Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

• While the Arab world struggles to free itself from tyranny, Israel arrests and harasses Palestinian children

• Saddam is captured –Baghdad Youth Movement claims

• ‘NYT’ beats a dead horse

• State Department tries to defend singling out Iran

• Liberal journalists who won’t talk about Palestine have a support group called MSM

• Peretz says he was misquoted…

• Elite flavor of Egyptian revolution allows it to cross our borders

While the Arab world struggles to free itself from tyranny, Israel arrests and harasses Palestinian children

Feb 15, 2011

Seham

  

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Land, property, resources theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansing/Settlers

Palestinians under U.S. pressure over settlement condemnation appeal
RAMALLAH, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under the pressure of the United States to withdraw a Palestinian appeal to the UN Security Council calling for condemning the Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories, a senior official said on Monday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/15/c_13731960.htm
IDF colleges in east Jerusalem? ‘Dangerous move’
Defense Ministry plans to relocate army college complex from Glilot to area partly within boundaries of Arab neighborhood Wadi al-Joz. Rights group: This will aggravate already complicated situation in capital.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4028664,00.html
Machsom Watch activist: Removing checkpoints doesn’t remove the occupation
Susan Lourenco has volunteered for the Machsom Watch organization for seven years, so she is familiar with virtually every Israeli army checkpoint in the West Bank. She is extremely well-acquainted with the Hawara crossing near Nablus – one of the symbols of the occupation and its control over the Palestinian civilian population – having spent many long hours there together with other women active in the organization.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/machsom-watch-activist-removing-checkpoints-doesn-t-remove-the-occupation-1.343471?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel closes northern West Bank road; deny report that checkpoints will be dismantled
Over the weekend, Israeli troops erected new earth mounds blocking the Nablus-Beit Iba road, a road which had been closed by Israeli authorities until international intervention by the Quartet for Mideast Peace, protests and lawsuits led to its opening in 2010. Also this weekend, Israeli military officials told the Tel Aviv-based news site Ynet that there were no plans to dismantle the West Bank’s two largest internal checkpoints, Huwwara and Beit Furik.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60648 
Israel revokes more Jerusalem al-Quds IDs
Palestinians of East Jerusalem al-Quds are facing a daily struggle to hold on to their residency as according to the Jerusalem center, in 2010 alone, around 191 Palestinians were stripped of their Jerusalem/Al-Quds IDs by Israel. 
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/165263.html 
Large Group of Armed Settlers Attempts to Enter Beit Ommar
Late Sunday night at around 10pm, on February 13, 2011, a large group of about 50 armed Israeli settlers attempted to enter the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar to harass residents. The settlers arrived in the area near the military tower at Beit Ommar’s entrance. Dozens of villagers, including activists with the Palestine Solidarity Project and the National Committee, also came to the area to defend their village. After a stand-off that lasted more than one hour, the Israeli Military ordered the settlers to leave the village. On January 28th, 2011, another group of settlers from Bat Ayn invaded the area shooting live ammunition. 17-year-old Yousef Ikhlyal was shot in the head while working on his family’s farmland. Yousef died of his wounds the following day in a Hebron hospital. His killers have still not been brought to justice.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/02/14/large-group-of-armed-settlers-attempts-to-enter-beit-ommar/ 
Palestinian Quarry Ordered to Close Due to Settler Action
A Palestinian quarry in Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, is to close due to “enforcement activities” by the Israeli authorities.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60644 
Settlers uproot olive tree saplings, IOF troops raid southern Gaza
Jewish settlers uprooted dozens of olive tree saplings in Beit Ummar village, north of Al-Khalil, on Monday, local sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
‘Defense Ministry keeping lawmakers in the dark about West Bank construction laws’
Refusal to answer lawmakers’ queries violates the law, Knesset research center says.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/defense-ministry-keeping-lawmakers-in-the-dark-about-west-bank-construction-laws-1.343441?localLinksEnabled=false
Violence and Aggression
Worker Injured By Army Fire In Gaza
Palestinian medical sources reported Monday that a worker was mildly wounded by Israeli army fire near the northern border of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60646 
Detainees
Two 14-year-olds arrested in Bil’in
Feb 13, 2011– On Saturday, Occupation forces arrested two young boys in Bil’in. Mohammed Faisel al Khatib and Amir ‘Aiysi Yasin, both 14 years old, were arrested by soldiers on the pretext that they were too close to the Apartheid Wall.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2474.shtml 
Border Police Officers arrest 11-yr-old boy
Inside the Military Repression of Nabi Saleh: Arrest of Children from Joseph Dana on Vimeo. This video was shot by a woman in the village of Nabi Saleh in the Occupied West Bank, where the military’s targeting of children has become routine and a chief tactic of military repression. The video was originally shared by Joseph Dana on +972 blog; you can read Dana’s story here..
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1686
Voices from the Occupation – East Jerusalem
On 12 January 2011, Luai (15), from Silwan, voluntarily attended an interview at Al Mascobiyya Interrogation Centre, and was detained. http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/Voices_2011-02-14_Silwan.pdf
Hamas: 7 supporters detained by PA
BEHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas officials in the West Bank accused PA security forces of arresting seven party members for political reasons, the Islamist movement said in a statement Tuesday.  The arrests were carried out in the West Bank districts of Jenin, Nablus and Tubas, the statement said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=360187
 
Health of two detainees worsen due to torture by PA interrogators
The health of detainee Samer Jaber, 30, has deteriorated badly as a result of his exposure to excruciating torture at the hands of interrogators from the PA intelligence apparatus.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Najah Univ. professor: Megiddo prisoners coerced into strip seaches
Mohammed Ali al-Saleebi, a professor of law at the Al-Najah University, marking his release from the Israeli Megiddo Prison told our correspondent the prison was rife with heated searches.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Mandela institution to file complaint against Israeli visit ban to prisoners
The Mandela institution has launched international contacts with the aim of establishing a legal committee that would file a complaint against Israel at international courts.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Siege/Humanitarian Issues

Gazans hope for free border
The fall of the regime in Egypt has raised hopes in the Gaza Strip, as Palestinians look for an easing of restrictions at the border. Before Egypt’s mass demonstrations began, it would allow up to 500 Gazans a day to enter Egypt. But only patients, foreign passport holders and people who had special co-ordination with Egyptian intelligence. The Rafah crossing has been closed for the last few weeks and patients can not get out of Gaza for treatment. Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports from Gaza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SlyCQ1iLs&feature=youtube_gdata 
Up to 150 Palestinians stranded in Egypt
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — A Palestinian stranded in the Egyptian city of El-Arish said Monday that up to 150 Gaza residents were waiting for the Rafah crossing to open to return to the Gaza Strip.  Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah border crossing when mass anti-government protests erupted across Egypt in late January. The demonstrations led to the ouster of veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak on Friday. Mubarak handed power to the military, but the interim Egyptian government has yet to reopen the border terminal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359988 
Footage: army wakes children to photograph them
Israeli TV aired rare footage, filmed by B’Tselem volunteers, of a new military method: soldiers enter homes in Nabi Saleh at night, waken minors over the age of 10, photograph them and leave.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Video/20110214_CDP_Army_photographs_and_arrests_Nabi_Saleh_minors_at_night.asp
Violations Bulletin – Issue 5 – January 2010
DCI-Palestine’s monthly bulletin on child rights violations.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=1789&CategoryId=1
The WHO: Gaza drug shortage a threat to survival of hospitals
The World Health Organization said a shortage of medicines required in the Gaza Strip poses a threat to the survival of hospitals there.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87M
Racism and Discrimination

Knesset passes Bishara bill: ‘There’s a limit to the madness’
Bill meant to deny pension payments from MK who fled Israel after being suspected of aiding Hezbollah passes final readings by 36-11 vote. MK Barakeh: Legislation fueled by ‘dark urges of lowly politicians’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4028624,00.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Release Ameer Makhoul and all Palestinian Political Prisoners Immediately!
Palestinian human rights defender Ameer Makhoul was sentenced to nine years in prison. This is a capricious sentence based on a plea bargain made after Ameer was abused.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3299-release-ameer-makhoul-and-all-palestinian-political-prisoners-immediately-
Commemorate Land Day 2011 by Joining the Global BDS Day of Action 30 March
Feb 12, 2011– The BDS National Committee (BNC) is calling on you to unite in your different capacities and struggles to join the Global BDS Day of Action on Land Day, 30 March 2011, in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s right to self determination on their ancestral land.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2473.shtml 
Biweekly Repression Update
Feb 14, 2011– This update contains exerts from testimony gathered by PCHR about the killing of Odai Qadous in Iraq Burin. Over this period, two youth were killed by settlers in Beit Ummar and Iraq Burin. Arrests in protesting villages continued to rise this week, with 9 arrested in Beit Ummar, 3 in al Nabi Saleh and 3 in Bil’in, as Occupation forces target village youth in an attempt to weaken the weekly protests.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2475.shtml
Weekly Anti-Wall Protest Update – February 11
Feb 13, 2011– Large demonstration in Ni’lin in solidarity with the Egyptian revolution. Bil’in remembers its martyrs, and al Nabi Saleh protests despite military orders. Popular committee in al Ma’sara calls for the activation of the popular resistance across the West Bank. Injuries from tear gas canisters reported in several villages. [MORE]
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2476.shtml
Solidarity visit to striking municipal employees in Jenin
Feb 15, 2011– Stop the Wall organized a solidarity visit to municipal workers in the Jenin governorate who have been on strike for the past consecutive weeks, and on hunger strike for the past three days. Workers are demanding that the Ministry of Local Government, along with the head and the council of the Jenin Municipality commit an interpretation of the law governing local bodies that guarantees employees and workers stable employment and dignified living.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2479.shtml
Beit Ommar Demonstrators Protest Settlers, Vow Solidarity With Egypt
On February 12, 2011, Beit Ommar villagers, supported by Israeli and international solidarity activists, surprised the Israeli military by demonstrating in a different area near the settlement of Karmei Tsur. The area chosen is closest to where Israeli settlers are building new houses on land that legally belongs to Beit Ommar farmers. This week Beit Ommar residents were joined by representatives from popular committees throughout the West Bank, including the villages of An-Nabi Saleh, Hebron, Susiya and Towana. 
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/02/14/beit-ommar-demonstrators-protest-settlers-vow-solidarity-with-egypt/ 
Solidarity with the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions in Bethlehem
Feb 15, 2011– On Sunday, nearly one hundred Palestinians gathered Manger Square to stand in solidarity with Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, and current movements in Yemen and Algeria. Participants carried Palestinian, Egyptian and Tunisian flags and shouted slogans for the victory of the two revolutions, haling the great accomplishments that have been achieved by both Egyptians and Tunisians.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2477.shtml
Report from Sheikh Jarrah’s 65th weekly demo
It took the Planning Committee of the Jerusalem City Council less than fifteen minutes to approve plans for the next wave of evictions in Sheikh Jarrah. We knew it was coming. Six large Palestinian families—some fifty souls– are to be expelled from their homes, the houses will be demolished, and thirteen apartment units will then be built for Israeli settlers. We know the families, we know the neighborhood, and we know the meaning and intention of this move, a further step in the ethnic cleansing the government is intent on carrying through in Sheikh Jarrah. They probably feel that this moment, with all eyes focused on Egypt, is a good time to act. Some 90,000 housing units for Jews have been built in Jerusalem on private Palestinian land, taken over for this purpose. More are coming.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2011/02/report-from-sheikh-jarrahs-65th-weekly-demo/ 
Interview with Omar Barghouti and Hind Awwad about the growing Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugpFZpC36Zk&feature=player_embedded 
#BDS: Largest Brazilian Trade Union backs Boycott!
“In an important gain for the global movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, Brazil’s largest Trade Union Confederation (CUT), voiced its support of the BDS call and called for the suspension of Israeli-Brazilian economic agreements and military ties on January 28.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/02/bds-largest-brazilian-trade-union-backs.html 
#BDS: Cultural boycott of Israel taking hold in S Africa
“Despite complaints. 5fm which is run by the state broadcaster, the SABC decided to continue airing the advert, saying it was treating it as any other advertising. It would not however discuss details of the complaints it received or from whom exactly. 
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/02/bds-cultural-boycott-of-israel-taking.html 
#BDS: EU-Israel Data-Sharing Plan Condemned
“The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) today condemned the decision of the European Commission which stated that “Israel provides an adequate level of protection of personal data”, thus giving the green light for “the transfer of personal data of EU citizens to Israel”.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/02/bds-eu-israel-data-sharing-plan.html 
#BDS: The Boycott VEOLIA Campaign
“The campaign against Veolia is intensifying. This follows the Russell Tribunal on Palestine findings that Veolia is liable for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.  There is an added urgency because Local Authorities in both South and North London are currently considering Veolia for major contracts.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/02/bds-boycott-veolia-campaign.html 
#BDS: Resisting Pinkwashing: Queers Won’t Hide Israel’s Dirty Laundry 
While emphasizing the thriving gay community in cities such as Tel Aviv in order to portray Israel as an oasis of gay freedom and democracy in the Middle East, Israel advocacy groups use colonialist language to suggest that Israel is surrounded by “backwards” homophobic, uncivilized Arabs, including Palestinians. Blaming “fundamentalist Islamic beliefs,” groups such as Stand With Us (SWU), a Right Wing Israeli advocacy organization highlights the violence that gay Palestinians face from their families and authorities in Palestine. Of course, they never mention the violence all Palestinians, whatever their sexual orientation, face from the Israeli government.”
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/02/bds-resisting-pinkwashing-queers-wont.html 
#BDS: AHAVA: STOP BREAKING PALESTINIAN HEARTS!
“On Saturday 12 February, boycott campaigners staged a Valentine’s Day picket outside Ahava. Shop staff quickly called the police and displayed a closed sign thus even further discouraging custom during the time we were there.  Many people were attracted to our brightly coloured broken heart-shaped signs that read “Ahava: Stop Breaking Palestinian Hearts”, “Settlements are Heartless”, “Apartheid is Heartless” and ”Occupation is Heartless”. 
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/02/bds-ahava-stop-breaking-palestinian.html 
Israeli activists urge international artists to boycott Eilat music festival
Activists argue that if the festival takes place as planned, it will help Israel present an image of normalcy.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-activists-urge-international-artists-to-boycott-eilat-music-festival-1.343451?localLinksEnabled=false
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, “Obama Gives Israel Too Much Love in Valentine’s Day Budget”
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation today criticized the Obama Administration for giving Israel “too much love” in its FY2012 budget request to Congress. The budget request, delivered today to Capitol Hill, contains a record-breaking $3.075 billion in military aid to Israel. . . . The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is organizing a multi-year campaign to end U.S. military aid to Israel. On its interactive web site, www.aidtoisrael.org, users can view how much money their cities, counties, Congressional districts, and states provide in military aid to Israel, and determine how much health care, education, housing and jobs training this money could purchase instead.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/israel140211.html 
Political Developments/News

US military chief reassures Israel after Egypt revolt
JERUSALEM (AFP) — The top US military commander reassured Israeli leaders on Monday that military ties between the allies remain as strong as ever in the face of the changes sweeping the Middle East.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=360145
‘Dysfunctional’ Palestinian cabinet resigns
The Palestinian cabinet resigned yesterday, in an apparent attempt by President Mahmoud Abbas to demonstrate political reform after the uprising in Egypt. The shake-up could bolster Mr Abbas’s standing among Palestinians, dissatisfied with a cabinet regarded as dysfunctional.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/dysfunctional-palestinian-cabinet-resigns-2215077.html 
Analysis: PA cabinet changes show Abbas is freaking out
The PA president is worried that the tsunami that swept the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents from office could hit Ramallah. 
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=208186 
Palestinians to wind up peace talks unit after leaks (AFP)
AFP – The Palestine Liberation Organisation has decided to wind up its Negotiations Support Unit after damaging leaks about the concessions it was prepared to make to Israel, an official told AFP on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110214/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeacejazeera
Ashkenazi: Israel must be careful with its assessments of the Arab world
Speaking just after he stepped down as IDF chief, Ashkenazi says he is worried by the weakening status of moderate leaders in the region. 
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ashkenazi-israel-must-be-careful-with-its-assessments-of-the-arab-world-1.343425?localLinksEnabled=false
Establishing sovereign Palestinian state non-negotiable right: Jordan FM
AMMAN, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Jordan on Monday stressed that the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state is a non-negotiable right that will lead to attaining security in the region and the world.  Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh stressed in a press conference with his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini Monday the importance of creating an independent Palestinian state at the borders of 1967 with east Jerusalem as its capital.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/15/c_13731992.htm 
FM to Ashton: First solve Iran problem, then Palestinians 
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told visiting EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday that “the main problem at present, in the Middle East, in the world, is the problem of Iran.”
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=208325
Other News

Gaza’s Mubarak hospital to be renamed ‘Tahrir’
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — A major Gaza hospital named after Hosni Mubarak is to be rebaptised “Tahrir” after the Cairo square at the centre of the uprising which felled the Egyptian leader.  “The Mubarak hospital for children in Khan Yunis is to be renamed Tahrir hospital in honour of the Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square,” Yussef al-Mudallah, director general of the Hamas-run health ministry, told AFP.  The hospital, one of the biggest in southern Gaza, was named after Mubarak in honour of the close ties between the Palestinian Authority and the Egyptian regime. The Egyptian president was driven out on Friday after 18 days of mass civilian protests, in a move welcomed by Gaza’s Hamas rulers and celebrated across the enclave. The epicentre of the protest movement was Cairo’s Tahrir — “Liberation” in English — Square. 
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=&section=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2011/February/middleeast_February535.xml
In Gaza today a Governmental decision decrees the changing of the name of Mubarak Hospital in Khan Younis city to Tahrir “Liberation” Hospital.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=555579&id=119275738102852
PA agrees to pay compensation for death of Jewish settlers
The Palestinian Authority has agreed to compensate the families of two Jewish settlers killed in a resistance operation 15 years ago, Israeli Radio said Tuesday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
NGOs call for press freedom in Palestine
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A group of 17 Palestinian non-profit and civil society groups announced the formation of a “coalition to defend freedom of expression” in Palestinian areas, a statement said Monday.  Press freedoms were at the “top of the agenda,” and would be strengthened through a series of “initiatives to achieve its goals,” according to the statement, which did not go into detail.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359984
Lebanon

Israel increases activity on Blue Line, breaches Lebanese airspace: reports
BEIRUT: Israel ratcheted up its activities close to the Blue Line Monday, violating Lebanese airspace, according to reports from the south. Reports also suggested Israel was bolstering its border patrols in the region from which two of its soldiers were abducted by Hezbollah in 2006, sparking the devastating month-long war which followed.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=124907
West cannot be counted on for justice: Jumblatt
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt warned parties against relying on the international community to support justice and freedom as he hailed Egypt’s popular uprising that led to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=124911 
Egypt

Ex-judge to head Egypt reform panel
Military rulers appoint retired judge as head of committee tasked with suggesting changes to country’s constitution.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/201121563130198336.html
Egypt: Free Detainees, Lift Emergency, End Torture
(Cairo) – Egypt’s Higher Military Council should take immediate steps to free those detained during the recent unrest, lift emergency laws, and make a clear commitment to end torture and police abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 13, 2011, the council ordered the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of parliament.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/14/egypt-free-detainees-lift-emergency-end-torture 
Egyptian army appoints head of constitution body
CAIRO, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Egypt’s new army rulers have appointed a retired judge, respected in legal circles for his independent views, to head a committee set up to propose constitutional changes.  Retired judge Tareq al-Bishry was a strong supporter of an independent judiciary, though legal experts said the Egyptian judiciary was subjected to increasing political meddling during Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year presidential rule which ended on Friday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egyptian-army-appoints-head-of-constitution-body 
Egypt tensions persist
Military urges return to “normal life” as Egyptians continue to vent frustrations. Three days after Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak stepped down from the presidency, a series of different protests have taken place across the capital, Cairo. As police officers enter one corner of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, carrying a memorial dedicated to an officer killed during the uprising, pro-democracy supporters file into another corner – frustrated at the military’s continued rule. With troops stepping into the role of traffic police, Al Jazeera’s James Bays finds his filming frequently disrupted by soldiers in the capital.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIWYR02N0y8&feature=youtube_gdata 
Blackmailing Egypt
“Some Jewish groups, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, a prominent pro-Israel lobbying group, favor the Obama administration’s review of the substantial military aid the United States gives to Egypt, said Josh Block, a partner in the Davis-Block consulting firm and a former spokesman for Aipac.  “It’s obviously appropriate for the administration to review America’s aid to Egypt,” Mr. Block said. “There are key factors to look at,” he said, including whether Egypt continues to support peace with Israel and sanctions against Iran; helps in the pursuit of terrorists; and allows international traffic, including Israeli and American transit, through the Suez canal.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/us/14react.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=print 
Egypt sees vote on constitution changes in 2 months
* Military briefs youth activists on timetable for change
* Council members see vote on constitution in two months
* Military encourages young people to form political parties
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egypt-sees-vote-on-constitution-changes-in-2-months
US backs away from call to end Egypt emergency now
WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday backed away from Washington’s call last week for Egypt’s emergency law to be lifted immediately, saying the timing was up to the Egyptians.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/us-backs-away-from-call-to-end-egypt-emergency-now 
UK says Egypt asks it to freeze officials’ assets
LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Egypt has asked Britain to freeze the assets of several former officials and said its new cabinet will include opposition figures, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday. Egypt’s opposition has for decades been excluded from power, but President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation on Friday after 30 years in office has opened the way for major and rapid changes.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/uks-hague-egypt-asks-to-freeze-officials-assets 
Egypt asks US to freeze officials’ assets-US official
WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Egypt has asked the United States to freeze the assets of certain officials following the popular revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, a senior U.S. official said on Monday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egyptian-govt-asks-us-to-freeze-assets-of-certain-egyptian-go
Egypt asks France to freeze assets, not Mubarak’s
PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Egypt has asked France to freeze the assets of former high-ranking officials but has not asked for a freeze on those of Hosni Mubarak, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said on Monday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egypt-asks-france-to-freeze-assets-not-mubaraks 
Mubarak moved “vast wealth” to untraceable accounts: report
Hosni Mubark transferred “vast wealth” to untraceable accounts overseas during the 18 days of protests preceding his downfall, The Telegraph reported on Sunday quoting a senior Western intelligence source.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/13/137483.html
    
Arab League’s Amr Moussa to run for Egypt’s president
CAIRO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Monday he intends to nominate himself in Egypt’s coming presidential elections, Al Arabia TV reported.  Moussa said he will devote the coming months to his presidential campaign after leaving his post in the Arab League in March. According to Al Arabia TV, he has prepared a campaign plan focusing on the principles of law, democracy and human rights.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/15/c_13731967.htm 
Egypt revolution: Protesters vow to keep pressure on military
Protest organizers are now calling for a million-man march on Friday to remind the new military rulers who’s really in charge in Egypt’s revolution.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/qMGfQSpji8w/Egypt-revolution-Protesters-vow-to-keep-pressure-on-military
Search for missing Egyptians goes on
In Egypt, the search is under way for people who disappeared during the pro democracy protests over the past three weeks. For families, information about loved ones has been scarce at best. Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros reports from Cairo.

The Facebook kids meet the generals
Over at the We Are All Khaled Said Facebook group, there  is a fascinating summary of the meeting between some of the young protest organizers and the military. The meeting included Ahmad Maher, Asmaa’ Mahfouz (both from 6 April) Wael Ghonim, Khaled El Sayyid, Mohammed Abbas, Amr Salama and Abdul Rahman Samir, a Baradei supporter (not sure why all the members of the revolutionary youth council weren’t there) and the post expresses the views of Ghonim and Salama. I’m not going to translate the whole thing but here are some highlights: The meeting is described in very positive terms: “We noticed an absence of paternalism in the conversation (‘You don’t know your own interest, son.’) For the first time we sat with an Egyptian official who listened more than he spoke.” Although the young participants did tell the military they should have a better media communications strategy (please! enough with these cryptic SMS messages). 
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/14/the-facebook-kids-meet-the-generals.html
Accused Egypt executive (Ahmad Ezz) defends party, praises revolt
CAIRO, Feb 14 (Reuters) – An Egyptian businessman, who was a top official in Hosni Mubarak’s party and now being investigated for corruption, praised youth activists who ousted the president and said the old ruling party could be revived.  Ahmed Ezz, who denied charges of misusing public money, told Al Arabiya television that the National Democratic Party (NDP) would remain a major player in Egyptian politics and said he had no regrets over things he did in public life.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/accused-egypt-executive-defends-party-praises-revolt 
Calls rise for Egypt media freedoms
Pressure is mounting for Hosni Mubarak’s appointees to be removed from Egypt’s state media. During the protests state television broadcast propaganda for the government and now some fear it may not be impartial during the country’s transition to democracy.  Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons reports from Cairo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdJ3vHlYnrM&feature=player_embedded
Egyptian Paper: “Mubarak In A Coma”
Dr. Ahmad Shafiq, the acting head of the temporary Egyptian Government, stated that former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, is currently in a coma in his residence in Sharm Al Sheikh Egyptian report, and that a decision to move him to a local or international hospital was not made yet.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60647 
Where is Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak?
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT – Hosni Mubarak, whose presence was felt and feared throughout Egypt for 30 years, has fallen quickly and astonishingly out of sight, his exact whereabouts unknown.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=19aa547fb3dfd8821c5f923d6d272117
Where in the world are the Mubaraks ?
I think some Egyptians or many Egyptians are asking themselves that question especially with all the contradicting reports coming from around globe since last Thursday.
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/02/where-in-world-are-mubaraks.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
Interesting news about Mubarak and Mousavi
Russian TV is reporting that according to unnamed sources Mubarak is now in a coma.  As soon as I heard that, I began suspecting that he was killed by somebody in the security or military.  Indeed, on Thursday evening he categorically refused to leave power, and yet he stepped down the very next day, though unlike all the other announcement which he delivered personally, this one was delivered by Suleiman.  I mean – I know the man was sick, but still, this is one heck of a weird coincidence in timing don’t you think?
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/interesting-news-about-mubarak-and.html 
Mubarak’s Last Days in Office
British daily Sunday Telegraph quoted Western intelligence sources as saying that Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas. The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion – although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion – during his 30 years in power. It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.  The British daily said that Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators after he perceived that his downfall was imminent. 
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=2331&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=19&s1=1 
Protesters clean Alexandria streets
Protesters have once again taken to the streets of the country’s second city – Alexandria. But this time, they are motivated by a sense of civic responsibility and pride. Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNvI0geLmAM&feature=youtube_gdata 
Hossam el-Hamalawy on The Workers and The Military
Egypt’s revolution could go in any direction in the months and years to come. It could end up in a tame army-supervised semi-democracy under the presidency of Amr Moussa, with the army running foreign policy. More likely, the result will be far more interesting than that.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/15/hossam-el-hamalawy-on-the-workers-and-the-military/ 
A Committee to Bring Back Our money
To restore back our stolen money and our treasures especially from stolen antiquities that were taken during the Mubarak blessing era ,we should form a special committee ASAP. I do not know if we as citizens should call for this committee and start to form it by ourselves or demand the armed forces council to form just like the constitution amendments committee. I used the word demand because restoring our money and our antiquities is from our main priorities  now that can’t be postponed after 6 months especially with all that money , gold and antiquities that left the country.
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/02/committee-to-bring-back-our-money.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
Egyptian police officers arrested with bags full of “Iranian secret plan” pamphlets …
“There were indeed two sessions of negotiations between the military council and the MBs. Some of the issues agreed upon are that the MBs will form a political party which will receive legal recognition. The first meeting was held with the representatives of the leadership. The Generals requested the organizations help to calm the street and end the chain of strikes that is spreading everywhere.
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/02/muslim-brothers-ask-army-to-convince.html
Ripples of Tunisia and Egypt felt throughout Middle East
The Lede: Latest Updates on Middle East Protests
The Lede is following protests in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen on Monday, as well as developments in Egypt, just days into the post-Mubarak era.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=6ab424b65ad75316c177d5461df0656e 
Inside Story – Arab anger
As the dust settles on the streets of Egypt, the desire for change is spreading across the region. The people of the Arab world say they are angered by unemployment, rampant corruption and social injustice. Some governments are trying to buy their way out of trouble with promises of reform and wage rises, but will that be enough to keep angry people off the streets? Inside Story discusses with guests: Lamis Andoni, a veteran Palestinian journalist and political commentator who is a regular contributor to Al Jazeera English online; Anwar Eshki, the founder and director of Jeddah-based think tank the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies; and Paul Salem, the director of the Carnegie Middle East centre.

Algeria’s state of emergency to end within days: foreign minister
PARIS: The 19-year-old state of emergency in Algeria will end within days, Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said Monday, brushing off concerns that recent protests in the country could escalate as in Tunisia and Egypt. A state of emergency has been in force in Algeria since 1992 and the government has come under pressure from opponents, inspired by uprisings.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124901 
ANALYSIS-Saudi king needs to step up reforms to curb dissent
* Reforms must be enacted to curb dissent -analysts
* King’s absence has delayed government plans
* Succession could also affect course of reforms
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/analysis-saudi-king-needs-to-step-up-reforms-to-curb-dissent 
Bodyguards of the King of Jordan
“The king was on a field visit to Al-Hashemiyah University, in the rural area of Mafraq, East of Jordan. Upon the King’s arrival at the university, protesters from Bani Hassan tribe, one of the biggest tribes, gathered before the King’s motorcade; they were protesting their living conditions and the fact that the government has been stripping them from their rural-land possessions.  Members of the Royal Jordanian Guards accompanying the king opened fire on the protestors, injuring at least four according to several stories leaked to the Jordanian media. Official reports claim only two protesters were shot and nobody killed; nonetheless rumors circulated over several Jordanian website spoke of four dead young men.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/bodyguards-of-king-of-jordan.html
Jordan to ease restrictions on public assembly
Jordan is expected to remove restrictions on public gatherings, allowing protests to take place without prior permission as part of political reforms, a minister said in remarks published on Tuesday.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/15/137730.html
Tunisia
Tunisian uprising has not ended: it is perfecting itself.  In the NYT, I read today that the attention in Tunisia has turned to local issues.  In reality, they have been chanting and demonstrating in solidarity of Egyptians and other Arabs.  They are even paying attention to foreign policy issues: they forced the resignation of the foreign minister because he spoke in defense of France.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/tunisia.html 
A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History
A two-year collaboration gave birth to a pan-Arab democracy movement that mixed the tactics of nonviolent resistance with Silicon Valley marketing.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=6831112ed2b54aaff1a49aa9d213cd77 
Arab youth: the tipping point
The Arab world has high proportions of young people – and high proportions of youth unemployment – making for explosive levels of discontent from Morocco in the west to Syria and Yemen in the east.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/feb/15/arab-world-youth-interactive-map 
Middle East nations scramble to contain unrest
Egypt and Tunisia, said analyst Masri, by providing a model of leadership change that did not immediately usher in sectarian violence or Islamic extremism, removed the chief boogeymen typically raised by Arab leaders against democratic change.  “It turns out that threat used by the political authorities in the Arab countries, threatening their people with the consequences of democracy, collapsed very quickly,” he said. “The fears are gone.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-arab-protests-20110214,0,1569548.story 
Bahrain

Bahrain Shi’ite opposition suspends parliament role
MANAMA, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Bahrain’s Shi’ite opposition bloc Wefaq suspended its membership in parliament on Tuesday after two Shi’ite villagers were killed in clashes with police, a parliamentarian from the bloc said.  “This is the first step. We want to see dialogue,” said Ibrahim Mattar, a Wefaq parliamentarian. “In the coming days, we are either going to resign from the council or continue.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bahrain-shiite-opposition-suspends-parliament-role
Bahrain activists hold Day of Rage
Reports of violence from parts of the kingdom as security forces remain on alert during day of protests.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/2011214925802473.html
Bahrain police fire at protesters
Opposition group suspends parliamentary participation after another person is killed in firing at funeral procession.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/201121571645551445.html
The first martyr in Bahrain
This is the first martyr in Bahrain.  A comrade, S., also wrote: “Today’s events
There were protests in many villages in Bahrain 1.Karzakan كرزكان village started last night 13 Feb
2.Today in the early morning at about 5 AM there were protests in Newedart  نويدرات village Then Duraz  الدراز, Daih الدية, Sanabis السنابس, Bilad AlQadeem البلاد القديم and other areas.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/first-martyr-in-bahrain.html
Videos of attacks by riot police in Bahrain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3LazFJ0wa4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0JU1MHLzRI&feature=player_embedded
Picture of injured protester in Bahrain
http://twitpic.com/3zslwz/full
Bahrain Protests Day Two: Protesters Take Control Of Main Square
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Thousands of protesters in Bahrain are filling a main square in the Gulf nation’s capital as Egypt-inspired demonstrations gripped the country for a second day. Security forces appeared to hold back as the crowds poured into Pearl Square in Manama. The dramatic move Tuesday comes just hours after a second protester died in clashes with police in the strategic island kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/15/bahrain-protests-day-two_n_823314.html 
Bahrain, again
“The day of wrath’s Facebook page passed 10,000 supporters within a few days, and a declaration in the name of Bahraini Youth for Freedom is being widely circulated online. The authorities have already moved to counter any possible repercussions from the tumultuous events in region. The leadership held talks with President Hosni Mubarak shortly after the overthrow of Ben Ali in Tunisia, and plans to pump in hundreds of millions of dollars in food subsidies have been announced. Many web forums and Facebook pageshave been blocked, and the British embassy has issued a notice to UK citizens regarding 14 February.  With a landmass about the size of Malta and citizens barely numbering half a million, Bahrain is not usually a centre of attention in the Arab world. Its regional significance, however, outweighs its small size. A former British colony, it is only a 15-minute drive from Saudi Arabia, and Iranian claims to the island date back centuries. Its history of activism makes it one of the most politically vibrant countries in the region, with developments on the island seen as precursors to changes in other Gulf Arab states.” 
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/bahrain-again.html
Yoshie Furuhashi, “The Day of Wrath in Bahrain”
Protest organizers say a protester by the name of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, 27 years old, was killed by police in Manama. . . . For many reasons (the corporate media’s propaganda system, many Bahraini protesters’ apparent religiosity, a sectarian divide among Arabs and Muslims, the sheer odds against a successful protest in a Gulf state, etc.), the Bahraini protesters are unlikely to gain as much media attention as Iran’s Green ones or Egypt’s Jan25 ones — hence this note by way of cyber-witnessing.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/bahrain140211.html 
Yemen

Yemen protests enter fifth day
Regime loyalists and plainclothes policemen attack protesters, mainly students, in Sanaa.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/2011215101053354193.html
Yemeni Forces Use Tasers, Batons, Knives and Rifles to Squash Anti-Government Protests
The popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have raised questions about the stability of several other governments in the region. Over the weekend, thousands of peaceful demonstrators in Yemen clashed with police and pro-government supporters. Tasers, batons, knives, sticks, and assault rifles were directed at the peaceful crowds. We speak to Iona Craig, an editor at the Yemen Times, and Sarah Leah Whitson, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/14/yemeni_government_accused_of_violently_suppressing
Yemen Protests
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44171&id=115003571873751&ref=mf
In Yemen, female activist strives for an Egypt-like revolution
SANAA, YEMEN – Tawakkol Karman sat in front of her laptop, her Facebook page open, planning the next youth demonstration. Nearby were framed photos of her idols: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. These days, though, Karman is most inspired by her peers.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=1243be17189451e3dffa9ef6bcb627cc 
Iran

Demonstrations in Tehran
A video, claiming to be from Monday’s protest, was posted on Facebook earlier today. The chant you hear is “death to the dictator.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDK_oqEsxkA&feature=youtube_gdata
The Audacity of American Hypocrisy

US sends Twitter messages to Iranians
The Twitter feeds began Sunday as US officials accused Iran of hypocrisy by supporting the anti-government revolt in Egypt but seeking to prevent anti-government demonstrations in Iran.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110214/pl_afp/iranpoliticsoppositionusinternet 
Clinton: People of Iran deserve same rights as Egyptians
U.S. Secretary of State expresses support for tens of thousands of protesters in Tehran, says Iranian government is hypocritical for hailing Egypt protests but suppressing its own opposition.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/clinton-people-of-iran-deserve-same-rights-as-egyptians-1.343423?localLinksEnabled=false
State Department tries to defend singling out Iran, Philip Weiss
As Dylan said, Even the lobby sometimes must have to stand naked. From the briefing yesterday by PJ Crowley, assistant secretary of State. Notice the reporters aren’t buying the double standard.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/state-department-tries-to-defend-singling-out-iran.html
Everyone in the Middle East deserves rights except Palestinians, Philip Weiss
Hillary Clinton is cheerleading the protesters in Iran, as she failed to do in Egypt. This is the same secretary of state who can say nothing about jailed protesters in Palestine, and unending settlements, and uprooting of Palestinian villages. “We wish the opposition and the brave people in the streets across cities in Iran the same opportunities that they saw their Egyptian counterparts seize.”
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/everyone-in-the-middle-east-deserves-rights-except-palestinians.html
Hillary we will never forget! 

“We do not want to send any message about backing forward or backing back …”
“… Clinton avoided a question from CNN’s Candy Crowley on “American Morning” on whether the U.S. is beginning to back away from Mubarak. “[W]e do not want to send any message about backing forward or backing back,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is to help clear the air so that those who remain in power, starting with President Mubarak, with his new vice president, with the new prime minister, will begin a process of reaching out, of creating a dialogue that will bring in peaceful activists and representatives of civil society to, you know, plan a way forward that will meet the legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people. “ The Obama administration, while not calling for Mubarak to step down, appears set to continue pushing for additional concrete steps toward democracy, human rights and economic reform. Clinton made clear that the administration regards Saturday’s steps as a start — but inadequate. Instead, the American push is for a new round of elections – though officials continue to debate the ideal timetable – in which few believe Mubarak could run, much less win….”
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/01/we-do-not-want-to-send-any-message.html
Hillary Clinton on Mubarak, As`ad Abukhalil
“”I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the UnitedStates.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/hillary-clinton-on-mubarak.html 
Other Mideast News

Israel increases activity on Blue Line, breaches Lebanese airspace: reports
BEIRUT: Israel ratcheted up its activities close to the Blue Line Monday, violating Lebanese airspace, according to reports from the south.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=124907#axzz1E2P7aG95
Monday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 4 Wounded
At least one Iraqi was killed and four more were wounded in light violence. Meanwhile, Iraqis by the thousands came out in Baghdad to protest poor services and government corruption. The demonstration came only a day after the first reported self-immolation in the country and after several protests in recent weeks. In response, the Iraqi government has canceled a purchase of F-16 fighter jets and is diverting that money to improving food rations.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/02/14/monday-1-iraqi-killed-4-wounded/ 
Iraq protesters demand electricity, jobs
KIRKUK, Iraq — Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Iraqi cities on Tuesday, inspired by popular protests around the Arab world, to demand job-creation programmes and better electricity supplies.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/15/iraq-protesters-demand-electricity-jobs/
Iraqi defector Curveball: ‘I had to do something for my country’ – video
Iraqi defector Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi – codenamed Curveball by the CIA – explains why he lied about Saddam’s chemical weapons capability. His false claims were quoted at the United Nations by former secretary of state Colin Powell and used to help justify the Iraq war.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/feb/15/curveball-lies-us-war-iraq-video
Iraq shelter bombed by US remains frozen in time
AFP/File – A bleak civilian bomb shelter where hundreds of Iraqis were killed by US missiles 20 years ago remains frozen in time, occasionally visited by relatives of victims who come to pray.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110215/wl_mideast_afp/iraquskuwaitgulfwarmemorial
Schoolgirl blogger jailed in Syria
Teenage blogger accused of spying for a foreign country sentenced to five years in jail after a closed-door hearing.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/201121514319413714.html

Analysis/Op-ed
Please, no more peace plans
The Israeli leadership wants to hold on to the status-quo, the Palestinian leadership is split, and the US discovers the limits of its power. Under these circumstances, the problem is not the lack of solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the absence of political forces that could implement them. A response to Bernard Avishai.
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=3759 
Haaretz notices GOD TV’s role in JNF Forest of Hate (while GOD TV squirms), Max Blumenthal
Nir Hasson has a report at Haaretz’s Hebrew edition about GOD TV’s role in funding the Jewish National Fund’s ethnic cleansing of the Bedouin village Al Arakib in order to plant a non-native forest. There isn’t much in Hasson’s piece that wasn’t already introduced by Richard Silverstein, Neve Gordon, and through my reporting. But since Al Arakib has been destroyed for the 16th time (and Israeli riot police have begun firing rubber bullets and teargas at its residents), Hasson noticed that GOD TV recently published a disclaimer at its website distancing itself from the JNF’s monstrous project.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2011/02/haaretz-notices-god-tvs-role-in-jnf-forest-of-hate-while-god-tv-squirms/
How one Arab gained his political sophistication (in an Israeli prison), Jen Marlowe
He emerged from his decade in prison well-versed in Greek and Roman classics, Russian literature, world history, philosophy, psychology, economics, and much more. He read The Odyssey and The Iliad three times each. He read the Torah, the New Testament, and the Qur’an. He read the letters that future Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote from prison to his daughter, Indira Gandhi, a future prime minister herself. Sami describes the prison library as “an ocean.” The texts mentioned above only skim the surface of his deep plunge into world literature.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/how-one-arab-gained-his-political-sophistication-in-an-israeli-prison.html
It’s Always About Israel, Even when it isn’t…, Justin Raimondo
While most of the rest of the world, minus Glenn Beck, was celebrating the overthrow of one of the world’s most repressivedictatorships, over in Israel – which bills itself as the only real democracy in the region – they were sour-faced and ready to rumble. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told his cabinet to shut up about the Egyptian events, but they just couldn’tcontain themselves as the specter of democracy in the Arab world moved closer to realization: We are watching these events, said Netanyahu, with “vigilance and worry.” The worry is rooted, he said, in the possibility that “in a situation of chaos, an organized Islamist body can seize control of a country. It happened in Iran. It happened in other instances.” 
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/02/13/its-always-about-israel/
Jimmy Carter’s Gift of ‘Apartheid’, John V. Walsh
Eclipsed by the events in Egypt, news from its little neighbor has not gleaned much notice save for media angst that Egyptian democracy might not be as genial as was the Mubarak dictatorship to the relentless, long-term ethnic cleansing of an indigenous people, the Palestinians. But news there was as Israeli “human rights” lawyers went public with a libel suit against Jimmy Carter for his precise little book, Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid. The stunner to the Israelis lies in a single word in Carter’s title, “apartheid.”
http://original.antiwar.com/john-v-walsh/2011/02/13/jimmy-carters-gift-of-apartheid/ 
Hostages to Zionism, Mark Braverman
The popular uprising in Egypt that unseated President Hosni Mubarak, together with Al Jazeera’s January 23rd release of the “Palestine Papers,” have produced if not an earthquake, then certainly seismic rumblings in the ground supporting Israel’s control of the West Bank (from within) and Gaza (from without). The plight of the Palestinians is not what motivated Egyptians to take to the streets – yet the complicity of the Mubarak government with the siege of Gaza certainly stuck in the craw of the Egyptian people. Similarly, the Al Jazeera revelations that negotiators for the Palestinian Authority had effectively ceded East Jerusalem to Israel and relinquished the right of return for Palestinian refugees would have only reinforced Egyptians’ conviction that the promised Palestinian State has been a snare and a delusion perpetrated by the U.S.-Israel-Jordan-Egypt alliance.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/hostages-to-zionism.html 
Arab democratization and the future of ‘the only democracy’, Issa Khalaf
Such a pall of darkness had overtaken the Arab lands for so long that one thought Arabs existed in a permanent malaise, a condition of corruption and authoritarianism, their regimes maintaining a lock down on their subject populations and their mutual borders. It’s as if people slept, awoke, lived, and worked without hope, overtaken by the feeling that they could not even effect their own lives, much less something bigger. The Arab regimes’ lack of imagination in opening up to themselves and to other Arabs across the region, their inability to see that the future lies in economic, political, social cooperation and relations, is staggering, their parochialism, suspicion and fear for their power crippling their ability to respond meaningfully and effectively to the region’s multifaceted challenges.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/arab-democratization-and-the-future-of-the-only-democracy.html 
The Nature of American-Egyptian Military Relations, Ali Younes
It should come as no surprise that the ruling Egyptian Supreme Military Council announced its intent to honor all of Egypt’s regional and international treaties after it took over the reins of power from president Hosni Mubarak last week. This announcement was made to primarily assure the United States and Israel that the new post Mubarak political order in Cairo will remain formally committed to its peace treaty with Israel.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16646 
Obama Misses Chance in the Middle East, James Gundun – Washington, D.C.
This should have been his defining moment. The world’s stage, in fact, couldn’t have been scripted better. While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advised U.S.-supported dictators of a perfect storm, President Barack Obama was sailing straight into one of his own. The Middle East’s clouds had naturally parted for the transformative democracy that George Bush attempted to impose by force.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16648
Inside Story – Owning Egypt’s revolution
As the Egyptian army struggles to clear Tahrir Square of protestors, opposition groups are still trying to find a united voice. Cracks are already showing in the Youth movement – who say they are the rightful owners of the revolution. So can Egypt’s young people come together – or will they be swept aside, in the march towards change.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNNFnj-pNik&feature=youtube_gdata 
Mubarak’s propagnadist: Glenn Beck of the Mubarak regime
This is one of the worst most vulgar and crude propagandists of the Mubarak regime.  `Amru Adib is even responsible for doing the bid of the Mubarak regime in inciting against the Algerian people (during the concocted conflict, engineered by the two sons of Mubarak).  Here, he is defending Israel in the war on Gaza.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/mubaraks-propagnadist-glenn-beck-of.html
An Israeli thanks Mubarak during the war on Gaza
Notice how the anchor of Al-Arabiyyah TV (the news station of King Fahd’s brother-in-law) cut off the remarks of the Israeli woman when she thanked Egypt for the war on Gaza.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/israeli-thanks-mubarak-during-war-on.html
Winners and Losers in the Egyptian Uprising, Stephen M. Walt
When Zhou en-Lai was asked in the 1970s about the historical significance of the French Revolution, he famously responded that it was “too soon to tell.” Given that wise caution, it is undoubtedly foolhardy for me to try to pick the winners and losers of the upheaval whose ultimate implications remain uncertain. But at the risk of looking silly in a few days (or weeks or months or years), I’m going to ignore the obvious pitfalls and forge ahead. Here’s my current list of winners and losers, plus a third category: those for whom I have no idea. 
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/10/winners_and_losers_in_the_egyptian_uprising
Top 5 Effects of Egyptian Revolution, Juan Cole
5. Thousands of protesters marched Sunday on the presidential palace of Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Salih, who has ruled since 1978. The United States has increasingly forged a relationship with the Yemeni military aimed at destroying the alleged al-Qaeda operatives in that country.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/02/top-5-effects-of-egyptian-revolution.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Dangerous Victims: Egyptian Revolution in Israeli Eyes, Seraj Assi
The Arab World is suffering and in its suffering it threatens Israel. ‘Israeli citizens are frightened,’ said Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni in a moment of deep confession. In fact, what Livni was saying, to paraphrase Franz Fanon, is this: “Mama America, see the Arab! I’m frightened! Frightened! Frightened!”
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16651 
Robyn Creswell: on culture in Egypt
I linked to the informative article by Robyn Creswell in the New York Times’s Book section.  I challenged Robyn on the reference to the era of Nasser and the phrase that talked about the monopoly of culture (not to deny the attempt at monopoly but to maintain that the literary and artistic production under Nasser was far more rich than under Sadat or Mubarak).  Well, Robyn took up the challenge and replied with a most informative response (I cite with his permission):  “As a long-time admirer of your blog, I was very happy to see that you linked to my NYT article about Tahrir’s culture of revolution. You also posed a challenge, with regards to my remark about the Nasserist regime’s “virtual state monopoly on culture” (incidentally, that phrase is taken from Anwar Abdel-Malek’s “Egypt: Military Society,” a book that I think we both rate quite highly). The challenge was to name “one important literary book written during the Sadat era.” That’s easy. “Zayni Barakat” was published in 1974, and whatever you think about where Ghitani has gone from there–or whether it was opportunist of him to write an anti-Nasserist allegory during the early days of the Corrective Revolution–it’s clearly an important novel. I would say the same of Sonallah Ibrahim’s “Najmat Augustus” and “al-Lajna,” as well as Yusuf al-Qa’id’s “Yahduth fi Misr al-An” and Edward Kharrat’s “Rama wa-l-Tinnin.” But in fact I was not making any claims about how the state’s level of involvement in culture relates to aesthetic merit. I don’t think that’s a question that has easy answers–in the Middle East or anywhere else. Instead, I was trying to provide some historical context for the aggressively anti-official culture that we have seen in Tahrir over the past three weeks. From afar, the scene reminded me of a moulid–another popular festival that the regime, as well as the Ikhwan, have done their best to get rid of, the one because it fears crowds of all sorts, and the latter because they find it unorthodox. I suppose you thought I was being anti-Nasserist in my remarks about nationalizations, but that wasn’t my intent. We may even have a similar reading of the role Nasserism plays in this uprising–as I did my best to explain, very briefly, in this piece (which I wrote the day after the protests began):”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/robyn-creswell-on-culture-in-egypt.html
After the Revolution: Mubarak is Gone After 30 Years in Power, But Questions Remain as to How Transition Will Proceed
While the Egyptian military has agreed some of the protesters demands, the military has refused to lift the emergency law or to release the thousands of political prisoners jailed by the Mubarak regime. Democracy Now! Senior Producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Issandr El Amrani, blogger at Arabist.net, join us from Cairo. Barnard College Political Science Professor Mona El-Ghobashy joins us in our studio.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/14/after_the_revolution_mubarak_is_gone

“This Is A Dream Come True”: Egyptians Celebrate in Cairo After Mubarak Resigns
Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat was in the streets of Cairo as Egyptians erupted with joy after learning President Hosni Mubarak had stepped own following 18 days of street protests that began Jan. 25. In this video report, Kamat takes us to Cairo’s Tahrir Square where people are not only cleaning up the streets and but are also maintaining their rights to public political expression and involvement in Egypt’s uncertain future.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/14/this_is_a_dream_come_true

“There is a Pre-History to this Revolt”: As Egypt’s Military Bans Labor Strikes, Mona El-Ghobashy Examines How Egyptian Labor and Social Movements Laid the Foundation for Revolution
Just days after the Egyptian labor movement joined the popular uprising that ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the ruling military council has called on labor leaders to halt strikes and protests. “Egyptian politics didn’t begin Jan. 25,” says Barnard College Professor Mona El-Ghobashy, who has written extensively on politics and social movements in the Middle East and North Africa, “There is a pre-history to this revolt. For us to understand the significance of what is happening today, we have to link it to the fabric of the Egyptian politics starting in 2000.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/14/there_is_a_pre_history_to 
Listening Post – Reporting the Egyptian revolution
On this episode of Listening Post we look at the Egyptian revolution and the media’s crucial role in it. Plus, Haiti one year after the earthquake – the global media’a anniversary coverage and the local media’s struggles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wBC1tOTPOM&feature=youtube_gdata 
Egyptian activist Mona Seif: It’s a revolution, and it’s not over
11 February 2011 will forever be an historic day for Egypt. It was then that weeks of protests around the country finally forced Hosni Mubarak, the US-backed president of the country for the past 30 years, to leave office. On 12 February, EI’s Matthew Cassel spoke with blogger and activist Mona Seif about the revolution, how it began, and what it means for Egypt’s future.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11801.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Mohamed Heikal: ‘I was sure my country would explode. But the young are wiser than us’, Robert Fisk
The old man’s voice is scathing, his mind like a razor, that of a veteran fighter, writer, sage, perhaps the most important living witness and historian of modern Egypt, turning on the sins of the regime that tried to shut him up forever. “Mubarak betrayed the republican spirit – and then he wanted to continue through his son Gamal,” he says, finger pointed to heaven. “It was a project, not an idea; it was a plan. The last 10 years of the life of this country were wasted because of this question, because of the search for inheritance – as if Egypt was Syria, or Papa Doc and Baby Doc in Haiti.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mohamed-heikal-i-was-sure-my-country-would-explode-but-the-young-are-wiser-than-us-2215070.html 
The Architects of the Egyptian Uprising and the Challenges Ahead
On February 11, 2011, President Mubarak finally resigned, less than 24-hours after he refused the protestors demand “Go Mubarak Go!” that has been echoing across Egypt for the past two weeks.   The euphoria that swept the protestors gathered in Tahrir Square cannot be described in words: all those tuned into al-Jazeera (Arabic or English) around the world witnessed one of the most moving events of our lifetime as Egyptian demonstrators roared in victory over what they had achieved. The reverberations of this historic turn of events are being felt all over the region as Algerians  and Yemenis take defiantly to the streets chanting the same slogan that emanated from Egypt: “The People Want the Regime to Fall!” If the Tunisians inspired the Egyptians to rise and scream “Enough!”, then the Egyptians might go down in history for giving a new meaning to Maya Angelou’s prophetic cry at a time when no one expected it…
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/645/the-architects-of-the-egyptian-uprising-and-the-challenges-ahead- 
‘Hatred is nothing more than cowardice’ (groovin on Egypt with Cornel West), Philip Weiss
Below are some of Cornel West’s wonderfulfacebook posts on Egypt. The man got it. They begin January 25 and continue up through the toppling of Mubarak. (If you want to harsh the buzz a little, just compare them to liberal hawk Jeffrey Goldberg calling the revolution “a military coup” that will bring dangerous engagement of the Muslim Brotherhood, or David Frum, saying that the revolution was not representative of the people.)(This post was outlined by Ibn Tufayl).
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/hatred-is-nothing-more-than-cowardice-groovin-on-egypt-with-cornel-west.html
Hypocrites “Congratulate” The Egyptians: Too Late, Just Ikhras
The reaction of the Washington Arabs to the popular revolution in Egypt has served as a reminder of their hypocrisy and opportunism.  It’s well established that in order for the members of the self-styled “Arab Lobby” in Washington to continue functioning on the margins of the political establishment, and ensure the presence of a few US officials at their annual conventions or galas, they are required to adopt not only the official Washington discourse, but also the mindset and political culture as well.  This inherently racist political culture views the Arab world with contempt.  The Arab or Muslim is viewed as naive and unsophisticated.  Those who hold this view are willing to say anything no matter how outrageous, hypocritical, or contradictory it may be without regard for how such statements may be received or any respect for the ability of Arabs to evaluate the credibility or sincerity of those making the statements.
http://ikhras.com/2011/02/hypocrites-congratulate-the-egyptians-too-late-just-ikhras/ 
Wherever Egypt Goes Most Arab Nations Go, Hasan Afif El-Hasan
We are lucky to be alive to witness how the people of Egypt toppled the regime of a ruthless and corrupt tyrant who ruled them and squandered their country’s resources for decades. By reclaiming their country, the Egyptian youth made history. The Egyptians’ popular uprising that lasted eighteen days proved wrong the myth that the Egyptians tolerate their tyrant rulers as long as they provide protection and security. Because of its location, Egypt was invaded all too frequently and ruled by many foreign forces through the centuries but its society retained its strength. The first nation-state in history adorned with a sophisticated civilization appeared in the Nile Valley and the Egyptians have protected the borders of their country since the Early Bronze Age. During its recorded history that covers five millenniums, Egypt’s inhabitants have produced a way of life, so powerful and enduring that it lasted thousands of years and survived many interruptions including the last thirty years under Mubarak regime.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16650 
Lessons Learned in the Streets of Cairo, William A. Cook
‘Simple description of observable reality does nothing more than capture the ‘accidents’ that identify the particularity of something, not convey the greater universal truths, the ideal form, that lies hidden beneath the accidental appearance.” For fifteen days and counting, the people of the world have been watching in wonder and witnessing in fascination the Egyptian people flow through the streets of Cairo. As they streamed in and out of Tahrir Square we sensed the ebb and flow of the Egyptian people pulsing before us—vibrant, brilliant, eloquent—a symbolic force echoing the dreams and desires of humanity around the world. From our vantage points, witnessing this rare and powerful movement of human will on television screens in every land, we interpret the events to give meaning and purpose to their bravery, their commitment, their endurance, in the face of absolute force that has imprisoned them for thirty years in their own land.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16647 
Egypt’s revolution and Israel: “Bad for the Jews”
The view from Israel is that if they indeed succeed, the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions are very bad. They make the Israeli occupation and apartheid policies in Palestine look like the acts of a typical “Arab” regime. Ilan Pappe examines how the Israeli establishment sees regional events and argues that the Arab uprisings offer hope for reconciliation built on the Palestinian right of return and universal principles.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11803.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Malek: Egyptian revolution has ended 5 decades of defeatism, despair, scattering, Philip Weiss
Alia Malek is not the only one to bookend the Egyptian revolution to the 1967 war, but she does a better job (at Guernica) of explaining the shift than others we’ve read. The Nizar Qabbani poem she mentions we excerpted here last week. 
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/malek-egyptian-revolution-has-ended-5-decades-of-defeatism-despair-scattering.html

Egypt: First the government, next the arts?
With Hosni Mubarak’s repressive regime gone, filmmakers, musicians and others hope freedom of expression will thrive. Some already have crossed old boundaries. The largely peaceful revolution that ended Hosni Mubarak’s regime in Egypt also has the potential to reshape the repressive cultural climate in the country and perhaps elsewhere in the Arab world, according to filmmakers, musicians and other cultural figures who have been watching and participating in the uprising in Cairo.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/NR8w6GjcMrA/la-et-egypt-arts-20110214,0,2194985.story 
Cairo, One Day After Mubarak, CARL FINAMORE
I arrived at a nearly empty Cairo airport one day after President Hosni Mubarak resigned, an act deemed unthinkable only 18 days ago. Over one million tourists left Egypt in the last week according to the country’s press reports, so the hotels and streets were empty of visitors. I, myself, was eager to see how a people’s movement actually was able to forge such a powerful movement in such a short span of time. I was excited and exhilarated to be here.
http://www.counterpunch.com/finamore02142011.html 
Egypt’s Great Awakening, MOHAMMED BAMYEH
Al-Qahira, The City Victorious, February 11, 2011 –Never has a revolution that seemed so lacking in prospects gathered momentum so quickly and so unexpectedly. The Egyptian Revolution, starting on January 25, lacked leadership and possessed little organization; its defining events, on Friday, January 28, occurred on a day when all communication technologies, including all internet and phones, were barred; it took place in a large country known for sedate political life, a very long legacy of authoritarian continuity, and an enviable repressive apparatus consisting of more than 2 million members. But on that day, the regime of Hosni Mubarak, entrenched for 30 years and seemingly eternal, the only regime that the vast majority of the protesters had ever known, evaporated in one day.
http://www.counterpunch.com/bamyeh02142011.html 
Democracy and the US Dilemma in Egypt, NASEER ARURI
As millions of pro- democracy demonstrators barricaded themselves in Cairo’s Liberation Square for eighteen days before Hosni Mubarak finally succumbed to their demands and tendered his resignation, President Obama showered generous praise on the young Egyptians who made the unprecedented revolutionary change in Egypt possible. His speech welcoming Mubarak’s resignation put an end to a US policy which fluctuated between advocating Mubarak’s immediate departure, total restructuring of the regime, and a “smooth transition.” The Egyptian dictator is accused by his own people of corruption, profiteering, torture, and denial of basic human rights and civil liberties. As a sub contactor for the United States, and a principal ally of Israel, he incurred the wrath of millions of Arabs beyond Egypt, and the Egyptian uprising has already promised to generate a seismic regional shift and a possible disruption of the regional and global balance of power. Herein lay the Obama Administration’s meandering, giving US policy an incoherent character, if not a totally confused appearance. Now after hiding behind slogans such as gradualism, orderly succession, and the need to prevent chaos, US policy has come squarely on the side of the pro-democracy movement.
http://www.counterpunch.com/aruri02142011.html 
Arab women lead the charge for political change
“The Arab world is in revolt against dictatorships,” and from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, women have been leading the charge for political freedoms and reforms as Emad Mekay reports.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11802.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Bin Laden’s nightmare in Egypt, Shibley Telhami
The Mubarak Regime has collapsed and the voice of the people has been heard. The ramifications for Egypt and for the Middle East will be more powerful than the impact of Arab-Israeli wars. But even with the uncertainty about the future one thing is certain: We are witnessing Osama bin Laden’s nightmare. 
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49333.html 
US, the Arab Revolt and al-Qaida, M. Shahid Alam
On December 24 2004, I wrote an essay, “America and Islam,” for which I received much heat from Zionist and right-wing bloggers in the United States.  The article made the point that the leaders of al-Qaida believe that they have to carry their war to the home ground of the ‘far enemy’ – the United States, Israel and Western powers – in order to free the Muslim world from foreign domination. This anyone can verify from the numerous communiqués of al-Qaida.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/14/us-the-arab-revolt-and-al-qaida/
John L. Esposito: Does the New Dawn in Egypt Require a New Framework for U.S.-Middle East Relations?
The uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have revealed a broad-based, pro-democracy movement that is not driven by a single ideology or by religious extremists. What has occurred is not an attempt at an Islamist takeover, but a broad-based call.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-l-esposito/does-the-new-dawn-in-egyp_b_823087.html 
Magda Abu-Fadil: Egyptian Revolution Fallout Rattles Arab Media Cages
Fallout from Egypt rattled cages at the pan-Arab, Saudi-owned satellite channel Al Arabiya when presenter Hafez Al Mirazi threatened to quit if he was not allowed to discuss the revolution’s impact on Saudi Arabia.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/magda-abufadil/egyptian-revolution-fallo_b_822395.html 
Egypt’s media revolution | Salah Abdel Maqsoud
From day one TV and print journalists were at the heart of the protests, defying the lies of Mubarak’s loyal state media. The revolution that swept Egypt happened at such a rapid pace, it was difficult to keep up with. While the focal point was the huge crowd in Tahrir Square in Cairo, small revolutions were taking place in virtually every section of society. The business and financial district was rebelling, as were the medics and health carers, factory workers, teachers and lecturers and students. However, arguably one of the most significant was the revolution that was taking place, and continues today, throughout the media industry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/15/egypt-media-revolution-mubarak-lies
Ussama Makdisi: Egypt: Why Is The United States Afraid Of Arab Democracy?
Although they are a revolt against unpopular and illegitimate governments and the economic and political despair these governments have engendered, the mass protests are also a revolt against American foreign policy itself.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ussama-makdisi/egypt-arab-democracy_b_823188.html
Adel Iskandar: Egypt Defies All
The story of the Egyptian revolution is exceptional. This is a revolution that refuses to submit or conform to tradition and has resisted every kind of co-option or tarnishing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adel-iskandar/egypt-defies-all_b_822336.html
Ice queens of the Arab world
As protests hot up across the Middle East, the lavish lives of aloof Arab royal wives are in the spotlight
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/15/queens-arab-middle-east

 
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Saddam is captured –Baghdad Youth Movement claims

Feb 15, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

Baghdad, March 12, 2011:

According to a bulletin from the Baghdad Youth Movement, a squad of revolutionaries and Republican Guards captured Saddam Hussein this morning. The Iraqi president was discovered in a crude bunker at a farm outside his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq.

“He was caught like a rat in the bottom of a hole,” the Youth Movement declared. 

Saddam has been fugitive since fleeing his Baghdad palace on February 21, and the report today said that he is in ravaged health but is being treated by doctors and dentists. He will be brought to Abu Ghraib prison later today, and tried for human rights violations next year, a Youth Movement spokesman told reporters gathered at the movement’s headquarters at the National Museum of Iraq, where a human chain of volunteers continued to defend ancient treasures from looters.

Inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the youth movement surged through the streets of Baghdad in mid-February and overwhelmed the dictator, whose party has been in power for over 40 years. Saddam’s two sons were killed last week in a showdown outside Mosul, but Saddam slipped through the revolutionaries’ grasp.

The White House welcomed the news. “The world rejoices when a dictator falls,” President Feingold said in a short statement. Secretary of State Stephen Walt was traveling in Gaza but his spokesperson, Rebecca Vilkomerson, said the youth movement’s victory represents a vindication of the policies that Feingold supported when he first ran 7 years ago and again when he was reelected, support for civil society and human rights across the Middle East.

     

‘NYT’ beats a dead horse

Feb 15, 2011

Ilene Cohen

 

Bernard Avishai’s article in Sunday’s NY Times Magazine reviews the status of the negotiations between Abbas and Olmert in 2008. At the time Olmert was a lame duck under threat of indictment for corruption and running a government revving up to go to war with Gaza! (This is the same Olmert so seriously unserious about reaching an agreement that a year earlier he refused to discuss final-status issues in preparation for Annapolis or at Annapolis; Abbas should never have gone.) 
As for Avishai’s article, which is getting a lot of press, its first premise is wrong—that the state of the negotiations in 2008 was just about ready to roll. It wasn’t. Ariel and Maale Adumim settlements are not “minor” sticking points; Israel has no business in those places, but Olmert whined that he couldn’t get rid of the settlers, so, please, let him keep those big settlements in the heart of Palestine. And, again, Olmert was on his way out and couldn’t make any such deal, which he surely well knew; he was just playing, I’d say, perhaps to burnish his legacy with some positive content for the memoir he would inevitably write (and, yes, he’s written it; it was just published in Israel). 
Olmert comes from a long line of Israeli fakers. Indeed, doesn’t this one recall the Holy Barak Offer of 2000 at Camp David (you know, when Barak offered Arafat “everything” and Arafat repaid him by starting the intifada, as in “there is no Palestinian partner for peace”), a talking point that has since been thoroughly discredited? 
Second false premise, which Avishai pretty much leaves out of his article: that, by implication, an agreement is possible with the obstructionist Netanyahu and his government, though I think the word “Netanyahu” comes up only twice in the article. (There’s really nowhere to go with talk of “peace process” once you acknowledge the Netanyahu/Lieberman problem, so best to avoid it.)

Noam Sheizaf parses this out quite smartly at +972 and demurs with Avishai that there is any point in the US initiating another round of “peace process” at this time. Remember, too, that Israel will happily latch on to meaningless negotiations because they make it look as if Israel is engaged—at no cost. Why give them that and why do it to the Palestinians (again)?
So where ought we to go next?
Sheizaf asks and answers the question:

So, what should the US do? In my opinion, the answer is not much, at least for the time being. As recent events taught us, there are limits to the ability to shape the Middle East’s politics from the Oval Office. The US should take a step back, and most importantly, let Jerusalem face the consequences of the occupation by gradually lifting the diplomatic shield it provides Israel with. It should be done in a smart enough way not to hurt the administration politically, but the message needs to be clear: If Israel continues to hold on to the West Bank, it will become more and more isolated. With time, this message would resonate with policy makers and with the Jewish public.

Precisely. That would mean, for example, voting yes (okay, abstention would be good, too) on a Security Council resolution condemning the settlements as illegal—technically speaking, the resolution simply echoes official US policy. It does not “delegitimize” Israel, even if it does delegitimize the Greater Israel colonial project. And why would Israel then continue to become even more isolated than it is already—because the US is pulling it support (still a whopping hypothetical), because the story of Israeli colonialism is getting out, because the discourse is expanding in the media, because of BDS.

Lest anyone think that this is what Thomas Friedman has in mind when he says that the US should “walk away” because “both sides” are neither ready nor interested (the equivalence lie that pro-Israel people like to use), think again. Friedman has never given any indication that his notion of “walking away” has any consequences for Israel. Until Friedman talks explicitly about “lifting the diplomatic shield” or cutting aid, assume that he means, let the powerful party (Israel) continue to play at business as usual without any other US interference.

Those, like Avishai, Hendrik Hertzberg (in the New Yorker) and Jeffrey Goldberg, who are pushing for renewed “peace process,” are covering for Israel. If the game of “peace process” is being played, one can pretend that the Israelis are interested, even when they’re not. The answer should be, No dice; game over.

In the aftermath of Egypt, it will be something of a day of reckoning when the resolution on settlements comes before the Security Council. What better way to give the lie to the newfound US embrace of democracy and freedom than to veto it?

And, by contrast, what better way to turn the page at last on this sorry history of support for occupation and colonialism than to vote yes (or, at the least for starters, to abstain)?

Permit me a bit of license with friend Shakespeare (the Shylock speech about Jews):

Hath not a [Palestinian] eyes? hath not a [Palestinian] hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal’d by the same means, warm’d and cool’d by the same winter and summer, as a [Jew] is?

If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, do we not revenge? If we are like you in the
rest, we will resemble you in that.

Honestly, if not now already, then when?

     

State Department tries to defend singling out Iran

Feb 15, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

As Dylan said, Even the lobby sometimes must have to stand naked. From the briefing yesterday by PJ Crowley, assistant secretary of State. Notice the reporters aren’t buying the double standard:

MR. CROWLEY: Well, that – what has guided us throughout the last three months and guides us in terms of how we focus on Iran is the core principles – the Secretary mentioned them again today – of restraint from violence, respect for universal rights, and political and social reform. There is a – it is hypocrisy that Iran says one thing in the context of Egypt but refuses to put its own words into action in its own country.

QUESTION: How about other countries – Bahrain, Yemen, or Algeria, or Jordan? Why you are not talking about those countries and you are condemning what is happening in Iran?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, actually, in the other countries there is greater respect for the rights of the citizens. I mean, we are watching developments in other countries, including Yemen, including Algeria, including Bahrain. And our advice is the same. As the Secretary made clear in her Doha speech, there’s a significant need for political, social, and economic reform across the region, and we encourage governments to respect their citizen’s right to protest peacefully, respect their right to freedom of expression and assembly, and hope that there will be an ongoing engagement, a dialogue between people in governments, and they can work together on the necessary forms. Now, those reforms will not be identical. They’ll be different country by country. But clearly, the people in the region, emboldened by what’s happened in Tunisia and Egypt and well connected through social media, are gathering together, standing up, and demanding more of their governments.
     

Liberal journalists who won’t talk about Palestine have a support group called MSM

Feb 15, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

Here’s an OK piece on Republican hypocrisy re Egypt in the Washington Post. But Gene Robinson, why don’t you ever talk about Palestine?

The GOP loves freedom, but not for Egypt

By Eugene Robinson

Why don’t conservatives love freedom?

The piece doesn’t mention conservative politicians’ concern for how Egypt will affect Israel– perhaps because it’s the same talking point for liberal politicians.
     

Peretz says he was misquoted…

Feb 15, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

Marty Peretz says he was misquoted by an Israeli journalist, quotes we picked up the other day in translation. Ben Smith runs interference for him at Politico. “I have only pidgin Hebrew, which is the only English the reporter who interviewed me possessed,” Peretz told Smith. My source Ofer is unconvinced. “What does he think, that a reporter for Calcalist doesn’t speak English? Does he think this is Israel circa 1962?” That’s funny. You can read Peretz’s sanitized version of the interview at the first link above.

Peretz goes on to attack me and say he hasn’t talked to me in more than 40 years. I didn’t know Peretz when I was 10.

Here’s the thing: I respected the heck out of Marty Peretz all through college and the years after. I really looked up to him. He had charisma, as we say in Yiddish. He was kind to me, he helped my career, he offered to get me into an investment fund for young journalists, at times he was a mentor figure. We last talked as friends around the Bush-Gore battle of 2000.

Our difference is not personal; it is over Jewish identity: Do Jews integrate in western societies, or are Jews nationalists? I am an integrator, always have been, because things have worked out very well for Jews in the U.S. and I defer to that experience. He has been a nationalist forever, and as he says at that interview, blocked non-nationalists from writing for The New Republic in his role as a pillar of the Israel lobby. I didn’t come out on my views then– was afraid to say a word about Israel, till Peretz’s colleagues helped to bring us the Iraq war, I believe partly for Jewish nationalist reasons (Beinart, Lawrence Kaplan).

These are serious issues. They are rooted deeply in Jewish history and will work themselves out over the next century. I believe that I am on the right side of history, as Egypt shows; and that Peretz is on the wrong side of history, as his Islamophobic flailings show. He and I should talk this out as adults, and we should do it on the Yivo stage. Yivo and the Center for Jewish History, which this month feature endless exhibits on anti-semitism and the destruction of Jewish businesses in Germany decades ago and the “miracle” of Israel’s birth with American Jewish support: Yivo and the Center for Jewish History are as afraid of this conversation as Peretz is, because they know in their hearts what Jewish nationalism has done: It has inscribed the Jewish experience of persecution on the Palestinian body, yes like the murderous device in Kafka’s the Trial.

Young Jews deserve nothing less than to have a full hearing of what integrationism, nationalism, occupation and anti-semitism mean in this era.
     

Elite flavor of Egyptian revolution allows it to cross our borders

Feb 15, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

[Photo from Tahrir, Feb. 10, by Christina Rizk]

The miraculous Egyptian revolution is popular in the American establishment partly because of its elite flavor. It has been characterized in our media by facebook pages and twitter feeds and google executives– as Chris Matthews says, These are people like us.

No doubt the elite were a real and prominent feature of the revolution; and being a privileged internet worker myself I am thrilled by the idea that an intellectually-empowered Egyptian group can overturn their society in 18 days, demonstrating a boldness that generations before these young people had feared to attempt. The internet has transformed the landscape of power like nuclear weapons. It is the civilizational miracle of our age; for it allowed the young to visualize a different future for their society, and then believe themselves.

The Egyptian revolutionaries talk about exporting their revolution to other Arab countries and Iran, but I am excited to see it coming here. The other day Wolf Blitzer made a point of spelling out Mona Eltahawy’s name for his viewers so that they could go to her twitter feed. I found that moving. I find Brian Lehrer’s extension of spirit to Arab voices on WNYC moving. I’m moved to see Jim Lehrer on the PBS News Hour defer in judgment to a panel of Tarek Masoud, Hisham Melhem and Rami Khouri; and last night “All Things Considered” interviewed civil-engineer/revolutionary Ahmed Maher, 30, in a reverential way.

The Arab genius is now alive in our political discourse.

The racism that has dominated our political culture on this issue is starting to dissolve. We are beginning to see Arabs as individuals, with deeply varying political ideas– people ensnared as we are by questions of tradition vs progress, religion vs New Age synthesis, tribe vs universe. (And Alia Malek, who writes about this stuff, will be at Alwan for the Arts tonight.)

I would insist that western media helped the revolutionaries (and western freedoms inspired them), but the revolution wasn’t our idea. Put 1000 American experts in a room a month ago and none of them would have imagined this. The miracle was built on the Nile, like the pyramids, and now it is the model for all the world of how the internet can transform human imagination, and transform our definition of community (Matthews: They’re like us), and blur national borders. Wael Ghonim’s idea that this is Revolution 2.0 and, as he said on 60 Minutes Sunday night, that dictators should “freak out,” shows that in the globalized internet age, our elites are internationalized and revolution can be downloaded and installed peaceably. (The czars and French nobles didn’t just “freak out.” They got their heads cut off, the streets ran with blood.) The big winners of the Egyptian revolution so far, it seems to me, are white collar workers who will have better opportunities as the corrupt regime is taken apart. Though yes, I sure hope workers are empowered.

This miracle will come to the Jewish community and break down Jewish racism toward Arabs. Wolf Blitzer is an old Zionist. He worked at AIPAC once. But he has been open to this incredible Arab moment, and I think many other Establishment Jews will be.

The Israel lobby always depended on racism: Jews were inculcated with fearful ideas of Arabs that reflected the Polish/Russian field of anti-Semitism. Thus Robert Kaplan derided Arabists as crusty elitists and extolled Israel as a crowning liberal ideal of western culture in this book. Thus Erica Jong titled a chapter “Arabs and Other Animals” in this one. Just last week a family member quizzed me about Arabs stoning adulterers. But the hero worship of Wael Ghonim and the other privileged revolutionaries will restore Arab prestige.

So much of the crisis of Palestine involved privilege and cultural arrogance– Herzl saw only filthy beggars in Palestine, and the most salient fact of the political economy Zionism erected there is that one group has most of the money and water and land and rights and status while the other group is getting slaughtered. If you drive from Gaza to Tel Aviv, 40 miles, you pass from a place where the water is unhealthy and the garbage is burning in the streets to a place where they have green lawns, good water, and the best restaurants. The apartheid walls serve economic unfairness.

The beautiful stealth of the Egyptian revolution is that by playing into American and Jewish ideas of privilege, it will work its way into western hearts and minds in a way that Palestinian nationalism was not able to. The revolution shows our establishment that Arabs are as inventive as anyone on the planet (and oppressed Arabs are more politically creative) and can be trusted with military might. Joseph Nye, an old realist whom I surely would have differed with in Cold War days, sees a revolution for the idea of soft power:

The old view of polar extremes has been overtaken by the spread of information that has helped create and empower a new middle ground in Egypt and elsewhere. There are more options now, some good and some bad, but it is clear that a smart foreign policy in an information age will need a more sophisticated understanding of power.

This revolution will do more to smash the neoconservative ideological order of our Establishment than any number of other public events–the Iraq disaster, the Obama campaign with its fake antiwar agenda, Walt and Mearsheimer’s book, the Gaza slaughter, the Goldstone report, the Mavi Marmara attack. 

And it will come to the American Jewish mind. American Jews will be asked to imagine a different future for the Middle East and overcome in one step the fears that imprisoned the generations before them; they will be asked to believe in democracy. That revolution will take more than 18 days, but it’s coming.