THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Bahrain's Crackdown Wins Neighbors' Support >>> Joe Parkinson and Sam Dagher | Friday, February 18, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Killing of demonstrators in Bahrain and violence in Libya threaten an escalation of regional unrest
Arab capitals are expecting further violent clashes after the killing of three demonstrators in the Gulf state of Bahrain, and the reported death of 15 people in violence in Libya, threatened an escalation of regional unrest in the wake of the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
Fresh protests are expected on Friday after Friday prayers in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, in Cairo (in celebration of Hosni Mubarak's departure a week ago), and in Sana'a, capital of the Yemen, and perhaps elsewhere. >>> Martin Chulov in Manama and Ian Black, Middle East editor | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: The country is ripe for revolt, though it would mean ousting the armyAs Hosni Mubarak reluctantly retired last Friday night, another revolt was reaching its climax in Pakistan. For four days the workers of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national carrier, had been on strike. Some 25,000 passengers were stranded, including me.
I was stuck in Quetta, a tense, paranoid city near the Afghan border where the security forces are engaged in a ruthless cat-and-mouse game with nationalist rebels; it is also a supposed refuge for the one-eyed Taliban leader Mullah Omar. As the skies emptied of planes, guests from my hotel fled Quetta by car, crossing the sprawling deserts, or chancing the rickety 22-hour train ride to Karachi. I stayed put.
On TV the picture flipped from ecstatic crowds surging through Tahrir Square in Cairo, to Pakistani riot police baton-charging PIA workers at Karachi airport. The strike was over planned reforms. PIA is a bloated, sick elephant. It has 400 employees per aircraft – about three times the norm – and last year it asked the government to pay $1.7bn (£1.06bn) in debt. But the unions objected to plans to rationalise the workforce, and demanded that managing director Aijaz Haroon resign. And so on Friday night, under immense pressure, he went, resigning at the same time as Mubarak fell in Egypt.
As the screen filled with ecstatic revolutionaries surging through Tahrir Square, a note of envy sounded among Pakistanis on Twitter. Could the glorious revolution spread to their country? "I wish, wish, wish Pakistan could be next," wrote the author Fatima Bhutto. Read on and comment >>> Declan Walsh | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bahrain's western allies reacted furiously on Thursday night to the Gulf kingdom's use of force to clear sleeping protesters off a square in the capital Manama, killing at least three protesters.
William Hague, the foreign secretary, told the House of Commons: "We are greatly concerned about the deaths that have occurred." The government said it was reviewing export licences for Bahrain in light of the fact that recent ones covered the sale of tear gas canisters and other riot control equipment.
"We closely consider allegations of human rights abuses," said the foreign minister responsible for the Middle East, Alistair Burt. "We will not authorise any exports which, we assess, might provoke or prolong regional or internal conflicts, (or) which might be used to facilitate internal repression."
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, called the Bahraini foreign minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa to express Washington's "deep concern about the action of the security forces" and urged that funerals coinciding with Friday prayers today were not marred by further violence. Bahrain's deadly crack down condemned by West >>> Adrian Blomfield, Manama and Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Bahrain uses UK-supplied weapons in protest crackdown: MoD to review arms export licences after Bahrain clears protesters with UK-made crowd-controls weapons such as teargas and stun grenades >>> Peter Beaumont and Robert Booth | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: WikiLeaks: US wanted 'derogatory' information on Bahrain king's sons: The US State Department secretly asked its diplomats in Bahrain to report any "derogatory" information about two of the King's sons and evidence of "rivalry" with senior members of the ruling royal family, leaked documents show. >>> Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A German university on Thursday gave the country's defense minister two weeks to respond to allegations that he plagiarised part of his doctoral thesis.Bayreuth University, which accepted his thesis in 2007, said it notified Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg of the deadline in a letter, German news agency DAPD reported.
Mr Guttenberg was out of the country on Thursday on a previously unannounced visit to German troops in Afghanistan. Polls regularly rate him Germany's most popular politician, and the plagiarism row has prompted opposition figures to cast doubt on his political future. >>> | Thursday, February 17, 2011
Related >>>
Thursday, February 17, 2011
KY POST: The Ban Is Off >>> | Thursday, February 17, 2011
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Proteste in Libyen weiten sich aus: In Libyen weiten sich die Proteste gegen Staatschef Muammar al-Gaddafi auf weitere Teile des Landes aus. In Bengasi und Tripolis formierten sich aber auch zwei Demonstrationszüge von Gaddafi-Anhängern. >>> | Donnerstag, 17. Februar 2011
LE FIGARO: La diplomatie américaine ajoute à ses missions la défense des droits «de parole, d'assemblée et d'association en ligne».
À Washington
Surfant sur le rôle clé de Facebook et Twitter dans le déclenchement des révolutions populaires qui ont eu raison des dictateurs d'Égypte et de Tunisie, Washington se pose à nouveau en tombeur des «murs virtuels» qui s'érigent sur Internet. Dans un discours prononcé mardi à l'Université George-Washington dans la capitale fédérale, face à un public d'étudiants et de têtes pensantes du «cybermonde», Hillary Clinton a retrouvé les accents reaganiens déjà employés il y a un an pour affirmer l'engagement vigoureux de l'Amérique à défendre la liberté de la Toile, «cet espace public du XXIe siècle», à la fois «agora, salle de classe, salle de marchés, café et boîte de nuit», qui rassemble 2 milliards d'utilisateurs.
Pour la secrétaire d'État américaine, «la défense des libertés de parole, d'assemblée et d'association en ligne» doit devenir un élément clé de la politique étrangère des États-Unis. Ce plaidoyer s'inscrit dans le sillage de la philosophie américaine depuis les origines, pariant sur l'ouverture comme force de progrès. Même si l'Amérique est consciente qu'il faut engager «une conversation sérieuse sur les règles» permettant d'assurer ce principe de liberté, «les bénéfices» de la libre utilisation d'Internet sont «bien supérieurs aux coûts», a lancé Hillary Clinton à la face des gouvernements qui, de la Chine à la Russie en passant par la Syrie, Cuba ou la Birmanie, invoquent «la sécurité» pour organiser «la répression» en ligne. Avis aux régimes autoritaires: l'Amérique se range du côté des internautes. >>> Par Laure Mandeville | Jeudi 17 Février 2011
DIE PRESSE: Die Polizei löst eine Demonstration auf dem zentralen Perlen-Platz in Manama mit Gewalt auf. Die schiitische Opposition will aus Protest das Parlament verlassen.
Im Golfstaat Bahrain hat die Polizei Proteste gegen das Regime gewaltsam niedergeschlagen. In der Nacht auf Donnerstag räumten Sondereinheiten den Lulu-Platz in der Hauptstadt Manama, während hunderte Demonstranten in Zelten schliefen.
Nach Angaben von Augenzeugen schoss die Polizei mit Splitterkugeln, Gummigeschoßen und Tränengasgranaten in die Menge. Mindestens vier Menschen wurden getötet und etwa 95 verletzt. 60 Personen werden nach Angaben eines Oppositionsvertreters noch vermisst.
Die schiitische Opposition kündigte an, das Parlament aus Protest gegen die Unterdrückung der Demonstrationen zu verlassen. Der Wifak-Oppositionsblock werde sich geschlossen aus der Volksvertretung zurückziehen, sagte der Abgeordnete Ali al Aswad am Donnerstag. Der Fraktion gehören 18 der insgesamt 40 Abgeordneten an. >>> APA | Donnerstag, 17. Februar 2011
DIE PRESSE: Aufstand in der islamischen Welt: Die Unruheherde auf einen Blick >>>
DIE PRESSE: Eine arabische Internetzeitung spricht von einem möglichen Aufenthalt des gestürzten Präsidenten im Rudolfinerhaus. Aus saudi-arabischen Kreisen hieß es hingegegen, Mubarak bereite sich auf seinen Tod vor.
Die Gerüchte um den gestürzten ägyptischen Ex-Präsidenten Hosni Mubarak und seinen schlechten Gesundheitszustand erreichen nun auch Österreich: Der "Kurier" zitierte in seiner Donnerstagausgabe die arabische Internet-Zeitung "Youm7", wonach der 82-jährige in das Wiener Rudolfinerhaus, einem Privatspital mit gutem Ruf im Mittleren Osten, einziehen könnte. Mubarak leide unter "starker Erschöpfung und Bluthochdruck" und sei vor allem in psychisch schlechtem Zustand. >>> APA/Red. | Donnerstag, 17. Februar 2011
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: MOSCOW—Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said he is "ashamed" with the way Russia is run today and warned the Kremlin could face an Egypt-style uprising.Nearly two decades after his reforms led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mr. Gorbachev denounced Russia's "ruling class" as "rich and dissolute," in an interview published Wednesday in Novaya Gazeta, the opposition newspaper of which he is part-owner. "I'm ashamed for us and for the country," he said.
He lambasted the Kremlin for eroding the free media and elections that he introduced in the 1980s, and warned that its grip on power could be threatened.
"If things continue the way they are, I think the probability of the Egyptian scenario will grow," he said in a separate radio interview released Tuesday, referring to the popular rebellion that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak last week. "Here it could end even more staggeringly," he said.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Tuesday, warned the West against supporting the popular uprisings in the Middle East in what some analysts saw as a sign of the Kremlin's concern.
At present, public support for the Kremlin appears strong. Opposition parties, many of which have been banned by authorities, are small and weak. Police regularly disperse antigovernment demonstrations.
Mr. Gorbachev, who gets limited attention in the state media in Russia, has been speaking publicly in recent weeks ahead of his 80th birthday on March 2.
Still reviled by many Russians for bringing about the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mr. Gorbachev is probably more popular in the West, where he is credited with bringing an end to Soviet totalitarianism and the Cold War. Read on and comment >>> Gregory L. White | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Related >>>
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Armoured vehicles seen on the streets of Manama after police storm protest site in roundabout, killing at least six
The Bahrain capital of Manama was rocked by sporadic clashes, hours after riot police attacked a makeshift encampment of pro-reform protesters in the centre of the city, killing at least six and injuring dozens of others.
An Al Jazeera correspondent, who cannot be named for security reasons, said on Thursday that "clashes were no longer limited to one place...they are now spread out in different parts of the city". He said that the hospitals are full of injured people after last night's police raid on the pro-reform demonstrators.
"Some of them are severely injured with gunshots. Patients include doctors and emergency personnel who were overrun by the police while trying to attend to the wounded."
Another Al Jazeera online producer said that booms could be heard from different parts of the city, suggesting that "tear-gas is being used to disperse the protesters in several neighbourhoods".
Latest reports, however, indicated that a tense calm had descended on the capital with troops patroling the streets. There were also reports of dozens of armoured vehicles moving towards the Pearl Roundabout, the protest site that was raided by the riot police.
Heavily-armed police stormed the traffic circle while the protesters camping overnight were asleep.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Salmaniya hospital, the main medical facility in Manama, Maryama Alkawaka of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said that she saw dozens of injured demonstrators being wheeled into emergency rooms early on Thursday morning. Nazea Saeed, a journalist with Radio Monte Carlo, said hundreds of people had gathered at the hospital.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from the scene, she said the crowd is chanting: "Down with Al-Khalifa", in reference to the country's ruling family.
"People are also chanting that the blood of the victims will not be in vain," she added. >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Libyan protesters seeking to oust longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi defied a crackdown and took to the streets in four cities Thursday on what activists have dubbed a "day of rage," amid reports that at least 14 demonstrators have been killed in clashes with pro-government groups.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Libyan internal security forces also have arrested at least 14 people. Hundreds of pro-government demonstrators also rallied in the capital, Tripoli, blocking traffic in some areas, witnesses said.
An opposition website and an anti-Gadhafi activist said unrest broke out during marches in four Libyan cities Thursday. Organizers were using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to call for nationwide demonstrations.
"Today the Libyans broke the barrier or fear, it is a new dawn," said Faiz Jibril, an opposition leader in exile.
Opposition website Libya Al-Youm said four protesters were slain by snipers from the Internal Security Forces in the eastern city of Beyida, which had protests Wednesday and Thursday. It's not clear when the protesters were killed. The website also said there was a demonstration Thursday in Benghazi, Libya's second-Largest [sic] city.
Switzerland-based Libyan activist Fathi al-Warfali said 11 protesters were killed in Beyida on Wednesday night, and scores were wounded. He said the government dispatched Army commandos to quell the uprising. >>> Salah Nasrawi | AP foreign | Thursday, February 17, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Berichte über Tote bei Protesten in Libyen: Bei Zusammenstößen zwischen Gaddafi-Gegnern und der Polizei sollen bislang sieben Menschen getötet worden sein. Die Proteste konzentrierten sich bislang auf die Städte im Nordosten Libyens. Oppositionelle haben zu einem „Tag des Zorns“ aufgerufen. >>> dpa | Donnerstag, 17. Februar 2011
RADAR ONLINE: Steve Jobs - who is on another medical leave of absence from Apple, the company he co-founded and manages as its longtime CEO - is receiving treatment at a cancer clinic where Hollywood star Patrick Swayze was a patient in his final days.
RadarOnline.com has confirmed Jobs, 55, has been attending the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto, California, where Swayze sought radical chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer before his death in September, 2009.
The skeletal-looking Apple boss was photographed outside the clinic in images set to be published in the next edition of The National Enquirer. >>> | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
LE POINT: L'ex-président tunisien est réfugié en Arabie saoudite après avoir fui son pays à la mi-janvier.
L'ex-président tunisien Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali a été victime d'une attaque cérébrale, selon des sources militaires et gouvernementales tunisiennes interrogées par Le Point.fr. L'information avait été révélée sur le blog de Nicolas Beau, journaliste spécialiste de la Tunisie et auteur, avec Catherine Graciet, d'une biographie de l'épouse de Ben Ali, Leïla Trabelsi. >>> Par Aziz Zemouri | Jeudi 17 Février 2011
Le blog tunisien de Nicolas Beau : Un blog dédié à la Tunisie et au monde arabe, ainsi qu'aux filouteries des bandits qui nous gouvernent. >>>
NEWS.COM.AU: DEPOSED Tunisian leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali suffered a stroke a month after fleeing the country and was in a "worrying" condition in a Saudi hospital, French media have reported.
Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 in the wake of a popular uprising against his decades-long rule, suffered a stroke earlier this week, Le Monde reported, citing the blog of French journalist Nicolas Beau, a veteran reporter specialisng in Tunisia.
Ben Ali was rushed to the hospital in Jeddah reserved for Saudi princes and was admitted under a false identity, the newspaper reported. >>> NewsCore | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in a coma: Former Tunisian leader in hospital in Saudi Arabia after suffering a stroke two days ago, according to French agencies >>> Angelique Chrisafis | Thursday, February 17, 2011
LE FIGARO: Ben Ali serait dans le coma, selon un proche de sa famille : D'autres sources non-officielles évoquaient déjà son hospitalisation en Arabie saoudite après une attaque cérébrale. L'opposant Marzouki craint une manipulation. >>> Par Tristan Vey | Jeudi 17 Février 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The exiled heir to the Iranian throne has called on the West to seize an opportunity to assist pro-democracy protests calling for the overthrow of the Islamic regime.
Violence erupted in Tehran on Wednesday as a group of pro-regime militia attacked mourners at the funeral of a man killed in protests on Monday. The demonstrations, reportedly inspired by the mass revolt that overthrew the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, were the first serious challenge to the Islamic regime since the opposition was brutally crushed in 2009.
Also the defeated presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who had spearheaded the 2009 street protests vowed to defy government moves to “hang them” for fermenting unrest.
Sane’e Zhale was killed in a “day of rage” protest on Monday, the regime said it would mobilise its supporters to crush future dissent.
Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran, said Iran’s youth were determined to get rid of an authoritarian government tainted by corruption and misrule in the hope of installing a democracy.
“Fundamental and necessary change is long overdue for our region and we have a whole generation of young Egyptian and Iranians not willing to take no for an answer,” the American-based campaigner for Iranian democracy told the Daily Telegraph. “Democratisation is now an imperative that cannot be denied. It is only a matter of time before the whole region can transform itself.
“But when people are facing a brutal regime it is much more difficult without the help of the free world. The movement could fall back and if people are abandoned it really will be a very ugly development.” Mass protests paralysed Iran in the wake of the June 2009 presidential elections but a vicious response from state-backed militias in which dozens were killed and thousands arrested crushed the opposition movement.
The Prince is now using his base in Washington to ensure that Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State and President Barack Obama do not “fluff” a second opportunity to align America with the freedom-seeking youths on Iran’s streets. >>> Damien McElroy, and Ahmad Vahdat | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya is to be hit by a "Day of Anger" on Thursday as protests mount against the rule of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the latest leader to be engulfed by a wave of unrest spreading across the Middle East.Security forces in Libya's second city, Benghazi, were confirmed to have clashed with protesters who staged a sit-in to highlight the arrest of a lawyer. One hospital said 38 people were injured, none seriously.
The lawyer, Fethi Tarbel, represented some of the families of inmates killed in a notorious prison massacre in which more than 1,000 men died 15 years ago.
But the protest came shortly before a demonstration already announced on Facebook to commemorate the fifth anniversary of another incident, when 14 people were killed in a rally by Islamists, also in Benghazi.
According to one page, the day has been named "The February 17 Intifada: A Day of Strikes in Libya". According to another, it is a "Day of Anger" akin to ones which have already convulsed Egypt and Bahrain.
It is being publicised inside and outside the country, including by an internet rapper known as Ibn Thabit, whose YouTube video calls for an end to the "ignorant colonel". >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Four decades of Gaddafi >>>
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch, has declared his assets for the first time in more than a decade, disclosing that he has 16 properties, seven cars, 22 bank accounts, six companies, and one football club.The 44-year-old businessman and owner of Chelsea Football Club made the declaration as part of a campaign to run for re-election as a local MP in Chukotka, a remote region in Russia's far east which he used to run on the Kremlin's behalf.
The disclosure is part of President Dmitry Medvedev's anti-corruption drive as he pushes all politicians to declare their assets.
Mr Abramovich's declaration listed seven properties in Britain, two in the United States, three in France, and four in Russia.
They are known to include two houses in Lowndes Square, Belgravia, which are together estimated to be worth up to £150 million; a house in the South of France once used by Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson which he is thought to have spent £30 million; his main Moscow residence, two properties in Aspen, Colorado together worth £30 million, and a luxurious residence in the Caribbean worth £56 million.
The publicity-shy tycoon also disclosed that he owned seven cars, mostly a mixture of high-end Mercedes and BMWs that would altogether cost an estimated £650,000 to buy new. >>> Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Thursday, February 17, 2011
Related >>>
REUTERS: Bahrain police stormed a Manama square on Thursday to clear activists camped out there as anti-government protests in the Middle East and North Africa, inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, gathered pace.Clashes were reported in tightly controlled oil producer Libya, sandwiched between Egypt and Tunisia, as people there prepared to take to the streets for a "day of rage" after new protests erupted in Yemen, Iran and Iraq.
The demonstrations against old rulers came after U.S. President Barack Obama commenting on the overthrow of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, said: "The world is changing ... If you are governing these countries, you've got to get ahead of the change, you can't be behind the curve.
Authoritarian governments have reason to fear contagion with young people able to watch pro-democracy uprisings on satellite television or the Internet and to communicate on social networks hard for secret police to control.
In Bahrain, police firing tear gas and rubber bullets cleared hundreds of people from the central Pearl Square in the early hours as they tried to end three days of protests. >>> Cynthia Johnston, Manama | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Riot police have stormed a protest camp in Bahrain's capital, killing at least three people, as the government tried to quell three days of protest.
Hundreds of security forces used batons, rubber bullets and tear gas on demonstrators who had been camped out in Pearl Square calling for political reform.
In the clashes that followed, an estimated 100 people were injured.
After the police had cleared the square in the capital Manama, 50 tanks were deployed to patrol the city's streets in a show of force by the authorities.
"Police are coming, they are shooting teargas at us," one protestor said amid the chaos. Another said: "I am wounded, I am bleeding. They are killing us."
Demonstrators had gathered in Pearl Square in the hope of emulating the protest in Cairo that led to the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. >>> | Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
REUTERS: Arab uprisings against unpopular Western-backed rulers have undercut the arguments of some Western intellectuals about passive populations who are not prepared to fight for democracy.
During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, neoconservative cheerleaders for war who had direct access to Western policymakers said force was the only way to take down Arab dictators. A minority of Arab intellectuals agreed with them.
Many writers, especially in the United States, suggested there were characteristics peculiar to the region that could explain why Arabs had not been touched by the democratic wave that toppled East European regimes two decades ago.
Often they cited Islam, or implied there was something wrong in the Arab psyche. Those who suggested more of a focus on U.S. policies and backing for unpopular regimes have had less access to mainstream media and policy makers.
Bernard Lewis, one of the intellectual giants of this trend, wrote in 2005 that "creating a democratic political and social order in Iraq or elsewhere in the region will not be easy," as if "creating" democracy required American tutelage.
The uprisings that removed Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14 and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak four weeks later have shown the people are capable of doing it themselves, even when up against huge odds. >>> Andrew Hammond, Cairo | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom >>> Mark Alexander | Friday, April 20, 2011
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Nach der Niederschlagung der Proteste gegen das Regime in Libyen stellt sich für Politologin Elham Manea eine Frage: Wie lange hält sich der libysche Staatschef Muammar al Gaddafi noch an der Macht? Mit Brutalität gegen Oppositionelle kann Gaddafi sein Ende nur noch hinauszögern.In der libyschen Bevölkerung brodle es schon lange: «Es fehlt den Menschen an einem ganzen Paket von Grundrechten und Demokratie», erklärte die Dozentin am Institut für Politikwissenschaft Zürich zu «tagesschau.sf.tv».
Öl-Geldsegen ist nicht für alle
Ausserdem gebe es eine grosse Zersplitterung in Libyen. Gewisse Regionen profitierten vom Öl-Reichtum des Landes, während dem in andern Teilen nichts von diesem Reichtum zu spüren sei.
In Bengasi, wo in der Nacht zum Mittwoch die Proteste ausgebrochen sind, spüre die Bevölkerung nichts vom Geldsegen aus dem Ölgeschäft. «Gaddafi und seine Elite sind dort verhasst.» >>> Franziska Engelhardt | Mittwoch, 16. Februar 2011
YNET NEWS: Op-ed: Obama in for rude awakening if he thinks groups like Muslim Brotherhood are moderateIn 2008, I had the opportunity to travel to Tunisia and meet with private citizens and public officials to discuss American foreign policy towards the Muslim world. It was fortuitous time to be in a Muslim country. It was during the height of the race for the US presidency and all three candidates, Obama, Clinton and McCain, were still in the running. The direction of where the next US president was on the minds of the local Tunisians as well.
The overwhelming majority of the individuals I spoke to all saw Obama as the best thing that could happen to US-Muslim relations. The locals identified him as the candidate who best understood the Muslim mindset. Furthermore, as far as the Middle East at large is concerned, Tunisia saw itself as a model for moderation and believed that they could export this model to the Middle East. This belief included Israeli-Palestinian relations where Tunisians believed they could play instrumental role in bringing peace.
This somewhat naïve sentiment was something I was willing to entertain, given Tunisian acceptance of its Jewish minority. The Jewish community of Djerba is today unique in a Muslim country. But it is key to stress here that when questioned about what Tunisia is doing to promote these aspects of “moderation,” it was assumed that the global community should “of course” know who and what they stand for. Moderation was defined by moderates, and the reverse. What it really meant in terms of attitudes or behaviors could not be quite specified.
History shows that Tunisian moderation has many sides. Recall for example that after Israel went into Lebanon in 1982, Arafat and his “kitchen cabinet” were evacuated from Beirut and with the help of the US were able to set up shop in Tunis. Sympathy for the PLO and Arafat were great, and in recent decades this has solidified in Tunisia. One of the major roads is named Yasser Arafat Boulevard. >>> Asaf Romirowsky | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
YNET NEWS: Group of 109 Jordanian scholars, clerics also want 'laws that fight all anti-Islamic acts'
Dozens of Muslim scholars are demanding the closure of nightclubs and discotheques in Jordan, saying such entertainment erodes the nation's morals.
Jordan's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has made such demands in the past. However, Wednesday's call was joined by dozens of independent clergymen, a sign that the idea is becoming more popular in Muslim circles.
The appeal is not binding for Jordan's pro-Western government which says nightclubs and discos are necessary to maintain a flow of foreign tourists, a key source of revenue.
"We demand the government close all nightclubs, which work under the pretext of promoting tourism," 109 clerics, among them a former cabinet minister, MPs, Islamist leaders, university professors and mosque preachers, said in the joint statement.
"We also demand the authorities combat prostitution and brothels, and introduce laws that fight all anti-Islamic and unethical acts which destroy our society," the statement said. >>> News agencies | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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