Blogging the democratic revolution
This is incredibly encouraging. From the place that just released detained bloggers, the majority Shiite protested against the government demanding reform! MANAMA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands have marched in one of Bahrain’s largest opposition demonstrations to demand democratic reforms in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state. Friday’s peaceful march, called by the Shi’ite-led opposition, follows unsuccessful talks with the government on constitutional reforms to give greater powers to parliament’s elected assembly, which is on an equal footing with a state-appointed chamber. Bahrain, the Gulf’s banking hub and home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has introduced some reforms, but the…
I hate this, because I’m having to write this headline every few days now. The second went off on Tuesday and the first a week ago Saturday. This latest one occurred just today, the third in a string of Syrian intimidation. March 26 (Bloomberg) — A car bomb explosion rocked a Christian quarter in east Beirut Saturday night, killing two Indian nationals and injuring eight people, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the official Lebanese news agency ANI. This explosion, which occurred around 9:30 p.m. local time, was heard throughout the Lebanese capital, shaking buildings on hills to the east, AFP said.…
Having been so involved with the events in Lebanon, I was hoping to do my own analysis of the UN findings on the Hariri assassination. But due to real life work and school starting back up next week (not to mention I’m preparing to cover the big protests in Taiwan all night…) it’s going to be a bit tough. However, rest assured! USMC_Vet has a complete, thorough analysis of the document and the reactions to it. In fact, let me give you some Cliff Notes: 1. Document released detailing Syrian and Lebanese government coverup. 2. They deny it. 3. Call…
Gary Metz at Regime Change Iran is reporting huge protests against the mullahs under the guise of a soccer victory. He notes that while this is certainly not the event, as soccer games have been used as an excuse to protest before, it is certainly another step in the right direction. He also notes that, because of traffic jams, the security apparatus can’t seem to get to the protestors. That’s good.
Jane over at Armies of Liberation is hallucinating with joy as al-Khaiwani, editor of the al-Shoura opposition newspaper, was pardoned directly by President Saleh. Jane, as you may know, had received correspondence from him and organized a petition to have him freed. Hopefully the blogosphere played a little part. Congrats!
You may remember earlier in the week when a bomb went off, triggering quite a bit of anxiety about the possiblity of another civil war and the influence of Syrian intelligence. Another one just went off. It took me awhile to find a good article that wasn’t full of “Hizb’allah rules; American drools” filler info. BEIRUT (Reuters) – Three people were killed and five wounded early on Wednesday when a bomb exploded at a shopping center in a Christian town north of the Lebanese capital Beirut, police sources and local television said. The explosion, the second in a commercial Christian…
In my Lebanon roundups, especially when the mass protests were going on, I referenced the online forum of an opposition group known as the Lebanese Forces. Their leader, Samir Geagea, was thrown in jail by the Syrians because of his work against them. Recently, there is a move to get him out. A move is underway in parliament to get Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea released from jail before the spring elections, slain ex-premier Hariri’s Al Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Monday. It said six parliament members have signed a proposed draft bill to amend the 1992 amnesty law on an…
Arthur Chrenkoff has a special roundup of recent events in the Middle East that he has dubbed the “Pro-Democracy Edition.” And in that respect, you should definitely check it out. For an older post in this same regards, check here if you haven’t seen it already.
Last Monday Publius posted an entry on Iraqi protests against Jordan following reports that Jordanians celebrated a terrorist attack which killed 125 Iraqis because the bomber was Jordanian, and then a Jordanian newspaper spun the event positively (see Bad Journalism Causes Iraqi Outrage). From what I saw on Al-Jazeera about an hour ago, a week later the Iraqis’ fury seems not to have tempered much. The footage showed crowds still protesting at the ravaged Jordanian embassy. The Al-Jazeera report noted that Jordan has now pulled all of its embassy personnel from Iraq for security reasons, and Iraq has also recalled…
Regime Change Iran has its weekly briefing of Iran up. Don’t miss it!
A lot has happened since the last update. Lahoud was already weak, but now he is even in the position of possible resignation. Karami is thinking of resigning again, and Hizb’allah’s hold is weaker as well. The most startling news over the past couple of days has been a car bomb, which is roundly being said to be a “goodbye present” from the Syrian services.
Husayn from Democracy in Iraq (is here!) has written a lengthy post relaying his thoughts on this important anniversary. Two years is about 730 days. In those days what have I seen. My eyes have seen more than I had ever hoped, more blood, more death and more pain, then I ever imagined or hoped I would have seen. In those days I have seen the worst of humanity, the animal that lives in all humanity, the ability of humanity to destroy at will others, and rob the life given to others by God almight himself. So you ask me,…
A terrorist attack recently occurred in the Qatari capital of Doha; and blogger Natasha Tynes was right in the neighborhood! How terrifying is that? Make sure to read her account. UPDATE: She has some post-blast thoughts up and will be updating with photos soon. PICTURE: Alright, the pictures are up.
Tomorrow will mark the second anniversary of Operation: Iraqi Freedom. Glenn over at Instapundit said it, I think, better than anyone. WAR CRITICS want to mark the anniversary of the war — there will be an “antiwar protest” at my local mall tomorrow and there are all sorts of events planned worldwide — but a proper way of marking the date would be with a mass apology to the Iraqi people, and to George W. Bush, for taking the wrong side at a crucial moment in history. Sackcloth, ashes, and signs reading: WE WERE WRONG, SORRY WE TRIED TO BLOCK…
The fourth straight week after Friday prayer? Interesting. Hundreds of men and women shouted slogans against the Egyptian government and clashed with security forces Friday in a protest against the mass detention and alleged torture of relatives suspected in last year’s Sinai resort bombings. Some 500 protesters demonstrated after Friday prayers outside the al-Rifai mosque, one of the main mosques in the north Sinai town of El-Arish, shouting, “Freedom, freedom.” A large force of riot police surrounded the protest and dispersed the men, beating some with electric prods and batons. Ten men were detained, police officials said. The men dispersed,…
Josh Landis has a response to the coup rumors up at his site. It starts off like this: “I spent most of my day trying to deny that a coup had taken place in Syria.” That is how the US military attach????, David Jesmer, accounted for himself yesterday when he came to dinner with a lively crowd. I was gratified he didn’t bring his bullet-proof vest. If anyone is interested in how a blogger’s hoax can cause a stir, the Syrian coup alarm is a good starting place. Here is the email that greeted me as I began my morning…
Earlier today the Palestinian Authority and several Palestinian terrorist organizations, including, most prominently, Hamas, wrapped up their meeting in Cairo with an agreement to extend their ceasefire with Israel until the end of this year, assuming Israel meets a variety of conditions. As I watched the press conference and statements by leaders of the various organizations on Al-Jazeera earlier, the most oft-repeated demands were “and end to Israeli aggression” and “freeing of the prisoners” – the latter a reference to terrorists which currently inhabit Israeli prisons. The Islamist daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi phrased the united position this way: ÄQuoting Amr Sulayman,…
Given that I recently posted an entry, Jordan’s Civil Society Crackdown, which was somewhat critical of Jordan, I thought that it would be appropriate to link to a transcript of an interview with Jordan’s King Abdullah from Middle East Quarterly, posted on Regime Change Iran, since it shows his strategic insight. He talks about a variety of subjects in the interview, including how to combat militant Islam, and I can assure you that Abdullah is not one of those Arab leaders who says one thing in English and another in Arabic. He also discusses at length the threat that Iran…
The Lebanese Foundation for Peace is reporting that a military coup has swept Assad’s regime because of disputes over the withdrawal from Lebanon. A Coup d’ Etat took place in Damascus late last night. Intelligence reports coming from within the Syrian Military Command indicate the following: A rebellion split The Syrian Army in two factions . Since yesterday , Damascus is under the de facto control of the Syrian Army, under the command of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, and supported by Syrian Intelligence General Rustom Ghazaleh, Syrian military General Ali Safi, and Firas Tlass son of former Minister of…
Today is the celebration of Chaharshanbe Soori, an ancient Persian tradition in which Iranians jump over a fire to leave the mistakes of the past in the flames. The mullahs regime has tried to prevent the celebration from occurring, and it is causing clashes between people and the security forces. This is while OPEC meets in Tehran, and the Iranians are breaking loose. Read this report: Sounds of firecrackers are heard throughout Iran. In Tehran a large crowd is moving towards “Rajaei Shahr Prison”. Callers describe some areas as “war zones”! The power of some fireworks have crushed the windows…
I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon too much with regards to the insanely hot Lebanese protestors, but that’s because I was waiting on enough material to make a decent sized photo archive. Drop a line in the comments if I’m missing any good photos! Have fun! UPDATE: Hans Nyberg let me know about a sweet panorama that he has of the protest. You click look all around, and even zoom in. I’m using that feature to babe spot. Check it out! And D.B. Light has a collection of all his posts on protest babes. And let’s not forget about the…
John Burgess over at Crossroads Arabia notes an article in Arab News that says 87% of Saudis favor female participation in elections. JEDDAH, 16 March 2005 ???????? A survey conducted by an independent agency in Jeddah showed 87 percent Saudis backing women????????s participation in elections. It also reflected the greater role of media in educating the public on the polls. ???????Eighty-seven percent of 240 Saudis who took part in the survey called for women????????s participation in the next round of elections,??????? said Dr. Muhammad Fashetan, chairman of the SAS Center for Opinion Survey and Consultancy in Jeddah. He said the…
This is good to hear, especially after this report by Omar that talks between the United Iraqi Coalition and the Kurdish Alliance melted down on the 13th. NewsBAGHDAD/ARBIL (Reuters) – Talks between Kurdish leaders and a Shi’ite bloc to form the next Iraqi government have collapsed three days before the country’s first fully elected parliament meets, senior politicians said on Sunday. Between them the two groups have the two-thirds majority needed to form the government and their failure to reach a deal could leave Iraq (news – web sites) in political limbo and further delay efforts to improve security and…
You may remember earlier in the week a couple Bahraini bloggers were arrested and people protested. Well, they’ve been released and with an added boon to all of us: They’ve passed some pro-democracy legislation. The Cabinet yesterday appr????oved the Chamber of Deputies???????? decision to introduce human rights and democracy as subjects at the intermediate and secondary levels and asked the Ministry of Education to consider both subjects in its curricula development plans. Check it all out. MORE: Babbling Bahrania is certainly covering this well.
The past month has certainly been amazing. Following the death of Rafiq Hariri, Lebanese broke out in the streets and protested, eventually forcing their government to resign. Syrian loyalists struck back by staging a hoax rally large enough to break the momentum and dishearten even some of freedom’s most ardent supporters. Everyone, however, except the Lebanese. In a moment truly reminiscient of 1776, the people came together in numbers two and a half times that of their would-be oppressors. And like I said, Assad must be shitting his pants, with Nasrallah quickly following. After Hizb’allah announced on Thursday that their…