Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

From Kristof's twitter who's in the square right now.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2011 17:36

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# ¿ May 18, 2024 01:26

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Banano posted:

Welcome to last week.

Actually it was only canceled today. The GP2 Asia Series race was canceled last week.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2011 00:48

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Lascivious Sloth posted:

I disagree. I've always looked for bias in AJE because of Qatar but I never see it. In fact they often critisise the gulf including Qatar. They're definitely the most reputable news agency and unbiased as you can get agency I've seen. I think Qatar gives them free reign. AJ Arabic though.. I don't know.

I mean, look at this: http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2012/06/201261264715371679.html

I also think there really isn't as much to report on the negatives of Qatar as there is Saudi Arabia or any other monarchy in the region. Not to say they don't have blood on their hands.

Yeah, about that:

quote:

The ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, has been urged by a human rights organisation not to approve a media law that will compromise press freedom.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) argues that the draft law contains penalties for those who criticise Qatar and its neighbouring governments.

It would create a double standard on free expression that is inconsistent with Qatar's claims to be a centre for media freedom in the region.

In 1996, Sheikh Hamad was responsible for setting up Al-Jazeera, the news network that has been so prominent in reporting popular uprisings in the Middle East.

But the draft law, which Qatar's legislative body approved in June 2012, would undermine press freedom, according to HRW.

Its deputy Middle East director, Joe Stork, says: "Instead of supporting press freedom, this draft media law is a commitment to censorship."

Even before the sheikh makes up his mind on whether to ratify the law, freedom of expression is already under pressure.

HRW points to the case of Qatari poet Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami, who has been in prison for a year after five postponements to his trial on charges of "inciting the overthrow of the ruling regime," which carries the death penalty.

It appears that the charges relate to the fact that al-Dheeb recited a poem that appeared on the internet in August 2010 and included passages that insulted the emir.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2012/oct/30/press-freedom-qatar

# ¿ Oct 30, 2012 18:19

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Are there any hard numbers on Morsi's support base? Pro-Morsi protestors and the like.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2012 19:38

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Seriously, I can't believe any civilian planes are flying over Syria at all regardless of altitude.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2013 22:21

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

So anything recent to give substance to those all caps tweets from that apparent Israeli volunteer EMS account? 30k reservists called up in Israel, moving towards the border, declaration of war/emergency etc. etc.?

# ¿ May 5, 2013 09:11

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Mans posted:

How could someone trust AQ member not to slice their throats during any process of the negotiation?

Because no one will pay a ransom in future kidnappings if that happened.

# ¿ May 11, 2013 09:15

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

There was apparently a skirmish of sorts between Syria and Israel in the Golan heights.

quote:

A cross-border exchange of fire in the Golan Heights between the Israeli and Syrian armies early on Tuesday triggered a claim by the Damascus regime that a jeep manned by Israeli troops had entered Syrian territory and was destroyed.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) denied the claim, saying shots were deliberately fired at a patrol inside the Israeli-controlled the Golan Heights, causing minor damage and no injuries. "In response, IDF forces returned precise fire at the source and reported a direct hit," it said.

It was the latest in a string of cross-border incidents in recent months, which have raised concerns that the two-year-old civil war in Syria could spill over into the neighbouring Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied for more than 40 years.

Israel has also launched air strikes on weapons targets inside Syria three times since the start of the year, intensifying fears that the civil war could develop a regional dimension.

A statement from the Syrian army, published on the official Syrian Arab News Agency (Sana) about six hours after the shooting incident, said it had "destroyed an Israeli vehicle with everyone in it" that entered Syria.

It was the third time in four days that shots fired in Syria have crossed into the Israeli-occupied Golan, close to Israeli army outposts or patrols, according Israeli reports. There have been a further three occasions this month when mortar shells have landed in the Golan.

Until now, the IDF has maintained that such cross-border incidents are accidental, rather than aimed at its forces. However, Israel Radio quoted officials as saying that this week's gunfire was deliberately targeted at patrolling IDF troops.

The Israeli military chief of staff, Benny Gantz, warned that Israel risked being drawn into a "security deterioration in our region at any moment, a deterioration which could rapidly spin out of control".

Visiting the Golan on Tuesday, he added: "Not a day goes by when we are not faced with decisions which could lead us to a sudden and out-of-control deterioration. This is the situation that will accompany us in the near term and we need to be more alert because of it."

Israel has reinforced the fence along the border between the Golan Heights and Syria, and has increased its military patrols in the area.

According to a report in the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv, a large-scale "home front" security drill is to be held in the area on Wednesday. It quoted the mayor of Majdal Shams, the largest town in the Golan, populated mainly by Druze supportive of the Syrian regime, as saying there were no public shelters in the area and few residents have purpose-built safe areas at home.

"Only people who live in relatively new houses have a protected space in their homes," Dolan Abu Saleh told the paper. "The IDF recently hooked us up to the automatic warning system, and two weeks ago a siren sounded here in real time as a result of an incident that occurred near the border." Tension in the area was rising, he added.

Meanwhile a Syrian rebel seriously injured in fighting across the border was treated in the Ziv hospital in northern Israel. Israel Radio said the man had been brought initially to an IDF field hospital by Israeli soldiers. It did not explain how Israeli forces reached the injured man.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/21/syria-israel-exchange-fire-golan-heights

# ¿ May 21, 2013 14:44

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Is there any other sources stating the U.S. is definitely going to arm the rebels besides the Qatar Royal Family's official mouthpiece?

# ¿ Jun 13, 2013 23:45

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

You know, as someone of Persian ethnicity and with direct cultural & familial connections with Iran, I always find it a bit amusing seeing people here in Canada or North American (or the West in general) posts seemingly giving the Iranian Presidency or its elections any sort of legitimacy. Like the illusion of some sort of political hierarchy and structure has any sort of meaning or substance like it does in western democratic countries. Nothing more than a puppet position and lightning rod for scorn. A buffer. Khameinei is the Dictator for Life and the IRGC run the whole drat country and it's all set up to promote the most fanatic loyalists and oppress everyone else. Ahmadinjaed, the tremondous idiot, tried to shift the balance of power and has been burned for it.

Who knows if protests are going to break out like in 2009. The Basij and general surveillance and oppression has increased for months now. Trying to call family in Iran is a bit of a crapshoot with more-than-usual flakey connections and Skype is more unreliable than ever. The establishment knows what to expect and is steeling themselves for it. Like I said the country is set up by the mullahs to allow the biggest loyalists and/or general Islamic fanatics to rise to the top. There were some funny anecdotes from my cousins who did their mandatory conscription in the army and they were telling me stories about how the soldiers with the longest beards were typically given the cushiest positions or just general leniency when it came to discipline.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2013 01:09

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Y-Hat posted:

It amazes me that Egyptian protesters forced out secular tyrant Mubarak, then turned around and replaced him with religious tyrant Morsi. This is why I believe that revolution doesn't work.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it?

# ¿ Jun 19, 2013 00:34

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

lollontee posted:

This dead gay comedy subforum is my primary source on the Syrian civil war.

This thread serves as a pretty decent RSS feed.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2017 20:01

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Sinteres posted:

Holy poo poo, read this list of demands being made of Qatar, it's insane. Two of the demands are to cease broadcasting Al Jazeera and to apologize to Gulf countries for abuses by Al Jazeera.

https://twitter.com/faisaledroos/status/872251817110806528

And if they refuse?

# ¿ Jun 7, 2017 02:59

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# ¿ May 18, 2024 01:26

Wirth1000: May 12, 2010; #essereFerrari

Posting to free some trapped post cause the unread post count on my bookmarked threads list was making me really upset

E: ok I should have read the previous posts never mind all a vain effort for nothing

# ¿ Oct 8, 2017 16:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria