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So have the protestors in Bahrain been fully repressed or is the media simply ignoring them? I hate to seem nutty but i find it weird how we get constant news updates from Syria yet Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia are dead silent. I guess it's a coincidence that Russia and Iran are closely related to Assad while we are more friendly with the dictators in the other countries.
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Jul 8, 2012 23:25
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Didn't SA sent troops into Bahrain to help repress the revolt or did that not end up happening? Either way, IIRC the revolt there got heavily repressed and it is a country that gets weapons from the west so that can't be helping.
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Jul 9, 2012 00:22
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Mans posted:So have the protestors in Bahrain been fully repressed or is the media simply ignoring them? I hate to seem nutty but i find it weird how we get constant news updates from Syria yet Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia are dead silent. I guess it's a coincidence that Russia and Iran are closely related to Assad while we are more friendly with the dictators in the other countries. The situation in Yemen is far too complex for Western media anyway.
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Jul 9, 2012 00:24
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Davincie posted:Didn't SA sent troops into Bahrain to help repress the revolt or did that not end up happening? Either way, IIRC the revolt there got heavily repressed and it is a country that gets weapons from the west so that can't be helping. Yes. The protests were picking up steam, and since Saudi Arabia is incredibly paranoid of Shiites anywhere gaining power they sent troops in to crush them.
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Jul 9, 2012 01:00
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Patter Song posted:The situation in Yemen is far too complex for Western media anyway. It's just amazing given the geography though. Like pretty much the worst that could happen to the gulf of Aden, from a western interests perspective, is the Yemeni side going to poo poo just like the Somali side. And yet here we are, serious poo poo going down in an incredibly important part of the world that the west is actively deploying frigates and whatnot to in order to fight piracy, and hardly a word in the media. You'd think it'd be important to inform people.
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Jul 9, 2012 01:01
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Orange Devil posted:It's just amazing given the geography though. Like pretty much the worst that could happen to the gulf of Aden, from a western interests perspective, is the Yemeni side going to poo poo just like the Somali side. And yet here we are, serious poo poo going down in an incredibly important part of the world that the west is actively deploying frigates and whatnot to in order to fight piracy, and hardly a word in the media. You'd think it'd be important to inform people. It's incidental to your point, but Somalia is looking considerably less anarchic than it was a few years ago. I meant my line literally in that I doubt there's anyone at eg CNN that understands Yemen enough to even pretend to credibly report on it. There's at least five major factions at play.
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Jul 9, 2012 01:12
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Orange Devil posted:You'd think it'd be important to inform people.
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Jul 9, 2012 01:18
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Patter Song posted:It's incidental to your point, but Somalia is looking considerably less anarchic than it was a few years ago. Particularly, Somaliland, which is closest to Yemen is a de facto independent nation and has been functioning decently well for the past 17 years.
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Jul 9, 2012 02:53
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Al-Saqr posted:The sad reality is that they could wipe out the entire town of Qatif and not many Saudi's would care due to sectarianism. Hell, they're not even aware there are protests going on there in the first place, and then they are, they like "feh, filthy Shia taking orders from Iran". Is it common for the Shia to be referred to as Rafidis in Saudi? http://yfrog.com/nddstz (The video is of Saudi police calling Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr a rafidi dog, or a heretic). az jan jananam fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Jul 9, 2012 |
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Jul 9, 2012 04:18
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az jan jananam posted:Is it common for the Shia to be referred to as Rafidis in Saudi? http://yfrog.com/nddstz Rawafid is always the trademark term any member of the religious establishment uses in public when discussing shia, it's rare for them to actually say 'shi'a' rather than Rawafid, they tend to always come up with weird rear end names for anybody they don't like ( or are told to not like) rather than use the common term used by everyone, if they don't like alawites theyll say 'nusayriyeen', if they don't like Iranians they'll say 'safawiyeen' if they don't like other Sunni Muslims theyll say 'batiniyeen' , they always come up with some weird and obscure and outdated historical terms rather than naming people as they are.
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Jul 9, 2012 05:52
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The Damascus Tribune Blog has posted a translation of a Arabic article that expands on the claims I made in my blog posts of Manaf Talaf. In it they claim The Voltaire Network is directly funded by the Syrian government, as well as other French pro-Assad websites.
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Jul 9, 2012 08:19
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Patter Song posted:I'm trying so hard to be cynical, but Morsi's crawling his way into my secular heart. I find it weird all this optimism about Morsi. I really do. I think we should slow down and wait. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2012/07/sharia-harassment-chases-egypts.html "Related: Claims of Islamist Vigilantism Follow Suez Murder Mystery posted on Wednesday, Jul 4, 2012 Several areas in Egypt are currently witnessing a rise in the phenomenon some are calling "Sharia harassment." Veiled women, and often men as well, intimidate unveiled women and girls for not wearing clothing in line with the rules of Sharia law. About this Article Summary: Physical and verbal attacks by Islamists in Egypt against non-veiled women and non-Islamists is on the rise. A man was killed in Suez on Tuesday for allegedly standing too close to his fiancee. Some fear that this is a sign that the Muslim Brotherhood might renege on its promises not to impose strict clothing standards. Publisher: As-Safir (Lebanon) Original Title: "Sharia Harassment" Chases Egypt's Women Published on: Wednesday, Jul 4, 2012 Translated On: Wednesday, Jul 4, 2012 Translator: Sami-Joe Abboud Categories :Culture & Society Egypt El-Badil newspaper quoted women and girls who confirmed that they had been harassed and intimidated after the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi won the presidential elections. Yesterday [July 3], 100 human rights organizations and a number of parties and public figures expressed their deep concern over these acts of intimidation and accompanying verbal violence. They called these actions not only a transgression against women, but also an attack on Egyptian society as a whole. The newspaper monitored the areas of Saida Zeinab, Saad Zaghloul and Nasiriyah, interviewing veiled and unveiled women. The newspaper pointed out that veiled women are criticizing other women and young girls for their clothing. Statements such as: "You will end up at home," "Here's someone who can make you wear the veil" and "Forget about pants, get ready for the veil," are common expressions being used against the non-veiled. These girls are also subject to insults and verbal abuse. Aya Mohammed, a housewife, said that she has heard veiled women tell girls on the metro, "We'll see if Morsi will let you wear pants again." For her part, Rania Sayed, a student living in Heliopolis, said that a man intercepted her as she was traveling to Mansoura to see her parents. "Get ready to wear the niqab. You better pay attention to the street before you are forced to stay at home," he said. Nibal Naji, a pharmacist, said that women are most often exposed to harassment in working-class areas. El-Badil wrote, "It does not matter whether the harassment against women is being perpetrated by remnants of the old regime to spread fear about the rule of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, or being perpetrated by people ecstatic over the Islamist victory. Nor does it matter if it is the product of social hypocrites trying to terrorize the weaker party, which in this case is women. The threats, attacks and intimidation against women must stop.” The situation seems to be spinning out of control. Violence broke out in Suez on July 3, where a young man was killed at the hands of bearded men dressed in Pakistani-style clothing riding a motorcycle. As they approached the man and his fiancee, they accused the girl of standing too close to him. Another altercation took place on July 3 between three girls and Islamists in front of a juice shop in Paradise Street in Suez, when the bearded men objected to the girls' clothing. In an article entitled "The Turkish veil and Iranian chador chasing Egypt's Women," author Ghada Maher, who is a member of the Al-Wafd party, recalls a speech by late president Gamal Abdel Nasser. In this speech, he recounts the details of his dialogue with former Brotherhood leader Hassan al-Hudaibi in 1953 about the imposition of the veil. Abdel Nasser said that Hudaibi told him, "As ruler in charge, you have to impose the veil." Abdel Nasser replied, "I know that your daughter is in medical school and she does not wear a veil. If you cannot impose the veil on your daughter, then how do you want me to impose it on ten million Egyptian women?" According to Maher, this dialogue reveals that the Muslim Brotherhood deems the imposition of the veil a sacred task that must be carried out by Egypt's ruler. She added: "Despite the announcements made by [President Morsi] in his advertising campaigns and during television programs about not having intentions to impose a particular type of clothing on women, the Muslim Brotherhood’s history raises many fears and concerns ... All women who belong to the Brotherhood in Egypt wear the veil or the niqab, and often offer advice or encourage others to wear the veil as well, regardless of whether or not they know them.” http://www.bikyamasr.com/72036/in-egypt-bearded-men-attack-pool-hall-seriously-injuring-four/ "In Egypt, “bearded men” attack pool hall seriously injuring four Manar Ammar | 8 July 2012 | 4 Comments Pool hall in Giza’s Haram district attacked by “bearded men.” CAIRO: Egyptian media reports mentioned the details of a pool hall shooting and affirmed that “bearded men” are behind the incident that left four seriously injured in Giza’s Haram area on Friday. Four young men were shot in the arm and chest during a game of pool when three men came inside the game room and asked the young men to stop playing and “do something useful.” Eyewitnesses reported that the men told them what they were doing was “haram,” or forbidden, in Islam. When a young kid replied rudely to the men, they came back a few minutes later and opened fire. Eyewitnesses said at least 15 people took part in the attack. They used live ammunition and rubber bullets. The injured are between 14- and 22-years-old. They reported that the men beat and assaulted the injured after they fell to the ground. “I did not imagine he would continue to hit me with his foot on my head after I fell,” one injured kid told the media on Sunday. Another eyewitness said they tried to call for help, but the police ignored their pleas and did not show up until the people took the injured to the hospital. Al-Haram, a populated residential area a stone’s throw away from the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, and which is predominantly middle-class, has been the scene of other harassments during the past two weeks as shopping mallgoers reported being verbally bullied and harassed by people who wear the “Islamic conservative dress” promising them tougher laws against women and secularists, saying “a new president has come to teach you morals.” Veiled women reported they approached them, urging them to wear a stricter dress and preferably remain at home. Many women and human rights organizations condemned the recent bullying reports, demanding that the new president Mohamed Morsi intervene to put an end to female intimidation attempts in public places" http://www.alwafd.org/%D8%A3%D8%AE%...AF%D8%B9%D9%88- Or this pearl (in Arabic but you can google translate it after you've taken some relaxing pill) So, let's see if Mr Morsi will deliver before we clap hands.
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Jul 9, 2012 10:19
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Ultras Lazio posted:I find it weird all this optimism about Morsi. I really do. I think we should slow down and wait. All this is pretty bad but what does it have to do with Morsi? A bunch of delusional people thinking Morsi will impose the Niqab does not mean that he will.
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Jul 9, 2012 10:34
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Ultras Lazio posted:I find it weird all this optimism about Morsi. I really do. I think we should slow down and wait. Yeah I dont see what any of this has to do with Morsi.
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Jul 9, 2012 10:49
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THE AWESOME GHOST posted:All this is pretty bad but what does it have to do with Morsi? A bunch of delusional people thinking Morsi will impose the Niqab does not mean that he will. Agreed...but it will be a good benchmark to see if he means business. His task is not just to impose civilian rule over SCAF rule, his task is also and very much the modernization of Egypt. Isn't that the whole idea behind the revolution? The idea was not to go from a military dictatorship into an Islamic dictatorship. He was voted in with MB votes. These are MB voters. (maybe the looniest but there's a good numbers of loonies there) I just do not trust he will deliver and I'd rather wait a few months before I clap my hands. On a different note, here's a disappointing update to my Moroccan link posted a few days ago... http://www.chron.com/news/article/Morocco-Salafi-clerics-back-death-for-journalist-3688133.php I travel to that country often and know the Moroccans really well and am 100% sure Morocco will not see any particularly bloody strife, their battle is different and they are in a much better place already as "change" has been happening slowly since the new king. He is promoting change, albeit as slow as you'd expect. http://www.chron.com/news/article/Morocco-Salafi-clerics-back-death-for-journalist-3688133.php I know this is not as drammatic as Syria, Libia etc but "change" does happen in different ways.
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Jul 9, 2012 10:54
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Al-Saqr posted:Yeah I dont see what any of this has to do with Morsi. quote:Pool hall in Giza’s Haram district attacked by “bearded men.” Morsi is a bearded man, would you not agree?
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Jul 9, 2012 10:54
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Nenonen posted:Morsi is a bearded man, would you not agree? Gilette, the best a man can get? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThDBf14qPsc
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Jul 9, 2012 11:03
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To be honest, those Egyptian news sound like the inevitable confusion of a revolutionary situation to me. It sucks, but excesses like that are pretty much a staple of violent overthrows of the state - John Reed was very nearly shot by illiterate Bolsheviks a couple of days out into the October revolution, for instance, and there's a very famous picture of Spanish workers dancing with the corpse of a murdered nun in 1936 (I think it was 1936?).
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Jul 9, 2012 13:53
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SexyBlindfold posted:just so we're in the clear, if news arrived tomorrow of Assad being executed, who would be next in line to receive the ever-prescient, mandatory "YOU'RE NEXT BONNIE BOY" post? I wouldn't be sad if it was Isaias Afewerki, who has created a regime so spectacularly oppressive that Eritrea ranks even below North Korea in terms of press freedom.
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Jul 9, 2012 14:44
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To be honest, I suspect that the Arab Spring is burning out and no state that hasn't already been swept up will be.
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Jul 9, 2012 16:13
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Patter Song posted:To be honest, I suspect that the Arab Spring is burning out and no state that hasn't already been swept up will be. Every time a domino falls, though, it seems to reinflame things. As Egypt wound down, Libya spun up; as Libya wound down, Syria spun up; as Syria winds down, who knows, Bahrain tries again? Yemen?
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Jul 9, 2012 16:17
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Michel Kilo, currently in Russia, just endorsed Manaf Tlass as a leader for the transitional government. And from yesterday, https://twitter.com/the_47th posted:THE_47th My guess is Tlass turned over some pretty significant information and that Russia has basically abandoned Assad, though I doubt it'll ever accept UN intervention.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:07
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I updated my post on Tlass with the latest info - The Tlass family was responsible for funding the Voltaire Network International, and a number of other sites, at the behest of the Syrian government. - Damascus gave Thierry Meyssan the money to relaunch the collapsed Voltaire Network in August 2005. - The funding of Meyssan and The Voltaire Network International was assigned to Munaf and Firas Tanaf from 2006. - During the 2008 visit to Damascus Thierry Meyssan recommended Frédéric Chatillon for a pro-Syrian PR campaign, that was also funded by the Tlass family, and led to the founding of RiwalSyria. - In 2011 Riwal registered and launched infosyrie.net for the benefit of the Syrian regime. I've sent it off to my French contacts, hoping they'll have some fun with it. Al-Akhbar has a good piece looking at Bashar and Asma al-Assad's emails from Wikileaks which portrays them as being quite detached from the events going on in Syria, supporting the theory that the real power lies with the military.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:13
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Brown Moses posted:
Or they aren't stupid enough to issue military orders through email.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:16
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Xandu posted:Michel Kilo, currently in Russia, just endorsed Manaf Tlass as a leader for the transitional government. So basically a corrupt member of a dictatorial regime who has stuck with it for decades with tons of torture and blood on his hands will be the bringer of democracy for Syria. Yep, definitely blue skies ahead for Syrian democracy.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:28
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Has anyone seen this supposed wikileaks document that shows thousands of Iranians and Hezbollah operatives in Syria? I didn't see it on their site.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:28
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Al-Saqr posted:So basically a corrupt member of a dictatorial regime who has stuck with it for decades with tons of torture and blood on his hands will be the bringer of democracy for Syria. Yeah, I'm also pretty surprised that it's Kilo who is saying it.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:29
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Xandu posted:Has anyone seen this supposed wikileaks document that shows thousands of Iranians and Hezbollah operatives in Syria? I didn't see it on their site. I've just been told it's from a Stratfor email, so it's probably bullshit.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:41
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Golbez posted:Every time a domino falls, though, it seems to reinflame things. As Egypt wound down, Libya spun up; as Libya wound down, Syria spun up; as Syria winds down, who knows, Bahrain tries again? Yemen? To be honest I almost think there are multiples going on at the same time but the media can only concentrate on one at the time...why wasting all the scoops in one go when you can milk this cow for a few years?
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Jul 9, 2012 18:02
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Golbez posted:Every time a domino falls, though, it seems to reinflame things. As Egypt wound down, Libya spun up; as Libya wound down, Syria spun up; as Syria winds down, who knows, Bahrain tries again? Yemen? Russia. Not even kidding. I recall that one of the reasons they've got a hard-on defending Assad, aside from big military buyer and the last Russian naval port on the Mediterranean, is that Putin's having problems at home and needs to act tough on his foreign policy. Assad getting rode out of Damascus on a rail would cause all sorts of headaches in Moscow.
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Jul 9, 2012 18:03
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"No international community, we didn't kill these people, they just randomly died." http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-saudi-protest-dead-idUSBRE8680V520120709 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-saudi-protest-dead-idUSBRE8680V520120709 posted:An Interior Ministry spokesman said the deaths followed a protest in the village of Awamiya over the arrest on sedition accusations of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. According to Saudi authorities Nimr was shot in the leg after police came under fire on trying to stop his car. Note that this was filed from Dubai, and even foreign journalists in Saudi Arabia can't visit the eastern region.
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Jul 9, 2012 18:17
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Xandu posted:
SAUDI journalists cant visit the eastern region to investigate, let alone foreign ones, sources in newspapers have said that what's going on in qatif is a completely banned topic in the press. And given that 80% of all Arab media are owned by Saudi Princes, you can bet word's never going to get out about the the happenings there. And like I said, what's happening in Qatif will stay there due to the reasons I said earlier. Al-Saqr fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Jul 9, 2012 |
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Jul 9, 2012 18:34
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Young Freud posted:Russia. I'd add Russia's image among other partners - such as Iran. First, by sticking to her allies. Secondly, by giving recognition to other powers: prior to the latest Annan conference Russia brought this up by demanding that Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia should also have been invited in addition to the five permanent UNSC members. Russia always will need to keep up the appearance that they are a big player internationally, whether it's about Serbia or US missile shields or any other point of concern. World leaders travel around the globe shaking hands with other world leaders because that's what a world leader does. If you leave voice mail, you're not a world leader. Russia has a permanent seat in the UNSC and they will keep on using that seat for self aggrandizement. But I would try not to draw too many conclusions from that. Especially the sort that Russia is going to be the next domino. Could the balance of power in Russia shift? Yes. And sooner or later, it will. But it would be quite different from the Arab Spring events. United Russia has only been in existence for 11 years, and while they hold a majority of Duma seats there are also opposition parties that are more than just lap dogs. They just are impotent because most of the nationwide television is controlled by the government, and to make a presence in the state Duma you need a nationwide political apparatus that thinks alike. The Communists can pull this off because they have a long nationwide history to lean on, but very few others can. For any realistic alternative to pop up would require lots of money, and if you have lots of money you're better off sucking up to the people in power, given what happened to Khodorkovsky. The same goes with technocrats: if you want to reach some sweet government positions, you'd better join the ruling party. So what is Russia? Is it a popular dictatorship? Or is it a democracy where only the least popular choices stand any chance? I don't know, but the fall of United Russia is unlikely to be similar to the fall of Gaddafi, Mubarak or al-Assad.
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Jul 9, 2012 18:56
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Saudi newspaper editor Sultan Aljoufi celebrating the arrest of Nimr with desert "The arrest of the traitor Nimr al-Nimr, courtesy of the Saudis"  "To hell, Nimr al-Nimr" 
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Jul 9, 2012 19:03
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I wish the FSA would stop this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRXymiXKM-o
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Jul 9, 2012 20:59
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az jan jananam posted:Saudi newspaper editor Sultan Aljoufi celebrating the arrest of Nimr with desert is it haraam to take a poo poo on a cake
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Jul 9, 2012 21:21
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This is a very interesting video from the al-Farouq Brigade in Rastan, showing them in possession of 3 T-62 tanks, and armoured car, truck mounted DShK, and lots of well armed men https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSZiig5q7o8 [edit]Someone also pointed out many of the men are wearing the same T-shirt, with a brigade logo on it. I've put together a post examining it. Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Jul 9, 2012 |
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Jul 9, 2012 21:29
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Couple of Libya election resultsquote:Results for Tarhouna district: 20,872 for Jebril party, 5,517 for Brotherhood, 2,672 for Center party, only 1,954 for Watan quote:Mahmoud Jibril’s National Forces Alliance has reportedly taken 50-60 per cent of available votes in Benghazi, more than all of the other 19 parties standing in the city combined. Tripoli quote:In Tripoli, there have been reports that the NFA has secured as much as 80 per cent of the vote. 11 of the 80 seats available to political parties in the National Conference are located in Benghazi. Sounds like Jibril's party is kicking everyone's arses in the north of the country.
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Jul 9, 2012 22:19
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az jan jananam posted:Saudi newspaper editor Sultan Aljoufi celebrating the arrest of Nimr with desert They say to hell but it is shaped like a heart 
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Jul 9, 2012 22:22
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quote:Mahmoud Jibril’s National Forces Alliance has reportedly taken 50-60 per cent of available votes in Benghazi, more than all of the other 19 parties standing in the city combined.
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Jul 9, 2012 22:22
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