Tunisia’s Islamists attack union activists
5 December, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Supporters of Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party on Tuesday attacked a demonstration by the country’s main labor union, in the latest unrest two years after the revolution.

Several dozen assailants attacked members of the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) who were gathered outside the union’s headquarters in Tunis to mark the 60th anniversary of the assassination of its founder, Farhat Hached.

The police intervened to separate the two sides, but 10 demonstrators were wounded in the attack, according to the trade union.

The interior ministry confirmed clashes had taken place between trade unionists and members of the League for the Protection of the Revolution.

In October, an opposition party accused the League, which claims as its mission to protect the aims of the revolution that toppled former dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, of beating a party official to death.

UGTT secretary general Houcine Abassi blamed the “enemies of democracy” for Tuesday’s violence and denounced what he said was an unprecedented attack against his organization.

“They want to assassinate the UGTT on the day that it commemorates the assassination of Hached, who sacrificed his life for his people and his country,” Abassi told private radio station Shems FM.

He said such an attack had never been witnessed before, “neither during the time of (Tunisia’s first president Habib) Bourguiba, nor of Ben Ali.”

The League hit back, accusing the UGTT of provoking the clashes by attacking its members with batons when they tried to participate peacefully in the demonstration.

“Whenever there is a protest by the left, they insult us, they insult the government and al-Nahda, even though no one has touched them. The reality is that they (leftist groups) are professional criminals,” the group said on its Facebook page.

Rights organizations such as The Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) and the National Union of Journalists are to hold urgent meetings to discuss the implications of the incident. …more

Egypt on Precipice: Silence is not an option
Cario Institute for Human Rights Studies – Nadine Sherif – 5 December, 2012

Standing at the precipice of history, Morsi has a choice to make: be president of Egypt or be a leader in the Muslim Brootherhood.

At this moment, two persons have been reported died, including a female protestor. Petrol bombs and birds shots are being used by Morsi supporters against his opponents in front of the presidential palace. Reporters have been attacked, and cameras have been damaged.

A coalition of well respected opposition figures and political parties unified behind ElBaradei, Mousa, and Sabahi to demand an inclusive Constitutional Assembly and withdrawal of the Constitutional Declaration, and mobilize hundreds of thousands in more than 7 governorates to protest for more than a week. In press conference today they all came together announcing Dr. Elbaradei as the leader of the coalition.

Before the election at Fairmont Hotel agreement, president Morsi promised more than 72 of the revolutionary and liberal force to be inclusive and include them in executive decsisions as well as to reform the Constitutional Assembly. Yet he recent actions have been anything but inclusive.

Today at a press conference the Vice President announced that even he wasn’t consulted on the Constitutional Declaration. Previously, the Minister of Justice stated the same. Two of the Presidents advisers, including the Advicer on Democratic Transition resigned in protest. Four members of the National Human Rights Council resigned due to Islamist intervention into council business and absence of institutional independence.

Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood have closed all avenues for peaceful dissent. With the Constitution Declaration Morsi closed all legal means to challenge his decisions and hold him accountable. A measure that wasn’t taken by any other Egyptian president.

Yesterday, Egypt’s most prominent independent newspapers staged a one day media blackout, followed by major Egypt’s Satelite channels, in protest continuous violations and threats to freedom of expression. These are not limited to violations committed since Morsi took presidency but extends to oppression soon to be enshrined in the newly drafted constitution.

The Muslim Brother have gone as far as to used force to stop government institutions from functioning. The Constitutinoal court has not be able to convene for five days. Muslim Brotherhood supporters have stop judges from entering building by force. Police forces haven’t intervened in time to regulate the protests and allowing a peaceful passage of the judges into the court. There has been no comment from the president regarding hampering the functioning of state institutions.

Today, pro-democracy protestors, respected the institution of the presidenacy and didn’t prevent the President or the Vice President from entering the presidential palace. Yet, pro-Morsi supporters, who were rallied by Muslim Brotherhood beginning at 10 pm yesterday, have violently attacked the protestors. Near by churches have been declared field hospitals to deal with injured. This is an alarming turn of events.

Egypt is on the edge of an irreversible path. If Morsi does not step up to the role of President of all Egyptians the peace revolution of Jan 25, 2011 is at risk of becoming blood drenched.

Please publicly and privatly urge President Morsi to live up to his responsibility, and to take action to prevent further escalation by the Muslim Brotherhood and/or the police.

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Wikileaks, Anonymous: ?
By Ryan O’Neill – Global Research – 4 December, 2012

Throughout early 2011, the European liberal left were in a frenzy over the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings that were sweeping across the region. The Mainstream Media supplied around the clock coverage of the mass demonstrations in Tahrir Square as we were told that the people of the Arab world were standing up to tyranny and demanding the democratic freedoms and human rights that are held in such high esteem in the west.

However, this hysteria took a dark turn in February and March of that year when armed gangs managed to take control of Benghazi in Libya and everyone from FOX News to far left political organizations immediately began to hail these events as part of some progressive revolution. In London, demonstrations began to break out in support of these rebel groups and members of the Socialist Workers Party even scaled the walls of the Libyan Embassy and replaced the Libyan flag with that of the King Idris flag which represented the Benghazi rebels.[i]

It’s incredibly problematic when organisations in the West feel they not only have a right to attach themselves to developments and struggles throughout the third world but that they can instinctively and egotistically act on them. This type of behavior rarely considers the importance of contextualization and takes sides in such conflicts depending on which narrative fits their romantic notions of ‘global revolution’ and which version their newly assumed role would sit more comfortable with. Wikileaks and Anonymous for instance, despite being relatively new organisations, are merely a new form of such behavior.

The problem is that most of these groups in the west are based on the liberal ideas of individualism and human rights formed in more privileged societies that exist in comfort at the expense of oppressed nations. Whilst following a neo-colonial agenda, countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are able to portray themselves as progressive, philanthropic nations delivering democracy, aid and human rights to poorer nations and their apparent protection and tolerance of such free and democratic values amongst their own populations only serve to support such claims.

The type of dissent that these organisations represent and attempt to address are always with regards to ‘authoritarianism’, ‘libertarianism’, ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘democratic rights’ that merely frame the issue to the extent that the rights and injustices that are at the center of third world struggles go largely ignored. Whistleblowing in this sense serves the same purpose as the publishing of political memoirs, or the occasional negative self reflection of the press on past events that are always too little, too late. They do not hold any real clout to make a difference politically yet serve the notions that “dissent” is tolerated, and published in the west.

In 2012, Wikileaks released 2.4 million emails that showed correspondence between political figures, ministries and associated companies in Syria from between 2006 and 2012. Sarah Harrison of the Associated Press claimed that the

“material is embarrassing to Syria” but claims that Syria’s opponents will equally be ashamed. “It helps us not merely to criticize one group or another, but to understand their interests, actions and thoughts. It is only through understanding this conflict that we can hope to resolve it.”[ii]

The problem with such action from Wikileaks is how it completely failed to take into account the already established campaign by western governments and media outlets to slander Bashar Al Assad’s government in Syria and how this could, and would be used to give support and legitimacy to their claims. When the most powerful country in the world with the most powerful media agencies at its disposal are targeting Syria, slandering its government and constantly pushing for “Humanitarian Intervention”, this irresponsible lack of contextualization can only serve Syria’s enemies.

For instance, the emails revealed arms trading between Russia and Syria despite the UN (under pressure from the US) imposing sanctions on the country. These leaked documents were then used by the Mainstream Media to support Hilary Clinton’s claims that Russia were blocking their resolutions at the UN Security Council based on a desire to continue to sell weapons to Syria. However, no mention was obviously made of the high tech weapons and support given to the Free Syria Army by western nations or the Saudi and Qatari mercenaries at the heart of their struggle, nor did it mention Russia’s reservations that the same scenario had led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Libyans less than a year earlier.

Wikileaks and Julian Assange, as a figure who is no stranger to the power of media propaganda certainly know how dangerously convenient these actions are to those conducting war against Syria and this irresponsible conduct as if Syrians are struggling on a level playing field and that Wikileaks have a right, or even a responsibility to act in such a way is incredibly damaging.

Dollar-Less Iranians Discover Virtual Currency
By Max Raskin – 29 November, 2012 – Bloomberg

Under sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, dollars are hard to come by in Iran. The rial fell from 20,160 against the greenback on the street market in August to 36,500 rials to the dollar in October. It’s settled, for now, around 27,000. The central bank’s fixed official rate is 12,260. Yet there’s one currency in Iran that has kept its value and can be used to purchase goods from abroad: bitcoins, the online-only currency.

Created in 2009 by a mysterious programmer named Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoins behave a lot like any currency. Their value is determined by demand, and they can be used to buy stuff. Bitcoin transactions are encrypted and handled by a decentralized global network of tens of thousands of personal computers. Merchants around the world accept the currency, from a bakery in San Francisco to a dentist in Finland. Individuals who own bitcoins and wish to exchange them for physical currencies like euros or dollars can use exchange sites such as localbitcoins.com, a Finland-based site founded by Jeremias Kangas. “I believe that bitcoin is, or will be in the future, a very effective tool for individuals who want to avoid sanctions, currency restrictions, and high inflation in countries such as Iran,” Kangas wrote in an e-mail.

The advantage for Iranians is that bitcoins can be swapped for dollars that can then be kept outside the country. Another plus: Regulators can’t easily track the transactions, since bitcoins aren’t issued from a central server. Bitcoin users can conduct business on virtual private networks, which hide customers’ identities.

At online store coinDL.com, shoppers can use bitcoins to buy Beyond Matter, the latest album from Iranian artist Mohammad Rafigh. Anyone in the U.S. downloading songs, which fetch .039 bitcoins or 45¢ each, risks violating U.S. sanctions. That doesn’t bother Rafigh, who’s studying computer engineering as well as playing music. “Bitcoin is so interesting for me,” Rafigh wrote in an e-mail. “I wish the culture of using digital money spreads all over the world, because it does not have any dependency on anything like politics.” Rafigh has translated some bitcoin software into Farsi for his friends. “I love Iran, and if bitcoin is good for me, it can be good for more Iranians like me.” …more