Saturday, January 2, 2016

THE IRANIAN POT IS CALLING THE SAUDI KETTLE BLACK!

Execution of religious minorities in Iran

Six Sunnis Executed in Iran

Group executions in Iran under the mullahs’ rule – File Photo


14 executions in one day



THE IRANIAN POT IS CALLING THE SAUDI KETTLE BLACK!

حديث الثورة -حصار وتجويع النظام لمدن ريف دمشق

متظاهرون يقتحمون السفارة السعودية في طهران ـ فيديو

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tehran1
طهران ـ أ ف ب: هاجم متظاهرون مساء السبت مبنى السفارة السعودية في طهران والقوا باتجاهه قنابل حارقة تعبيرا عن غضبهم اثر اعدام الرياض رجل الدين الشيعي السعودي الشيخ نمر باقر النمر، كما افادت وكالة انباء الطلبة الايرانية “ايسنا”.
وقالت الوكالة ان المتظاهرين رشقوا مبنى السفارة بالزجاجات الحارقة وتمكنوا من اقتحام السور ودخول حرم المقر قبل ان تخرجهم منه الشرطة.
وقالت الوكالة ان “السنة اللهب ترتفع من داخل السفارة (…) هناك متظاهرون تمكنوا من الولوج الى داخل المبنى لكن تم اخلاؤهم لاحقا”، مشيرة الى ان بعض المتظاهرين تمكنوا من تسلق مبنى السفارة والوصول الى سطحه.
ونشرت مواقع الكترونية صورا للهجوم على مبنى السفارة ظهر فيها متظاهرون وهم يحملون علما سعوديا انتزعوه على ما يبدو من سارية المبنى.
وفي مشهد، ثاني كبرى مدن البلاد (شمال شرق)، هاجم متظاهرون واحرقوا مبنى القنصلية السعودية، بحسب ما افادت مواقع اخبارية الكترونية ارفقت خبرها هذا بصور للهجوم.
واثر هذين الهجومين طالب المتحدث باسم الخارجية الايرانية حسين جابر انصاري الشرطة الدبلوماسية بحماية المقار الدبلوماسية السعودية.


وقال جابر انصاري بحسب ما نقلت عنه وسائل الاعلام الايرانية انه “وإذ يدين مجددا اعدام الشيخ نمر النمر، طالب بحماية الممثليات الدبلوماسية السعودية في طهران ومشهد (…) ودعا الشرطة الى منع اي تظاهرة امام هذه الاماكن”.

حرق القنصلية السعودية في “مشهد” الإيرانية ـ فيديو

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mashhad1
النيران تلتهم القنصلية السعودية في مشهد
إسطنبول ـ من أحمد دورسون: ذكرت وكالة “فارس″ الإيرانية (شبه الرسمية)، أن “مجموعة من الإيرانيين نظموا مساء اليوم، مظاهرة أمام القنصلية السعودية في مدينة مشهد، بمحافظة خراسان، شمال شرقي إيران، احتجاجًا على إعدام رجل الدين الشيعي، “نمر باقر النمر”، من قبل السلطات السعودية.
وقالت الوكالة، أن المتظاهرين الإيرانيين، أنزلوا العلم السعودي من مبنى القنصلية، وقاموا بحرق قسم من المبنى، وتحطيم جزء من نوافذه.
من جهة أخرى، استدعت وزارة الخارجية الإيرانية، القائم بأعمال السفارة السعودية في طهران، أحمد المولد، بعد أن كانت أبدت طهران، ردود أفعال على مستويات مختلفة، احتجاجًا على إعدام النمر.
وبحسب وكالة “إرنا” الإيرانية الرسمية، فإن نائب وزير الخارجية الإيراني، حسين أمير عبد اللهيان، أبلغ المولد، أن حكومة بلاده تدين إعدام النمر “بشدّة”.
mashhadd1
ايرانيون يقتحمون القنصلية في مشهد
وأعلنت وزارة الداخلية السعودية، السبت، إعدام 47 ممن ينتمون إلى “التنظيمات الإرهابية”، من بينهم رجل الدين الشيعي، نمر باقر النمر.
وكانت محكمة الاستئناف الجزائية، والمحكمة العليا، في المملكة قد أيدت في 25 أكتوبر/ تشرين أول من العام المنصرم، الحكم الابتدائي الصادر بإعدام نمر النمر، في أكتوبر 2014، لإدانته بـ “إشعال الفتنة الطائفية، والخروج على ولي الأمر في السعودية”.
وألقي القبض على النمر، في 8 يوليو/ تموز 2012، ووصفه بيان وزارة الداخلية آنذاك بأنه “أحد مثيري الفتنة”، وجاء اعتقاله على خلفية مظاهرات شهدتها القطيف شرقي البلاد، تزامنا مع احتجاجات البحرين في شباط/ فبراير2011، وزادت حدتها عام 2012.


وأدين النمر، الذي وصفته المحكمة، في حيثيات حكمها في أكتوبر/ تشرين أول 2014، بأنه “داعية إلى الفتنة”، وبأن “شره لا ينقطع إلا بقتله”، بعدة تهم من بينها “الخروج على إمام المملكة والحاكم فيها، خادم الحرمين الشريفين، بقصد تفريق الأمة، وإشاعة الفوضى، وإسقاط الدولة”.

إحراق القنصلية السعودية من قبل المحتجين الإيرانيين في مدينة مشهد رداً علی اعدام الشيخ النمر

Turkey needs Israel, says Erdogan

Turkey must accept that it needs Israel, Recep Tayyip Erdogan says  as the two countries seek to thrash out a deal on normalising ties

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LET US SEE:

TURKEY NEEDS ISRAEL......

ISRAEL CLOSELY COORDINATES WITH RUSSIA......

IRAN IS ALLIED WITH RUSSIA......

RUSSIA AND IRAN ARE PROPPING UP ASSAD......

IT IS ALL ONE HAPPY FAMILY.

ONLY THE SYRIAN PEOPLE ARE DYING BY THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS,

WHILE THE OTHERS ARE PLAYING GAMES!!

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey must accept that it needs Israel, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday, as the two countries seek to thrash out a deal on normalising ties.
NATO member Turkey was a key regional ally of Israel until the two countries fell out over the deadly storming by Israeli commandos in 2010 of a Turkish aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, bound for Gaza.
Erdogan further raised hackles in Israel with his sometimes inflammatory rhetoric towards the Jewish State. But the atmosphere has transformed following the revelation last month the two sides were making progress in secret talks to seek a rapprochement, says
"Israel is in need of a country like Turkey in the region," Erdogan said in remarks to Turkish reporters published in leading dailies Saturday.
"And we too must accept that we need Israel. This is a reality in the region," said Erdogan.
"If mutual steps are implemented based on sincerity, then normalisation will follow."
Ambassadors were withdrawn in the wake of the 2010 crisis and Erdogan said Turkey's three conditions for a normalisation were clear -- a lifting of the Gaza blockade, compensation for the Mavi Marmara victims and an apology for the incident.
Israel has already apologised and negotiations appear to have made progress on compensation, leaving the blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip the main hurdle.
Indicating possible progress on the blockade, Erdogan said Israel had suggested it would allow goods and construction materials into Gaza if they came via Turkey.
"We need to see a written text to ensure there is no deviation from the agreement," he said.
Analysts have suggested that Turkey's rapprochement with Israel has been accelerated by the need for Ankara to make up for its crisis in ties with Moscow after the shooting down of a Russian warplane.
Erdogan last month held closed-door talks with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal but it was never disclosed what the president discussed with the leader of the the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Israel also wants Turkey to prevent senior Hamas operative Salah Aruri from entering its territory and acting from there. Ankara has never confirmed his presence in Turkey.

A look at the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement

Friday, January 1, 2016

ثنائيات قاتلة

عزمي بشارة

ثنائيات قاتلة
Link

لخص وزير الخارجية الروسي المربّع اللغة والأفكار، والفظ التعابير، الإنجاز الروسي الكبير، بالقول إن الولايات المتحدة قد اقتنعت أخيراً بأن الدكتاتوريين العرب (الذين غادروا، والذين ما زالوا أحياءَ يَقتُلون، وعدّدَهم بالاسم) أفضل من الإرهاب الإسلامي. 
لا يعود إجمال السياسي أفكاره بهذا الإيجاز لشح في المفردات فحسب، بل أيضاً لفقر مدقع في الأفكار. إنه يجمل الخلافات والتمايزات والصراعات في المنطقة العربية بزعماء دول يسميهم بالاسم من جهة، وإرهاب إسلامي من جهة أخرى، فلا وجود في عالمه المسطح لأنظمة استبداد، ولا مجتمعات وشعوب، ولا تيارات سياسية. 


المهم بالنسبة لوزير بوتين هذا هو اقتناع أميركا بهذه الثنائية الضدية، وبأفضلية أحد طرفيها على الآخر، فقناعة روسيا بها معروفة، إذ دعمت الدكتاتوريات على أنواعها. وقد تألفت الشعوب وحركتها في الماضي من شعاراتٍ رفعها النظام السوفييتي أيديولوجية تبريرية لنظام ديكتاتوري شمولي. وقد زال ذلك النظام الشمولي، وبقيت الدكتاتورية في روسيا هي السائدة، ولكن من دون أوهام الشعوب والجماهير والثورات، وبحكم فردي سلطوي، يضمر لها احتقارا شديداً. القناعات الروسية المذكورة أعلاه لا تغيّر من أمر المنطقة العربية شيئاً، إذا رفضت أميركا هذا التبسيط الفظ. لذلك، كان على روسيا أن تنتظر اقتناع أميركا بها، أو تتبنى على الأقل موقفاً محايداً إزاء تدخل روسي يطبق هذه المعادلة الرهيبة، ويستعيد دور روسيا الدولي، بواسطة سفك الدماء العربية.

 
والتطبيق جار بالقصف الشامل من الجو ضد كل القوى التي تعارض الدكتاتورية، ويشمل ذلك في عقلية القياصرة وخانات المغول كل ما تبقى من المدن والبلدات والقرى التي تقيم فيها هذه القوى، فبحكم الثنائية أعلاه، تصنف هذه كلها إرهاباً إسلامياً. وليس التصنيف نظرياً، ولا يجري الفرز بمبضع الجراح، بل تجريه القاذفات بحممها التي تحرق كل ما هو ليس تابعاً لمعسكر الدكتاتور باسمه الشخصي، أي كل ما ليس من معسكر فلان. 


يتساءل المرء، ماذا يعني الناس عموماً بالنسبة لهؤلاء؟ إنهم، في أفضل الحالات، موضوع صراع للسيطرة عليهم. وفي هذا الصراع، تسقط ضحايا، هي في الحقيقة "أضرار جانبية"، وهي ليست جانبية من حيث حجمها، بل من حيث أهميتها، إذ قد تكون "الأضرار الجانبية" من القصف الروسي جسيمة جداً، يفوق حجمها هدف القصف نفسه. وفي بلد كروسيا، لا توجد حساسية خاصة لسقوط الضحايا من المدنيين، ففيها لا يُستقبل لاجئون، ولا وجود لإعلام بديل يعرضها، ولا منظمات حقوق إنسان، ولا عملية انتخابية حقيقية تحاسب المجرمين. وفي أسوأ الحالات، يُعتبر الناس المعرّضون للقصف حاضنة اجتماعية وبيئة إرهابية ممكنة، وهم بالتالي ضحايا غير مأسوف عليها. 


هذا ما يستحقه العرب، والشرقيون عموماً، من منظور عقلٍ عنصري استعماري بغيض. يتحالف اليمين المتطرف في الغرب مع الدكتاتوريات العربية، لأن القوة هي اللغة التي يفهمها العرب، ولا سبيل آخر لضبطهم سوى الفرد المستبد. ولا ينقص عرب يروّجون هذه النظرة العنصرية. (أما إسرائيل فيحترم نظامها، ويجري التحالف معه كما هو، وتكمل روسيا هنا تقليداً قائماً. فقد دعم الاتحاد السوفييتي إسرائيل ضد العرب عام 1948 كقوة واعدة بنظام اشتراكي عمالي "تقدمي"، في مقابل الملكيات العربية التابعة لبريطانيا، إلى أن اختارت إسرائيل التحالف الرابح مع الغرب، بلغة بن غوريون، في نظام القطبين السائد إبّان الحرب الباردة، فعندها تحول السوفييت إلى دعم العرب في سياق الصراع مع بريطانيا وفرنسا، ثم مع أميركا). 


إذا كان العالم العربي منقسما بين دكتاتور من جهة، وإرهاب من جهة أخرى، فماذا يفعل المواطن العربي المتوسط الذي تتجاوز مصالحه وتطلعاته، وحتى بنيته النفسية والذهنية هذا وذاك، والذي نعتقد، جازمين، أنه يسخر من ثنائيات لافروف القاتلة؟ لا مكان للمواطن العربي في المعادلة أعلاه، عليه أن يختفي من الصورة، أن ينتظر نتائج القصف حابساً قهره؛ أو ينصاع للثنائية هذه، فإما أن يدفعه الغضب على الجريمة إلى أقصى الانتقام، أو يدفعه الخوف منها إلى القبول بالدكتاتور الفرد، والخضوع لما يتطلبه بقاؤه من فساد واستبداد وانتهاكات لكرامة البشر وأجسادهم. 


لقد جنت القوى المتطرفة على تطلعات الناس التي خرجت في ثورةٍ على الاستبداد، فهذه القوى تشبه الاستبداد في إخضاعها كل شيء لهدف واحد، يقع ما وراء الخير والشر، وبالتالي، ترتكب ما شاءت من جرائم، لأن أفعالها لا تقع تحت طائلة الحكم الأخلاقي. وهي تجني عليها أيضا على مستوى الرأي العام، بتسهيل تمرير الثنائية أعلاه، فتسهّل على قوى، مثل روسيا، أن تكسب صمت العالم على تنفيذها المهام القذرة نيابة عنه، وهو الدور الذي تحلم به دولة تتألف صادراتها الرئيسية من السلاح والنفط. 


لا يمكن الخروج من طائلة هذه الثنائية القاتلة، من دون نبذ هذه القوى المتطرفة، ولكن التسليم بالدكتاتورية هو انتصار لهذه الثنائية. تتطلع الكثرة الكاثرة من المواطنين العرب إلى نظام حكم عادل وتعددي ينصفها، أو يأتي على قدر تضحياتها العظيمة على الأقل. ومشكلة النخب العربية المعارضة أنها، حين تتنافس فيما بينها، تنسى هذه الحقيقة الأساسية، التي فيها تكمن هزيمة الثنائية المدمرة لبلداننا ومجتمعاتنا. تطلعات الشعوب العربية وتضحياتها في سبيل الحرية والكرامة أمانة في أعناق النخب السياسية والثقافية والمسلحة التي تمثل الأكثرية ضد الاستبداد، بوجهيه الدكتاتور والإرهاب. وهذا فقط ما يجعل الخيار الكامن في الثنائية أعلاه وهمياً. - 

ما وراء الخبر-هل إسرائيل لاعب مرحب به في سوريا؟

Novel about Jewish-Palestinian love affair is barred from Israeli curriculum

Government accused of censorship after reportedly saying the award-winning Borderlife by Dorit Rabinyan risked damaging the ‘identity of the nation’

The Guardian

Link

A novel about a love affair between a Jewish woman and a Palestinian man has been barred from Israel’s high school curriculum, reportedly over concerns that it could encourage intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews.
The rejection of Dorit Rabinyan’s novel Borderlife, which was published in 2014, created an uproar in Israel, with critics accusing the government of censorship.
The incident was first reported by the Haaretz daily and confirmed in a statement by the education ministry on Thursday.
The rejection also touched on the climate of mistrust between Arabs and Jews, which has deepened during the current wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
The ministry said a panel had debated adding Borderlife to the high school reading curriculum but decided against it. Israeli media said teachers had requested its inclusion on the student reading lists.
Earlier, Haaretz cited a letter by ministry official Dalia Fenig, who wrote that the book, which this year received Israel’s prestigious Bernstein literary prize, was excluded because its content was deemed unfit for high school students.
“Adolescent youth tend to romanticise and don’t have, in many cases, the systematic point of view that includes considerations about preserving the identity of the nation and the significance of assimilation,” Fenig was quoted as writing in the letter.
But Rabinyan said her award-winning book, whose love story plot line takes place in New York, had tried to highlight the similarities and differences between the main protagonists, observing the conflict from afar.
“The two heroes spend a winter overseas and manage to get to know each other in great detail, something that could not happen on the disputed land,” Rabinyan told Israel Radio. “Perhaps their ability to surmount the obstacles of the Middle East conflict is what threatens the education ministry.”
The Israeli high school curriculum includes books on a variety of hot-button issues, including Khirbet Khizeh, a 1949 novel about the expulsion of Arabs from a fictional village by Israeli soldiers, and A Trumpet in the Wadi, a 1987 novel about a love affair between a Jewish man and a Christian Arab woman. Rabinyan has another work on the list.
In an interview with Army Radio, Fenig said having another book on the list that deals with relationships between Jews and non-Jews was one reason Borderlife was excluded.
She also said the timing, coinciding with the current outburst of violence, was not right, fearing the book could inflame tensions in the classroom. She did not address the letter cited in Haaretz and AP could not reach her for comment.
Israel’s Channel 2 TV reported that sales of the book have increased dramatically since the ban and its news anchor jokingly asked education minister Naftali Bennett if the author had thanked him.
Bennett defended the move, saying its content shouldn’t be required reading for school students. He read out sections of the book, which he said portrays soldiers as “sadistic” and details a romance between a Palestinian jailed for security reasons and an Israeli woman. “Should I force Israeli children to read this? Is this a top priority?” Bennett asked.
He said his office “is not the culture ministry and people can read outside whatever they like, but we need to prioritize.”
More than three months of Israeli-Palestinian violence has killed 21 people on the Israeli side and 131 Palestinians, sending tensions between Arabs and Jews soaring.
Last year, religious Israeli lawmakers were outraged by news that the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dating a non-Jewish Norwegian woman.
Rabinyan told Army Radio the rejection of “Borderlife” was ironic because “the novel deals precisely with the Israeli fear of assimilation in the Arab milieu within which we exist.”

"I Don't Want to Die. This War Is Not My War": A Syrian in France's Largest Refugee Camp Speaks Out

Democracy Now!

Link

"In December, Democracy Now! headed to the city of Calais, site of France’s largest refugee camp. Six to seven thousand people are camped out in makeshift tents. Their goal is to reach Britain, and each night members of the camp set out along the highway to the Channel Tunnel, where they attempt to cross into Britain by jumping on top of or inside trucks or lorries. We meet Majd, a 21-year-old Syrian man, one of thousands stranded in the the camp. He describes how a Sudanese man named Joseph was recently killed when he was run over by a car on the highway. While we were there, camp residents protested that the police hadn’t stopped the driver, and held signs reading "We are humans, not dogs" and "What do the survivors of war have to do to live in peace?" This comes as the world faces the greatest exodus of people since World War II. The United Nations has appealed for $20 billion in additional aid money, saying that at present funding levels, the U.N. is "not able to provide even the very minimum in core protection and lifesaving assistance." U.N. officials cited the wars in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and South Sudan as one of the major reasons there are nearly 60 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. The largest single displaced community is Syrians, with 4 million refugees forced outside Syria’s borders by the ongoing conflict....."

العرب والعالم- إرث 2015




عرب جرب

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


Do you expect that wars and conflicts in the region will subside during the coming year?

So far, 91% have voted no.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

حجب "العربي الجديد": متمسّكون بقيم العروبة والديمقراطية والحريات

عن حجب موقع العربي الجديد

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أقدمت سلطات ثلاث دول عربية على حجب موقع العربي الجديد باللغتين العربية والانجليزية عن القراء في أراضيها، في سلوك لم تسوّغه أي منها بأي تبرير أو سبب، سواء في قرار لوزارة الإعلام السعودية الأسبوع الماضي، وتالياً في الإجراء المماثل في دولة الإمارات، كما أن السلطات المصرية، بعدهما، منعت وصول الزوار في البلاد إلى الموقع، من دون أي إعلام مسبق بالأسباب.

وبذلك، لا نجد غير عداء السلطات في الدول الثلاث ما يمثله "العربي الجديد"، وما يعبّر عنه، من قيم الدفاع عن الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان والحريات العامة ومواقفه المبدئية من القضايا العربية وقضية فلسطين، ولا سيما أننا لم نتّبع في عملنا المهني، في ما ننشر من أخبار وآراء، وفي ما نتابع من مستجدات وقضايا، غير توخي الحقيقة والنقاش الحر وتبادل الأفكار. ونعتقد أننا أصبنا في هذا كله نجاحاً محموداً، دلّت عليه مجدداً المؤازرة النشطة لنا في مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، فور ذيوع أخبار الحجب، وذلك تضامناً مع "العربي الجديد"، ودعماً لنهجه المهني والإعلامي، وذلك من خلال وسم #حجب_العربي_الجديد.

وإذ نؤكد رفضنا هذا التصرف الغريب من حكومات المملكة العربية السعودية ودولة الإمارات ومصر، فإننا، في الوقت نفسه، نعلن مجدداً ثباتنا على خيارنا الذي أخذناه مساراً لعملنا، والذي ظل دائم الانفتاح على مختلف الاجتهادات والتصورات السياسية في مجتمعاتنا، بحرية مسؤولة، وباحترام مؤكد للأخلاقيات المهنية والاعتبارية في العمل الإعلامي البعيد عن التزلّف والإثارة والفلتان الرخيص. وقد دأبنا على ذلك كله، منذ أطلقنا موقع "العربي الجديد"، قبل نحو عام ونصف، وفي أثناء نجاحه اليومي المشهود، وقد حقق لنفسه مطرحه المتقدم في صدارة المواقع الإلكترونية، الإعلامية والإخبارية والثقافية العربية الكبرى، وشكّل وصول عدد زيارات الموقع في كل الوطن العربي وفي دول الاغتراب إلى الملايين مسؤولية خاصة علينا، جعلتنا أكثر ثقة بما نحن عليه، وعلى قناعة بوجوب التجدد والحفاظ على هذه العلاقة الخاصة التي قامت بيننا وبين قرائنا ومتابعينا، والذين لم يبخلوا علينا بآرائهم، بل وبمؤاخذاتهم أيضاً، والتي تجد منّا كل احترام وتقدير، في كل المجتمعات والدول العربية، ومنها التي أقدمت على حجب الموقع.

وتعتبر أسرة "العربي الجديد" هذا الحجب دافعاً لها لمضاعفة عملها، وهي تعلن في هذا البيان تمسكها بقيم الحرية والديمقراطية والحوار المدني والحريات العامة، وبالمواطنة الحقة، وبقيم العروبة المنفتحة، وبوجوب العدالة الاجتماعية ضرورة ملحة في كل بلد عربي. وكنا نود من الذين اتخذوا القرار بحجب موقع الصحيفة عن قرائه أن يكونوا أكثر إدراكاً لأهمية قيام الإعلام بوظائفه، بكل استقلالية، في كشف كل الاختلالات وفي مختلف الموضوعات والقضايا. لكنهم، آثروا الحجب والمنع في التعامل مع أي وسيلة إعلام يبادرونها بخصومة مسبقة، فهل يعقل أنهم لا يعرفون أن وسائل كسر هذا المنع والحجب في زمن الثورة الرقمية التقنية عديدة، وأنه ليس هناك ما هو أيسر من الوصول إلى جمهورك، وخصوصاً إذا تسلّحت بالمصداقية والأهلية والكفاءة المهنية؟ 
* لمزيد من المعلومات، يمكنكم التواصل على حساب بريدنا الإلكتروني press@alaraby.co.uk أو الاتصال على 00442071480353 

MY SAFE PREDICTIONS FOR 2016

* ARABS KILLING OTHER ARABS......

* MUSLIMS KILLING OTHER MUSLIMS.....

* MORE ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS ESTABLISHED.....

* THE PA TRIES TO RESTART "NEGOTIATIONS".......

* MORE AND MORE SYRIANS, PALESTINIANS AND OTHER ARABS TRY TO EMIGRATE...

* MORE JEWS EMIGRATE TO ISRAEL.....

* SISI OUTLAWS THE INTERNET......

* THE SNAKE OIL SALESMAN, KERRY, SAYS THAT PEACE IN SYRIA IS NEAR WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF ASSAD......

* ERDOGAN SAYS THAT HE IS CONSIDERING A "SAFE ZONE" IN SYRIA......

* SAUDI ARABIA SAYS THAT THE WAR IN YEMEN IS GOING TO END, ANY YEAR NOW....

* IRAN AND HIZBULLAH DECLARE THAT THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM GOES THROUGH THE NORTH POLE....

* ARABS WILL CONTINUE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT: عرب جرب

Egypt TV host jailed for thought crime

Authorities fear loss of control over religious discourse 

By Brian Whitaker

Link

Egyptian TV presenter Islam Beheiry left court in handcuffs on Monday to begin a one-year prison sentence for thought crime. He had been convicted of "defaming" religion by calling for reform in Islam – a call previously made by no lesser figure than President Sisi himself.

In comparison with Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, 10 years in jail and a fine of one million riyals ($266,000) on similar charges, Beheiry's sentence is relatively mild and for that reason his case is unlikely to attract much international attention. Nevertheless, it is an important case.
At one level it is yet another example of Egypt's notorious hesba system which allows religious busybodies to initiate prosecutions against people they disagree with or disapprove of. At a different level, though, it can be viewed as part of a wider battle to keep discourse about religion in the hands of those who claim to know best – the religious and political authorities.
The key point here, as Egyptian author/journalist Hany Ghoraba noted in an article last June, is that Beheiry "represents a new generation of religious reformers outside the clergy and religious caste".
Beheiry (also spelled as Behery) hosted a show on Al-Qahira wal-Nas, a privately-owned TV channel, where he challenged conservative religious teaching on early marriage, punishment for apostasy, and the validity of some of the hadith – sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet. 
These ideas were not particularly new or original but they brought him in to conflict with al-Azhar – Egypt's highest religious authority. One reason was that some of the alleged sayings of the Prophet which he disputed are regarded as authentic by al-Azhar, and al-Azhar accused him of deliberately making people question "what is certain in religion".
More significantly, though, Beheiry was not a member of the religious establishment but an interloper who threatened to undermine al-Azhar's position as the supreme arbiter for religious matters in Egypt. His TV show, which had proved very popular, was cancelled in April.
Commenting at the time, Nervana Mahmoud wrote:
"Islam Beheiry may be feckless, even inaccurate in some of his attacks on Islamic theology, but the essence of his argument is sound and it actually portrays Islam in a far more modern way than all the medievalist nonsense that the likes of Mohamed al-Masry propagate. The irony is that al-Azhar tolerates scholars like Al-Masry (who studied theology extensively in Saudi Arabia, as his website claims) more than a daring researcher like Islam Beheiry, whom al-Azhar sees as 'insulting' to Islam."
Meanwhile, the Sisi regime is relying on al-Azhar to promote a "moderate" version of Islam and thus counter the Muslim Brotherhood. In speech last January, Sisi called for a "religious revolution" but the evidence suggests he is not seeking a genuine reformation. Rather, he is doing what most Arab rulers do and trying to harness Egyptian Islam in the service of his political project. This can't be managed effectively if outsiders are allowed to chip in with their own disruptive thoughts about Islamic reform.
Ultimately, the efforts of Sisi and al-Azhar will make things worse rather than better. The way that robust and open debate of religious issues has been stifled over many years in the past is one of the main reasons why we now have so many problems with Islamists and jihadists.
  
Related blog posts:
Five-year blasphemy sentence in Egypt: TV presenter questioned "religious certainties"
'Faith security': a dangerous concept. New moves to suppress debate about religion in Egypt 
Securitising religion in Egypt and Russia: Is Sisi borrowing ideas from Putin?
     
Posted by Brian Whitaker
Thursday, 31 December 2015

Hezbollah Fighters Are Fed Up With Fighting Syria’s War

Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad hold up their weapons and flash a victory sign in Mleiha, which lies on the edge of the eastern Ghouta region near Damascus airport, after taking control of the area from rebel fighters August 15, 2014. Syrian government forces backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah took control of a town just outside Damascus from Islamist fighters on Thursday, a blow to the rebels who had held it for more than a year. Syrian state television broadcast showed government soldiers in the streets of Mleiha, which lies on the edge of the eastern Ghouta region near Damascus airport and had been surrounded by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Buildings were damaged or reduced to rubble, and tanks patrolled the streets. Picture taken during a tour organized by the government. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki   (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY MILITARY) - RTR42KIQ
Link

The Assad regime in Damascus has depended on Lebanon’s Army of God to shore up its weakened troops. But now many Lebanese fighters are refusing to serve.


BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon — They joined to fight Israel in Lebanon, but after multiple combat tours in the Syrian cities of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, and around Damascus, Hezbollah reservists tell The Daily Beast that they are no longer willing to die in Syria’s unending, bloody civil war.
As a result of their refusal to continue volunteering to prop up the embattled government of Bashar al-Assad, they say that the Shia Party of God has cut off the money they were accustomed to receiving: reservist paychecks and permanent family benefits packages. What other consequences there may be remain to be seen.
Imad, as we’ll call him, crouched over a heating stove in a small Bekaa Valley farmhouse surrounded by the barren fields where his recently harvested crop of marijuana grew. He declined to give his real name because of his illegal trade and fear of reprisal for speaking out, but he said he decided to stop fighting after losing faith in the Syrian war six months ago.
When we talked to Imad in April, he was committed to supporting Assad’s forces and fueled by a desire to exact revenge on jihadists who beheaded a relative in Lebanon’s army after the soldier was captured in the Lebanese town of Arsal. Now, although he still wants revenge, he has grown weary of the war and frustrated with Syrian government forces.
“I refuse to go back because when we take over a village and hand it to the Syrian army, it gets retaken [by rebel forces],” he says while fiddling with the stove that heats the small room. His decision, made in June, has cost him dearly and since then the school funding for his kids has been cut, his family medical benefits have been taken away, and heating subsidies evaporated.
The last of his six deployments to Syria was in Aleppo, and while he is still willing to fight Israel or serve on the border with Syria, he says, his reservist salary has also stopped.
He says Hezbollah is under increasing pressure since the summer, when casualties increased alongside the needs of the Syrian regime. The organization, whose militia is in fact a powerful parallel army in Lebanon, doesn’t make casualty statistics public, but funerals in its support base in Beirut’s southern suburbs are increasingly common, as is discontent from the families of its fighters in Syria.
The three reservists that The Daily Beast spoke to painted a scene of bloody back and forth combat where casualties mount but little is achieved.
Imad’s loss of benefits, especially for his kids’ schooling, has hit his family hard, but he says at least he is able to rely on the stability of the hashish trade. He thanks God for a good harvest, and while he says sales to Syria were slightly down this fall, ISIS and the Nusra Front are still loyal customers, using smugglers in Arsal so they can get baked on Lebanese blonde.

AP Interview: Druse Head Scorns Hezbollah On Syria
Inform
Imad says he knows of at least 60 other reservists who have decided not to go back to Syria and also had their family benefits cut. “I also know of people who have gone back to fight [in Syria] because of the financial pressure. Only the guys with an alternative say ‘Enough!’”
In a small village in the Lebanon mountains overlooking the Bekaa Valley, Jaffar hobbled to the door of a modest second-floor apartment in his extended family’s triplex. He suffered a severe hip injury when a wall fell on him after a rebel’s rocket struck the Damascus-area house he was holed up in during his final tour in July. Three of the seven fighters he was with were killed and the other four wounded.
Jaffar, who also declines to use his real name because of fear of reprisal, notified his commanders of his desire to no longer serve in Syria, but was required to do a last tour while replacements were organized. “If I refused to continue before my replacement had arrived I would have been investigated and it would have created a hostile relationship,” he says ominously. He sits awkwardly on a chair as the leg connected to his injured hip juts out into the center of the cluttered kitchen.
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A Sunni Muslim in his mid-thirties, Jaffar is not the typical member of a movement that champions Shia rights. In 2000 he joined Hezbollah’s Resistance Brigades—the movement’s non-Shia volunteer fighting force—to confront Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon. Since those days he continued to serve, including 15 deployments to Syria, but he doesn’t want to fight a war that he sees no way out of.
I joined to fight Israel, why should I die in Syria? It’s a lost battle, we have lost thousands,” he says. Jaffar also blames the Syrian army for losing territory taken by Hezbollah, but sees the Russian intervention to prop up Assad as a definitive sign of the inability to militarily win a war that has ballooned into an international proxy conflict. “If the Americans, Russians, and Syrian [government] want a solution, they will find one,” he adds. “It’s a big game in Syria and it’s a misery.”
As he hobbles around his musty and cramped apartment in search of his AK-47 converted into a grenade launcher, it is clear that Jaffar is not in any condition to fight, even if he wanted to. However, because he announced his intention to stop going to Syria, he has lost all his benefits for his family. Since returning from the July deployment, he only gets specific medical support for the injury that brought him home.
It makes me feel like we are mercenaries,” he says dejectedly about Hezbollah’s treatment of him and others reservists exhausted by the war. “Now there is a problem to get people to go to Syria because they thought it would be a short war, but as it drags on people don’t want to continue,” he explains.
A Hezbollah Special Forces commander in charge of five units fighting across Syria claims there are no orders to cancel benefits to reservists who opt out of fighting in Syria. “Hezbollah is bigger than that,” he says, declining to give his name because he’s not authorized to speak to the media. He denies the organization is under pressure to provide more boots on the ground and refuses to discuss casualty numbers or comment on whether they are increasing.
In Beirut’s largely Shia southern suburbs, Hezbollah’s flags wave and defiant pictures of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, hang on walls next to posters of martyrs who fell in Syria. The working-class community here is the party’s base, but while residents embrace Hezbollah as their guardians and protectors, there is also a sense of frustration.
Abu Ahmed, who fears retribution if named, brings his young son with him to a meeting with The Daily Beast in the bustling neighborhood of Dahiya. The child is shy and stoic and his father says that the boy cried every night during his multiple tours in Syria. Under pressure from his family to stop fighting and a growing resentment of the war, he stopped going to Syria last year.
“In my case, I love my wife and kids more than I love Syria and Palestine,” says the veteran of campaigns against the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and the 2006 war with Israel. He joined Hezbollah in the mid-1990s and, now in his forties, he has lost his job and all his family benefits since he refused to return to Syria.
“They used to give me work and now they don’t, I feel like I’ve lost everything,” says Abu Ahmed, trying to control the anger in his voice.
He is not only disillusioned with the war, which he calls “a contest of superpowers,” but has also resigned himself to a cynical sectarian outlook on the region. “Let the Sunnis liberate Palestine,” he says, rejecting the pan-Arab solidarity that inspired him to take up arms in the first place.
Instead, he says he helped his nephews flee Lebanon for Germany after they deserted their units in Syria. Soon, he says, he will also take his family to Germany.
One of Hezbollah’s central arguments for propping up Assad’s brutal regime is that its troops are protecting Lebanon from Sunni jihadists bringing the war home. When The Daily Beast put that position to Abu Ahmed, just a few kilometers from where two ISIS suicide bombers killed 43 people in November, his answer is blunt.
Let them come over here, I’m leaving.”