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…
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…
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…
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,…
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….
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…