Posts from — November 2012

Syrian rebels using children in war: HRW
29 November, 2012 – Reuters – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad have sent children into combat and used boys as young as 14 to transport weapons and supplies, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The New York-based group said it had interviewed five boys aged between 14 and 16 who said they worked with rebels in the southern province of Deraa, the central Homs region and on the northern border with Turkey.

Three of them, all aged 16, said they carried weapons and one said he participated in attack missions. Two others, aged 14 and 15, said they supported fighter brigades by conducting reconnaissance or transporting weapons and supplies.

The International Criminal Court says that conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 or using them to participate in hostilities is a war crime. The United Nations convention on child rights urges states to ensure that people under 18 are not recruited or used in hostilities.

“All eyes are on the Syrian opposition to prove they’re trying to protect children from bullets and bombs, rather than placing them in danger,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

She urged rebel commanders “to make a strong, public commitment against use of children in their forces, and to verify boys’ ages before allowing them to enlist.”

A 16-year-old boy from the Khalidiyeh district of Homs city told HRW he participated in combat missions.

“I used to carry a Kalashnikov… I used to shoot checkpoints … to capture (them) and take the weapons,” he said, adding that his 2,000-strong battalion gave him combat training.

“They taught us how to shoot, how to dismantle and put together a weapon,” he told Human Rights Watch. He volunteered along with his older brother and other relatives.

Another boy, from Homs, said children took on various roles. “The job you have depends on you,” he said. “If you have a brave heart, they’ll send you to (attack) checkpoints.”

He said that after several months in a combat post, his commanders told him to leave the unit because of his age.

“They said we need older guys – you’re too young,” he said.

The youngest boy quoted by the rights group was a 14-year-old who said he transported weapons, food and other supplies for fighters near the Turkish border.

“We would bring bullets and Russiyets (Kalashnikovs). All of the kids were helping like this. We were 10 boys between 14 and 18 years old,” he said.

The Centre for Documentation of Violations in Syria, an opposition monitoring group, has documented the deaths of at least 17 children who fought with the FSA. Many others have been severely wounded, and some permanently disabled, HRW said.

Rights groups say both government forces and rebels may have committed war crimes during the 20-month-old uprising against Assad, including torture and summary executions. Most of the accusations have been levelled against pro-Assad forces.
…source

Al Qaeda “Virtue Police” Show up Along NATO Protected Turkish-Syrian Border
By Tony Cartalucci – Global Research – 28 November, 2012

NATO-backed terrorists along Turkish-Syrian border establish Al Qaeda-style “Virtue & Vice Police,” heralding the West’s true designs for Syria.

An obscure, unreported pair of Getty images created on November 21, 2012 depict masked, armed terrorists atop a building with the words “Committee for Promotion of Virtues and Prevention of Vice” scrawled across its facade. The images were taken in al-Bab, northern Syria.

While the establishment of Al Qaeda-style “virtue police” along Syria’s borders is troubling enough, what is perhaps even more disturbing is the AFP caption that accompanied the images. The caption reads:

Syrian members of the Committee for Promotion of Virtues and Prevention of Vice stand guard on top of a building with a freshly painted wall with the name of the committee in Arabic at their headquarters in al-Bab, northern Syria, on November 21, 2012. The committee was created to fight abuses and crimes committed by members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) only, and has 80 elements recruited outside the FSA. The rebels faced growing criticism, particularly after a video was posted on YouTube earlier in November, appearing to show opposition fighters beating and executing soldiers after attacks.

The caption presumes absolute ignorance on behalf of potential readers as to what “Committee for Promotion of Virtues and Prevention of Vice” actually means in the context of sectarian extremism linked to groups such as Al Qaeda, leading US-backed efforts to topple the Syrian government. Not only do the committees have nothing to do with fighting “abuses and crimes committed by members of the Free Syrian Army,” but to suggest that the “committee” is only policing fellow terrorists betrays the last 2 years of documented evidence regarding the so-called “FSA” and its members who hail from Al Qaeda linked groups both inside Syria and beyond, including the notorious Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) hailing from Benghazi, Darnah, and Tobruk, Libya.

“Virtue Police” Simply a Manifestation of NATO-backed Terrorist Flooding over Turkish Border.

It was exposed at length that many of the so-called “Free Syrian Army’s” fighters were in fact foreign terrorists imported into Syria via long-established Al Qaeda networks used to feed fighters first into Afghanistan during the 1980′s, then into Afghanistan and Iraq during America’s occupation of both nations over the past decade.

The documented details of this network were exposed in the extensive academic efforts of the US Army’s own West Point Combating Terrorism Center (CTC). Two reports were published between 2007 and 2008 revealing a global network of Al Qaeda affiliated terror organizations, and how they mobilized to send a large influx of foreign fighters into Iraq.

Image: Cover of the US Army’s West Point Combating Terrorism Center report, “Al-Qa’ida’s Foreign Fighters in Iraq.” The report definitively exposed a regional network used by Al Qaeda to send fighters into Iraq to sow sectarian violence during the US occupation. This exact network can now be seen demonstrably at work with NATO support, overrunning Libya and now Syria. The terrorists in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that US Ambassador Stevens was arming, is described by the 2007 West Point report as one of the most prolific and notorious Al Qaeda subsidiaries in the world.

The first report, “Al-Qa’ida’s Foreign Fighters in Iraq,” was extensively cited by historian and geopolitical analyst Dr. Webster Tarpley in March of 2011, exposing that NATO-backed “pro-democracy” rebels in Libya were in fact Al Qaeda’s Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), listed by the US State Department, United Nations, and the UK Home Office as an international terrorist organization.

The West Point report exposed Libya as a global epicenter for Al Qaeda training and recruitment, producing more fighters per capita than even Saudi Arabia, and producing more foreign fighters than any other nation that sent militants to Iraq, except Saudi Arabia itself. …more

What do they want from Syria?
29 November, 2012 – By Finian Cunningham – PressTV

The terrorist war on Syria, which the Western media trumpet as a ‘pro-democracy uprising,’ is aimed at precisely the opposite of pluralist coexistence. What the terrorists want is to tear the tolerant soul out of the country and plunge its people into an internecine, hate-filled sectarian bloodbath.”
Related Interviews:

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“What do they want from Jaramana? The town brings together people from all over Syria and welcomes everybody.” These were the anguished words of one distraught resident in the Syrian town of Jaramana that was devastated by multiple deadly explosions this week.

The death toll has yet to be confirmed. Early reports on the blasts said 34 were killed. Later, the toll was put at more than 50, with over 120 injured, many critical. All of the victims were civilian.

Over the past 20 months, Syria has witnessed dozens of massacres and horrific car bombings in its capital Damascus and in other cities and countless villages across the country. But the latest atrocity in Jaramana, located close to the capital, is distinguishable perhaps because it most clearly shows the vile Machiavellian mentality of the perpetrators in their broader strategy towards the Middle Eastern country.

As the words of the shell-shocked resident above indicate, Jaramana can be seen as an exemplar of the pluralist nature of the Syrian society, “welcoming everybody”. The town is particularly known for its Christian and Druze Muslim communities, who by all accounts have coexisted peacefully for centuries. The populace is also largely supportive of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

This Wednesday morning, as workers, mothers and school children were going about their usual daily routine, two massive no-warning explosions ripped through the heart of Jaramana. The second blast was detonated minutes after the first one when bystanders were rushing to the scene to aid the wounded. The heinous calculation of the perpetrators was to maximise the killing and suffering.

“What do they want from Jaramana?” The answer is revealed in the resident’s subsequent words: “The town brings together people from all over Syria and welcomes everybody.”

The terrorist war on Syria, which the Western media trumpet as a “pro-democracy uprising”, is aimed at precisely the opposite of pluralist coexistence. What the terrorists want is to tear the tolerant soul out of the country and plunge its people into an internecine, hate-filled sectarian bloodbath.

The targeting of Jaramana is a deliberate, brutal calculation to precipitate such a bloodbath. The town has been inflicted with several similar, although less deadly, bombings in recent months. On 29 October, a car bomb killed 11 people.

There are no military or state security installations in Jaramana. As noted, it is a urban district known for its tolerance towards mixed religions and cultural heritage. But, for the terrorists and their fiendish mentality, that civic virtue made Jaramana a prime target.

The armed militants in Syria are driven by Sunni extremists of Wahhabist or Salafist tendencies, who see pluralist coexistence of Sunni, Shia, Alawite, Druze, Christian, Jews and non-believers as anathema to their demented puritanical ideology.

Other elements within the Syrian armed militant groups would appear to be simply “soldiers of fortune” – mercenaries and criminal opportunists who have no particular religious affiliation. …more

More than 150 protesters wounded by Tunisia police
28 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

More than 150 people were wounded on Wednesday in a second day of clashes between Tunisian security forces and thousands of protesters in a poor southwestern town, a hospital source told AFP.

A doctor at the hospital in Siliana said more than 150 people were being treated for different types of injury, with four of them transferred to Tunis.

The emergency services in Siliana, some 120 kilometers south of Tunis, were visibly overwhelmed, as relatives of the victims gathered and vented their anger, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

“We will burn the town!” shouted a man whose son was among those injured.

Several armored vehicles belonging to the national guard were deployed, while protesters erected barricades in the streets.

By early afternoon the clashes were ongoing, between stone-throwing protesters and police, with thick clouds of tear gas visible in the town.

The interior ministry declined to comment on the unrest.

But the prime minister’s office said it was concerned about “the protests in public places in the Siliana prefecture,” in its first reaction to the unrest.

It also said it regretted “the use of violence against the security forces, aggression at the headquarters of sovereignty, and attempts to damage public property.”

Several thousand protesters had gathered at 0900 GMT in front of the prefecture in Siliana demanding the departure of the regional governor, trade union official Nejib Sebti told AFP earlier.

The security forces then began firing warning shots and tear gas, before using a “strange” type of shot to disperse the crowd, he said.

Similar clashes took place on Tuesday, with the police then using rubber bullets to scatter the protesters.

“The people of Siliana most affected by poverty will never go down on their knees,” Sebti said, warning that they were “ready to die for their rights.”

The protesters are demanding the liberation of 14 people detained during violent unrest in April 2011 and funds to boost economic development in the impoverished region, as well as the governor’s resignation.

Investment in the poor farming region fell by 44.5 percent from January to October, compared with the same period last year.

Much of Tunisia’s interior suffers from a chronic lack of development, and has seen growing social unrest, including protests that often turn violent, amid rising discontent over the Islamist-led government’s failure to improve living standards. …source

ICG: A Way Out of Egypt’s Transitional Quicksand
POMED – 28 November, 2012

A recent article by the International Crisis Group (ICG) addresses Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi‘s declaration of full power. The decree ”removes the unpopular Prosecutor General, a Mubarak-era holdover; paves the way for retrial of recently acquitted officials implicated in violence against demonstrators; protects both the Shura Council and Constituent Assembly from possible court-ordered dissolution; prolongs the Constituent Assembly’s term by two months; and, crucially, immunizes all presidential decisions from judicial review until adoption of a new constitution.”

Morsi’s decree came in reaction to the imminent collapse of the Constituent Assembly and the reinstatement of wide-ranging powers to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), according to the report. This combination of events, the ICG says, would have caused untold damage to the already unstable transition. The report also argues that Morsi’s decree enjoys widespread support among Egyptians, while the unpopular liberal opposition relies on “obstructionist politics” to assert its influence on the process. However, Morsi’s declaration has served to deepen the divisions among political groups, as well as the executive and judicial branches of government. To move forward, the ICG recommends that the “president and Supreme Judicial Council should agree to restore judicial oversight over his decisions with the exception of those pertaining to the maintenance and functioning of representative political institutions, while the courts should refrain from their own overreach. Additionally, members of the Constituent Assembly who have withdrawn in protest ought to rejoin the body, while some Islamist members could resign and be replaced by constitutional law experts.”

Issandr El Amrani criticized the piece, saying the ICG’s assertion that Morsi’s power grab has enjoyed widespread support is not based on substantiated evidence. “There is no reliable information on what the general public thinks of Morsi’s decree, but anecdotal evidence suggests there is quite a bit of opposition to it,” El Amrani said. However, he did agree that the opposition has not articulated a solution to the problems that Morsi’s decrees sought to address. …source

Obama II – the purge and the pact
by Thierry Meyssan – Voltaire Network – Damascus (Syria) – 28, November 2012

Enjoying a legitimacy reinforced by his reelection, President Barack Obama is preparing to launch a new foreign policy – drawing the conclusions from the relative economic weakening of the United States, he has renounced the idea of governing the world on his own. US forces continue their departure from Europe and their partial disengagement from the Middle East in order to take up positions around China. From this perspective, he wants to weaken the developing Russo-Chinese alliance at the same time as sharing the burden of the Middle East with Russia. Consequently, he is ready to apply the agreement on Syria which was reached on the 30th June in Geneva – deployment of a UN peace force, composed mainly of troops from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, and maintenance of Bachar el-Assad in power if he is designated by his people.

This new foreign policy is running into strong resistance in Washington. In July, a series of organised leaks to the Press sank the Geneva agreement and forced Kofi Annan to resign. This sabotage seems to have been hatched by a group of senior officers who are unable to accept the end of their dreams of a global empire.

This problem was never evoked during the Presidential campaign, since the two main candidates were in agreement about the change of policy and only disagreed on the manner in which it should be presented.

So Barack Obama waited no longer than the evening of his victory before giving the signal for the start of a purge which has been in cautious preparation for months. The resignation of General David Petraeus from his functions as head of the CIA has been widely publicized, but it was only the appetizer. The heads of many other senior officers are about to roll in the dust.

The purge first affects the Supreme Commander of NATO and Commander of EuCom (Admiral James G. Stravidis), who is at the end of his term, and his scheduled successor (General John R. Allen). It continues with the ex-Commander of AfriCom (General William E. Ward) and the man who has been his successor for a year (General Carter Ham). It will probably also eliminate the chief of the anti-missile shield (General Patrick J. O’Reilly) and still others of lesser importance.

Each time, the senior officers are accused either of sexual misconduct or embezzlement. The US Press has feasted on the sordid details of the sexual triangle which implicates Petraeus, Allen and Petraeus’ biographer, Paula Broadwell, while avoiding any mention of the fact that she is a Lieutenant-Colonel in Military Intelligence. It seems abundantly clear that she was infiltrated into the entourage of the two Generals in order to bring them down.

The purge in Washington was preceded in July by the elimination of the foreign executives who oppose this new policy and who were implicated in the battle of Damascus. Everything went down as if Obama had allowed the clean-up to happen. For example, the premature death of General Omar Suleiman (Egypt), who had come to undergo treatment at a US hospital, or the attack on Prince Bandar ben Sultan (Saudi Arabia), seven days later. …more

Israel carries out ground incursion into Lebanon
28 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Eleven Israeli soldiers carried out a ground incursion into Lebanon Wednesday morning, breaking the border’s barbed wire fence near the village of Wazzani and mounting a sandbag barrier roughly 15 meters past the demarcation line.

The soldiers reached a Lebanese military zone, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

Ground and air incursions into Lebanon are a direct breach of UN resolution 1701 which ended Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006. Israel has carried out more than 20,000 illegal surveillance flights over Lebanon since that ceasefire.

The Lebanese Army and the UN’s international peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL are on high alert. …source

Trial of two boys starts in Bahrain
Amnesty International – 28 November, 2012

Children with roses Young boys hold roses while sitting at the base of the Pearl Monument, Bahrain. © Al Jazeera English

Two 15 year old boys, Jehad Sadeq Aziz Salman and Ebrahim Ahmed Radi al-Moqdad were arrested with two adults during an anti-government protest in Manama, the capital of Bahrain.

They have since been held in detention and appeared for the first time before the High Criminal Court in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on October 16, together with Sadeq Jalil Ibrahim al-Haiki.

Their charges under articles of the Bahrain Penal Code and the 2006 anti-terrorist law include ‘’intending to murder”, “burning a police car”, “illegal gathering and rioting”, “throwing Molotov cocktails”, and “attempting to steal a police car”. One of the defendants told the court he had been tortured in detention. Their lawyers are still waiting for the results of a forensic examination and their case has been adjourned to 3 December. All five are still held in the Dry Dock prison in Manama.

The age of criminal responsibility in Bahraini law is 15 years old. However, as Jehad Sadeq Aziz Salman and Ebrahim Ahmed Radi al-Moqdad are under 18, they are children and should be treated in accordance with the rules and principles of juvenile justice.
…more

Bahrain – time for Britain to take a lead
By Eric Avebury – 23 November, 2012 – Liberal Democrat Voice

On November 5, thirty-one Bahrainis were deprived of their citizenship arbitrarily, without notice and without judicial process, contrary to customary international law. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone has the right to a nationality and no-one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality. The victims can appeal these decision, but there is no point. The king has absolute power to grant or rescind citizenship, and the courts wouldn’t dream of overturning his decisions.

No wonder that hundreds of Bahrainis demonstrate against the government every day. Even after a total ban on meetings they continue to turn out after Friday prayers. The ruling family’s assault on the rights of the people provokes their hatred, and they are calling for regime change.

The ancestors of the royal family came from Zebara in the 18th century, so the chant on the streets is;

Your visit is finished – go back to Zebara

In Arabic it rhymes:

Intahat Ziyara, Oodoo illa Zebara

The US State Department repeat their call to the government of Bahrain to create a climate that is conducive to reconciliation, to meaningful dialogue, to reform, to bring peaceful change. Britain also calls for peaceful dialogue, but many of the leaders of the opposition are serving life sentences in prison, among them Hassan Mushaima, leader of the Haq movement and Abduljalil al-Singace, the head of its human rights bureau; Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a leading human rights activist.

Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, is imprisoned for three years for a remark he made on Twitter.

The Bassiouni Commission, which examined hundreds of human rights abuses following the uprising that began in February 2011, recommended that political prisoners should be freed and compensated for the torture they suffered.

Prince Salman, the Crown Prince, gave the Foreign Secretary William Hague a personal commitment to an inclusive political dialogue. This can’t happen while most of opposition are behind bars. Now the provocative and unlawful deprivation of these people’s citizenship, with the threat of more to come, makes it harder than ever to start a dialogue.

Our Government needs to tell the hereditary autocrats of Bahrain that the long-term peace and stability of Bahrain can’t be achieved by killing, torturing and arbitrarily imprisoning human rights and political activists. Bahrain and the other Gulf monarchies need fundamental reforms that transfer power from permanent autocrats to the people, as in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and soon we hope, Syria.

Britain should line itself up with the future, and not with anachronistic family oligarchies. …source

Saudi forces disperse protesters
28 November, 2012 – UPI.com

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 28 (UPI) — A human rights activist in Saudi Arabia said security forces descended on protesters who were demonstrating for more judicial rights.

Mohammed al-Qahtani, a member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, told CNN that security forces broke up a protest in front of the country’s human rights commission in Riyadh. Several prisoners have remained behind bars without trial, he said.

“These are ongoing protests about political prisoners,” he said. “The government is not willing to take them to court and issue verdicts.”

CNN said it was unable to verify Qahtani’s claims. The activist is on trial for running an unlicensed organization.

Calls by CNN to the Saudi Interior Minister went unanswered. The official Saudi Press Agency reports Wednesday the ruling monarch issued a decree reliving Interior Minister Ahmad bin Abdulaziz of his post. A royal decree, meanwhile, related to “amnesty for prisoners of public rights according to certain conditions,” the official news agency reports.

Demonstrations in Saudi Arabia are exceptionally rare.

…source

France notes “with satisfaction” ongoing Bahraini reform efforts
26 November, 2012 – Kuwait News Agency

PARIS, Nov 26 (KUNA) — France said on Monday that it had noted “with satisfaction” the decision of the highest Bahraini authorities to implement reform recommendations made last year and urged continuing efforts to fully implement the independent report submitted at that time by Sharif Bassiouni.

“We praised the initiative of King Hamad in July 2011 to put in place an independent commission of enquiry…destined to shed light on human rights violations during the events of February and March 2011,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said in a briefing.

“We also noted with satisfaction the decision of the highest Bahraini authorities to implement the recommendations formulated by the commission of enquiry in the report submitted a year ago,” the official added.

Lalliot said that certain measures have been taken and France called for all the recommendations to be adopted.

“Such a gesture is an indispensable element to favour reconciliation and create conditions for lasting calm in Bahrain,” the spokesman stated.

“All parties must, incidentally, refuse recourse to violence. In this regard, we have taken note, with interest, of the ‘statement on non-violence’ formulated by five political associations from the opposition, proposing to all an agreement for a political action framework respecting the principle of pluralism”.

Saudis rally in Riyadh to call for release of political detainees
27 November, 2012 – Islamic Invitation Turkey

Saudis have staged a protest rally in the capital, Riyadh, to demand the release of those held in Al Saud prisons without charge for long time.

Witnesses said scores of people, including women, demonstrated outside Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission in the capital on Tuesday to call for the release of their jailed relatives.

“Release innocent detainees,” read a banner held by the protesters.

The protesters ware dispersed by police and dozens of them, including women and chidren, were arrested.

“They detained six children, 23 women and around 30 men,” Ali Alhattab, an activist told Reuters.

In October, Saudi authorities warned that they would deal “firmly” with protests after hundreds of Saudis gathered outside Tafiya prison, north of the capital, in September to demand the release of their relatives.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has criticized Riyadh over the warning and urged the authorities to “withdraw their threat.” In Saudi Arabia, protests and political gatherings of any kind are prohibited. …source

Saudi shares hit 10-month low as Egypt’s crisis weighs; Gulf mixed
25 November, 2012 – By Nadia Salee – Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s shares slumped on Sunday, dragging the market down to a 10-month low as political turmoil in Egypt sparked by President Mursi’s new powers spooked regional investors, while other Gulf markets closed mixed.

Egypt President Mohamed Mursi decree issued on Thursday that defends his decisions from judicial review, set off street violence and unravelled efforts to restore stability after last year’s revolution. Cairo’s index plunged 9.6 percent.

Investors are concerned Egypt’s political unrest could have widespread implications for the Middle East.

“The market was already under pressure from the violence in Gaza and now it’s Egypt’s protest,” said a Riyadh-based trader who asked not to be identified.

Israel and Gaza called a truce on Wednesday, following eight days of violence, which triggered a sell-off across regions and weighed on markets.

Saudi’s heavyweight sectors – petrochemicals and banking – were the main drag. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) , the world’s largest chemicals producer fell 2.3 percent. Al Rajhi Bank dropped 1.2 percent and Samba Financial Group shed 2.2 percent.

The kingdom’s index dropped 2.1 percent to its lowest close since Jan. 25 and marked its biggest one-day loss since early June.

“The index broke the key support of 6,550 sharply to the down side,” said Mohabeldeen Agena, head of technical analysis at Cairo’s Beltone Financial. “We are expecting the bears to continue pushing it downward towards 6,300 levels.

In Dubai, property stocks helped lift the index, which gained 0.3 percent, after plans announced for a new mega project in the emirate.

Dubai’s Emaar Properties climbed 2.2 percent, Drake & Scull added 0.6 percent and builder Arabtec rose 1.3 percent.

The emirate’s ruler on Saturday unveiled a master development that appeared to include re-starting projects that were halted following a property price crash. …more

…source

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France to recognize Palestinian state at U.N.
27 November, 2012 – Associated Press – The Daily Star

PARIS: The French foreign minister says France plans to vote in favor of recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week.

Laurent Fabius has told parliament that France has long supported Palestinian ambitions for statehood and “will respond ‘yes'” when the issue comes up for a vote “out of a concern for coherency.”

With the announcement Tuesday, France – a permanent member of the Security Council – becomes the first major European country to come out in favor. It amounts to a setback for Israel.

The Palestinians say the assembly is likely to vote Thursday on a resolution raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a nonmember observer state, a move they believe is an important step toward a two-state solution with Israel.

…more

Around the world, a generation of workers is discovering the power of resistance.

Confronting a global austerity agenda
27 November, 2012 – SocialistWorker.org

Spanish workers march during the recent multinational strike in Europe (Ana Rey)Spanish workers march during the recent multinational strike in Europe (Ana Rey)

REVOLUTION AND reaction, austerity and resistance. That was the shape of world politics in 2012 as the rulers of governments around the globe attempted to force working people to bear the brunt of an ongoing global economic crisis.

The particulars of the crisis and the struggle vary from country to country. The Middle East, where revolutions shook world politics last year, has seen a revolutionary civil war in Syria, resistance to another Israeli military onslaught against the Palestinians of Gaza, and–in the last weeks of November–a renewal of struggle in Egypt against a power grab by the ruling Islamist party that won the country’s first post-revolutionary elections.

U.S. ally Bahrain has spared no effort to crush the democratic movement in that country, but another Washington-backed monarchy, Jordan, is ending the year panicked by a new wave of protests.

The fightback has continued in Western Europe, the old heartland of the capitalist system. Merciless austerity programs that cut wages and pensions while slashing social spending have provoked a series of strikes and protests–most impressively, the recent pan-European general strike in Spain, Portugal and other countries.

But the wave of workers’ struggle has spread beyond Europe. India saw its biggest-ever general strike in February. In China–a one-party dictatorship where independent unions are illegal–strikes, mass worker protests and riots are commonplace.

In the U.S., workers’ resistance has been less dramatic compared to the 2011 uprising in Wisconsin against Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union legislation and the emergence of organized labor as a crucial part of the Occupy Wall Street movement a year ago.

Yet though strikes remain at their lowest levels in decades, a nine-day walkout by Chicago teachers in September was one of the most important U.S. union battles in decades. In the face of an all-out ideological offensive by the Democratic-controlled city government, the teachers nevertheless won widespread solidarity and showed the potential for a renewed labor movement.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

DESPITE THE many differences from country to country, a common factor is at the heart of these protests–a global economy that’s still too weak to overcome the effects of the financial crash of 2008.

As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted in its World Economic Outlook published in October, “The recovery continues, but it has weakened. In advanced economies, growth is now too low to make a substantial dent in unemployment. And in major emerging market economies, growth that had been strong earlier has also decreased.”

The IMF has lowered its forecast for growth in the advanced countries–mainly the U.S., Europe and Japan–from an already weak 2 percent to just 1.5 percent. That’s the result of much of Western Europe sinking into outright recession.

As the economy falters, voters have tended to kick out the parties that presided over the debacle. In Greece and Spain, it was center-left social democratic parties that were sent packing in recent elections, while in France, right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy was ousted in favor of the Socialist Party.

But whichever mainstream parties European voters have chosen, the austerity agenda remains. From liberal to conservative, all these parties share a consensus of continued cuts in wages and social spending, differing only on how fast and deep the cuts should come. And if workers in Greece or Spain object, officials from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the IMF can demand that the cuts go through anyway–or else the debt-wracked countries will be cut off from the loans and financial assistance that have their financial systems from total collapse.

When it comes to democracy versus austerity, big capital insists that austerity wins–in every case.

That’s why U.S. politicians are using the so-called “fiscal cliff”–a January 1 deadline before higher taxes and across-the-board spending cuts go into effect–as an excuse for austerity, American-style. The message is that we better accept further spending reductions in exchange for a small increase in taxes on the rich–or risk the economic contraction that result from going over the cliff.

The message is the same, repeated in many languages around the world: “We hate to do this, but we have no choice.”

But behind the rhetoric about “shared sacrifice,” the real agenda in the U.S. and Europe is a deep and permanent cut in the standard of living for working people. Governments need to enable corporations to remain profitable while meeting the rising competition from China, Brazil and other industrializing countries. Cutting workers’ wages and benefits is no longer enough. The social wage–government spending on education, health care, retirement systems and more–must be slashed, too, in order to keep taxes low for business and the wealthy. …more

Iran, Arabs slam Mideast nuclear talks delay
27 November, 2012 – Reuters – The Daily Star

VIENNA: Iran and Arab nations Monday criticized a decision to put off talks on banning atomic bombs in the Middle East, with Tehran blaming the United States for a “serious setback” to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States said Friday that the mid-December conference on creating a zone free of weapons of mass destruction would not occur and did not make clear when, or whether, it would take place.

The postponement “will have a negative impact on regional security and the international system to prevent nuclear proliferation as a whole,” Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said.

Iran, which is accused by the West of developing a nuclear weapons capability, said this month it would participate in the talks that had been due to take place in Helsinki, Finland.

Asked about the U.S. announcement, Iranian nuclear envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh told state broadcaster Press TV from Vienna: “It is a serious setback to the NPT and this is a clear sign that the U.S. is not committed to the obligation of a world free of nuclear weapons.”

Elaraby said all regional states except Israel had voiced willingness to attend the conference.

He called for an urgent meeting of senior Arab officials this week to consider the developments.
…source

Thousands march to Tahrir as pressure piles on Morsi
27 November, 2012 – Agence France Presse – The Daily Star

CAIRO: Egypt’s President Mohammad Mursi faced nationwide protests Tuesday after digging in his heels over a controversial decree granting him sweeping powers, in the most divisive crisis since he took power in June.

Thousands of lawyers left their syndicate chanting, “The people want the downfall of the regime,” — the signature chant of the protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year– as they made their way to Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square.

Several other marches were preparing to set off from around the capital to join thousands of protesters already in the square to denounce Mursi’s decree.

In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, several hundred gathered in Qaitbay square, with two large marches expected to join them later.

“Down with the rule of the Supreme Guide,” they chanted, in reference to the head of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, on whose ticket Mursi ran for office.

A rival rally in Cairo by the Muslim Brotherhood in support of the president was called off to “avoid potential unrest” but that has done little to abate the division among supporters and foes of Mursi.

“The Muslim Brotherhood stole the revolution” read one banner in Tahrir. Another said the president was “pushing the people to civil disobedience.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood are liars, read another.

Sporadic clashes between police and protesting youths continued into the afternoon near Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

“We will stay in Tahrir until Mursi cancels his declaration,” protester Ahmed Fahmy, 34 told AFP.

The planned demonstrations come a day after Mursi met with the country’s top judges in a bid to defuse the crisis over the decree, that has sparked deadly clashes and prompted judges and journalists to call for strike.

The protesters are angry at the decree that Mursi announced last Thursday allowing him to “issue any decision or law that is final and not subject to appeal”, which effectively placed him beyond judicial oversight.

The decree put him on a collision course with the judiciary and consolidated the long-divided opposition which accuses him of taking on dictatorial powers and raise fears that the Islamists will be further ensconced in power.
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Syria names 142 slain foreign fighters from 18 countries
November 27, 2012 – Agence France Presse

DAMASCUS: A Syrian newspaper published the names of 142 foreign fighters from 18 countries the regime says were killed alongside rebels in Syria’s conflict.

Pro-regime Al-Watan published a list, which it said Damascus sent to the United Nations Security Council last month, that included Arab, North African, Central and South Asian “terrorists,” giving the date and place of their death.

“Most are jihadists (radical Islamists) who belong to Al-Qaeda’s network, or who joined it after arriving in Syria,” the paper said, adding that they entered Syria via Turkey and Lebanon.

Among the 142 it named 47 Saudis, 24 Libyans, 10 Tunisians, nine Egyptians, six Qataris and five Lebanese.

It also listed 11 Afghans, five Turks, three Chechens, one Chadian and one Azerbaijani.

Most of the fighters were killed in October and November in the northern province of Aleppo, Homs in central Syria, the northwestern region of Idlib, Deir Ezzor in the east, and Hasakeh in the northeast, it said.

Damascus says foreign-backed “terrorists” are responsible for the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad that broke out in March 2011.

The violence in Syria has killed more than 40,000 people in 20 months, according to the Britain-based activists the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The uprising did not turn into an armed insurgency until several months after it erupted, following a severe regime crackdown.
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Slavery in Saudi Arabia
27 November, 2012 – By M. Zulkifli Nazim – Asia Tribune

The United Nations, Human Rights Organizations and other governmental and non-governmental organizations and administrations are trying their utmost, to the greatest possible degree, to eradicate the vestiges of slavery from its very roots.

Ironically, the rulers of a country, vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, which pride themselves as the protectors of the Holy Places of Islam, a religion that is supposed to supposed to have uprooted slavery, are involved in slavery and even are encouraging this vassalage.

The worst part is that these are being done in this modern civilized era right under the noses of every authority, every institution and everything that is decent which oppose slavery:

What is this slavery we are talking about? The lexical definition of “slavery” is:

1. The state of being under the control of another person.

2. The practice of owning slaves.

3. Work done under harsh conditions for little or no pay.

A person who is offered employment in Saudi Arabia is promised the world; but what we see is, other than a very few privileged people and very few reputed institutions which do the right thing, the majority of those who live and work in Saudi Arabia are subject to this lexical definition of “Slavery” as given above.

As soon as the prospective employee lands in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, his Passport is “confiscated” by the institution or the individual who is referred to as “Kafeel” – meaning “Sponsor” who was responsible in getting the work visa and the individual is given a piece of paper called the “Aqama” – a form of Identity Card, which he has to carry around.

Once the Passport is surrendered and the Aqama is given, the man or woman are virtually slaves of the individual or the unscrupulous institution and is completely under their control.

They cannot do anything without the permission of this “Kafeel”, even for an emergency. Even if it necessitates visiting ailing parents or wife or children they have to wait for the Kafeel’s permission. Invariably these people are hard to find and are never there when you need them – they only surface when the time of renewal of this Aqama is round the corner where they demand exhorbitant and unrealistic fees from this unfortunate “slave”, without any compunction or human feeling.

Majority of workers are poor, who have gone to Saudi Arabia, to eke out a living, laboriously working in precarious conditions, day by day with the greatest difficulty, for the upkeep of their families in their home country. Now, they are trapped and invariably have to give in to the demands of these monsters. And this monster practically owns this slave.

The whole world is aware of the fact that in countless innumerable instances that those employed by private individuals or unscrupulous organizations are not paid what they are promised, they are drastically reduced or sometimes not even paid at all.

Moreover, if this so-called Kafeel, gets “fed-up” with this individual, he practically “sells” him to another equally heartless monster. In other words, he hands over the sponsorship to another individual for a pecuniary consideration and now this “slave” is owned by another “master”. And this master-slave system goes in to loop after loop until the individual leaves the country or dies a natural death or commits suicide.

The Passport, is the property of the country which is issued to the said individual and no one has the right to take over the Passport from this individual. Because once the Passport leaves the hand of the owner, nobody knows what will happen to it.

The “Kafeel” can lose it, even purposely shred it, burn it and destroy it and no one will be the wiser. Governments, the world over, must take action through Diplomatic channels to ensure that this personal freedom is not abused or curtailed.

All Organizations, especially the United Nations including the Government of the Kindgom of Saudi Arabia must take into cognizance this modern day slavery and issue an international proclamation, to totally eliminate, terminate and extirpate this inhuman cold-blooded behavior by these insensate, monstrous, atrocious, shockingly brutal individuals and institutions.
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Rethinking rocker in Bahrain
By Al Kamen – 26 November, 2012 – Washington Post

It seemed like a pretty neat idea when rocker ­Andrew W.K. posted on his Web site last week that the State Department was sending him as a cultural ambassador to Bahrain to help folks in that deeply unsettled country.

Just Monday, the government used tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators and street battles flared, the Associated Press reported.

The bipartisan commission that set policymakers on the path to negotiations underway now.

So how about sending a rocker whose hits include “Party Hard” and “Party Til You Puke” to get warring Sunnis and Shiites to start dancing in the streets instead of fighting?

Apparently not.

“We had a Bahraini entity approach the embassy about co-sponsoring a visit by this guy, who I take is pretty popular there in Bahrain,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Monday, our colleague Anne Gearan reports.

Maybe someone at first thought the lyrics to “Party Til You Puke” — “You can never kill us. We choke, We gun, We kill, We stab, We rob, We steal” — would have a calming effect?

In any event, the co-sponsorship request was “initially approved” — what? — Nuland said, “and then when more senior management at the embassy took a look at this, the conclusion was that this was not an appropriate use of U.S. government funds.”

Seemed someone “looked at the body of his work,” Nuland explained, and the conclusion was “we didn’t need to be part of his invitation.”

Bottom line: “He is not going to Bahrain on the U.S. government’s dime,” she said.

“The body of his work?” His oeuvre?

She’s not in Bahrain either

Odd movement at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Sometime around late summer, General Counsel Lisa Gomer was suddenly moved out of the counsel’s office and given some sort of “special” assignment, we heard.

All the lawyers on her team were told they could no longer talk to her about her work. This was especially problematic because she had planned a big meeting in Washington of agency lawyers, including folks stationed abroad, for October, and because of the situation, it had to be canceled.

Sources said this was a costly decision because of cancelation fees for reservations, air flights and such. The agency says not ­really, noting that the booked airline tickets were changeable without cost and the conference venue simply moved the booking to a new conference date in February.

Gomer, a Harvard Law School classmate of President Obama’s, is a veteran of international development, having worked for the United Nations and been a consultant to the the United Nations Development Program.

No one at USAID appears to know what’s going on. There were even suspicions that her reassignment was being kept under wraps prior to the election. (Of course everyone suspected everything was kept under wraps until after the election. Besides, weeks after the election, it’s still under wraps.)

The agency is sticking with the usual “not at liberty to discuss,” but it appears that Gomer is still in the building though not in or running the general counsel’s office. Deputy General Counsel Susan Pascocello has moved up to acting general counsel for now. …more

Saudi King reported ‘clinically dead’
27 November, 2012 – The Nation

RIYADH – Saudi King, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, has been in a state of ‘clinical death’ for the past two days, reported Albawaba News quoting Arabic newspaper Asharq Alawsat on Monday.A report by the paper claimed that medical staff in Saudi Arabia have confirmed that the King’s basic organs are no longer working. According to the source, ‘The fate of the king will be determined within three to four days.’ The news seemingly contradicts reports from the Saudi Royal Court, which publicly announced that the eleven hour operation had been a success. According to state news agency, SPA, the monarch, believed to be in his late 80s, was in hospital for surgery to tighten a ligament in his back.

News of the King’s ‘clinical death’ has raised questions over who will be his successor. Meanwhile, Saudi Crown Prince Salman ‘reassured’ Saudis during a cabinet meeting on Monday about King Abdullah’s health, more than a week after the monarch had surgery, state news agency SPA reported.The king, believed to be in his late 80s, was admitted for surgery on November 16 and an announcement from the Royal Court said he had undergone a successful back operation that took 11 hours.Saudi stability is of global concern. The key US ally holds more than a fifth of world petroleum reserves and is the birthplace of Islam, where millions of Muslims flock to perform the annual Haj.“His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz reassured everybody about the health of King Abdullah,” SPA said without giving any details or saying when the king might be released from hospital.The Saudi stock market, which was on a downward trend throughout the day, reversed course and the index closed up 0.4 per cent.

Top royals have repeatedly visited King Abdullah at the Riyadh hospital since the operation, SPA said on Saturday, but no photographs of the monarch have been released.The crown has passed down a line of sons of the kingdom’s founder King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, who died in 1953.Abdullah – who took power in 2005- named his brother Prince Salman, 13 years his junior, heir apparent in June after the death of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz. Salman deputises for the king while he is away and has chaired both this week and last week’s cabinet meetings. …source

Thirteen-year-old Muhammad Abu Daqqa vividly recalls the moment his friend and cousin Ahmad Abu Daqqa was killed outside his southeast Gaza home while they were playing football last Thursday afternoon.

“Suddenly, Ahmad fell on the ground and I was surprised to see him sort of bleeding right beneath his heart. An Israeli helicopter was buzzing overhead and other Israeli military jeeps and tanks were seen near the border line,” Muhammad explained.

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