Iran boosts nuclear site defences, warns EU on oil
by Staff Writers – Tehran (AFP) – 20 February, 2012

Iran deployed warplanes and missiles Monday in an “exercise” to protect nuclear sites threatened by possible Israeli attacks and warned it could cut oil exports to more EU nations unless sanctions were lifted.

The European Union said it could cope with any halt in Iranian supplies.

Tehran’s stance marked a hardening of its defiance in an international standoff over its nuclear programme — and suggested it was readying for any eventual confrontation.

The moves came the same day as officials from the UN nuclear watchdog agency arrived in Tehran for a second round of talks they said were focused on “the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme.”

Iran, while holding out hope of reviving collapsed negotiations with world powers, has underlined it will not give up its nuclear ambitions, which it insists are purely peaceful.

Much of the West and Israel, though, fear Iran’s activities include research for atomic weapons.

The United States and Europe have ramped up economic sanctions against Iran’s vital oil sector, while Israel has fuelled speculation it could be on the brink of carrying out air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran’s military said on Monday that it has launched four days of manoeuvres in the south aimed at boosting anti-air defences to protect nuclear sites.

Missiles, anti-aircraft artillery, radars and warplanes were deployed in the exercise dubbed “Sarollah,” a word borrowed from the Arabic meaning “God’s vengeance.”

At the same time, the deputy oil minister, who also runs the National Iranian Oil Company, warned that a cut in Iranian oil exports announced on Sunday against France and Britain could be expanded to other EU nations.

“Certainly if the hostile actions of some European countries continue, the export of oil to these countries will be cut,” said Ahmad Qalebani, pointing the finger at Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands, Mehr news agency reported.

Iran exports about 20 percent of its crude — some 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) — to the European Union, mostly to Italy, Spain and Greece.

The EU reacted by saying it could cope.

“In terms of immediate security of stocks, the EU is well stocked with oil and petroleum products to face a potential disruption of supplies,” said a spokesman for EU policy chief Catherine Ashton.

In Rome, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe dismissed Tehran’s move.

“Undoubtedly, Iran is very imaginative with regards to provocation. It is not Iran that decided to cut off its deliveries, we are the ones who decided to terminate our orders,” he told reporters.

“It makes one smile,” Juppe added.

Although the export halt for France and Britain was largely symbolic — neither country imports much Iranian oil — prices on world markets hit nine-month highs. …more

Ask the Cop on the Corner, Ask the Cop at Your Front Door
Creeping Fascism
by RON JACOBS – 17 February, 2012 – Counter Punch

The list contines to grow. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The essentially unprovoked police attacks on protesters, bystanders and journalists at Occupy protests around the nation. The continuing murder of (mostly young and black) men by police departments around the nation with few or no legal repercussions to the murderers. The growing surveillance state and the denial of basic freedoms via emergency legislation in cities facing political protest usually from the left. The permanence of that legislation even after the protests have ended. The continuing pursuit of “material support” charges against antiwar and solidarity activists involved in work against US and Israeli policies. The infant US police state is no longer learning to crawl; it has learned to walk and will soon be stomping its boots in a neighborhood near you.

Anyone following the Occupy protests since last fall is well aware of the response of the authorities. It can best be characterized as brutal and with little regard for civil liberties. This is the case even though many of the protesters were/are white-skinned and from middle class backgrounds. It is fair to say that this demographic fact gave the protesters more press coverage while it also prevented the police from carrying out even more brutal attacks. Young black and Latino men going about their daily lives generally have more to fear from the police than the Occupy protesters. That being said, it is useful to take a look at some recent comments regarding Occupy Oakland, the police attacks on the group and the response of officials and others.

In short, the response to the Oakland protesters commitment to defend themselves against police attacks has caused some potential rifts in the Occupy movement. Those rifts have been covered well on this site and across the media universe. It is not my intent to continue those discussions here. Instead, I would like to paste a quote from a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice that goes a long way towards explaining law enforcement’s perception of the Occupy movements tactics, This quote first appeared in a San Francisco Chronicle article on February 11, 2012 discussing the police tactic of kettling. For those unfamiliar with the tactic, it essentially involves surrounding a group of protesters in an area where they have no escape, then arresting them all. Sometimes the arrests are preceded by a series of gas attacks and various physical attacks by the police. …more

Palestinian detainee ends hunger strike
21 February, 2012 – by denverabc – Al Jazeera

Israel agrees to free Khader Adnan on April 17 as part of a deal to end his 66-day fast over his illegal detention.

A Palestinian detained by Israel, Khader Adnan, has agreed to end his 66-day hunger strike as part of a deal under which he will be released without charge, sources tell Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera’s Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from Adnan’s hometown of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, quoted officials as saying on Tuesday that “Adnan has informed his lawyers that he has suspended his hunger strike and agreed to the offer to serve his sentence until April 17″.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Supreme Court earlier told Al Jazeera that based on the deal reached between Adnan’s lawyers and the Israeli justice ministry, he would end his fast in return for the court’s decision to “erase” his file and release him on April 17, ending his ”administrative detention”.

Israel’s supreme court had been expected to hear an urgent appeal by Adnan’s lawyer later on Tuesday, but the hearing was cancelled after news of the deal became public.

“This man had no charges until now, no interrogation came up with any conclusions, no evidence against him. This is the truth, this is the reality,” Jawad Bulus, one of Adnan’s lawyers, told Al Jazeera.

“After three weeks of severe interrogation they shifted him as administrative detainee, where no charges could be faced. The only phrase that came out of them is that this man is a prominent activist in the Islamic Jihad of Palestine, which can be said against anybody in the world.” …more

Unrest in US ally Bahrain takes a more violent turn
Phillip Walter Wellman – Christian Science Monitor – 17 February, 2012

After a year of civil unrest in Bahrain that has left scores of people dead and pitted neighbor against neighbor, street protests this week in Manama underscored fears that the country’s internal divide is entering a more violent phase that could make reconciliation all but impossible in the foreseeable future.

Many analysts like Kristian Coates-Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the London School of Economics, say there are serious concerns that the situation could become a frozen conflict, with all sides withdrawing deeper into hard-line positions.

“There’s a danger that the polarization of Bahraini society has torn out the middle ground and it’s also destroying social fabric,” says Mr. Coates-Ulrichsen.

Slow political reform and continual raids on opposition communities by security forces have already led some antigovernment activists to abandon peaceful demonstrations for more violent, underground action.

Dozens of police officers were injured and several hospitalized in the run-up to the Feb. 14 anniversary of Bahrain’s uprising, after angry youths pelted them with stones, metal projectiles, and Molotov cocktails.

Many frustrated young people have vowed to continue carrying out similar attacks.

“Our sisters are getting raped, our brothers are getting killed, and our fathers are in prison getting humiliated and beaten to death,” said a 15-year-old Bahraini who admitted to resorting to violence, but wished to remain anonymous for security reasons. “Riot police are shooting us in our homes with teargas while we are sleeping. We don’t have an army, we don’t have guns to defend ourselves, but we have Molotov [cocktails].”

There is also a growing push from some Sunni leaders to use more extreme measures. After the beginning of the crisis last year, a political Sunni coalition formed to counter Shiite rhetoric. Some hard-liners in the group have since called on the government to use additional force to control opposition protesters, whom they identify as “traitors.”
Indirect talks last week

Bahrain’s major opposition groups have condemned the spike in violence. But Sheikh Ali Salman, the leader of the main Shiite party al-Wefaq, says the shift in sentiment is hardly surprising.

“This is because the government didn’t listen to its people and used a lot of force,” he says. “The cocktails were used just in the last month. All the 11 months before there was nothing.”

Shiite Muslims, who represent about 70 percent of the population, make up the majority of opposition supporters in Bahrain. They say they are marginalized by their Sunni leaders and have been calling for more rights and a more representative government.

Last week, an al-Wefaq representative met with the ruling family to present a list of demands from a coalition of five opposition parties. The list, known as the Manama Document and first introduced last fall, calls for an elected parliament that has actual power, equal voting districts that are not skewed to favor government supporters, independent judges, and an end to discrimination against the Shiite majority.
Concern about police abuse of women

Shiites also complain of weekly attacks on their villages by security forces, who they say use teargas indiscriminately.

Violent retaliation against the police began to intensify last month after Shiite cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim told his supporters to “crush” any officer who was seen abusing women.

The call came after several females complained of being sexually harassed by authorities.

“If anything happened to our women in a bad way, it means that our dignity is broken and we will be in shame if we did nothing to prevent such attitude again,” said a young Shiite who admitted to throwing stones at police and asked to be identified only as Abu Haider. “It breaches our standards of Islam, so citizens are using these tactics in villages to stop police from storming in.” …more

Israeli court to revise trial date for Palestinian hunger striker Adnan
21 February, 2012 – Associated Press – The Daily Star

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court has brought forward a hearing this week on the appeal of a Palestinian prisoner waging an unprecedented two-month hunger strike, court officials and his lawyers said Monday.

A statement from the Supreme Court said Khader Adnan’s appeal will be held Tuesday. No explanation was given as to why it had been brought forward. It was scheduled to take place Thursday.

Adnan’s lawyer Mahmoud Hassan says the 33-year-old member of the Islamic Jihad militant group is in danger of death after 65 days of a hunger strike, protesting Israel’s policy of long-term detention without trial.

His case has attracted widespread attention among Palestinians, with large crowds holding regular protests in his support.

The life-threatening gamble has also drawn broader attention toward Israel’s policy of “administrative detention,” under which Palestinians can be held without charge for months or even years at a time.

Adnan has not been charged with a crime and says he does not know what he is suspected of doing.

His family says he is a member of Islamic Jihad, which has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks, but it is not known if he was involved in violence.

Both the European Union and the United Nations have said they are following the case closely and urged Israel to give Adnan an open trial.

…more

New move to end Bahrain political stalemate
21 February, 2012 – Trade Arabia

Bahraini authorities have reportedly approached some opposition societies in a bid to end the political stalemate in the kingdom, said a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

Three political groups — National Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad), Democratic Progressive Tribune (DPT) and National Democratic Assembly (NDA) — were asked to submit a list of demands to pave the way for dialogue, the report said.

They reportedly met Royal Court Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa behind closed doors.

Present during the meeting were Wa’ad deputy-secretary general Radhi Al Mousawi, DPT secretary-general Hassan Madan and NDA deputy secretary-general Hassan Al A’ali.

“We did have a meeting with Shaikh Khalid after being invited along with two other political societies,” said Al Mousawi. “During the meeting, we were asked to submit our demands which we are compiling and plan to submit in the coming days.”

It is understood Al Wefaq National Islamic Society was sidelined during the meeting but its secretary-general Ali Salman earlier said it received an invitation for dialogue by the government, the report said.

“In a recent gathering in Miqsha, Mr Salman told supporters that Al Wefaq had received an invitation for dialogue,” said Al Mousawi.

He added the meeting was positive and that the societies were ready for “real dialogue” with the government. He said their demands are based on the implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report, the seven points of an initiative led by the Crown Prince in March and the Manama Document endorsed by opposition societies last year.

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander announced a blueprint for dialogue on March 13 and urged all parties to participate.

This included a parliament with full authority, government reflecting will of people, fair electoral constituencies, naturalisation, combating corruption, state properties and addressing sectarian tension.

However, the societies led by Al Wefaq refused to take part in unconditional talks. The Manama Document, endorsed by five opposition groups, also addressed similar demands.

His Majesty King Hamad last year instructed the executive and legislative branches to call for a dialogue to begin in July, in which all people could participate for a future vision.

The National Dialogue was held last July following directives from the King, who instructed the executive and legislative branches to call for the historic talks.

…more

Russia proposes sending U.N. envoy to Syria
21 February, 2012 – The Daily Star – Associated Press

MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday urged the United Nations to send a special envoy to Syria to help coordinate security issues and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Twitter Tuesday that it’s proposing that the U.N. Security Council ask the U.N. Secretary General to send the envoy.

On Monday Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the world body should help solve humanitarian issues in Syria, after Damascus allowed the Red Cross to bring humanitarian aid to some regions.

Russia and China have vetoed two Security Council resolutions backing Arab League plans aimed at ending the conflict and condemning President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protests that killed 5,400 in 2011 alone, according to the U.N. Hundreds more have been killed since, activist groups say.

Syria is Russia’s last remaining ally in the Middle East. Moscow has maintained close ties with Damascus since the Cold War, when Syria was led by the current leader’s father, Hafez Assad.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Tuesday that Moscow will not attend the planned “friends of Syria” meeting at the end of this week, because its organizers had failed to invite representatives of the Syrian government.

Lukashevich said the meeting in Tunisia wouldn’t help a dialogue, saying that the global community should act as friends of the entire Syrian people, and not just one part.

“It looks like an attempt to forge some kind of international coalition like it was with the setting-up of a ‘contact group’ for Libya,” Lukashevich said.

Russia has said it will block any U.N. resolution that could pave the way for a replay of what happened in Libya. In that case, Russia abstained from a vote, which cleared the way for months of NATO air force attacks that helped Libyans end Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.

…more

Sharp rise in Palestinians held without trial: NGO
21 February 21, 2012 – Agence France Presse – The Daily Star

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel is holding 309 Palestinians in prison without charge, a sharp increase from last year, an Israeli human rights group said on Tuesday, calling for the prisoners to be charged or released.

B’Tselem said figures received from the Israel Prison Service (IPS) showed there were 309 Palestinians held under so-called administrative detention orders in January 2012, up from 219 in January 2011.

The group said 80 of those being held had been detained for between six months and a year, another 88 had been held for between one and two years, and 16 of them had been behind bars for between two and four-and-a-half years.

One man has been held in administrative detention for over five years, the group said.

The figures were released as the process of administrative detention receives new attention because of the case of Khader Adnan, a Palestinian being detained without trial who has been on hunger strike for 66 days.

Adnan began refusing food after he was arrested on December 17, and says he is protesting his detention without trial as well as alleged mistreatment during his interrogation.

Israel has not made public any charges against Adnan, who had served as a spokesman for Islamic Jihad.

Evidence submitted to a military court in support of Adnan’s administrative detention is kept secret, with even his lawyer denied access to it.

Israel says administrative detention is necessary to keep dangerous individuals behind bars, but B’Tselem said the way the Jewish state was using the procedure was “patently illegal.”

…more

Kate Raphael: My arrest and deportation from Bahrain
Kate Raphael – Witness Bahrain

It just began, and now it is over. Yesterday morning, I was sitting in a café in Manama, Bahrain, working on a blog called “Bahrain: First Impressions.” Now I am sitting at home in Oakland, trying to process what happened.

Valentine’s Day in Bahrain

On February 14, I woke after only a couple hours’ sleep and couldn’t go back to sleep. I was trembling with excitement and tension. #Feb14, the anniversary of the start of the ongoing revolution in Bahrain, was to be the Day of Return to Pearl (Lulu) Roundabout, the huge vacant lot in the center of Manama where protesters camped out for a month last year, until March 16, when 1,000 troops from across the bridge in Saudi Arabia and 500 police from the United Arab Emirates joined thousands of mercenaries working for the Bahraini police in evacuating the camp, destroying the monument at the center of the Roundabout, killing at least 6 and injuring hundreds.

Since then, at least 60 people have died in the ongoing revolution.

They celebrate Valentine’s Day in Bahrain. Nabeel Rajab, human rights leader, said the day I first met him,
“People asked me why I chose February 14 for the start of the uprising. I said so my wife will stop asking me to take her to an expensive restaurant.”
Nabeel’s wife spent this Valentine’s Day evening in the Na’eem police station, trying to get Nabeel out of detention.

I spent much of the day there myself. Right around the time Nabeel was being released on bail, I and five of my fellow Witness Bahrain team members were being escorted by police onto a plane to London, our visas cancelled for such crimes as not spending all our nights in the country in the same hotel, and engaging in “nontourist” activities while on a tourist visa.

The “nontourist activity” in question was an “illegal” march on Saturday. I found it very interesting that they were so focused on that march, which was completely peaceful on the part of the protesters, and was attacked by police with the ubiquitous gas and sound bombs, rather than the clashes I documented earlier in the week, in which riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at youths hurling Molotov Cocktails. I think that tells us a lot about what the government is trying to hide by whisking us out of the country.

At 3:30, our group of about two dozen internationals and Bahrainis set out from Nabeel’s house in a caravan to city center. On the way, we counted police vehicles.

“Nine jeeps and six buses,” announced one young man. …more

Human Rights Activist, Zainab al-Khawaja, Released in Bahrain
By Esther Tran – 21 February, 2012 – ibtimes

Bahraini human rights activist, Zaynab al-Khawaja, 28, also known by her Twitter name as “Angry Arabiya,” was released from prison on Tuesday.

She was arrested about a week ago in Bahrain’s capital Manama, while approaching the Pearl Roundabout in an unsuccessful attempt to “reoccupy” the demolished site to honor the first anniversary of Bahrain uprisings.

Bahraini police charged her with leading an illegal large-scale protest.

Other female prisoners were released last Thursday, but Khawaja was the last to be freed.

Although she wasn’t mistreated during her detention, Khawaja claimed it was only because of the government’s fear of bad publicity, “not because they respect my rights,” she told BBC.

Taking pre-emptive actions against the protests, security forces were deployed last Monday to prevent demonstrators from reaching the Pearl Roundabout.

Over a hundred protesters began marching from the village of Sitra towards the capital’s site after attending the funeral of a young protester, Hussein al-Baqali, 19, who accidentally died lighting himself on fire while trying to burn tires.

Police reportedly used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the oncoming marchers. In response, the young demonstrators attacked with petrol bombs and stones.

“After the burial of Hussain al-Baqali in Jidhafs, groups of vandals rioted. Police legally dispersed them,” Bahrain’s Interior Ministry tweeted out, calling the protesters “vandals.”

The protesters mostly belong to the Muslim Shia sect and claim they have suffered for too long at the hands of the Sunni royal family.(Bahrain actually has a majority Shia population, but has long complained of discriminatiion from the ruling Sunni elite).

Inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, Bahraini Shias have been demanding democratic reforms for about a year now.

Khawaja is the daughter of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights defender, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, 51. She has succeeded her father, who remains in prison, as one of the high-profile figures in the protest movement against Bahrain’s authoritarian regime and their alleged human rights abuses.

Her last arrest in December caused a media uproar as pictures and videos of her being “disciplined” by a policewoman spread across the Internet. Khawaja had refused to leave a sit-in protest.

“We are not going to give up. Whose determination is stronger — the people’s or the dictatorship? Only time will tell,” she told BBC reporters after her most recent release from detention. …more

Touring Tyranny in Bahrain
by Brian Terrell – 21 February, 2012 – AntiWar.com

On the long flight to the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain on Feb. 10, I had been studying the Lonely Planet guide to the region in order to be able to explain at the airport, if needed, that I had come as a tourist. As it happened, while most passengers on our plane sailed through passport control, my travel companion, Linda Sartor, and I were pulled from the line and subjected to a closer examination. My sketchy knowledge of the historic and cultural sights that I had come to see was good enough to satisfy official scrutiny. We were granted tourist visas and sent on our way.

That we had come as tourists was true. We had intentionally neglected to mention, though, that we had been invited to Bahrain along with a few other international activists to monitor the government’s response to demonstrations marking the one-year anniversary of Bahrain’s “Arab Spring” pro-democracy uprising on Feb. 14. This demand for basic rights was brutally suppressed by Bahrain’s police and military backed by the army of Saudi Arabia.

We certainly would have been barred entry to the country had our full intent been told — but, as Daniel Berrigan once mused, “How much truth do we owe them?” In fact, our invitation from Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, came because the government had made it known that observers from established human rights organizations would not be granted visas until the next month and that access to the country by the international media was to be severely limited during that period. The regime’s resolve that there be no witnesses to the events surrounding the anniversary made our presence for those days all the more crucial.

The morning after our arrival, we met with local activists and the small group of U.S. citizens who had come before us. Before long we were in the streets of Manama, the capital city, accompanying a march to the Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of last year’s demonstration. This peaceful march of men, women, and children was quickly set upon by police in full riot gear and dispersed with tear gas and percussion grenades. Our first encounter with the Bahraini police appeared to be vicious, but our local friends assured us that our presence was a restraining factor. Two of the Americans we had just met, Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath, were taken into custody at this march and later that evening deported, the government said, for activities not consistent with their status as tourists. …more

Bahrain opposition politician acquitted
21 February, 2012 – Shia Post

A Bahraini court has acquitted a prominent opposition leader who was accused of taking part in “unlawful” anti-government protests that rocked the Gulf state for the last year.

The last of three charges against Matar Matar, a former MP and leading member of Al-Wefaq party, a mainly Shia opposition party, were dropped on Monday by a court in Manama, the capital.

Matar had been charged with “undermining public security by assembling with a group of more than five people”.

“The last charge against me has been dropped,” he said on Monday, Bahrain ordered the release in August of Matar and another Al-Wefaq member, Jawad Fayruz, who were both arrested last May after a crackdown on Shia-led protests in the Sunni-ruled country.

The court had already dropped two of the three charges Matar was being tried for: calling for regime change and spreading rumours linked to pro-democracy protests.

Matar and Fayruz were among 18 Shia MPs who resigned in protest at the government’s crackdown on the demonstrations that erupted on February 14, 2011. Fayruz’s trial is still continuing. …source

Day and night in a Bahraini jail
by Radhika Sainath – 20 February, 2012

You can read the first part of Sainath’s account from Bahrain here.

In the alleys of Manama, a Bahraini police commander yelled at me that I had been disrespectful, as the other policemen dragged the young man away. The woman who had tried to protect him with her arms and her body sobbed. The youth was certain to be beaten, likely tortured. She thanked me, though I felt I had failed.

I hurried back through narrow alleys, past sand-colored homes and onto the main road, the sounds of percussion grenades guiding me to the site where the Bahraini democracy activists had since re-gathered.

Everything seemed cast in a soft white light. Downtown Bahrain could be any city, small stores lined the broad main road, some open, some with ridged metal shutters pulled down over the glass. Dozens of Indians, presumably workers or small businessmen, stood outside these stores watching the police, and a certain slender wavy-haired Palestinian-American walked away from police officers calling after her.

I kept my head down and my eyes affixed to the iPad, walking down the sidewalk, then turning left between two parked vans. I avoided eye contact with Huwaida Arraf as she passed me, walking quickly away from the police officers pursuing her.
Radhika
Radhika Sainath

I walked further down the street, to what I believed was a safe distance away, and tweeted a photo of the police surrounding Huwaida. I could not see them, there were a dozen of them, maybe more. A number of Bahraini women had surrounded her and were trying to help.

One policeman looked over and yelled out at me “No photos.” I put the ipad down, tucking it in the back pocket of my messenger bag, then backed up the street a few feet and joined the group of Indian men watching. The police fired several rounds of percussion grenades in the other direction. BOOM BOOM BOOM. The crowd around Huwaida scattered, leaving only her, the police, the Indians and me.

Perhaps I could just blend in with the Indian shopkeepers and watch, I thought, as they loaded Huwaida into the van. I tried to take another picture, but I noticed the police were looking at me. A group of police approached and asked me for my passport.

“We just need to see the name,” they said.

I held it out for them. They leaned forward, squinting at my names. One looked down at his Blackberry, and then looked up at the name.

“Haida hiyye,” he said in Arabic. “That’s her.”

I was done. It was my name that had been on the first Witness Bahrain press release announcing our presence the day before. Huwaida had posted almost all the video interviews of Bahraini human rights activists to our website. They were after us.

A dozen policewomen surrounded me, shields out, and one stood directly in front of me. Did they think I would flee? I asked why I was being held multiple times, if I was under arrest, what laws I had broken and if I was free to go. No one would talk to me. From what I could see from behind the police, the street had cleared. I looked at my watch. It was 4:15 p.m.

No one would know I had been arrested. They would think I had run from the tear gas as the people did in the villages every day and every night, taking refuge in the homes of strangers until the gas and the police cleared. What would become of me?

They put me in a police van and took me to a jail in downtown Manama. It was filled with policemen in black combat boots—the riot police—staring, but saying nothing. I passed the room where Huwaida was being held and was stuck into another.

I sat there for the next several hours, interrogated on and off. They wanted to see my photos. I refused. They wanted me to name names. I refused. I heard that my Bahraini lawyer had come to the jail, but been turned away. I asked repeatedly what crime I committed.

“We’ll get to that later,” I was told.

And then came the question, said in a slightly menacing tone that made one want to deny everything.

“You support human rights, don’t you?” The police officer leaned in as if trying to trap me. I paused.

“Of course I support human rights.”

“So you admit it!”

They had got me. In Bahrain, supporting human rights was something akin to terrorism, and I had just admitted to it.

It wasn’t till about midnight when Huwaida and I were both taken to meet U.S. vice-consul Jennifer Smith, and her assistant, Ms. Joyce. …more

Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: Real Muslims Don’t Tweet
By Paul Mutter – 21 February, 2012

The National reports that the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has “issued a fatwa against Twitter, demanding that ‘real Muslims’ avoid it, calling it a ‘platform for trading accusations and for promoting lies’.”

The pretext for this condemnation of social media is the case of the Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari, who was extradited from Malaysia to the Kingdom after tweeting about the Prophet Muhammad in a manner that the religious authorities deemed blasphemous. If the Saudis wish to make an example, he will be facing blasphemy charges, and possibly death, rather than a lesser (though still absurd) sentencing that would end in him paying a fine. There’s also talk of taking action against anyone who retweeted his messages.

But considering that thousands of Twitter users called attention to Kashgari’s tweets, literally demanding his head, it’s ironic that the Grand Mufti says Muslims should stay off Twitter, since clearly, many Salafis are using, and policing it.

And, as The National notes, it’s even more ironic that the Grand Mufti’s issuing a ban since Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the King’s nephew and reputedly the richest man in Saudi Arabia, purchased 3.6% of Twitter’s stock for US$300 million this past December.

The fact that the Grand Mufti wants Twitter gone while a prince wants to buy its shares up nicely illustrates the uneasy dual monarchy that has defined clerical-royal relationship since the 18th century. The monarchy set up in 1923 is actually a dual monarchy because the royal family must maintain the approval of the Wahhabi ulema to rule, and there are those who question this “right” — one of the first crises of the Saudi state occurred when the monarchy and ulema, fearing the Ikhwan tribal militias who had won control of the Hejaz for them, turned on the militiamen. The House of Saud procured the British machine guns, the clergy produced a justificatory edict for the crackdown.

As Toby C. Jones notes, “the ulema’s support for the regime is not unconditional. They remain controversial, provocative and confrontational.” Oil wealth and investment portfolios allow Saudi princes to study at Sandhurst and hobnob with French socialites, but they also subsidize the religious-dominated educational system and the social welfare net, which the Saudis have been working to expand in the wake of the Arab Spring, that help hold society together on the al-Sauds’ behalf. …more

Alkhawaja: “The hunger strike allows me to shed light on human rights violations from my Prison Cell”
18 February, 2012 – Bahrian Youth Society for Human Right

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) has learnt that Human Rights Defender Mr.Abdulhadi Alkhawaja (51 years) is determined to continue in his hungerstrike until he secures his release. Family members have informed the BYSHR that although Mr. Alkhawaja was in high spirits, he looked thin and weak and had obvious problems concentrating.

Mr.Alkhawaja also confirmed that he had collapsed last Wednesday and was transferred to the Bahrain Defense Force Hospital after a sharp drop in his sugar and blood pressure. He was first transferred to the Jaw Prison clinic but when medics saw his condition they quickly called for an ambulance. He was semi unconscious when he was transported via an ambulance to the hospital where he suffered from muscle spasms. He received treatment but refused to end his hungerstrike.

It is important to note that this is the second hungerstrike the activists engages in with only 2 days in between, the first which was with the other 13 detained activists in protest to the ongoing human rights violations and which lasted for 1 week. The activist is currently in his 10th day of his second hungerstrike. This has contributed to the deterioration in is health condition.

Mr.Alkhawaja stated that he was on hungerstrike because as a human rights activist he needs to play a role in exposing human rights violations, whether he be on the inside or the outside of a prison cell. The hungerstrike aims to secure his release, but more importantly allow him the opportunity to do something inside prison to shed light on the deteriorating human rights situation in the country. He said that those who claim to defend human rights need to be prepared to make sacrifices, and that he was prepared for all possible consequences of this hungerstrike. He also wanted to highlight the plight of those prisoners of conscience still detained and shed light on their cause.

The BYSHR supports and respects Human Rights Defender Mr.Abdulhadi Alkhawaja’s decision to continue his hungerstrike and calls on the international community to stand behind him in order to secure his release and support his plight in highlighting the human rights violations happening in the Kingdom of Bahrain. …source