Blogging the democratic revolution
I thought this was incredibly timely given that Kirk had just posted a piece on Jordanian civil society. Natasha Tynes is reporting on an unreported story in the mainstream press that I’m finding particularly interesting. You may all remember a few thousand Iraqis protesting against the insurgents when a car bomber blew up a couple hundred Iraqis. Natasha brings to our attention an article written inside a Jordanian paper that bends, distorts, and outright lies about the entire event. If also portrays the bomber as a martyr. Well, she wasn’t going to have any of that. First, she translated the…
UPDATE: Scroll to the end for all latest updates on the protests! Hizb’allah is showing up less and less in the wire — which may or may not be good. But right now, the focus is on the opposition and what moves they will make in face of the pro-Syria protest last week that brought Kharami back to the premiership. Yesterday, protestors got a little creative, by coordinating with each other to make a giant flag using colored boards. Various opposition groups as well as Hariri’s Tayyar Al Mustaqbal (Future Tide) Movement have been blaring radio appeals for a massive…
The Jordanian government has been for years one of the more open of Arab states, with its monarchs – first the long-ruling King Hussein and now his son King Abdullah – ruling with a relatively light hand (I spent 1997 living in Jordan). Yet as democracy movements gain strength in other parts of the Arab world, Jordan seems to be moving toward a crackdown on professional associations. This is how the London-based Al-Hayat describes the new law in its March 5 article, “Jordan: The issue of freedom and human rights increases the attention of Washington and its demands”: It appears…
In the latest inane Michael Moore posing, Wayne Madsen — whoever he is — has written that not only did the U.S. and Israel commit Hariri’s assassination, but Karl Rove authorized it! You’ve just got to read this. March 11, 2005????????According to high-level Lebanese intelligence sources????????Christian and Muslim????????former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was reportedly assassinated in a sophisticated explosion-by-wire bombing authorized by the Bush administration and Ariel Sharon’s Likud government in Israel. There are also strong indications that the Hariri assassination was carried out by the same rogue Syrian intelligence agents used in the 2002 car bombing assassination of…
This is certainly a positive development. CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt on Saturday released on bail Ayman Nour, an opposition leader detained since the end of January and whose jailing aroused Washington’s concern. Scores of people, waving orange Ghad (Tomorrow) party flags, cheered Nour as he left a Cairo detention center after supporters paid his bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,724). Nour, leader of the opposition Ghad party, was held for about six weeks during investigations into allegations that his party forged documents when it applied for recognition last year. The party says the allegations are fabrications. “He came out much…
Gary Metz has published his week in review for Iran, as well as his Sunday briefing. Check those out.
This one almost flew under the radar. NABLUS, WEST BANK — Hamas, the major force behind a four-year suicide bombing campaign, announced yesterday it would run in a coming parliamentary election, a move that could undermine Palestinian efforts to end violence, reform a corrupt government and renew peacemaking. Hamas has emerged as a key player in Palestinian politics. A victory by the militant group in the July 17 parliamentary vote — to be held days before Israel is to begin withdrawing from the Gaza Strip — could be a deciding factor in whether the Israeli pullout leads to peace talks…
Poor girl, she is totally warped. It isn’t her fault though. She honestly isn’t much into politics, so she doesn’t fervently research what she reads. I emailed her right after the assassination of Hariri and asked her what she thinks, and here is her reply: Anyhow, you know that i lived in lebanon for 4yrs and a bit! and i was very heart broken to hear what happened for more than one reason. 1- Rafik al hariri i knew on a personal level, well not me but he is friends with my parents and he helped me get thru aloth…
Larry Kudlow on Real Clear Politics has an important analysis on just how out out of whack oil prices are and why skyrocketing prices at the pump won’t last. If he is right, there will be political consequences for oil giants like Iran, Venezuela and others whose dictators have sealed their claims to power on a foundation of soaring oil. The market gets these bastards every time.
Despite the reappointment/disappointment of Karami back to the position of prime minister, several fantastic developments have occurred today. Like always, let’s begin with Hizb’allah. First of all, the European Parliament has finally designated them as a terrorist group. Christmas was a few months ago, but better late than never! European legislators on Thursday branded the radical Lebanese Hizbollah group a ???????terrorist??????? organization and urged EU governments to place the group on their terrorist blacklists, as the bloc did with the Palestinian Hamas group in 2003. ???????ÄEUÅ Parliament considers that clear evidence exists of terrorist activities by Hizbollah. The ÄEUÅ Council…
Click here to see what I mean. Well, unless you’re at work. Here is another good picture that is more work safe.
If any of you read the story of a Bahraini blogger being arrested for “hate speech,” then this is a very encouraging story for everyone. Chan’ad recounts how a row of 200 peaceful protestors along Hall of Exhibition Avenue were stared down by a phalanx of riot police. Tensions evidently heated up, with protestors staging a sit-down in front of the officers, but all remained peaceful and organizers eventually ended the rally early at 8:30 to avoid an escalation. Chan’ad notes that four people were inexplicably arrested before the protest even began, and that police had blocked off part of…
John Hawkins has an amazing roundup of quotes from people who predicted that Iraq would be the domino to start a trend of democratization in the Middle East. Check that out!
A lot has unfolded since the last roundup. There have been massive demonstrations organized by Hizb’allah, the deposed Prime Minister has just signed back on, Syria is quickening its pullout, and the U.S. is beginning to accept that Hizb’allah can’t be taken out of the picture yet. As I have said over and over, where Hizb’allah goes will determine a lot of the political landscape of Lebanon’s future. Now, just about everyone knows about the massive pro-Syria rally that Hizb’allah held on Tuesday. Disciplined and well-organised, Hizbollah mobilised about 200,000 supporters, although the day was carefully presented as a display…
Although Robert will be doing a lengthy Lebanon post later, I thought that the latest maneuver by Emile Lahoud and the Syrian regime warranted an early post. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is said ready to re-designate outgoing Premier Karami (who resigned in the face of protests) to form a new pro-Syrian government: The re-designation is bound to reverse the fortunes of a peaceful opposition uprising to shake off Syria’s 29-year-old suffocating hegemony, which was sparked by the assassination of ex-Premier Hariri three weeks ago. It is also locally seen as a slap to President Bush’s contention that “democracy is knocking…
Very busy today, but Daniel is covering the whole thing over at Bloggledygook. Make sure to check it all out. I seem to have a fetish with them, so I’ll do a huge post on the implications of Hizb’allah in Lebanon’s political stratosphere tomorrow.
Regime Change Iran’s latest briefing has some news that is even more interesting than usual. Take a look: Iranian opposition leaders creating a united front against the Islamic Republic. One day after 565 dissidents in Iran published their open letter against the Iranian regime, a major coalition of Iran expatriates announced they are gathering to launch the long awaited “Iranian Opposition Council.” Tens of respected leaders and well known activists representing various Iranian political organizations, ranging from republican to monarchist, will be traveling from all parts of the U.S. and European cities to participate in a meeting this next Sunday…
Three decades after the late President Anwar Sadat announced the infitah, or economic opening, of Egypt, has the Gift of the Nile finally fulfilled predictions in becoming an economic Tiger on the Nile? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Egypt’s stock market has risen 32% this year, the fastest rate among significant emerging markets, and this after gains of 81% and 119% over the past two years. Some of the credit must go to Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif, whose team has cut corporate taxes, income taxes (by half) and custom tariffs (by almost half).…
In my recent post, Has Qadafi Caught the Spirit?, I wrote that there were mixed signs that Libya’s ruler, Mu’amar Qadafi, was committed to ending his country’s economic and political isolation. In today’s Al-Quds Al-Arabi, it was reported that Libya plans to cut 46,000 government jobs over the next year. As the article notes, Libya has 862,000 government workers, a huge figure when you consider that the country’s entire population is only a little over five million. Libya’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Mu’atuq, stated that some of the positions were to be eliminated through privatization, pushing them into “other productive work.”…
That’s what the banners are saying in the latest protest in Beirut: The crowd included a number of die-hard protesters who have been camping out at Martyrs’ Square, homemakers, men who took the day off from work, university students and others who traveled from other areas of the country. In a jab at Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, who in a speech on Saturday said television cameras were zooming in closely on the Lebanese protesters to make the numbers appear more, several held banners reading: “Zoom Out!” One legislator speaking to the crowd yelled out the same phrase during her speech.…
Up to 150,000 opposition activists rallied in Martyr’s Square chanting, “Syria Out!” and waving Lebanese flags: Monday’s demonstration marked three weeks since the Feb. 14 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri that began a peaceful campaign against Syrian control. The massive crowd, chanting “Freedom, sovereignty, independence!” began marching through the streets to the site of the bomb blast that killed Hariri. Some in the crowd carried large photographs of Hariri. One group carried a banner that read, “Today we have one target: To liberate our land.” Others brandished photographs of the public prosecutor and six intelligence chiefs whose dismissal they…
With the anti-Syrian protests underway in Lebanon right now grabbing the headlines, a reader asked for some background on the situation and an explanation of the various factions involved. The purpose of this post is to provide that background. THE OTTOMAN ERA (1517-1918) It might be said that modern Lebanon has its roots in the centuries of Ottoman rule. Historically, what is now Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan were all part of what might be called “Greater Syria.” (Although Palestine, and Jerusalem especially, was often occupied by whatever power dominated Egypt.) The coastal cities of Syria had a history of…
Nobody is more on top of the municipal election than John Burgess. Check out his post on voting in the east, and the more recent in Najran.
In what can only be seen as terrifying, Hizb’allah has backed Syria against the opposition and “western inference.” Because of this, the situation has just become much more dangerous than it was previously. They are not only a powerful political party, but the only one with arms. BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hizbollah, Lebanon’s most powerful party, threw its weight against Syria’s opponents on Sunday, calling for a peaceful mass rally in central Beirut on Tuesday in support of Damascus and against Western meddling. The Shi’ite Muslim group, which has the largest following in the country and is the only one with…
Regime Change Iran has its week in review of Iran news. Lots of interesting, underreported news there.