israel’s peace moves with the Palestinians, submitted his resignation Monday in protest over the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident whose imprisonment there made him a hero to world Jewry, wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he opposes making unilateral concessions to the Palestinians. Sharansky, the author of “The Case for Democracy,” a…
I have just posted the weekend edition of my Biweekly News Bulletin. This is a regular feature which I am beginning just this past week. This is the link: Window on the Arab World, and More!
Regime Change Iran’s week in review is up and available. Interesting developments on that side of the Middle East, as always. Here your ironic quote of the week: Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said, “human rights are a weapon in the hands of our enemies to fight Islam.” Wow.
Michael Totten declared victory from the tent city earlier today, noting that the elections have been officially confirmed for May 29. Read his entire post, as it is very thought provoking. The elections are to be held a month from now in four parts, 0n May 29, June 5, June 12 and June 19. They couldn’t agree on new election rules, so they had to constitutionally settle for the 2000 law. Not to much dismay, of course, as this is easily another big victory for the revolution. Under the 2000 law, districts remain much smaller and in single mandate status,…
Arthur Chrenkoff can go ahead and put this one under good news from Iraq. Almost three months after the elections in January, Iraq’s National Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve a Shiite-led cabinet, establishing the first elected government in Iraqi history. The assembly chamber burst into wild applause after a show of hands revealed that 180 of 185 legislators in attendance had voted in favor, with almost a third absent. A traditional Islamic chant of praise – “God’s blessings be on Muhammad and on his family” – went up soon afterward. But the divisions that had delayed the government’s formation…
Instapundit alerts us to a Babes of Cairo sighting, see it here.
Israel’s long-planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is almost ready to go ahead, and it is becoming clearer what will take the place of Israeli administration there – a coalition government between the Palestinian Authority (run by the secular Fatah Party) and the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas. The debate over the Gaza pullout has just about pulled Israel apart. Those who favor the pullout argue as follows: Since everyone knows that Israel will eventually have to leave Gaza, and since it is such a financial burden to maintain the few settlements there, it is better to leave now, even in…
Hat tip to Stefania for letting me know about this. Tell me everyone, how often do you see this happen? DAMASCUS: Chanting “freedom, freedom,” about 200 Syrians protested on Sunday outside a Damascus state security court where a prominent human rights campaigner accused of opposing the state was on trial. The area was sealed off by about 50 riot police as demonstrators, including many Kurds, carried posters of the defendants and banners denouncing the emergency law in force in Syria since the Baath Party took power in 1963. Among three activists on trial Sunday was prominent campaigner Aktham Naisse, who…
Constitutionally, the Lebanese electoral law must be passed a month before the elections are to take place. Which means they have have three days left– April 29th. New and short-living Premier Mikati wants to hold the election over a period of three days. Parliament on Tuesday opened a nationally televised debate of a policy statement by Premier Mikati’s newly formed government, which is seeking a vote of confidence on a basis that the elections would be held in three stages on May 26, 29 and 31. The prime minister has made it plain that he was unshakably determined to hold…
The United Nations flew into Beirut Sunday night to make sure that they’re “really gone.” Let’s see how well they can do that. But UN jabs aside, this is actually really good news, with some corrupt pro-Syria Lebanese security heads resigning as well. SYRIAN troops complete their withdrawal from Lebanon today, ending almost 30 years of occupation and paving the way for the country????????s first free and fair elections in a generation. Positions were bulldozed and checkpoints dismantled as the last tanks and artillery guns were removed for the short trip home. Lorries filled with troops and equipment belched black…
Regime Change Iran’s week in review is up. Email alerts are your friend. A very important item, I think, is the news of a petition signed by 2.8 million Iraqi Shiites against Islamic Iran’s intervention.
Earlier today a firefight broke out in Mecca between gunmen loyal to Osama bin Laden and Saudi security forces. This coincided with the third and final round of local elections in that country which have been reported with significant fanfare in the West. This is the latest sign that the on again, off again fight between the Saudis and their Islamist opponents is alive, and raises the issue of the stability of the kingdom. While the overthrow of the House of Saud is still viewed as very unlikely, a degree of instability far short of that would could still be…
The third and last round of the Saudi municipal elections are over. The votes still need to be counted and winners announced, but in any case, they will probably turn out relatively similar to the previous two rounds. Riyadh, 21 April (AKI) – Saudis went to the polls on Thursday for the third and final phase of the Kingdom’s historic municipal elections after twelve days of intense campaigning, which officially ended on Wednesday. Some 140,000 Saudis were expected to vote in the poll, but they are only electing half the members of their municipal councils. The other half will be…
Work, work, work. In the meantime, though, the third round of municipals are starting up in Saudi Arabia. JEDDAH, 21 April 2005 ???????? The business city of Jeddah will go to the polls today with the rest of the Western Region to elect new municipal councils in Saudi Arabia????????s historic democratic exercise. As many as 548 candidates are contesting for seven Jeddah seats, pinning their hopes on some 80,000 registered voters. Saudis in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah as well as Taif, Qasim, Hail, Tabuk, Al-Jouf and the Northern Border Region also go to polls today in the…
In an unprecedented move, the Human Rights Association of Syria has filed the first ever accusations of torture against Assad’s regime. (Via: Norm) With Syria under international pressure over its presence in Lebanon, and amid a wave of agitation for democratic reforms across the Middle East, Syrian lawyers are now daring to file the first cases of torture against the state. The Human Rights Association of Syria (HRAS), a non-governmental organisation operating in Damascus, announced earlier this month that it would launch several cases in a matter of weeks. ….. ÄKÅeeping track of political prisoners is next to impossible in…
Talk about good timing. The ten minute interview was done in the White House and broadcast directly to Lebanon. President Bush has insisted anew that Syria should “get out completely” from Lebanon and let the Lebanese people decide their own future in internationally monitored elections on schedule and free from external influence or intimidation. Bush pledged, then, to drum up global monetary assistance to help “this country back on its feet.” In a rare direct address to the Arab world, Bush also said in an interview broadcast by Beirut’s LBCI television network from the White House he wanted the Assad…