Month: December 2011

Protests are more widespread than ever in Bahrain, while opposition groups in and  out of Syria unite, but doubts about the prospects of the Arab League mission grow after the controversial chief of the mission dismisses an observer’s claim to have seen government snipers with his own eyes as “a hypothetical remark”: Dispute Among Arab…

The Egyptian military has raided the offices of at least 17 local and foreign NGO’s on the pretext that they receive foreign funding, pretending to forget that they themselves receive $1.3 billion from the U.S. government every year: Egypt Police Raid Offices of Human Rights Groups in Cairo (Guardian) Egypt Forces Storm NGOs; Court Acquits…

“Since 9/11, Turkey has convicted nearly 13,000 people of terrorism offenses…. Long pretrial detention, broad police powers, a tendency to launch cases on meager evidence, and, increasingly, the arrest of lawyers representing detainees mean that there are serious problems in Turkey for the rights of defendants”: Is Model Turkey Sliding into Authoritarianism? (Christian Science Monitor)…

Zionist Christmas presents (“as many as 20 mosques and six churches have been targeted of late, not a single settler has been apprehended for the attacks”) … Settlers Run Rampage in West Bank (AlAhramWeekly) … are like those of the Boko Haram: Christmas Attacks Claimed by Muslim Sect on Churches, Police in Nigeria Kill at…

Despite the fact that the bill contains provisions that ” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) warned … ‘put every American at risk’ of being sent to Guantanamo Bay” and ” Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) said it violated the Constitution because U.S. citizens could be apprehended on U.S. soil and held without a trial,” Obama Will Not…

“These blasts occurred because of conflicts among politicians…. We call upon all politicians to resolve their problems and leave people to live in security” — a Baghdad resident … At Least 63 Killed in Co-ordinated Baghdad Attacks (BBC) “Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has given every indication in recent days that he’s trying to freeze…

“Egypt’s conservative society has been shaken by nearly a week of deadly protests and by powerful images of women being stripped and beaten by soldiers in riot gear;” yet the elections continue: Egyptian Women Decry Abuse by Soldiers (Washington Post with Foreign Policy) Egypt Elections: Run-off Votes Held After Deadly Clashes (BBC) The British court…

With Russia losing patience, Syria signs yet another agreement with the Arab League and releases a Syrian-American blogger: Syria to Let in Monitors, Opposition Skeptical (Reuters) Syria Signs Arab League Deal to Allow in Monitors (BBC) Fingerpointing about the continuing clashes in Egypt give the lie to the claim that the military and the people…

Hamas spokesman spokesman, Taher al-Nounu affirmed an understanding that “all Palestinian factions operating in the Gaza Strip have agreed to halt the firing of rockets and mortars into Israel”: Hamas Moves Away from Violence in Deal with Palestinian Authority (Guardian) Even as it admits to (and regrets) the loss of civilian life engendered by its…

Zionist extremists torch a Jerusalem mosque and scrawl grafitti like ” A good Arab is a dead Arab,” as denunciations of the closure of an access ramp to the al-Aqsa mosque compound an “’attack’ on efforts to revive the peace talks” and a “’declaration of religious war’ on Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem” is followed…