June 25, 2009 at 4:56 am by Yaser · Filed under Uncategorized
this is the whole body of an interview with me conducted by American Journlist Shane, based in Damascus which appeared in the New American Media website:
DAMASCUS — Images of bloody protesters and crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands in the streets of Tehran have been broadcast into living rooms across the Arab world for five consecutive days, enchanting and inspiring pro-democracy activists in a region where pushes for democratic reforms tend to be met with an iron fist.
Meanwhile, Arab regimes have largely remained silent over the contested election. Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan—the major Sunni powers in the region—haven’t mentioned the elections or allegations of fraud. In normal circumstances, this would be strange — these countries are the regional archenemies of President Ahmedinejad’s Iran.
Some say the reason behind their silence lies in their fear of bolstering pro-democracy movements in their own countries. “The unrest in Iran frightens dictators in the region because it makes it harder for them to justify their own absolute authority,” says Syrian blogger Yasir Sadiq. “If they see tyrannies come down around them, they’ll be afraid.”
Whether or not the Iranian elections were “stolen,” Iran is a long way ahead of most Arab countries when it comes to democracy — the country has a functioning electoral system. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Gulf states don’t hold elections, and in Egypt and Syria, “elections” are so tightly controlled that the results are always known in advance.
The state controlled media in authoritarian Arab countries have mostly downplayed the events in Iran. Government controlled newspapers like Al-Thawra in Syria, Iran’s strongest regional ally, have kept Iran off the front pages and run headlines like, “The West needs to stop intervening in Iranian elections,” using age-old claims of conspiracies to deflect attention from actual popular desire for democratic reform.
“Governments all over the Arab world accuse pro-democracy movements of serving the west, or of being tools of the CIA or Mosad (Israeli intelligence),” says Syrian freelance journalist Khaled Al-Khetyari. “They are just trying to manipulate people by using this language because the people in power don’t want their populations to analyze what is actually happening in Iran.”
The Obama administration has been relatively silent on the unrest in Iran. On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton said it was up to Iranians to “resolve this internal protest.”
Al-Khatyari says the U.S. administration’s measured distance is a strategy the U.S. should stick to. “The last American administration latched onto any internal opposition to regimes it didn’t like. This always hurts local movements because it connects them to a country that most people here see as harmful to the region and it justifies repression by our governments.”
Syrian blogger Yasir Sadiq says he is encouraged by the Iranian opposition’s seven-point manifesto being circulated on the internet, which calls for the “Dissolution of all organizations — both secret and public — designed for the oppression of the Iranian people.”
“It’s inspiring to see people in the Middle East call for the end of secret services,” Sadiq says. “Organizations like this have oppressed people in the Arab world so much.”
Sadiq is reticent to believe that what he calls Iran’s pro-democracy “intifada” could be exported to Arab countries any time soon. “It’s difficult to hope for this kind of movement in the Arab world. We have a long way to go, but we hope that eventually, something like that will happen here.”
For now, he says, Arab activists will attempt to learn what they can from their counterparts in Iran. For days, Sadiq has been pegged to Twitter, the social networking tool that has allowed Iranians to organize demonstrations while the Iranian government institutes a near blackout of internet services.
“Arab bloggers’ main interest in what is happening in Iran is in figuring out how Twitter can be used to organize and bring our voices forward in our own countries,” he says.
The government in Syria may eventually try to ban it, like they have with other networking sites like Facebook, but Sadiq says he is not deterred. “The more they ban, the more ways we will find to get around their restrictions.”
June 24, 2009 at 11:19 am by Yaeli · Filed under Uncategorized
Incoming:
Eyewitnesses reporting that three people have been shot in protests at Baharestan sq, including a 19 year old girl who was shot in the neck. Currently gunshots are being fired on Jomhoori street. Shops in the area around the square are all closed. The government shut down the metro today in order to try to prevent protesters from gathering, to no avail. The government also shut down the cellphone networks today to try to prevent images of the violence being transmitted. There are reports of police grabbing people and searching their cellphones for images and searching people for cameras.
Thousands of family members of protesters who have been arrested and not seen since over the last few days are holding a protest of their own.
Twitterfriend just reported that helicopters are everywhere as is smoke and fires.
Another eyewitness on twitter just reported that the clashes on Jomhoori street are intensifying and that there are many injured.
Update:
Al Arabyia news has just reported that the young girl shot in the neck has died.
Reports of street fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now
The protests show no sign of stopping and indeed are intensifying day by day. Elinor for goodness sakes be careful.
June 17, 2009 at 4:41 pm by Yaeli · Filed under Uncategorized
Re-posted here at circulation request from Change_for_Iran:
Open Letter to all my Lebanese friends
June 16, 2009
Dear Lebanese friend
I am sure you have seen the awful images circulated on the news and internet, images captured by millions of Iranians and sent out to the world, so at least someone could hear their side of story as well. Images and video shots that are ignored by the government run TV!
I hope you have seen the massive demonstrations in Tehran, people risking their life to come out and demand their constitution right. The right to a fair and free elections.
These people you see in the videos protesting are my borders and sisters, my family , my classmates, my childhood friends, they were born, raised and studied in Iran under the Islamic Republic. They are tired of a government that is policing their thoughts and dictating an ideology. An ideology witch doesn’t even match Islam !
We have heard multiple reports from all over Iran indicating that some of the police force that are hitting and killing peaceful protectors and break peoples cars and personal properties speak arabic, and they don’t even know farsi!
Yesterday it was confirmed that Hezbolah has sent 5000 troops to help Ahmadi nejad take over power in Iran. This troops were sent before the results of election was out! It clearly shows that Hezbollah and Ahmadi Nejad planned to take over Iran with the back up of Khamanei!
My dear Lebanese friend , hitting and killing defenseless people is not humane and defiantly not Islamic. When we heard your Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s congradulation statment to Ahmadinejad , it felt like being stabbed from the back!
Ahmadi nejad has sure tried to mislead a large group of people with his way of talking, and I admit he is good at this, but please open your eyes and your hearts see for yourself. this traitor is calling the protesters nothing but “dirt and dust” and opens fire in to peaceful protesters. His shameless police force even attached dorm rooms in every city killing defenseless students, and the burning the place down.
I am asking you to please send letters to your government and pressure them to condemn Ahmadinejad actions in Iran. Please write to Hezbolla’s members of parliaments in Lebanon and ask them to call back the 5000 troops. Ahmadi nejad is a criminal , don’t participate in his crimes.
Please help circulate this letter. This is a call for peace and a call for freedom
June 14, 2009 at 3:44 am by Yaeli · Filed under Uncategorized
Since it became clear that the election results in Iran were rigged to keep Ahmadinejad in power, voters have been taking to the streets by the millions. The protests began in Vanak Square and have spread to cities and regions around the country. Young Iranians have posted thousands of videos taken with their cellphones on youtube and other websites showing the protests, demanding the world take action, and showing how the police are brutally and violently suppressing those who are protesting the falsified election:
. They posted on Facebook and in forums until the Iranian government blocked access to those sites and to video sites such as youtube.
One Iranian blogger published a letter addressed to the world’s leader and urged his friends to distribute it: “We, the undersigned, support the rallies of millions of our people whose votes have been forged for the candidate of the governing clerics.
“We ask you to refrain from greeting the president of these liars, who are now busy violently oppressing the protest of the people.”
Today, news has come out that moderate reformist leaders Mousavi, who actually won the election, and Karoubi have been arrested. Dozens of journalists have also been arrested in an attempt to suppress news getting out both within Iran to the rest of the world.
Suggested actions (indeed, a plea from an Iranian reader of our blog) is for us to support the citizens of Iran who have had their democratic rights brutally stripped and trampled on, their voices and some of their lives silenced: blog, tweet, spread the videos the young people have managed to upload, and make your voice heard in calls for justice and fairness and for international leaders around the world to respond appropriately and swiftly to this travesty.
Can you think of other things that can be done? Can you see any hope in this situation?
Update: You can find out the very latest via Twitter –the ONLY means of communication working for citizens in Iran now as they’ve shut down the land phone lines but people are using cellphones to Twitter info out — by checking out #IranElection
Check out Gary’s Choices for the best summation of events in Iran thus far. Here is a taste:
On the basis of what we know so far, here is the sequence of events starting on the afternoon of election day, Friday, June 12.
* Near closing time of the polls, mobile text messaging was turned off nationwide
* Security forces poured out into the streets in large numbers
* The Ministry of Interior (election headquarters) was surrounded by concrete barriers and armed men
* National television began broadcasting pre-recorded messages calling for everyone to unite behind the winner
* The Mousavi campaign was informed officially that they had won the election, which perhaps served to temporarily lull them into complacency
* But then the Ministry of Interior announced a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad
* Unlike previous elections, there was no breakdown of the vote by province, which would have provided a way of judging its credibility
* The voting patterns announced by the government were identical in all parts of the country, an impossibility (also see the comments of Juan Cole at the title link)
* Less than 24 hours later, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene`i publicly announced his congratulations to the winner, apparently confirming that the process was complete and irrevocable, contrary to constitutional requirements
* Shortly thereafter, all mobile phones, Facebook, and other social networks were blocked, as well as major foreign news sources.
June 9, 2009 at 2:18 pm by Yaser · Filed under Uncategorized
With the Lebanese elections out of the way , the picture is a little bit clearer, and the strategic options are waiting for another elections (that of Iran) to be set totally for the next four years for the Obama administration’s policy towards the Middle East .
Obama’s shown commitment to reinvigorate the peace process , and his interest in reaching out to the people of the region demonstrated by his high exposure speech in Cairo are signs that are in need of a set of goals and plans , for my part his rhetoric when it comes to his comments about pressuring Israel to stop expanding (building?) settlements simply don’t hold water , because I don’t perceive a major shift in strategic options and alliances .
It is all about the right foundation , a small idea when put to action in the appropriate and timely manner can have dramatic results , Obama’s win of the American elections is a big proof of that , the seed of moderation is a simple thing to plant if we have the courage to work within our reach to change things in our side of the fence , before asking others to offer concessions .
Obama has his work cut out for him in the region and broadly his starting point must be to recognize what each party has to contribute to the whole process, and it should be an inclusive rather than an exclusive one .
There has been little discussion on this site about the Obama administration’s policies , we are waiting to see the next step , but I think the waiting is over and the visits by different envoys should by now cleared the picture to a great extent , still the special envoy for the Middle East is destined to visit the region including a stop in Syria , it is in my view an indication and a chance that should be used to draw more parties to the table and concentrate on the real policy changes of the different parties and reciprocating the advancement which materialized by a smooth and fair elections in Lebanon with favorable results and stop using rhetoric as the only vehicle towards dealing with pressing issues.
June 8, 2009 at 4:59 am by Yaser · Filed under Uncategorized
the results of the parliamentary elections in Lebanon project a win for 14 March coalition ,which give them the opportunity to form a new government , for now all the parties are agreeing to respect the results and moving forward is in the hands of the new majority, I think this is a commendable achievement ,and the prospects are in favor of a revival of the drive to build a robust state , still a clear and decisive mandate to steer away from internal pickering and towards a functional government can be hampered by different factors .
that being said , there is something to be learned ,and that is in politics when you keep to your firm principles , things will turn out in your favor , I think that this is very important to note , parties that stick to their stances and maintain their positions , eventually things will start to move in their favor .
I want to elaborate further by relaying a message : that I think we have a common interest to deal with each other on a clear basis ,a foundation based on steadfast and robust position, it is possible and necessary to stop acting against each other and try to find a way to find a common ground based on our respective and well-defined positions .
June 7, 2009 at 4:32 pm by Yaeli · Filed under Uncategorized
I’m sitting here on tenterhooks waiting for the results of the election in Lebanon but not nearly so much as the folks in Lebanon must be feeling. Newspapers report that it was the biggest turnout of voters ever, even bigger than in 2005. Hezbollah has been predicted to win and win big and if that happens …whew, what is that going to mean for internal Lebanese politics and policy and even more for Lebanon’s external, international relations? Clearly the U.S. would not be best-pleased and Egypt is likely to do the big distancer given Nasrallah’s admission of sending undercover agent provocateurs into Egypt and possible involvement with the last bombing in Cairo. I don’t think relations with us would get much worse since Hezbollah has pretty much been running the show regarding relations (rather lack thereof) with Israel.
But if the big turnout means victory for Hariri’s party ..what will that mean? If it is a slim margin, it seems likely (to me at least) that things will continue in the same state of ordered chaos and stalemate that we’ve seen for more than a year. But maybe not? And if the election goes against Hezbollah in a big way, whew, what then?!
Probably we’ll know the results before anyone reads my post so…what happens now given that the voting breakdown is…….?!
United Nations special tribunal investigating the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has reached surprising new conclusions — and it is keeping them secret. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, investigators now believe Hezbollah was behind the Hariri murder.
The prime suspects in the murder have long been the powerful Syrian military and intelligence agency and their agents/supporters in Lebanon. However,
But now there are signs that the investigation has yielded new and explosive results. SPIEGEL has learned from sources close to the tribunal and verified by examining internal documents, that the Hariri case is about to take a sensational turn. Intensive investigations in Lebanon are all pointing to a new conclusion: that it was not the Syrians, but instead special forces of the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah (”Party of God”) that planned and executed the diabolical attack. Tribunal chief prosecutor Bellemare and his judges apparently want to hold back this information, of which they been aware for about a month. What are they afraid of?
What indeed?
It seems, from what Der Spiegel reports that a secretly operating special unit of the Lebanese security forces, headed by intelligence expert Captain Wissam Eid, filtered out the numbers of mobile phones that could be pinpointed to the area surrounding Hariri on the days leading up to the attack and on the date of the murder itself. 8 mobile phones in the area had all been bought on the very same day, at the same place, and all initiated on the same day. They were primarily used in interactions with those other “same day” phones over a six week period of time and, all but one, were never used again after the attack.
These, as well as a second circle of 20 suspiciously used phones in the area were all traced to the operational arm of Hizbollah. One of the terrorists made the mistake of calling his girlfriend on one of the phones and that led to the break in the case. He is believed to be Abd al-Majid Ghamlush, from the town of Rumin, a Hezbollah member who had completed a training course in Iran. Ghamlush was also identified as the buyer of the mobile phones. Der Spiegel reports, “He has since disappeared, and perhaps is no longer alive.”
The girlfriend-caller then led investigators to the guy they now suspect was the mastermind of the terrorist attack: Hajj Salim, the right-hand man of Nasrallah and head of Hezbollah’s Special Operational Unit.
What are going to be the ramifications of this revelation of evidence? Is it likely to affect the elections? What is the reaction in Lebanon likely to be? And why on earth is the UN commission sitting on this?
May 15, 2009 at 3:45 pm by Carmel · Filed under Israel
Hi everyone. I wanted to share with you this short video introducing Daniel Karpinski, a very young (25) Canadian violinist visiting Israel, and was taken by the cantorial prayer music of the various religions we got here. He speaks no Hebrew or Arabic but the various ethnic accents he performs were impressing and surprising. I wish we could jam and juggle between religions as Daniels’ violin does. Our troubled area would be much more fun if we took our religions more lightly. This video was taken at an improvised jam session in my house last week. Enjoy:
April 25, 2009 at 11:50 am by Yaeli · Filed under Uncategorized
In the last couple of weeks I’ve had four friends in Lebanon write to me apologizing for removing me from their list of Facebook friends or for removing the link to my (personal) blog from their blogroll. Each of them said that they were afraid to have anything visibly linking them to “people down south” because people are being arrested and people are disappearing in Lebanon on suspicions of their having ties to people on the other side of the border. This makes me worried for them. We’re still in contact via email and I don’t know if I should be worrying about that –how safe is email? If you are Lebanese and you post or comment here, your ip can’t be traced from your postings as you have the same protection from the anti-tracing software as do our Syrian, Saudi Arabian and so forth readers, commenters, and authors.
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