From the field

Publisher of Atlanta Jewish Times resigns January 24, 2012, eleven days after his editorial advocating Mossad assassinate Barack Obama

2012-01-25T10:50:00.002-05:00

Andrew Adler suggested three options available to Israel: launch a pre-emptive war against Hamas and Hezbollah, attack Iran's nuclear facilities or "order a hit on the president in order to preserve Israel's existence." (Adler's despicable column was discovered by Gawker.)

Of course, Adler has been condemned by the leaders of many prominent Jewish lobby and advocacy organizations. He is also said to be under investigation by the Secret Service. Nonetheless, this story has remained below the radar screen in much of the so-called mainstream media. The NYTimes referred to the incident on January 24, 2012.

Adler offered a televised apology, which prompted one editorialist to note that it was a little sad to see a grown man cry. Considering that Adler urged the assassination of the President of the United States, the only thing that we should be sad about is that Adler is still at-large. He is lucky not to be a Muslim, wouldn't you say?

Advance Copy--NYT Magazine--"Will Israel Attack Iran?"

2012-01-25T08:22:00.005-05:00

Also see:
Pollack: Sliding toward war?
Philip Weiss: Times give platform Iran war advocacy.

Foreign Policy Association's Five Questions

2012-01-14T01:37:00.001-05:00

For the original essay.

Sara Roy: "it is worth putting Hamas to the test."

2012-01-12T23:12:00.001-05:00

One factor that prompted Yitzhak Rabin to make a deal with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat was the looming rise of Hamas in the early 1990s. That was two decades ago, but Israeli leaders still become apoplectic at the notion of dealing with Hamas. The prospect of a Palestinian unity government elicits a variety of threats from Israel, including cutting off water and electricity to Gaza, as Sara Roy notes in her incisive op-ed. Of course, given the coming rise of Islamically-oriented governments in Tunisia and particularly in Egypt, ostracizing Hamas is no longer a relatively easy matter. Given the Netanyahu government's territorial agenda, and its mockery of the idea of viable and independent Palestinian state, the isolation of Hamas is integral to its policy. None the less, it is time for U.S. policymakers to re-examine their assumptions about Hamas, and Roy's essay provides some points to ponder.

Compare Roy's piece to the latest advice from Dennis Ross who believes that Israel and the PA should get back on the bike and keep pedaling. His comment invites images of a stationary tandem exercise bike, not one that might actually cross a finish line. Among other things, Ross argues that Israel should reduce its activities in area "A", which is to say those parts of the West Bank where the PA is supposed to exercise civil and security authority under the Oslo agreements. (It is curious that Ross fails to note that President G.W. Bush, for whom he worked, demanded, in 2002, that Israel pull its forces back from area "A", only to be stiff-armed by Ariel Sharon). Read the Ross piece for a sample of the sort of well-practiced advice that plays right into the hands of Israel's hardline government. Just keep on pedaling....

Important reportage on Benyamin Netanyahu's divisive political game in the U.S.

2012-01-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

The author is the journalist Max Blumenthal.

"The Bibi Connection"
Excerpt:

"Netanyahu’s shadow campaign is intended to be a factor in defeating Obama and electing a Republican in his place. He opposed Obama’s early demand to freeze settlements on the West Bank as a precondition for reviving the peace process, a process since the Oslo Accord that Netanyahu has attempted to stall or sabotage, despite his signing of the Wye Agreement under pressure from President Clinton. Since his adamant stand against the settlement freeze, Netanyahu has undermined every effort to engage the peace process. He appears dead set on consolidating Greater Israel, or what many Israelis call “Judea and Samaria,” and has signaled a strong desire to attack Iran."

Current History, January 2012

2012-01-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

Is the Labor Market Global? by Uri Dadush and William Shaw
Arab Revolts Upend Old Assumptions by Augustus Richard Norton
America’s Outmoded Security Strategy by David B. Kanin and Steven E. Meyer
The End of Easy Everything by Michael T. Klare
Destructive Creation and the New World Disorder by Paul Harris and Daniel Sarewitz
Why the World Is More Peaceful by Steven Pinker

Another reason not to buy Cardscan to manage your contacts

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

DISCONTINUANCE NOTICE

Dear At Your Service user,
DYMO CardScan has decided to discontinue our At Your Service program effective Dec 31, 2011. Due to the cost of the hardware and network bandwidth up keep, a business decision was made to discontinue the no cost CardScan At Your Service online database program.
We apologize for the inconvenience but users of AYS will no longer continue to use it to back up their contacts, as well as to access their contacts remotely over the web, as the service is completely shut down.
Just as a reminder, our End User License Agreement specifically states that services provided in addition to the CardScan software application can be modified or discontinued at any time.

Sincerely,

The DYMO team

See my earlier post on the disappointing product support.

Middle East realignment: the Arab upheaval (opening paragraph)

2011-12-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

"The year 2011 proved extraordinary in the Arab world. Assumptions about the weak appetite for freedom in Muslim societies was discredited as three veteran dictators—Tunisia’s Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Libya’s Muammar Qadhafi—were toppled by popular movements. The fate of autocrats in Syria and Yemen hung in the balance. In other states, notably Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, sitting regimes have been shaken but applications of repression and largesse permit the rulers to continue
to reign. In Jordan, Morocco and Oman, skillful political maneuvering has tempered demands for reform. In Iraq and Algeria, the living memory of years of trauma and carnage has dampened the appetite for confrontation and protest."

Full piece, and related chapters by Larry Diamond and Michael O'Hanlon, et. al., may be ordered at the Foreign Policy Association website.

U.S.-Pakistan relations and the drone affair

2011-12-11T23:26:00.000-05:00

William deB. Mills offers several noteworthy observations on the U.S.-Pakistan-Iran triangle in light of Iran's downing of the U.S. drone. He reflects on the declining U.S.-Pakistan reaction, the Pakistani reaction to Iran coup de theatre and the prospects for an Iran-Pakistan alliance based on shared antipathy to U.S. goals, complementary economic interests, and worldviews.

Resurgent Arab Islam need not be unsettling

2011-12-11T10:01:00.003-05:00

Resurgent Arab Islam need not be unsettling

By Emile Nakhleh and Augustus R. Norton

[Cross-posted with "Informed Comment: Global Affairs" and Boston Globe's "The Angle", where it was first published December 11, 2011]

In the wake of the youth-directed “Arab Spring,” which rocked the Middle East to its core and felled autocratic governments in several countries, Islamic political parties are poised for an historic resurgence across the region — and that is neither surprising nor necessarily alarming.

Popular mass demonstrations, “Days of Rage,” have been the hallmarks of the season that dislodged dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, and exposed the fragility of fierce but unpopular regimes across the Arab world. Youthful demonstrators in quest of dignity, hungry for jobs, and fed up with corruption formed the vanguards.

But because Arab rulers did not allow serious opposition parties, the best organized opposition groups were often Islamist movements. While they did not launch the Arab Spring, they lent resilience and discipline to the demonstrations. These movements are deeply insinuated in the contours of daily life in Arab societies, and now are emerging as early victors in what Arabs are calling al-sahwa (the awakening).

The successes of Islamic parties inspire consternation and alarm in some US policy circles. Daniel Byman of the Brookings Institution worries that these parties will not embrace democracy. Like former Israeli defense minister Moshe Arens, he suggests that the Arab Spring is likely to become a long Arab Winter as Islamic parties gain power and then thwart hopes for substantial reforms and freedom. But these groups are not the extremists that critics fear, and Islamist political parties deserve the opportunity to deliver on the mandate they’ve been granted at the polls.

It is crucial to note that mainstream Islamic parties in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco are not your grandfather’s Islamists. Their views about human rights, toleration, and the legitimacy of democracy have evolved in encouraging directions in the past two decades.

Serious debates about earlier episodes of both failed and successful political change have been wide-ranging in Islamist circles. These include reflecting on the army coup that thwarted an Islamist victory in Algeria nearly two decades ago; the failure of violent jihadist tactics, not least by the widely despised Al Qaeda; and the exemplar of non-Arab Turkey, where a democratically elected Islamist party has been in power since 2002. While there are certainly radical dissenters, the mainstream is politically pragmatic and fully capable of embracing the give and take of democratic life.

Electoral victories of Justice and Development in Morocco and al-Nahda party in Tunisia confirm the powerful resurgence of political Islam in post-autocratic societies. And results from the first round of Egyptian elections for two-thirds of the seats in the People’s Assembly indicate the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party obtained 36.6 percent of the vote.

This means the Brotherhood’s party will lead a coalition government in Cairo when the complicated three-stage election concludes in two months. The religiously conservative Salafi al-Nour Party got about a quarter of the vote, which surprised party leaders and many Egyptian and foreign analysts. But the Muslim Brotherhood said it would form a coalition government only with liberal parties, not with the Salafis.

Many Egyptian liberal activists, including presidential candidate Muhammad ElBaradaei, have expressed apprehension that by getting almost a fourth of the vote in the first round, the Salafis might push for a conservative social and political agenda — banning music, liquor, and certain types of literature, and restricting minority and women’s rights.

ElBaradei also said that, with over 60 percent Islamists, the new People’s Assembly is not a true reflection the Egypt that toppled the Mubarak regime. Election results made it obvious the Freedom and Justice Party was well-organized and campaigned effectively whereas the liberal coalition, including the “generation of the uprising,” was woefully splintered and ran an unconvincing political campaign.

The struggle now shifts from party politics to the writing of the Egyptian constitution. The Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists are demanding that the People’s Assembly should form the committee charged with writing the constitution. Liberals, like ElBaradei, are leaning toward having the generals who now wield political power play a larger role in shaping the constitutional committee as a countervailing force to the Islamists.

As the Arab revival surges on, it is likely that Islamic-inspired groups will gain a major share of political power in Yemen and Syria — and perhaps even in Jordan and Bahrain. Despite the strenuous efforts of Saudi Arabia to stem the tides of change through influence and money, the pathology of authoritarian rule suggests continuing vulnerability to mass protests and resistance.

But now, having won elections, these parties will need to govern. The challenges facing popularly elected governments in the Middle East are formidable, especially job creation and economic needs. Chanting “Islam is the solution” will not do the trick.

Of course, there will be a political honeymoon for these new governments — a “night of honey,” as Arabs call the wedding night. But there will be no bliss unless the victors can deliver. This means the new governments often will be obliged to embrace compromise and deal-making — or face repudiation by an electorate that now knows how to institute political divorce.

Arab publics are repudiating a strong executive — whether president or king — in favor of parliamentary democracies. In presidential republics, the 2011 upheavals have signaled a desire to replace a powerful president with an independent prime minister and a parliament with legislative powers. They also have demanded a civilian government, an end to the mukhabarat (security) state, and constitutional reform. Even the privileged status of the military now is being questioned — especially in Egypt, where the prerogatives of the generals had been off limits for debate.

The transition to democracy in Egypt could face several risks that could derail it. They could come from terrorist organizations and radical Salafi groups, which do not believe in democracy, or from entrenched militaries ready to thwart any attempts to undercut their economic and power status. Sectarianism, which has been fomented by regimes in Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, poses still another potential risk on the democratization path.

Yet, despite these looming hazards, mainstream Islamic political parties that remain committed to pluralism, inclusion, and civil rights are poised to play a constructive role in combating sectarianism, radicalism, and militarism. They should be afforded the opportunity to do so.

Emile Nakhleh is former director of the political Islam strategic analysis program at the CIA. Augustus R. Norton is a professor of anthropology and international relations at Boston University.

Islam in the West: a good selection of essays in the new Harvard Review

2011-12-08T00:02:00.001-05:00

The essays are, for the most part, conference papers that have been nicely edited for publication. Pieces by Richard Bulliet on Islamic reformation, Jytte Klausen on the Danish cartoon episode, Lucia Volk on youthful returnees to Lebanon and the cultural contradictions they confront, and Michael Freedman on promoting political reform and civil society are among the several that I found valuable.

More on the legacy of Dennis Ross, Peace Processor

2011-12-06T22:03:00.000-05:00

Repression in Saudi Arabia documented by AI

2011-11-30T20:18:00.000-05:00

Arab Reform Initiative, Recommended: Oman and the"Arab Spring"

2011-11-27T15:51:00.000-05:00

Comments here on Egypt

2011-11-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

“Sentiments vs. Advice” (Jan. 31, 2011)

On the military’s corporate interests (Feb. 4, 2011)

On the evolution of the Ikhwan (Feb. 4, 2011)

Generals out of the shadows (Feb. 11, 2011)

“Quest for Dignity” with Emile Nakhleh (Mar. 3, 2011)

Current History "Middle East" issue: an excellent collection of articles

2011-11-27T14:25:00.000-05:00

December 2011

Letter from Damascus: Will Syria Descend into Civil War?
by Sami Moubayed
“Many in the opposition are now saying the regime is stronger than they had imagined.”

The Palestinians’ Receding Dream of Statehood
by Nathan J. Brown
“The drama of international diplomacy has only obscured an ongoing, steady erosion of statehood as a focus of Palestinian aspirations.”

Uprisings Jolt the Saudi-Iranian Rivalry
by Frederic Wehrey
“Saudi and Iranian meddling aggravates a divisive, dangerous form of identity politics in fragile, vulnerable states.”

Islamism After the Arab Spring
by Ashraf El Sherif
“It makes no sense today to divide Arab politics into neatly crafted opposites, the ‘Islamist’ versus the ‘civil democratic’ blocs.”

The Middle East in Flux
by Michael C. Hudson
“The contagion effect created by the regime changes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya suggests a significant degree of imagined community among Arabs everywhere.”

Perspective: Libya’s Revolution: Do Institutions Matter?
by Michele Dunne
Libyans’ path toward democracy looks rocky, to be sure. But at least they have been spared the cynical, instrumental use of democratic institutions that Egyptians and Tunisians for decades endured.

Books: The Muslim World’s Counter-Jihad
by William W. Finan Jr.
A new book finds the sources of Arab unrest not only in fury at corrupt regimes and stagnant economies, but also in a popular culture that scorns Islamist extremism.

Nakhleh and Norton on the Egyptian election

2011-11-27T09:17:00.007-05:00

"Both the security forces and senior US officials are apprehensive that this week’s elections will bring the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood to power, and there is little doubt that the Brotherhood is poised to win a plurality of seats this week and in run-offs scheduled for December and January. But rather than trying to dilute the election results through military diktat, the United States should insist that the security forces honor the results and hand over power.
"Misplaced fears about the implications of an Islamist sweep are often heard in Washington, where some media pundits have asked whether the Arab Spring is devolving into an Islamist Winter. But Tunisia’s election provides an instructive model on an alternative to that scenario. The election fostered a coalescence of Islamist and secular politicians. The victory of the Tunisian al-Nahda party, which won a 40-percent plurality, may be a harbinger for the coming of Arab political normalcy and the delegitimization of “Arab exceptionalism.’’ Al-Nahda’s leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, has begun reaching out to secular groups to form a coalition government, a move that would not have happened before the demise of authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya."

[Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, this piece went to press five days ago.]

On November 25, 2011, a White House statement suggested impatience with the Egyptian generals' and emphasized the goal of "the full transfer of power to a civilian government." Compare this statement to the President's phone conversation with Field Marshal Tantawi on October 24, 2011.

Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry: Implicit repudiation of Bahraini government's narrative

2011-11-24T12:31:00.000-05:00

Commission website (in Arabic) and link to the full report in English.

Lenore Martin's reflection on Turkish-Syrian-Iranian relations is a reminder that among the reverberations of the upheaval in Syria may be a realignment on the Kurdish question

2011-11-16T22:30:00.001-05:00

While often unnoticed, even in usually informed commentary, there have been periodic indicators of Iranian-Turkish cooperation vis-a-vis Kurdish nationalist insurgents. As Lenore Martin notes, both Syria and Iran might seek to stoke the Kurdish insurgency against Turkey as a riposte to Ankara's recent hostility to the al-Asad regime.

Rosa Parks would approve

2011-11-15T14:38:00.002-05:00

Does the Arab League now have attention of Bashar al-Asad? Equally important, will the elites of Damascus and Aleppo rethink their tacit support for the regime?

2011-11-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

"The people want international protection, an air embargo and relief from the murderer."

Romney: "I don’t think America should play the role of the leader of the peace process, instead we should stand by our ally."

2011-10-31T21:04:00.000-04:00

UNESCO votes 107-14 with 52 abstentions to admit Palestine. US

2011-10-31T10:05:00.002-04:00

The admission of Palestine to UNESCO will prompt cuts in US funding of the agency. These punitive cuts will hurt UNESCO, but they also serve to illustrate how isolated the US has become on the issue. A U.S. official stated that "there are consequences" if the vote approves Palestinian membership in UNESCO, but there are also consequences of the US being in splendid isolation with Israel.
What remains is for Palestine to sign and ratify the UNESCO constitution.

[Added: To minimize the reality of auto-ostracism by the U.S., expect to see a stream of pieces, such as this one, extolling Israel's value as a friend of the U.S.]

Sensible commentary on the Libyan intervention and the fall of Qadhafi

2011-10-30T23:15:00.002-04:00

Professors Haider Ala Hamoudi and Abbas Kadhim named Senior Fellows of the Institute for Iraqi Studies

2011-10-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

For the biographical details and publication information, see this link. http://www.bu.edu/iis/non-resident-fellows-2/

Libyan Victory Lends Momentum to Syrian Rebellion in Idlib: "Congratulations Libya: Soon in Syria"

2011-10-24T08:08:00.003-04:00

October 21, 2011

Fellowship Opportunities for Iraq-based scholars at the Boston University Institute for Iraqi Studies

2011-10-22T09:57:00.000-04:00

Civill-Military Relations in the Middle East, ed. by Carsten Jensen

2011-10-22T00:08:00.000-04:00

Includes:

"The Study of Civil-Military Relations and Civil-Society in the Middle East and
North Africa" by Augustus Richard Norton and Ali Alfone

Useful Primer for the Tunisian Election

2011-10-19T23:07:00.001-04:00

The Nation on the Arab Spring

2011-10-06T09:01:00.001-04:00

Pornography of Terror: Thoughtful piece by Chris Dickey with insights from Brian Jenkins (who is almost always sensible)

2011-10-02T10:22:00.000-04:00

An end to Oslo?

2011-09-27T13:48:00.000-04:00

Another fielding error by Dennis Ross

2011-09-23T12:00:00.004-04:00

Writing in the Boston Globe, Juliette Krayem argues that a "blunder" by Dennis Ross and David Hale helped convince Mahmoud 'Abbas and his advisors to proceed with their UN initiative. In a letter handed to the PA leader he was urged to take into account the massive increase in Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

"According to Abbas’s advisers, a letter given to the Palestinian leader was the final straw. The letter has not been publicly disclosed by either party, but Arab media and commentators have zeroed in on a single reported sentence. In pushing for direct negotiations with Israel as an alternative to seeking UN recognition, the letter argued that the Palestinians need to consider Israel’s rightful security needs, as well as “demographic changes’’ that have occurred since the war in 1967."

Perhaps Krayem is writing sardonically when she describe the phrasing as a surprising blunder. After all, one of the Dennis Ross' talents has been to channel the Israeli narrative. He is aptly described in a Times interview as an "ardent supporter of Israel" and his penchant for coddling Israel is hardly a secret.

"It’s a surprising blunder for a man with Ross’s decades of experience in trying to close the deal on the peace process."

Krayem concludes with a call for "demographic change" in the U.S. diplomatic team.

"But whatever the outcome of the wrangling at the United Nations, the whole contretemps has served to weaken the United States in the Arab world. That is why Americans deserve to hear from their own envoys, Ross and Hale, about why their meeting with Abbas went so badly awry, so that everyone can judge what happened and make the necessary “demographic’’ changes to produce a new generation of American envoys."

Head of the main pro-Israel think-tank in Washington generously approves Obama's UN speech.

2011-09-22T13:02:00.001-04:00

"Instead, with no discussion of Israeli settlement activity, building in Jerusalem, or the difficulties of Palestinian movement through checkpoints, Obama limited himself to one side of the story. In essence, the punishment meted out to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for rejecting Washington's request to shelve his UN gambit was that Obama came to New York as Israel's ally, not as an impartial mediator of peace diplomacy."

Is there a credible alternative for the Palestinians?

2011-09-22T12:47:00.001-04:00

Obama at AIPAC, May 2011:

"Just as the context has changed in the Middle East, so too has it been changing in the international community over the last several years. There is a reason why the Palestinians are pursuing their interests at the United Nations. They recognize that there is an impatience with the peace process – or the absence of one. Not just in the Arab World, but in Latin America, in Europe, and in Asia. That impatience is growing, and is already manifesting itself in capitols around the world.

"These are the facts. I firmly believe, and repeated on Thursday, that peace cannot be imposed on the parties to the conflict. No vote at the United Nations will ever create an independent Palestinian state. And the United States will stand up against efforts to single Israel out at the UN or in any international forum. Because Israel’s legitimacy is not a matter for debate.

"Moreover, we know that peace demands a partner – which is why I said that Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with Palestinians who do not recognize its right to exist, and we will hold the Palestinians accountable for their actions and their rhetoric.

"But the march to isolate Israel internationally – and the impulse of the Palestinians to abandon negotiations – will continue to gain momentum in the absence of a credible peace process and alternative. For us to have leverage with the Palestinians, with the Arab States, and with the international community, the basis for negotiations has to hold out the prospect of success."

Veto?

2011-09-21T09:42:00.002-04:00

The so-called "peace process" had ground to a halt. The White House was diverted by other issues, for instance the sputtering U.S. economy, Libya, Afghanistan to name a few. The principal US officials still involved processing peace, not least the affable but ineffectual Dennis Ross, were occasionally trying to bunt their way to first base, but they typically struck out.

Now the Palestinian initiative at the UN has jarred the US into action, but what is the Obama White House doing other than corroborating its diplomatic isolation with Israel? The prospect of the US casting a veto to thwart a step that will likely increase pressure on Israel to negotiate responsibly is a stunning paradox, especially at the time when Israel is led by a government that has demonstrated little, if any commitment to a feasible two-state solution. The US is using its sharp diplomatic elbows to deter support for the Palestine initiative, but there is no evidence that the US is doing much poking in Israel.

Of course, there is an attempt to deter Mahmoud Abbas with a statement by the Quartet, but that statement, at least as presently drafted, it is deeply flawed and it is unlikely to win Palestinian assent.

US and Israeli interests are not identical, and it is worrying that that simple reality is contentious in Washington. Given the wider US interests in the Middle East, especially considering the momentous political upheavals in the Middle East, it will be very damaging for the U.S. to cast a veto, which is why Obama and Co. are trying to kill the issue before it gets to the UNSC. What the US should be working to attain is a context in which the issue of Palestinian membership in the UN is met by a US abstention rather than a veto.

Turki al-Faisal is one of the most outspoken Saudi royals but his NYT Oped is astounding not just in its blunt tone, but also its patent exasperation with U.S. policy

2011-09-12T10:42:00.000-04:00

Eric Davis ruminates on the rise of the Tea Party and its members' facile understanding of the Middle East

2011-09-12T00:30:00.000-04:00

Stephen Kinzer in the New York Review of Books on Turkey, Erdogan's recent electoral triumph and the mood of unease in the country

2011-09-12T00:23:00.000-04:00

Kinzer is a colleague at Boston University and he will be presenting the Campagna-Kerven Lecture in April 2012. Check here periodically for news about the lecture.

August 22, 2011: Tripoli Falls

2011-08-22T00:02:00.001-04:00

Some questions remain, including whether there will be pockets of resistance in the capital, as well as the fate of Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi, but the self-styled "jamahiriyya" is now history. In Egypt, bloated state institutions weathered the end of the Mubarak regime. One has to wonder when Libyan institutions which were kept weak by design (the army included), will have the capacity to meet the challenges of building a new state.

[First pictures of the Tripoli residents' celebrations upon the arrival of the first revolutionaries to Green Square (now-renamed Maidan al-Shuhada/Martyrs' Square].

The sudden fall of Tripoli is a reminder that once regime loyalists understand that they will never prevail, the denouement is reached far more quickly than expected because defections occur in cascades. Who, after all, wants to be the last denizen of a toppled regime?

Al-Jazeera Documentary: Shouting in the Dark (shown in August several times on the English al-Jazeera but not the Arabic station).

2011-08-10T10:10:00.001-04:00

Scheduled rebroadcasts have been pulled without explanation; however, the complete documentary is on Facebook. See the NYTimes coverage, and also see Religion and Politics in Bahrain.

The potentate's response: "Slander and lies". You judge.

"Attention: you are in Baniyas, not in Israel. Down with the system!"

2011-08-08T02:38:00.003-04:00

A succinct and valuable summary of the situation in Bahrain.

2011-08-04T13:39:00.002-04:00

The Prisoner: testifying to the immensity of what has happened in Egypt.

2011-08-03T09:54:00.000-04:00

James Carroll reflects on the Palestinian's U.N. gambit and the opportunity that it offers to Israel and to the U.S. to accept the obvious

2011-07-24T17:29:00.000-04:00

Egypt's military seeks to institutionalize its independent status and privilege. In effect, the generals are moving to explicitly specify that the military is not subordinate to civilian authority.

2011-07-24T16:44:00.001-04:00

As I noted here months ago, the generals were unlikely to accept any reforms that abridge their privileges or subordinate the military to civilian control. The toppling of Husni Mubarak was an incredible feat, but the military's influence on Egyptian politics remains a constant. The difference is that much of its influence was exercised behind the curtains in the past, but now the military's controlling hand is more visible. This may represent progress on the path of reform, but it is well short of the revolution that young Egyptians hope to achieve.

Henry Siegman is an articulate advocate of a two-state solution for Israel/Palestine. His nuanced knowledge of the issues, including the finer points of U.S. diplomacy is unrivalled. In this piece he addresses Elliott Abrams dismissal of a joint letter addressed to the President that advocates a two-state solution, a more assertive U.S. role and the articulation by the U.S. of a framework for settlement.

2011-07-20T19:02:00.000-04:00

Text of the January 24 letter referred to in the article, and a link to the Abrams article that Seigman eviscerates. Readers will recall that Abrams served in the George W. Bush NSC as a senior Middle East staffer, and informally as self-appointed protector and advocate for Israel.

Joseph Collins has been observing Afghanistan for 30 years.

2011-07-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

Download his new primer for free. Collins, who was a colleague on the Social Sciences faculty at West Point, is balanced, informed and lucid.

Bahraini spokesman offers more poppycock, a specialty of the potentate

2011-07-19T13:00:00.000-04:00

Since February 14th, when the opposition demonstrations in Bahrain began, the government has insisted that the opposition is a tool of Iran. There is no credible evidence that Iran played a significant role in organizing, funding or facilitating the demonstrations (and it is noteworthy that U.S. government officials expressed doubts about Bahraini claims). Now the fanciful Fahad Ebrahim Shehabi, a spokesman for the Parliament, insists that Wefaq withdrew from the "dialogue" following the guidance of 'Ali Khamenei, the Iranian leader. This is poppycock.

The Wefaq withdrawal reflects the fact that the dialogue cannot and does not permit the opposition's demands to be seriously addressed.

IGRC Commander Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari leaves little doubt about the Pasdaran's view toward reformist voices, including former President Khatami

2011-07-08T12:10:00.000-04:00

In the interview, Jafari -- appointed to his post by the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei -- took it upon himself to outline the conditions he would set for the return to politics of reformists -- including former President Mohammad Khatami, who was elected to office twice with more than 70% of the popular vote.
"Members of the reformist camp who have not crossed the red lines can naturally participate in political campaigns," he said. "However, Mr. Khatami's success in his activities depends on his stances. Mr. Khatami did not pass his test successfully during the sedition incident and he showed a lot of support for the sedition leaders."

Persian link.

US National debt is in excess of $14 trillion. So consider that the Cost of War project finds that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will end up costing $4,000,000, 000,000 (four trillion).

2011-07-08T08:32:00.001-04:00

Project web page offers analyses of economic, human and political costs of these wars. Or download the executive summary, or the constituent papers.

Just as the broader Arab world is in the midst of an extraordinary time of transition, Palestinians living under occupation sense that the techtonic plates of history are moving. Adam Shatz offers thoughtful essay about the shifts in strategy and practice that he encountered in a recent visit to the West Bank.

2011-07-07T17:21:00.000-04:00

Shatz discovers pockets of creative thinking, and quite a lot of skepticism about the two-state mantra even as the PA aims to gain United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state (the quest for which may be more valuable before the fact rather than afterwards). A few excerpts follow, but the essay (which runs 19 pp.) deserves a full reading:

"[On the security apparatus established by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad with lots of help from the U.S. and to the satisfaction of Israel:] It is an extraordinary arrangement: the security forces of a country under occupation are being subcontracted by third parties outside the region to prevent resistance to the occupying power, even as that power continues to grab more land. This is, not surprisingly, a source of considerable anger and shame in the West Bank. The question is whether Palestinians will grow exasperated enough to confront the Sulta."

.........

"[On the al-Nakba demonstrations of May 15, 2011:] The PA had no part at all in the main event of the day: an unprecedented march to the border by thousands of Palestinians in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Occupied Territories, co-ordinated by activists on Facebook and Twitter. At least a dozen people were killed by Israeli soldiers, but more than a hundred succeeded in crossing into the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan, including a 28-year-old man called Hassan Hijazi, who made it all the way to Jaffa, his ancestral city, travelling there on a bus with Israeli soldiers who had no idea they were sitting next to a ‘security threat’; he turned himself in to the Israeli police after visiting his grandparents’ house. A spectacular enactment of the drama of return, shown live on TV news broadcasts, the crossings electrified people in the West Bank. ‘For 63 years, Israel has tried to un-nation us, to turn us into West Bankers, Gazans, East Jerusalem residents, “Israeli Arabs” and refugees, but on Nakba day we were united,’ Husam Zomlot said."

..........

"Palestinians inside Israel, like Palestinians in the West Bank, are learning the effectiveness of mass, non-violent mobilisation; young people in particular are starting to communicate with people in the Occupied Territories and in neighbouring Arab countries, using Facebook and Twitter to organise themselves. People who a few years ago were admirers of Sheikh Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, are now saying that they ‘don’t need his rhetoric of resistance because they have discovered their own power and their own voice’."

The plates of U.S. policy in the Middle East are beginning to shift as well. Zvi Ba'rel ruminates on the possibility that the U.S. may soon be talking to Hamas. Recall that since the Hamas electoral victory of 2006 the U.S. has devoted considerable diplomatic, financial and military energy to marginalizing Hamas. The effort has failed profoundly, as demonstrated by the steps toward PA-Hamas reunification, steps made possible by the toppling of Husni Mubarak.

Also of note: a report by the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams that reportedly addresses the violent Israeli response to the May 15, 2011, al-Nakba demonstrations. The report was distributed early this week by Ban K. Moon, the Secretary-General, to the members of the Security Council. Williams notes that on the Israel-Lebanon border 7 unarmed demonstrators were killed by the Israeli army and 111 were wounded. The demonstrators were attempting to cross the border. Israeli soldiers shot the demonstators on Lebanese soil, it should be added. Special Coordinator Williams is appropriately critical of Israel's excessive use of violence. I have not yet been able to get a complete copy of the report. When I have a copy, I will post it here. Israeli officials are in a tizzy about the chutzpah of the U.N. official that he would use the most "the moral army in the world" of using unnecessary deadly violence as opposed to non-lethal crowd control measures.

Amnesty International details Syrian abuses in a town bordering Lebanon

2011-07-06T12:44:00.000-04:00

"The brutal methods used in a devastating Syrian security operation in the western town of Tell Kalakh may constitute crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said today in a new report.
"Crackdown in Syria: Terror in Tell Kalakh documents deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention that took place in May when Syrian army and security forces mounted a broad security sweep, lasting less than a week, against residents of the town near the Lebanese border."

PDF download of full report.

Fort Bragg accused of pro-evangelical bias in hosting fall 2010 concert

2011-07-06T10:26:00.000-04:00

Evangelical Christians have been a rising presence in the military for several decades. One effect of this sociological fact is that the public promotion of particular religious values has been increasingly common. In this instance, an atheist group wishing to host a rival concert complains of bias.

This earlier post on the rising profile of evangelical Christians in the officer corps is relevant.

Very useful piece on Hatay (Alexandretta), where 11,000 Syrians have taken refuge

2011-07-05T23:00:00.000-04:00

Egypt's Christian minority after the Imbaba clashes

2011-07-02T11:00:00.003-04:00

This essay in the NY Review of Books offers a good sampling of Coptic concerns about the rising profile of Egyptian Islamist groups, including Salafists, as well as efforts by the Ikhwan to mitigate those concerns.

However, there is one error in the piece by Yasmine el-Rashidi, namely that the author asserts that Rafiq Habib, the Christian intellectual who was an original member of Hizb al-Wasat and is now aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, is challenging his father, the Bishop Samuel Habib.

She writes: "Many say Habib likes to provoke his father, a conservative Christian preacher."

This cannot be so, on this plane of existence at least, because Samuel Habib died in 1997. I interviewed the elder Habib in the 1990s.

Excerpts from my interview with the younger Habib appear in my contribution to Remaking Muslim Politics. The contents of the chapter are found here.

Democracy--Afghan style

2011-06-28T11:27:00.002-04:00

2009 edition of Hezbollah: A Short History: available in softcover or ebook

2011-06-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Carter reading Hezbollah.

With a new afterword by the author.

Sony Ebook.

"Best recent study on Hezbollah"--Fareed Zakaria (Newsweek). "Norton has pulled off a noteworthy feat by producing an accessible yet nuanced study of Hizbollah--a rare achievement in academic research."—Melani Cammett (MESA Bulletin). "[T]he most authoritative, up-to-date analysis of this enigmantic group....Piquant anecdotes and richly textured details make the book enjoyable reading."--Kristian P. Alexander (Middle East Policy). "A series of related essays, each concise and provocative, this is an excellent introduction for the novice."--Joel Gordon (Journal of Military History). “A cogent analysis of [Hezbollah's] emergence and impact on Lebanese politics”—Sheldon Kirsher (Canadian Jewish News). "Norton deserves praise for writing an insightful and multilayered work accessible to a wide...readership."—Rula Abisaab (Journal of Palestine Studies). "...thorough study of Hezbollah, updated with a new afterword in 2008, retraces Hezbollah’s history, from its emergence to its recent struggle against Israel in 2006."—Lina Zuhour (Arab Reform Initiative). "For first time readers on Lebanon and Hizbullah I highly recommend..."—Sami Hermez (International Journal of Middle East Studies). “This short, authoritative book, based on first-hand experience, efficiently analyses [Hezbollah's] status"—Iain Fianalayson (The Times). "America's leading scholar on Hezbollah"—Joshua M. Landis. “Highly informative, jargon-free book...An objective account of the genesis and development of Hezbollah....Highly recommended.”—N. Entessar (Choice). “A good, concise survey by a perceptive student of the Lebanese Shia”—David Gardner (Financial Times). “Thorough, articulate portrait of Hezbollah”—Publishers Weekly. “Norton's timely Hezbollah chronicles that dramatic evolution and its sweeping implications for the region and beyond”—Jonathan Finer (Washington Post Book World). "Everyone who wants to understand the complexities of the Middle East . . . should read this book”—Bruce Elder (Sydney Morning Herald). “Recommended”—Harvard Bookstore. “Norton elucidates . . . domestic and international complexities in Hezbollah”—Allen McDuffee (In These Times). "He ends on a tentative note, voicing hope that Hezbollah will play a "constructive" role in Lebanon. One can only hope he's right."—David Rosenberg (Bloomberg News). “Short personal anecdotes from his time in Lebanon add both color and authority to the book”—Beryl C.D. Lipton (Harvard Crimson). “An excellent summary that ends with a dramatic question: ‘What next?’"—Kail C. Ellis (Middle East Journal). "An excellent primer"—(The Colby File). "Most fluent survey of Hezbollah to date_covers the Lebanese resistance group from its inception to the current Lebanese political crisis”—Margeret Hall (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs). : “In an easily read, easily comprehended book, Norton traces the origins and history of Hezbollah”—Suzi Brozman (Atlanta Jewish Times) “The many complex and often changing dimensions of Hezbollah are presented in the book in a clear, concise manner”—Rami G. Khouri (Daily Star). "Suggested reading"--(NPR). "There is no better person to address these questions…than Norton, who has been studying Lebanon, and especially the Lebanese Shiites, for longer than Hezbollah has been in existence. He offers here a brisk and balanced history"—L. Carl Brown (Foreign Affairs).

Kindle version.

Graham Fuller on Saudi reaction

2011-06-11T22:31:00.000-04:00

Formula One race is now OFF in Bahrain: due recompense for brutality

2011-06-11T00:09:00.001-04:00

This is a small victory that stems in part from the reaction of the teams that were not enthusiastic about racing in Bahrain, esp. in light of the oppressive and punitive regime response to legitimate demonstrations. Every person who joined the clamor of disapproval that met the decision of the F1 authorities to allow the race to go forward in October deserves credit as well. (See my earlier posts.)

Alain Gresh on the Palestine Spring

2011-06-07T09:17:00.000-04:00

Bahrain and F1

2011-06-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

News reports indicate that Bahrain paid a $40 million fee to the organizers.

According to the Formula One's World Motor Sport Council, "the recent announcement by the King of Bahrain has established a political dialogue and reconciliation process." This claim is included in the announcement that the Formula One race, originally scheduled for February will be run in October.

The Independent notes:

"The FIA does not mention that a quarter of the staff of the Bahrain International Circuit, which hosts the event, have been detained and given graphic details of being beaten and tortured. Some 28 of them have been sacked or suspended and at least five are still in prison. Others have fled Bahrain."

Is the Potentate of Bahrain a suitable host of a Formula One race? Human Rights First says no. I agree.

2011-06-03T09:21:00.002-04:00

Formula One racing has reportedly agreed to permit Bahrain to host a race later this year. The event was to be in February, but was rescheduled due to the protests. Some racing teams apparently will boycott the event.

I think that many online petitions are a waste of time, but this is one instance in which a large number of "signers" might deter both racers and advertizers from participating in the Bahrain event. The petition is directed toward Red Bull, which sponsors an F1 team. [Added: Red Bull is also sponsoring a drift competition in Bahrain in June.]

Human Rights Watch on Crimes against Humanity in Syria

2011-06-02T07:51:00.003-04:00

The report may be downloaded in full (for free) in English. The Summary and Conclusions are available in Arabic.

[Added: Hamza Ali el-Khatib is the 14-year old whose savage murder has enflamed anger against the Syrian regime. Links to relevant social media may be found here.]

Sensible advice on the need for a more assertive U.S. in bringing Israelis and Palestinians closer to agreement

2011-06-02T07:44:00.003-04:00

January 24, 2011

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We write to you in light of the breakdown of Middle East peace talks following your most recent efforts to get the parties to resume negotiations for a two-state accord.

We believe this latest impasse once again confirms the impossibility of getting the parties to reach an agreement on their own. Left to their own devices, it is the vast disparity of power between the two parties rather than international law and fairness that will continue to prevail. The experience of these past two years has surely not suggested any other possible outcome.

What is widely perceived as a terminal failure of US Middle East peace diplomacy has left a vacuum that threatens to deepen the State of Israel’s isolation, undermine Palestinian moderation, and endanger American interests in the region and beyond. That vacuum is beginning to be filled by new international initiatives that increase Israelis’ sense of existential threat from what they perceive to be a global movement that seeks their country’s delegitimization.

But it is not the State of Israel within its 1967 borders that is being challenged. It is Israel’s occupation, the relentless enlargement of its settlements, its dispossession of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and the humanitarian disaster caused by its blockade of Gaza that are the target of international anger and condemnation.

We strongly support America’s commitment to Israel’s security, but that commitment cannot justify obstruction of legitimate international efforts in the Security Council and in other international institutions to halt illegal behavior that the US itself has long opposed.

It has been said that terms for a peace accord cannot be imposed on the parties. But surely the United States can declare the principles that will henceforth determine what this country will support and what it cannot and will not support. The declaration would serve to let friends and foes throughout the world know that America remains faithful to the principles and values that you so eloquently articulated in your address in Cairo.

What we believe should be the major features of such a statement of US policy was described in two previous letters to you of November 6, 2008, and April 30, 2010, to which many of us were signatories. We have reviewed them in the light of current developments and have attached suggested formulations which we believe are balanced, equitable and likely to be effective in finding the answers to key differences among the parties on the central questions. If US parameters are rejected by Israel or by the Palestinian Authority (or by both) as the framework for a permanent status agreement, they should be submitted for adoption by theUN Security Council.

We are persuaded that a clear statement reflecting longstanding American principles would influence the debate within Israeli and Palestinian societies far more consequentially and constructively than a renewal of the unproductive bilateral talks that have taken place to date. Such a statement would also help diminish Iranian influence in the region, improve Israel’s security, and reduce the risk of a military conflict with Iran.

Because of our long and unique history of deep friendship with the state and people of Israel, only our country has the ability to help bring this conflict to a close. Only the US can provide the parties with the credible security assurances they will need to make compromises in their positions that a peace treaty will require. No other country can do that. Therefore, if we do not put forward a clear framework for a fair and workable two-state solution to the conflict, the peace process will in effect have been abandoned, for all other approaches have been tried—over and over again—and have failed.

This abandonment will inevitably return Israelis and Palestinians to the cycle of recurring conflicts of ever-escalating violence that has marked the Israeli-Palestinian relationship, into which other destructive forces in the region will be drawn, and into which we will inescapably be drawn as well.

We understand, Mr. President, that the initiative we propose you take to end the suffering and statelessness of the Palestinian people and efforts to undermine Israel’s legitimacy is not without political risks. But we believe that if the American people are fully informed by their President of the likely consequences of an abandonment of US leadership in a part of the world so critical to this country’s national security and to the safety of our military personnel in the region, he will have their support.

David L. Boren, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank C. Carlucci, William J. Fallon, Chuck Hagel, Lee H. Hamilton, Gary Hart, Rita E. Hauser, Carla Hills, Nancy Kassebaum-Baker, Sandra Day O’Connor, Thomas R. Pickering, Paul Volcker, James D. Wolfensohn

PROPOSED FRAMEWORK FOR A PERMANENT STATUS ACCORD

1. The US will oppose any effort to challenge or undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel within internationally recognized borders.

2. The US will work for the establishment of a sovereign and viable Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, subject only to agreed, minor and equal land swaps to take into account areas adjoining the former Green Line heavily populated by Israelis. Unilateral changes to the 1967 borders will not be accordedUS recognition or legitimacy.

3. The US will support a solution to the refugee problem that is consistent with the principle of two states for two peoples and addresses the Palestinian refugees’ sense of injustice, providing them with meaningful opportunities for resettlement and financial compensation. Proposals that undercut the principle of two states for two peoples—such as proposals for unlimited entry of Palestinian refugees into the State of Israel—will be opposed by the US.

4. The US believes both states must enjoy strong security guarantees. In this context, the US will support the establishment of a nonmilitarized Palestinian state together with security mechanisms that address legitimate Israeli concerns while respecting Palestinian sovereignty. The US will support the presence of a US-led multinational force to oversee security provisions and border crossings.

5. The US believes that Jerusalem should be home to both states’ capitals, with Jewish neighborhoods falling under Israeli sovereignty and Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian sovereignty. Arrangements should be arrived at between the parties regarding the Old City that provide for each side respectively to control its holy places and to have unimpeded access by each community to them.

6. The US will encourage the reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas on terms compatible with these principles and UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338.

Emile Nakhleh's seminal study of political development in Bahrain has been republished with a new and substantive preface.

2011-05-17T12:22:00.003-04:00

Highly recommended.

"Contrary to Saudi and Bahraini government claims, calls for reform are not a Shia thing or a recipe for sectarianism. Media reports indicate the sectarianism argument has been pushed by the Saudi and Bahraini leadership in order to justify their actions against Bahraini peaceful protesters. Many Bahrainis view the main goal of the Saudi presence in the country is to persecute the Shia community and silence all opposition voices.
"The three key ingredients of the envisioned compromise involve a return to the 1973 constitution, a re-establishment of a popularly elected national Assembly, which the king’s father dissolved in 1975, and dissolving the current government, which has been headed by the king’s uncle, Shaykh Khalifa, since independence in 1971. The prime minister is perhaps the most disliked senior member of Al Khalifa because of perceived corruption, nepotism, and repression, according to academic analysis and media reports. Many Bahrainis also view him as a staunch opponent to reform within the ruling family. The opposition movement maintains that implementing these demands will lead to transparent and accountable government, a just distribution of wealth, recognition of freedoms of speech, assembly, and the press, and an independent judiciary."

ELif Shafak's 2011 Campagna-Kerven Lecture: streaming video

2011-05-14T12:21:00.001-04:00

CK Website.

Watch this video on YouTube

Bashar al-Asad, December 2010--irony intended

2011-05-12T00:41:00.000-04:00

Remarks in Damascus to visiting faculty and students from Univ. of California-Berkeley:

“I do not know if people would call me a dictator,” Assad said, when asked to comment on his
leadership style. “Go out into the streets and ask the people if I am their dictator."

“I appreciate different points of view in my government,” he said, in response to an inquiry about his early push for progressive reform in Syria, a push that came to a curious halt a number of years ago. The question suggested that perhaps Assad is contending with beneficiaries of the status quo. “I’m concerned with how to bring the whole society to the [political] middle or left,” he said. “And yes, not everyone agrees with me.”

Bahrain: Choking Dissent

2011-05-05T10:49:00.001-04:00

The Campagna-Kerven Lecture Series on Modern Turkey

2011-05-03T10:39:00.002-04:00

The lecture ~~is today,~~ [was] May 3, 2011. The speaker is Elif Shafak, the renowned novelist.

Facebook page for the lecture.

Also noteworthy for readers who care about and follow Turkey, BU colleague Jenny White's Kamil Pasha receives a well-deserved plug. White's blog, cited here periodically, provides well-crafted insight into Turkish culture, society and politics.

Ryan C. Crocker will be the next U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan

2011-04-27T14:21:00.001-04:00

No living U.S. diplomat can rival Ryan Crocker's record for service in difficult posts, often at the most trying an dangerous times. His posts have included Afghanistan (one prior assignment), Iran, Iraq (three times, once as the ambassador), Kuwait (as ambassador), Lebanon (twice, once as ambassador), Pakistan (as ambassador), and Syria (as ambassador).

Last autumn he delivered the inaugural lecture for the Boston University Institute for Iraqi Studies. Here is the link to the video.

Reminder: The Campagna-Kerven Lecture on Modern Turkey featuring Elif Shafak is May 3 at 4:30 P.M.

2011-04-27T09:46:00.000-04:00

Or on Facebook.

Strongly Recommended: Sara Roy's new book on "Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza"

2011-04-27T09:41:00.002-04:00

Roy's book is the latest volume in the "Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics" that I co-edit with Dale F. Eickelman.

Egyptians' negative views of the U.S. "reward" longstanding U.S. fixation on stability at the expense of reform; negative attitudes on peace with Israel are no surprise to anyone who knows Egypt

2011-04-26T07:53:00.000-04:00

Download results.

From Washington Post

More poppycock from the Bahraini potentate

2011-04-24T17:24:00.000-04:00

"Today we are trying very hard to improve the process of reform and rectify those problems that have arisen along the way. Sectarian divide has created a schism in our society that is a major challenge. As monarch of all Bahrainis, it pains me to see many harmed by the actions of a few. And yet I am optimistic and have faith in our people. We all realize that now is the time to strike a balance between stability and gradual reform, always adhering to the universal values of human rights, free expression and religious tolerance. I am confident that we can strike this balance in cooperation with our long-time friend and ally, the United States, producing an outcome that will preserve the aspirations of our young democracy in transition."

We must wonder how "pained" the potentate was upon learning fo the death of Mr. al-Fakhrawi:
" ‘Abdel-Karim al-Fakhrawi, a 49-year-old businessman and member of al-Wefaq, the largest Shi’a political association, died in police custody on 12 April. According to reports, his body bore marks of torture but the authorities have attributed his death to kidney failure." Amnesty International

This photo and others may be found on Demotix.

Amnesty International Briefing Paper on Bahrain: "A Human Rights Crisis"

2011-04-24T17:00:00.002-04:00

Arabic, Spanish and French pages are also available.

Excerpts:

The State of National Safety

Since 15 March Bahrain has been under a State of National Safety. This was initially imposed for three months but it may be prolonged with the approval of the National Council. Using its powers under the SNS, the government imposed a curfew in certain areas, initially from 4pm until 4am but now reduced to apply during the hours from 11 pm to 4am. The provisions of the SNS are broadly drawn and vague, and it contains no explicit human rights guarantees. It equips the armed and security forces with sweeping powers, which allow them to ban all public gatherings that are deemed harmful to national security; to prohibit individuals from travelling outside Bahrain if this is held to be in the public interest; and to conduct searches of places and people suspected of transgressing the SNS provisions; to summarily deport foreign nationals considered to pose a threat to national security. The SNS also allows the authorities to close down NGOs, trade unions, social clubs and political associations if they are deemed to have carried out activities considered harmful to national security, including “collaborating” with a foreign state. Further, any publication or broadcast containing information harmful to national security or that questions the political, economic and social systems of Bahrain are to be seized or confiscated.

In addition to these powers, the SNS provides that the armed and security forces may arrest anyone deemed to pose a threat to national security and to strip any Bahraini deemed to pose such threat of their Bahraini nationality and detain or expel them from the country. The SNS established a special court and appeal court – the National Safety Court of First Instance and the National Safety Appeal Court - to try people accused of transgressing the law; the courts are to conduct their procedures in accordance with the provisions contained in Bahraini statute law in relation to investigation, evidence, the conduct of court proceedings and the announcement of verdicts but there is nothing said about human rights safeguards for detainees held under the SNS, including how long they can be detained in pre-trial detention. The final verdicts of these special courts cannot be appealed against in Bahrain’s ordinary courts.
..................

Torture and other ill-treatment and deaths in custody

The renewed crackdown and arrests of opposition activists has been accompanied by an alarming increase in reports of torture and other ill-treatment of people detained in connection with the protests. Methods of torture have included punching with fists, kicking with boots, beatings with wooden batons and in some cases, the use of electric shocks were applied. Hamid Sayyid (real name withheld), a 31-year-old man from a Shi’a village who was detained at the Salmaniya Medical Complex at the end of March, after his release told Amnesty International:

“… 10 people dressed in police and army clothes entered the nursing room while I was alone in the room and beat and kicked me. Immediately after they took me to the police station in the …. village without explaining why they were taking me. Once there they put me in the middle of a room, blindfolded, and several men, I don't know how many, beat me and applied electric shocks on both legs. It hurt so much that after they applied the first shock I fell on the floor because I could not feel my legs. Once on the floor they beat me and kicked me on my head and body. They beat me so hard that I still cannot see from one of my eyes now. They pulled me and repeated the same procedure [electric shock on the leg] two more times. While they were beating me, they insulted me. They told me to confess that the medical workers were hiding weapons in the ambulances and that I took weapons and hid them in the ceiling of the hospital. I said I did not know anything and they kept on beating me. They continued for 30 minutes. They left me on the floor, after maybe 30 minutes a police officer came back and told me that if anyone asked me about the marks I had to say I fell down. Another police officer, higher rank, came in the room, saw me on the floor and I heard him asking the others what had happened and what was all that blood; I heard the others saying they did not know. He took me to a room, gave me water and asked me how many times I had been in the roundabout, I remained silent. Then he let me go and told me not to say I was beaten….”

At least four detainees are known to have died in custody in suspicious circumstances. Hassan Jassem Mohammad Mekki, aged 39, a married man with children from Karzakan, was arrested from his house in the early hours of 28 March. He was initially held in a police station in Hamad Town then transferred to the CID on 29 March. On 3 April the CID contacted his family and asked them to go the Salmaniya Medical Complex. Two of his brothers and his father did so and when they arrived military officers took them to the morgue. They uncovered the head of deceased person lying there and asked the family if they could confirm that the body was that of Hassan. The father and Hassan’s two brothers were in a state of shock but confirmed that it was Hassan. The father was then made to sign a death certificate; it was dated 3 April and gives the cause of death as “heart failure”. No autopsy is known to have been conducted by the authorities in order to arrive at this determination of the cause of death. The body was then taken to the family home in Karzakan for burial; when it was fully uncovered to be washed prior to burial the family reportedly saw marks of beatings and bruises on the neck, legs and the head. However, they are said not to have asked the authorities about these injuries and how they were sustained not to have submitted any complaint for fear of possible repercussions by the security forces.

‘Abdel-Karim al-Fakhrawi, a 49-year-old businessman and member of al-Wefaq, the largest Shi’a political association, died in police custody on 12 April. According to reports, his body bore marks of torture but the authorities have attributed his death to kidney failure.

‘Ali ‘Issa Ibrahim al-Saqer was reported to have died in custody by the Ministry if Interior on 9 April. He had been arrested six days earlier in Hamad Town after he reportedly went to a police station after being summoned to appear in connection with investigations into the killing of a police officer during the March protests. The Ministry said ‘Ali ‘Issa Ibrahim al-Saqer had died in custody while being restrained by police. His body, when returned to his family for burial, is said to have had visible marks suggesting that he may have been tortured. No autopsy or formal investigation into his death is known to have been held to date.

The Interior Ministry also announced the death in custody of a fourth detainee, Zakaraya Rasheed Hassan al-‘Asheri, on 9 April. He was said to have been arrested from his home in al-Dair on 2 April. The Ministry attributed his death to ill-health but in his case too at burial his body is reported to have borne marks indicating that he may have been tortured.

Torture and ill-treatment are prohibited in international human rights treaties such as the UN Convention against Torture, also ratified by Bahrain, and the ICCPR. Bahraini legislation too bans the use of torture. Amnesty International is calling on the Bahraini government to immediately establish an independent and impartial investigation into the deaths in custody that have occurred and into all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, and to being to justice any members of the military and security forces or other officials, however senior, who are responsible for torture or other abuse of detainees.

Bahrain: Physicans for Human Rights publish carefully documented report revealing systematic attacks against medical personnel, among many troubling findings

2011-04-23T23:15:00.001-04:00

April 22, 2011 Report: Do No Harm: a Call for Bahrain to End Systematic attacks on Doctors and Patient

Missing medical personnel.

Bahrain's Ambassador to the U.S. should read the report.

UAE moves against respected Jurist Association after it calls for political reforms in a mild petition

2011-04-23T23:00:00.000-04:00

Witch hunts in Bahrain continue

2011-04-21T10:18:00.001-04:00

I will have more to say about this later.

Also see this article summarizing retributive attacks by the Bahraini government. http://pubrecord.org/world/9274/bahrain-do-no-harm/

Syria

2011-04-18T23:29:00.001-04:00

My comment from April 15:

Bashar al-Asad and many Syria watchers share a fixed notion : Syrians prefer order to chaos and the strong arm of the regime has a firm grip on Syrian society.

There are elements of truth to this notion; however, the currents of change roiling the region are proving irresistible. Dignity (karama) and freedom (hurriya) have been denied for years in Syria, as in so many other Arab states, and now it both in sight. Equally important, the regime may have drawn blood but now people see in Tunis, Cairo and Benghazi that change is truly possible.

The 'Alawi who hold the reins of power in Syria may account for 10 or 11 percent of the population (and there are divisions within the 'Alawi community as well), so the challenge is for the regime to build alliances in wider society and to do that there much be compromise and change. Will the regime succeed in loosening its grip yet keeping the reins? We'll see.

As in so many Arab states, toppling the sitting regime may be more feasible than quickly constructing a participant, peaceful society. We should not presume that places like Syria are simmering cauldrons of inter-sectarian hatred, but much depends on how the process of change is managed and how wise the ruling autocrats can be. If they are certifiably stupid, as we are seeing in Bahrain, then hold on to your seats, but the Syrian may prove less bent on instilling hatred than their Gulf colleagues.

Curtailed academic freedom in Abu Dhabi

2011-04-18T12:21:00.000-04:00

April 17, 2011

Lecturer's Arrest in the Emirates Stirs Debate Over Academic Freedom in the Middle East

By David L. Wheeler

The recent detention of a Sorbonne lecturer in the United Arab Emirates has rekindled the debate over the nature of academic freedom at Western institutions in the Persian Gulf region and the political impact those institutions, especially the high-profile new campus of New York University in Abu Dhabi, will have.

The arrest of Nasser bin Ghaith, a lecturer at the Abu Dhabi branch of the University of Paris IV (Paris-Sorbonne) who has participated in the Doha Debates, a respected regional political forum, leaves observers asking what freedoms the academics working at new Western branch campuses in the emirates will enjoy. "Are professors only protected in the 90 minutes when they are giving seminars, and after that they are fair game?" asks Samer Muscati, a researcher on the United Arab Emirates for Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch and the New York chapter of the American Association of University Professors have called on the New York University administration to publicly ask for the release of Mr. bin Ghaith and three other political activists who have been detained. The latest arrest occurred on Friday, according to a group known as the Gulf Discussion Forum.

"As the foreign university with the largest and most visible presence in the U.A.E., the NYU administration should speak out firmly against these violations of basic rights," said a letter signed by the leaders of the New York chapter of the American Association of University Professors, including Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at New York University.

Josh Taylor, a spokesman for NYU Abu Dhabi, said in an e-mail message that the administration will stay silent on the arrests. "We believe that we can have a far greater impact on creating a more informed, responsible, and just world, by creating powerful centers of ideas, discourse, and critical thinking, than by simply firing off a press release," Mr. Taylor wrote.

In the emirates, Human Rights Watch has focused on the rights of migrant laborers and freedom of expression on Saadiyat Island, the site where Abu Dhabi hopes to create a regional cultural center with branches of the Guggenheim Museum, the Louvre, and New York University "We're hoping it will be a human-rights benchmark for institutions not just in the emirates but in the gulf," said Mr. Muscati.

But Mr. Taylor says that the human-rights campaign has its sights set on an inappropriate target: "We're not sure what to make of it when an outside group tries to insist on setting a particular political agenda for an independent institution of higher learning."

Muted Dissent

Protesters have not been appearing in front of television cameras in the United Arab Emirates as they have been in many other Middle Eastern countries. But online discussion of increased political openness, wider participation in the government, and the need for economic and judiciary reforms has increased. (Political parties do not exist in the emirates, and there are no elections.) Two petitions calling for free elections and parliamentary democracy have circulated online, one in March and another one in early April, with the first one signed by 133 local academics, lawyers, and activists.

"Even though there are no protests in the streets," Mr. Muscati said, "We are seeing an unprecedented movement for reform."

The online activity is being met with crackdowns: In past months Human Rights Watch says authorities have blocked access to localnewsuae.com, a portal with articles and blog posts, and blocked access to the Facebook and Twitter pages of an emirates-focused online discussion forum, uaehewar.net.

As is often the case in the United Arab Emirates, who is doing what, and why, can be difficult to discern. Little can be found out about the detention of Mr. bin Ghaith, including whether the government has filed specific charges, what kind of due process will be followed, and if he will be allowed legal representation.

"It's very difficult to get information on this," says Mr. Muscati. "From what we understand, he is being held in Abu Dhabi and being interrogated there without a lawyer."

The 2010 human-rights report on the United Arab Emirates by the U.S. State Department, filed with Congress this month, states that "arbitrary and incommunicado detention remained a problem."

The Sorbonne's Web sites are silent about the arrest, and e-mail messages from The Chronicle to communication offices at the Paris and the Abu Dhabi campuses of the Sorbonne were not answered.

Mr. bin Ghaith has argued for a more-effective judiciary system in the emirates that could cope with corporate malpractice, with some of his criticism clearly directed toward those investors and corporations behind the financial crisis in Dubai, one of the emirates. In the Doha Debates in 2009, however, he spoke against the motion that "Dubai is a bad idea," saying that although mistakes had been made during Dubai's construction boom, a "self-correcting mechanism" was in place.

Gains vs. Losses

At New York University's home campus around Washington Square, critics of the Abu Dhabi campus said the arrests showed that the project was a mistake to begin with. "Who thought up the idea of putting a college campus full of young liberals in one of the most unstable regions of the world?" said one student commenting on an article on NYU Local, a student-run blog.

A student at the Abu Dhabi campus commenting on the same article, identified as Nicole, wrote, "The student body doesn't feel that our academic freedom is in jeopardy; however, it has made everyone more aware of the boundaries between the academic community of Abu Dhabi and the public at large."

Paulo Lemos Horta, an assistant professor of literature at the Abu Dhabi campus, said in an interview that he thought his efforts at the new campus were worthwhile and that he had not felt any difference between the freedoms he had as a professor in Abu Dhabi and those he had in his last job at Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver. "I feel like the most important thing is the work we can do within the institution," he said. "It is unclear how it would be more helpful for us to not be here than to be here. We are training a generation of students around the world in the tradition of liberal arts and academic freedom. Here they are at a coed institution, and there is no limit on what they can say."

Speaking from the Madrid airport, Mr. Horta said, "Here, people enjoy rights that they don't have in the U.S. such as gay marriage. Does that mean you don't move to the U.S. or engage in the U.S.?"

Islands of academic freedom like NYU Abu Dhabi are certainly not new in the Middle East. The American University in Cairo, established in 1919, is probably the oldest example, with its on-campus events providing a forum for political discussion that did not exist elsewhere in Egypt for many years. At the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, in Saudi Arabia, women are not required to cover themselves up and are allowed to drive, two freedoms they do not have elsewhere in the country.

In the emirates, Mr. Ross of NYU notes that "faculty and students at NYU Abu Dhabi have immeasurably more rights than longtime citizens of Abu Dhabi." Even arguments for academic freedom, he said, risk straying into illogical territory. The idea, for instance, that only academics should be protected, he says, is "not a very desirable argument for universities to be making."

He and others wonder if the free-speech rights experienced by expatriate artists and academics in Abu Dhabi will someday be enjoyed by others there. "It's good if some parts of the country have this freedom," says Mr. Muscati. "The hope is it will spread. It's not clear how."

My comment on a skewed and misleading analysis of the Saudi role in Bahrain

2011-04-18T08:49:00.000-04:00

JULIETTE KAYYEM (“Bahrain is the line in the sand,’’ Op-ed, April 9) informs Globe readers that Iran is seen as “a guiding force’’ in the Arab uprisings, especially in Bahrain. There is no credible evidence that Iran guided, planned, or inspired the peaceful demonstrations that began in mid-February, notwithstanding the sometime shrill claims of the Bahraini monarch and his entourage. It is striking that Kayyem, a former official in the Department of Homeland Security, has nothing to say about the economic despair and discrimination that afflict the majority of Bahrain’s population — factors that lent impetus to the protests but that have been minimized by the rulers.

Kayyem makes the odd claim that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened after an opportunity for reform had been missed. It is quite likely that the Saudi-led intervention was precisely intended to sabotage US-encouraged reforms. The Saudi monarchy has long been committed to quashing reform, both inside the kingdom and in the smaller states of the Gulf, not least in its Bahraini dependency.

The repression, censorship, and punitive policies now being pursued in Bahrain may open up opportunities for Iranian meddling, but this will stem from the avoidance of reform, not from people peacefully seeking better treatment from their government.

Excellent extended piece on new media in Egypt

2011-04-18T00:55:00.001-04:00

Frustrated geek

2011-04-16T11:55:00.000-04:00

President Obama
"I always thought I was gonna have like really cool phones and stuff," he said during a Q&A session with contributors to his re-election campaign.
"We can't get our phones to work." Acting out his exasperation, he said: "Come on, guys. I'm the president of the United States! Where's the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up? It doesn't happen."

Bahrain: The provenance of these often distressing pictures is not known, but they appear authentic

2011-04-16T00:25:00.000-04:00

From king to potentate: the retrograde journey of Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa

2011-04-14T12:25:00.001-04:00

With no lack of coaching from Riyadh, Bahrain's government moves to ban two moderate opposition political societies. The largest of two, al-Wefaq, holds 18 of the 40 seats in Bahrain's lower house or Council of Representatives. Al-Wefaq is led by the soft-spoken and moderate Shaikh 'Ali Salam. I will post some comments from my discussion with him later.

[Unusually detailed report on the BBC.]

Constitutional Options for Bahrain: Toward a Constitutional Monarchy

2011-04-13T18:31:00.000-04:00

Article by Chibli Mallat & Jason Gelbort in the Virginia Journal of International Law.

Important piece on Saudi Intervention in Bahrain

2011-04-13T17:54:00.005-04:00

Caryle Murphy provides interesting detail on the March 16, 2011, intervention in Bahrain by Saudi Arabia. There are a variety of notable elements in the piece:

King Abdullah and company have been riled by the U.S. embrace of reform in Egypt and in Bahrain.
They signalled this in several ways, including refusing to receive Hillary Clinton and Bob Gates.
Hardliners in Bahrain have been intent to sabotage active reform efforts by the Bahraini crown prince, and the hardliners have willing collaborators in Saudi Arabia.
Once "requested", the Saudis were glad to lead the charge into Bahrain and launch a wave of repression and thuggery against the majority population in Bahrain.
Reading between the lines, there is good reason to question how much freedom of action the Bahraini leaders truly enjoy. The Saudi godfather is not easily ignored, especially given the financial dependence of Bahrain on the KSA.
Notable for it absence from Murphy's account is any mention of a significant role by Iran, which has been the poppycock peddled by King Hamad in recent weeks.

Mubarak family no longer immune?

2011-04-13T11:01:00.001-04:00

The political elite's "hasaanah" (حصانة) has long been a feature of Egyptian politics. Thus, the questioning of the former president and his sons and wife is an important development, particularly during a period when the military has been showing less tolerance for demonstrators and critics. Among the trio being questioned, it is the son 'Alaa who may be the most vulnerable. He is notorious in Egypt for inserting himself as a silent and unwanted partner in a number of businesses. It remains to be seen how far the public prosecutor will go with the investigation, but if the immunity of Egyptian autocrats and their families is eroded then this really would be revolutionary.

Suzanne Mubarak reportedly being questioned.

[Added: Wapo's Frederick Kunkle from Cairo]

North Africa’s Epochal Year of Freedom by ARN and Ashraf el-Sherif

2011-04-13T10:39:00.001-04:00

This article runs in the May 2011 "Africa" issue of Current History.

171 sudan on the cusp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard S. Williamson
Southern Sudan is set to become an independent nation in July, but potentially violent disputes
with Khartoum remain.
177 ivory coast: Another Asterisk
for Africa’s Democratization . . . . . . . . . . . . . .William B. Milam and Jennifer G. Jones
The resort to military force to dislodge from the presidential palace the loser in last year’s election
can hardly be deemed a triumph for democracy and the rule of law.
184 Africa’s reluctant Fertility transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Cincotta
Childbearing has declined dramatically elsewhere in the world, boosting economic and political
development. Why not south of the Sahara? Eighth in a series on demographic dilemmas.
191 education in Africa—the story isn’t over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rebecca Winthrop
A revolution in attitudes has taken hold in the region as parents, advocates, and political elites call
for universal access to schools. Progress in actual learning, however, remains limited.
196 Kabila’s congo: Hardly “Post-conflict” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thomas Turner
Although Joseph Kabila, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s president, likely will win reelection
this year, violence and insecurity still rule the country.
PERSPECTI VE
201 north Africa’s
epochal year of Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . Augustus Richard Norton and Ashraf el-Sherif
Uprisings in North Africa have electrified the world and inaugurated a new era in the region, but
their outcomes are uncertain. The old order could yet prove resilient.
BookS
204 southern Africa Beyond caricature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .William W. Finan Jr.
A new book traces the political development of South Africa and Zimbabwe through the personal
histories of leaders who started as revolutionaries and became presidents.
THE MoNTH I N REVI EW
206 March 2011
An international chronology of events in March, country by country, day by da

April 14: Public Lecture/Roundtable: "Fallout in the Middle East: Where Do We Go From Here?"

2011-04-11T10:41:00.003-04:00

State Dept. releases annual Human Rights report.

2011-04-08T13:39:00.000-04:00

Samples:

Bahrain:
Citizens did not have the right to change their government. Trafficking in persons and restrictions on the rights of foreign resident workers continued to be significant problems. There were numerous reports of abuse against foreign workers, particularly female domestic workers. There were many reports of domestic violence against women and children. Discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, nationality, and sect, especially against the Shia majority population, persisted. There were multiple allegations of mistreatment and torture, especially of Shia activists associated with rejectionist and opposition groups. Authorities arbitrarily arrested activists, journalists, and other citizens and detained some individuals incommunicado. Some detainees did not always have adequate access to their attorneys. At least two of the detainees were dismissed from their public-sector jobs prior to the commencement of judicial proceedings. The government restricted civil liberties,
including freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and some religious practices. There were instances of the government imposing and enforcing official and unofficial travel bans on political activists. The Shia are underrepresented in positions of leadership in the civil service, police, and security forces.

Turkey:

There were reports of a number of human rights problems and abuses in the country. Security forces committed unlawful killings; the number of arrests and prosecutions in these cases was low compared to the number of incidents, and convictions remained rare. During the year human rights organizations reported cases of torture, beatings, and abuse by security forces. Prison conditions improved but remained poor, with overcrowding and insufficient staff training. Law enforcement officials did not always provide detainees immediate access to attorneys as required by law. There were reports that some officials in the elected government and state bureaucracy at times made statements that some observers believed influenced the independence of the judiciary. The overly close relationship between judges and prosecutors continued to hinder the right to a fair trial. Excessively long trials were a problem. The government limited freedom of expression through the use of constitutional restrictions and numerous laws. Press freedom declined during the year. There were limitations on Internet freedom. Courts and an independent board ordered telecommunications providers to block access to Web sites on numerous occasions. Violence against women, including honor killings and rape, remained a widespread problem. Child marriage persisted, despite laws prohibiting it.
During the year there were some positive developments. On April 11, the political parties law was amended to allow campaigning in languages other than Turkish, including Kurdish. On July 25, the government amended the antiterror laws to prohibit prosecution of minors under the laws, reduce punishments for illegal demonstrations and meetings, and allow for the release of minors who had been previously convicted under the laws, resulting in the release of hundreds of children from prison. On September 12, a package of constitutional reforms was passed by a referendum; it included provisions that changed the composition of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors; allowed appeal of decisions of the Supreme Military Council in civilian courts; established an ombudsman; and allowed positive discrimination in favor of women, children, veterans, persons with disabilities, and the elderly.

Israel:
Principal human rights problems were institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against Arab citizens, Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (see annex), non-Orthodox Jews, and other religious groups; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities; and societal discrimination and domestic violence against women, particularly in Bedouin society. While trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution decreased in recent years, trafficking for the purpose of labor remained a serious problem, as did abuse of foreign workers and societal discrimination and incitement against asylum seekers.
Israel (annex for Occupied Territories):

Principal human rights problems related to the PA included mistreatment in detention, arbitrary and prolonged detention, poor prison conditions, impunity, corruption, and lack of transparency. Domestic abuse of women, societal discrimination against women and persons with disabilities, and child labor remained serious problems.
Residents of the Gaza Strip under Hamas had no right to political participation or to choose their government. Other human rights problems in the Gaza Strip included reports that Hamas security forces continued to kill, torture, kidnap, arbitrarily detain, and harass Fatah members and other Palestinians with impunity. There were reports of abuse of prisoners and failure to provide fair trials to those accused. Hamas also strictly restricted the freedom of speech, religion, and movement of the Gaza Strip residents. Corruption reportedly was a problem. Hamas promoted gender discrimination against women. Domestic violence against women also remained a problem. Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip launched rockets and mortars against civilian targets in Israel.
Principal human rights problems related to Israeli authorities in the West Bank were reports of excessive use of force against civilians, including killings, torture of Palestinian detainees, improper use of security detention procedures, austere and overcrowded detention facilities, demolition and confiscation of Palestinian properties, limits on freedom of expression and assembly, and severe restrictions on Palestinians' internal and external freedom of movement. Additionally the IDF, in some cases, failed to pursue investigations and disciplinary actions related to violations. Violence by Israeli settlers was also reported. The IDF imposed serious restrictions on the importation of goods into the Gaza Strip and general prohibition on external travel for Gazans.

Lebanon:
There were limitations on the right of citizens to change their government peacefully. Unknown actors committed unlawful killings, and there was one reported disappearance during the year that may have been politically motivated. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals. Torture of detainees remained a problem, as did poor prison conditions, lengthy pretrial detention, and long delays in the court system. The government violated citizens' privacy rights, and there were some restrictions on freedoms of speech and press, including intimidation of journalists. The government suffered from corruption and lack of transparency. There were limitations on freedom of movement for unregistered refugees. Widespread, systematic discrimination against Palestinian refugees and minority groups continued. Domestic violence and societal discrimination against women continued, as did violence against children and child labor.

Syria:
The government systematically repressed citizens' ability to change their government. The security forces committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, caused politically motivated disappearances, and tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees with impunity. Security forces arrested and detained individuals under poor conditions without due process. Lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention remained a serious problem. The judiciary was not independent. There were political prisoners and detainees, and during the year the government sentenced to prison several high-profile members of the human rights and civil society communities. The government violated citizens' privacy rights. The government imposed severe restrictions on civil liberties: freedoms of speech and press, including Internet and academic freedom; freedoms of assembly and of association, including severe restrictions on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and freedoms of religion and movement. An atmosphere of corruption pervaded the government. Violence and societal discrimination against women continued, as did sexual exploitation, increasingly of Iraqi refugees, including minors. The government discriminated against minorities, particularly Kurds, and severely restricted workers' rights.

Iran:
The government severely limited citizens' right to peacefully change their government through free and fair elections, and it continued a campaign of postelection violence and intimidation. The government committed extrajudicial killings and executed persons for criminal convictions as juveniles and through unfair trials, sometimes in group executions. Security forces under the government's control committed acts of politically motivated violence and repression, including torture, beatings, and rape. The government administered severe officially sanctioned punishments, including amputation and flogging. Vigilante groups with ties to the government, such as Basij militia, also committed acts of violence. Prison conditions remained poor. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals, often holding them incommunicado. Authorities held political prisoners and continued to crack down on women's rights activists, ethnic minority rights activists, student activists, and religious minorities. There was little judicial independence and few fair public trials. The government severely restricted the right to privacy and civil liberties including freedoms of speech and the press, assembly, association, and movement; it placed severe restrictions on freedom of religion. Authorities denied admission to or expelled hundreds of university students and professors whose views were deemed unacceptable by the regime. Official corruption and a lack of government transparency persisted. Violence and legal and societal discrimination against women, children, ethnic and religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons were extant. Trafficking in persons and incitement to anti-Semitism remained problems. The government severely restricted workers' rights and arrested numerous union leaders. Child labor remained a serious problem.

Iraq:

Iraqi security forces (ISF) reported to civilian authorities, but continuing violence, corruption, and organizational dysfunction undermined the government's ability to protect human rights. During the year the following significant human rights problems were reported: arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life; extremist and terrorist bombings and executions; disappearances; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; poor conditions in pretrial detention and prison facilities; arbitrary arrest and detention; impunity; denial of fair public trials; delays in resolving property restitution claims; insufficient judicial institutional capacity; arbitrary interference with privacy and home; limits on freedoms of speech, press, and assembly and extremist threats and violence; limits on religious freedom due to extremist threats and violence; restrictions on freedom of movement; large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees; lack of transparency and significant, widespread corruption at all levels of government; constraints on international organizations and nongovernmental organizations' (NGOs) investigations of alleged violations of human rights; discrimination against and societal abuses of women and ethnic, religious, and racial minorities; human trafficking; societal discrimination and violence against individuals based on sexual orientation; and limited exercise of labor rights.
Extremist violence, coupled with weak government performance in upholding the rule of law, resulted in widespread and severe human rights abuses. Terrorist groups, such as al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI), and other extremist elements continued to launch highly destructive attacks, attempting to influence the elections and government formation process, fuel sectarian tensions, and undermine the government's ability to maintain law and order. Extremist and AQI attacks continued against ISF and government officials. AQI and other extremists also conducted high-profile bombings targeting urban areas, Shia markets, and mosques, and Shia religious pilgrims. Religious minorities, sometimes labeled "anti-Islamic," were often targeted in the violence.
During the year, despite some reconciliation and easing of tensions in several provinces, the government's human rights performance consistently fell short of according citizens the protections the law provides. However, the credible and legitimate national parliamentary elections in all 18 provinces on March 7 reflected a significant achievement in advancing the free exercise of human rights.

Saudi Arabia:
The following significant human rights problems were reported: no right to change the government peacefully; torture and physical abuse; poor prison and detention center conditions; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention; denial of fair and public trials and lack of due process in the judicial system; political prisoners; restrictions on civil liberties such as freedoms of speech (including the Internet), assembly, association, movement, and severe restrictions on religious freedom; and corruption and lack of government transparency. Violence against women and a lack of equal rights for women, violations of the rights of children, trafficking in persons, and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, sect, and ethnicity were common. The lack of workers' rights, including the employment sponsorship system, remained a severe problem.

Violating the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in Bahrain: Coached by his royal Saudi masters, the na'ib malak Hamad allows his subjects to punished for claiming their rights

2011-04-08T12:31:00.003-04:00

Punishing workers for protesting.

From the Universal Declaration:

Article 19.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

[Added: more on punitive firings.]

Upheaval in the Maghrib

2011-04-08T11:28:00.001-04:00

The lead article in the forthcoming May 2011 issue of Current History is:

North Africa’s Epochal Year of Freedom by Augustus Richard Norton and Ashraf el-Sherif

From the conclusion:

"This is an astounding year in North Africa, as well as in the wider Arab world. Indeed, whether one reckons by the Western or the Islamic calendar (the year 1432 began on December 7), the current year defines a new epoch in the region. The impact is likely to be every bit as unsettling toWestern powers as it has already been to dictators.

"The pace of the upheaval, the ideals of the participants,and the breadth of mobilization have been breathtaking and inspiring, but the prospects for change vary significantly from one country to another. Wise, prudent leaders may emerge at year’s end with enhanced popularity, while those who seek to frustrate and stifle change are likely to find that the year never ends."

A link to the complete article will be posted here shortly.

Ashraf el-Sherif is an instructor in Political Science at the American University in Cairo. He earned his Ph.D. in political science at Boston University in 2010. He is done impressive work on Islamist thought and politics in Morocco and Egypt.

ICG report on Bahrain deserves your attention

2011-04-08T09:48:00.000-04:00

"The military intervention and Bahrain’s subsequent tough line have made peaceful resolution of the country’s political crisis immensely more difficult and the regional context significantly tenser. It is unclear how meaningful, peaceful dialogue can be resumed, but it is long overdue and remains absolutely necessary. Given the level of distrust, involvement of a credible third party facilitator appears to be both essential and urgent. The goal would be to work out a plan for gradual but genuine reform toward a constitutional monarchy, with real parliamentary powers and redress of sectarian discrimination. In this context, Saudi Arabia and the other contributing Gulf states should withdraw their security forces and equipment from the island. Protesters should continue to use peaceful means to express their grievances and demands while agreeing to negotiate with the regime.

"As for the U.S., anxious about its relationship with Saudi Arabia and the GCC, it nonetheless should understand that repression in Bahrain will do neither it nor its allies any good in the longer term. Bahrain’s post-colonial history lends at least some hope to the possibility of dialogue and compromise, as despite its obvious problems the country has also known a degree of pluralism and a vibrant civil society. But the window of opportunity is fast closing."

Bahrain Center for Human Rights Debunks Government Claims

2011-04-05T23:34:00.003-04:00

[Added: Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières calls upon the Bahraini government to stop using medical facilities as instruments of repression.

"A report released today by MSF illustrates how Bahrain’s hospitals and health centers are no longer safe havens for the sick or injured, but rather places to be feared.

"“Wounds, especially those inflicted by distinctive police and military gunfire, are used to identify people for arrest, and the denial of medical care is being used by Bahraini authorities to deter people from protesting,” said Latifa Ayada, MSF medical coordinator. “Health facilities are used as bait to identify and arrest those who dare seek treatment.”"]

Bahrain government targets al-Wasat, a respectable newspaper and the only independent paper published in Bahrain

2011-04-05T08:33:00.003-04:00

Al-Wasat has already been the target of physical attacks. On Sunday, Mansour al-Jamri, a serious, moderate and important voice for reform, was replaced as editor by the paper's board over charges that news articles had been fabricated or plaigarized. This was apparently the quid quo pro for the paper being allowed to resume publication. Government linked papers detailed the plaigarism charges.

[Added] Two Iraqi journalists working for al-Wasat expelled from Bahrain. Also see this helpful post on the government's effort to quash al-Wasat.

Eva Bellin: People Power and the Possibilities of Democratic Transition in the Middle East, April 12

2011-04-01T17:21:00.000-04:00

Remember the fatuous charges by King Hamad that Iran was behind the protests in Bahrain?

2011-03-31T21:36:00.002-04:00

Here is the extent of the accusation, according to the former ambassador the Court of Saint James, Shaikh Abdulaziz al-Khalifa:

Al-Khalifa also maintained that Iran was fomenting the protests despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying the U.S. had seen no evidence of that. "The one thing that we can assure you that speeches by Hezbollah and elements of the government in Iran and their TV channels and their religious clerics haven't helped the situation, they've inflamed the situation," Al-Khalifa said. "They've outreached to the more hard-line element of the protesters."

As I have said here before, "poppycock!",

Informed insight on Bahrain--recommended

2011-03-31T19:08:00.000-04:00

Justin Gengler is a University of Michigan PhD student.