FreeArabForum

2004-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Harvard Political Review on Syrian Reform

Check out the May 4th edition of the HPR, where I discuss the emerging Syrian reformist movement

2004-05-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Qatari leader calls for greater introspection and reform within the Arab world

Speaking to a supportive crowd of Middle East experts, diplomats and journalists, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani argued that "reform has nothing to do with Iraq." He argued that Arab regimes and societies are using the occupation of Iraq and Palestinian territories to justify delays in introducing reforms.

The Qatari Foreign Minister makes an excellent point: As long as the Arab world is obsessed with reactionary hatred and revenge and not willing to maintain the courage to undertake difficult social and political reforms within their own society, we will never make any progressive headway in the future and will be forever condemned to the quicksand of repression, intolerance, and social and economic stagnation that has been plaguing the region since Ottoman times.

2004-05-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

President Bush to sign 4 sanctions against Syria within the hour

The President has decided to go with the 4 most stringent sanctions against Syria as prescribed by the Syrian Accountability Act. What must be understood here is that this measure is not an end in itself, but a means-- a first step in bringing about the end of the Syrian Baath Regime. This isn't the Clinton administration and it has never been the policy of this administration to be sufficiently satisfied with sanctions alone as a policy to undermine its enemies. If I were Bashar Assad and Co. right now, I would be checking to make sure that my private jet is properly maintained , with enough fuel to get me to my southern France villa.

2004-05-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Iraqi Politician Criticizes American Media

From the Modesto Bee and reprinted in Zinda, some words from Yonadam Kanna, member of the Iraqi Governing Council and the only Assyrian Christian member. One wishes that the New York Times would find to talk to Mr. Kanna, but alas, they are more interested in the ranting of Maureen Dowd.

Kanna said a secondary aim of his current U.S. trip is to counter "misleading" media coverage of the war in Iraq.

"The media is exaggerating only the negative side," he said. "Ninety percent of the new Iraq is good. Ten percent is bad. But the media only focuses on the problems. Where are the stories of our new life, of our liberation, of our freedom?"

Kanna said that in Iraq, much has changed — for the better — since Saddam Hussein was toppled from power.

"The vast majority of Iraqi people are happy that Saddam is gone," he said. "We have a normal life now. In Baghdad, there are over 300 free newspapers and magazines. We have free radio, TV. The schools are opening again, the hospitals and other services are back also."

But the media only focuses on "problems in isolated spots caused by foreign terrorists," Kanna said.

"The media is trying to sell a product," he said, "so they do not speak of anything but conflicts. That is not right."

2004-05-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

تصريح صحفي

مباشرة تطبيق العقوبات على النظام السوري

واشنطن في 6/5/2004 -- من خلال أتصال أجرته الإدارة الأمريكية مع المقر الرئيسي المؤقت لحزب الإصلاح السوري في واشنطن اتضح أنه في القريب العاجل سيتم تطبيق أغلب بنود قانون محاسبة النظام السوري، وصرح عضو القيادة المركزية لحزب الإصلاح السوري السيد خالد حقي أن بشار أسد يتوسل البيت الأبيض عبر جورج تينيت رئيس وكالة الاستخبارات المركزية الأمريكية لتأجيل تطبيق العقوبات المقرة حيال نظامه، ولم يوفق بهذه الوساطة.

المكتب الإعلامي لحزب الإصلاح السوري

2004-05-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

Personal Testimony of Baathist Iraq

This is from an Iraqi-American who, because of the fact that she has family still in Iraq, will remain nameless, but is a credible source I know and trust.

Baath killed my great grandfather and two cousins because they were Christian. My grandfather was killed because he had a gold mine and a lot of property and farm fields and the Baath came and they wanted to buy it and he didn’t want to sell it because it was his so they stabbed him continuously until he bled to death. My two second cousins were killed because they tried assassinating Saddam’s son [as revenge for the fact that the Baath] ... killed their father, [who was an Iraqi] general at the time. Saddam killed my uncle because he disobeyed his order so he shot him between the eyes. My two cousins were almost raped by Saddam’s guards but my aunt managed to help them escape the park they were having a picnic at. They almost were killed. And all that happened just because they were Christian. Isnt this all crazy, no one really knows what happens in Iraq but Iraqi people, the rest of the world just has 5% of what really happens to Christians and other civilians

2004-05-06T06:23:00.000-07:00

Baathists Say : No to Israel, Yes to North Korea

From JTA:

Syria banned four ships that made stops in Israeli ports, and placed nine Israeli companies on a blacklist. The ships were from Denmark, Greece and Malta.

Meanwhile, a North Korean and an Italian ship were taken off the blacklist after they assured Syrian officials that they would not visit Israeli ports. Arab boycotts of Israel once were widespread but have weakened during the past decade, despite occasional attempts to revive them.

2004-05-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

Sudanese Jihadis Criticize USA

It is very interesting to find Sudan on the UN Human Rights Commission. This is, after all, a jihadi state determined to ethnically cleanse its indigenous African populations, be they Christians and animists in the south or Black African Muslims and secularists in Darfur. Sitting at the UN, Sudan has criticized the United States for the abuses in Baghdad. Now, let's just be honest for one second : the United States has apologized and is going to punish - severely, one would hope - those soldiers who abused Iraqi prisoners. There is no justification whatsoever for what was done to these Iraqi prisoners. And yet......there is a general international silence when it comes to Sudan's brutality, slavery, mass murder, and religious persecution of Christians and animists. Where is the outrage on the "Arab street" at Sudan's murder of Black Africans? Or is a deep racism - that of Arabs against Blacks - at play here?

This from CNS News:

(CNSNews.com) - "The United States is perplexed and dismayed by the decision to put forward Sudan -- a country that massacres its own African citizens -- for election to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights," the U.S. representative to the United Nations told the body on Monday. Sudan was elected to a three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, and it lectured the U.S. over the "infamous and degrading treatment of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison."

2004-05-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Arab Democratic Revolution Marches On

Make sure to check Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim's website dedicated to democracy in Egypt.

Oh, and if anyone comes across any other Syrian bloggers, please email me at Oubai-at-cox.net

2004-05-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

So You Want A Revolution?

Can you imagine if Israel became an oil-producing country? The look on the faces of the mullah criminals in Iran would be priceless.
This from JTA......................

Oil found in central Israel?
Reservoirs of oil potentially worth some $6 billion reportedly were discovered in central Israel. The reservoirs might contain 980 barrels worth of oil at a site east of Kfar Saba, according to findings of a geological survey released Tuesday by the exploration company Givot Olam. It was not yet clear how much, if any, of the oil would be extricable from the deep underground deposits. The company also has claimed in the past to have made major oil finds but has not succeeded in extracting the oil.

2004-05-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Jihadis Terrorize Iraq's Christians - Where Are the Human Rights groups?

A sad, but important analysis of Iraqi Christians one year after the fall of Saddam

2004-05-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Anti-Semitism Once Again From France

Anti-Semitic violence in France up in early 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press May. 1, 2004

Anti-Semitic violence in France rose in the first three months of the year, the Interior Ministry said Saturday, a day after 127 graves were found desecrated at a Jewish cemetery.

The ministry said that 67 acts of violence against Jews were recorded in the first trimester of 2004, up from 42 in the last three months of 2003.

The increase could be attributed to greater police vigilance and campaigns by the Jewish community encouraging people to report such crimes, the ministry said.

2004-05-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

UN Iraq Rep a Saddam Apologist ?

According to Kurdish Media.com, the answer is yes

Not only did Brahimi endorse Saddam Hussein and remain a close ally to him, he also denied that Saddam Hussein, the glory of Arab Leader as he described him, had ever used chemical weapons. He was pro-Saddam when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria from 1991 to 1993 and Under-Secretary-General of the League of Arab States from 1984 to 1991

2004-05-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

Syrians question authenticity of mysterious terrorist 'attack' in Damascus

"There is a missing link somewhere," said Afraa Haidar, a 29-year-old Arabic language teacher at the school who came to see Farah today. "Why was the street empty before the clash?" she asked.

Other Syrians have wondered how a gun battle that caused extensive damage to buildings did not inflict more casualties in an area which has several restaurants and cafes. Zeidan was the only bystander to be killed. The other fatalities comprised a policeman and two gunmen.

A first hand account of the 'attack' here

2004-04-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

Quote for the Day

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -- John Stuart Mill

2004-04-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

A Warning about Islam's Role in Iraq

This from Ken Joseph, an Assyrian Christian minister from Japan who has spent time in Iraq both before and after the liberation and has advocated for the rights of the Assyrians.

Over 700 Americans did not give their lives to deliver Iraq into the hands of Islamists, however gentle and unassuming their words. The July 1 date must be put off until the basics of a Democratic and representative government are in place. If not the United States risks creating another `Iran` - a previously open, secular nation turning back the clock hundreds of years against the clear views of their people - and leaving in its wake another terror sponsoring state in direct conflict with the fundamental principles which formed the core of the battle against Saddam Hussein.

No public, American Taxpayer sponsored meeting should be opened by Islamic Clerics and the reading of the Koran and prayer! It is completely unacceptable! Coming at a time when the Supreme Court ruled prohibiting even prayer at the Virginia Military Academy it seems particularly ironic that apparently daily prayers and readings from the Koran take place in US Government facilities in Iraq and elsewhere.

The `Fuure of Iraq` must be one of democracy, and the the rule of law - one in which the minority Assyrian Christians, the indigenous people of Iraq, and all other Iraqis are protected and given back what for 35 years has been taken from them . . . Freedom.

After all wasn’t that what it was all about in the first place?

2004-04-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

Christians in the New Iraq

You won't read this in the New York Times, but one Catholic leader in Iraq is very displeased by the Spanish decision to flee Iraq. Read the whole text at Zinda

Mar Shlemon Warduni, the Chaldean bishop in Baghdad, appealed to the countries of the coalition not to follow Spain's decision to leave Iraq, saying the country's security would be jeopardized.

"We were against the war from the beginning, but now it is important that the foreign contingents stay in Iraq," Bishop Shlemon Warduni said in statements Sunday to the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.

"If they abandon us, it will be worse," he said. "It would be a catastrophe if Rome followed the bad example of Madrid."

A former rector of the Baghdad Seminary, Bishop Warduni is collaborating in the effort to have civilian hostages freed, in particular three Italians who are in the country.

"The case of the kidnapped Italians is only the tip of the iceberg," he said. "Over the year, thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped: for money, for political vengeance, or for a thousand other reasons. Proportionally, the Catholic minority has been one of the worst hit."

"For this reason too the coalition troops must stay," the bishop said. "It is necessary to establish order, to provide security again. It would be a tragedy to respond to the conditions of the kidnappers."

2004-04-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Major development regarding US policy toward Syria to come about within the next couple of weeks

Keep your eyes on Congress, this is gonna be big

2004-04-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Eyewitness Account of the Attacks in Damascus

Following is an eyewitness account of yesterday's events in Damascus via sources from the Reform Party of Syria

"You are absolutely right to call what happened in Damascus last night a "staged" show. I was not far from the site and the security alert was not proportional to the event that occurred in such a sensitive location in Damascus! How could the "terrorists" be so stupid to blow up a car parked next to a vacant building that used to be occupied by the UN?! I believe that the staged theatrical event was intended to serve two purposes:
1- To scare the citizens and make them thank God for having such a powerful regime that is capable of dealing with terrorism swiftly and effectively!
2- To show the world, especially the US, that the regime in Syria is not a terrorist regime, but on the contrary, it is targeted by terrorists and the regime is fighting terrorism, thus, warding off the US accusations!

It is a smart tactic. I hope that the world would not be naive enough to believe the official Syrian story and statements which will be released over the next few days concerning the incident and the "terrorists" behind it. One of these fabricated stories was released already within two hours of the incident; the discovery of a small arms cache several kilometer south of Damascus! That fast!!

I hope you take the initiative in uncovering the regime's lies about this fabricated incident and disclosing them to the world".

On another front, the security apparatus decided to invite the Syrian public to view the building and the crowds responded. Under usual circumstances, such locations are usually closed for weeks pending investigation.

The fact of the matter is that the areas attacked were less than a five minute drive from a civil defense base, I know because I used to live right next to it and would pass the Canadian and Iranian embassy (which is near the UN building) almost everyday. This area is heavily defended, a large population of westerns live in the vicinity and the Baath is loath to be embarrassed in front of the "foreigners", hence the area is heavily protected and monitored.

'Suspicious', I believe, is the right word to describe this 'attack'.

2004-04-27T16:25:00.000-07:00
UN building in Damascus attacked

MASKED assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at a building which houses UN offices in the Syrian capital early today, witnesses told an AFP journalist at the scene.

Syrian security forces killed one of the assailants while another was captured and at least three escaped in a car, they said, adding that seven men launched the attack in the Mazzeh district where several embassies are located.
A member of the security forces was seriously wounded in the gunbattle, the witnesses said.

....more

One wonders if this attack comes at the hands of Syrian-trained terrorists now turning against their Baathist hosts.

2004-04-27T12:44:00.000-07:00
Phone lines into Syria are down

No clear picture of the situation on the ground in Damascus is coming out yet following at least 6 different explosions and a shootout between gunmen and Syrian security. Have relatives in the Mezze area where all the fighting seems to be occuring, but phone lines are down

UPDATE: Int'l lines are back up, situation still unclear

2004-04-26T14:37:00.000-07:00
ASSAD ACHIEVES FULL AUTHORITY IN SYRIA

Washington DC, Apr. 26 /RPS News/ -- According to the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, President Baschar al-Assad has consolidated power and now makes all major decisions in Syria.

The report asserted that al-Assad has over the last two years become the sole authority in Syria. He determines policy in such areas as the economy, domestic security, military and foreign affairs. The report said Assad no longer faces opposition from the so-called old guard loyal to his late father, Hafez Assad.The report, entitled "The Myth of Syria's Old Guard," said Assad approved and directed Syria's alliance with Iraq under the Saddam Hussein regime. Authored by Gary Gambill, the report said Assad oversaw the smuggling of conventional weapons and other banned equipment to Iraq in 2001 and 2002, which netted hundreds of millions of dollars for his regime. "Mounting evidence compiled by U.S. authorities in Iraq indicates that Assad almost certainly approved Syrian military assistance to Saddam Hussein prior to the U.S.-led invasion," the report said.

2004-04-26T11:29:00.000-07:00
Profile of Aksam Noaisse, Syrian Prisoner of conscience

Aksam's imprisonment, and the Syrian Baath's subsequent hardline crackdown on dissident and minority groups is indicative of a last desperate gasp of scared thugs attempting to cling to power as the world around them changes.

hurriyeh, halla
Freedom, now

2004-04-25T20:45:00.000-07:00
Assyrians Finally Granted a Modicum of Dignity by International Community

It is not as if I have any respect for the Orwellian farce that is the UN where dictators, kleptocrats, mass murderers, and apologists for terror meet to decide how to make the words "human rights" and "international law" nothing less than a farce..... Yet, this is indeed good news, that the UN has recognized the plight of the Assyrians, the indigenous people of Iraq who have suffered tremendously from the mass murder of Baathism and the silence of Baathism's apologists in Washington DC

Dr. Eden Naby
Harvard University

The voice of the Assyrians joined that of other indigenous people in Geneva this spring. On April 3, 2004, the United Nations released a press statement which contained proceedings of the session in Geneva of a the section of the UNHCHR related to Indigenous People. At this session, three entities dealing with indigenous rights addressed the Commission on Human Rights:

- The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Indigenous People
- Representatives of three UN mechanisms on Human Rights of Indigenous People
- Representatives of about twenty regional or international NGOs concerned with human rights

No Assyrian organizations have succeeded in gaining recognition as NGOs with the right to address any part of the United Nations directly except the Syriac Universal Alliance. In the past, our efforts in this direction have been blocked by the former government of Iraq as well as our own disorganization. This means
that our voice is rarely heard in international bodies where our years of abuse in the Middle East might create conditions for informative discussion.

Thanks, however, to the persistence of the Assyrian Academic Society, and its determination to establish a cooperative relationship with other organizations and individuals, the Brussels-based Human Rights without Frontiers (HRWF), a member of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, spoke on our community's behalf in Geneva, both publicly and in a pre-arranged meeting with the Special Rapporteur on Iraq.

This advocacy work, spearheaded by the Assyrian Academic Society, needs the support of all of us who are frustrated about our ability to affect political developments. In Diaspora, we can do more than bite our nails and each other. We can take political steps that will lead to our "knocking on the door of the White House" and other sources of political power. Here is the e-mail address of the Assyrian Academic Society when you too are ready to do something more than lament: info@aas.net.

The statement that the HRWF made on behalf of our community was delivered by Dr. Nadja Milanova. It was the only statement about any situation in the Middle East. She spoke eloquently to our problem as the indigenous people of Iraq, having conducted a research trip to Iraq at the time of the Baghdad conference in October 2003. She also has worked closely in the dissemination of the report on the ChaldoAssyrians of Iraq (February 2004). For the report of HRWF following the trip in 2003, click here.

Nadja Milanova of International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, said indigenous peoples could be defined as conquered descendants of earlier inhabitants of a region who lived mainly in conformity with traditional social, economic and cultural customs that were sharply distinct from those of dominant groups. The attention of the Commission should be drawn to the ChaldoAssyrian community of Iraq in this context. The rights of the small ethnic and religious communities of Iraq had received very little attention, and today were being set aside in the effort to create major ethnic power enclaves. The Commission should request the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of indigenous peoples and the Working Group on indigenous populations to monitor and report on developments in Iraq, and expand the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Iraq to address issues stemming from the ethnic and religious diversity of Iraq.

2004-04-25T20:38:00.000-07:00
Murder and Silence

One would expect the leading Arab-American organization to take a stand against the human rights abuses of Arabs. Well, they do, if you consider having to wait in line at the airport for a security check a human rights abuse. Unfortunately, as the website for the ADC once again shows, the leading voices of Arab-America have much to say about Israel, but nothing to say when Iraqi schoolchildren are murdered in Basra by al-Qaeda. Then again, when did the ADC care about Iraqis? It isn't as if anyone at the ADC as far as I know has publically and unequivocably condemned Saddam's mass murder of Assyrians, Kurds, and Turkmen.

2004-04-25T14:27:00.000-07:00
Organs of Baath Security to Imprison Leading Syrian pro-Democracy Activist

This is absolutely unacceptable, UNACCEPTABLE. Aktham Naisa will likely die in prison if he is not released. The "judges" of the Syrian State Supreme Security Court should be well advised that various Syrian dissident groups are well aware of their identity and residence. When Assad's regime falls, true justice will be rendered.

2004-04-25T12:23:00.000-07:00
The French Have a Point

All nations ought to follow France's lead when it comes to this.

2004-04-24T16:55:00.000-07:00
In Defense of Dr. Chalabi – Who Is Lakhdar Brahimi?

Dr. Chalabi is wealthy, well-educated man who gave up a comfortable life in the West to become the most recognizable opponent of Saddam Hussein, a genocidal dictator who was fond of torturing and murdering not only his foes but also their families. It should go without mentioning that Dr. Chalabi took great personal risks to fight the Iraqi Ba’athist regime. He was not giving orders from a comfortable villa abroad – at first opportunity he went to liberated Iraqi Kurdistan to fight the Ba’athist regime. While the Dr. Chalabi’s critics are keen to paint him as an outsider and opportunist, the Kurds of Iraq have not forgotten that his INC made great efforts to mediate between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union Kurdistan (PUK) during the terrible “brother killing” war in Iraqi Kurdistan of the mid-1990’s. While many of those claiming to be pro-Iraqi supported a perpetuation of the genocidal Ba’athist regime, Dr. Chalabi and the INC were on the ground in Iraq attempting to bring peace to Iraqis. For whatever reason, this is not remembered, while Dr. Chalabi’s conviction in absentia of a crime by a court controlled by a pro-Saddam regime remains an infinitely more important “fact” in the mind of so many.

Dr. Chalabi’s future in Iraq is for him, and the Iraqi people, to decide. His personal contribution to the liberation of Iraq cannot be disputed. Time magazine’s team of editorializing journalists could better spend their time investigating why the 70 year old relic of Arabist delusion and mass murder named Lakhdar Brahimi is being forced upon Iraq. This would be a more valuable endeavor than manipulating facts to defame Dr. Chalabi.

..... more

2004-04-23T12:14:00.000-07:00
Ba'athist Bitch Boo-ed by Syrians in Berlin

In yet another explicit example of the Syrian people's support of the glorious regime of Al-Sayed Al Ra'iis Bashar Assad, this video shows the warm welcome given by the Syrian population in Berlin to a speech given by Buthayna Shaaban, Syria's appointed Minister of Expatriates and the ex-personal translator of the Ba'athist dictator.

2004-04-22T14:37:00.000-07:00
Progressive Voice for American Muslims?

Notice on the website for the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, there are condemnations of Israel's assasination of arch-terrorist Yassin and condemnations of Israel's decision to end the occupation of Gaza, but NOTHING about the savage bombings in Basra, Iraq that killed scores of innocent Iraqi schoolchildren. There is also, noticably, no condemnation of the fact that Algeria just "elected" an authoritarian president. Progressive voice or apologist for status quo? Hmmmm.....

2004-04-21T10:53:00.000-07:00
Another Tragic Death In Iraq

This time it was a Danish businessman who had no political agenda, it seems. From AFP: Danish daily Politiken identified the man as 35-year-old Henrik Frandsen, who was in Iraq to start a water purification and electrical appliance store in the southern city of Basra.

My guess is : the same thugs who are killing Westerners will then go on jihad-television (al-Jazeera) to denounce the poor water quality in Basra. Shame on them.

2004-04-20T09:46:00.000-07:00
American Islamic Forum for Democracy to hold Anti-Terror Rally in Phoenix this Sunday

For anyone in the Phoenix/Arizona/S. California area, please join us April 25th in solidarity with the pro-America anti-terror Muslim community in showing our support for the War on Terror. As far as I know, this is the first event of its kind held by a Muslim organization; this is history in the making. It's about time that local Muslim communities eschew the hate-filled empty rhetoric of the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Muslim Public Affairs Council--who like mindless puppets take their marching orders from Riyadh. We are Americans, and all persons of Arab and Muslim heritage have an obligation as Americans to stand at the vanguard of opposing terrorism in this country. It is after all, our country too.

Here's Zuhdi Jasser's op-ed in the AZ Republic on why Muslims should oppose terror.

Please take an hour and join us at Patriots Square downtown (Central and Washington) on Sunday April 25 at 6PM. Refreshments and snacks will be provided.

We hope to have a great presence from the Muslim and interfaith community to make a resounding statement of conscience reminding everyone that Muslims and all those of faith are against terror. The flyer is included as a pdf attachment. Please contact me with any questions regarding the rally. No matter how humble the event, this first in the nation statement of Muslim Americans rallying together with our interfaith colleagues will hopefully make an impact locally and perhaps beyond.

Warmest regards in peace. Salam and God bless,

M. Zuhdi Jasser, MD

2004-04-18T22:26:00.000-07:00
Another Tyrant in Arab world succumbs to pressure

Even Qaddafi can't ignore the new sense of freedom and hope that is blossoming in the middle east amongst its younger population. Wait wait... is this an instance of "western' values being imported from 'abroad' ? Either way, it sure seems to be working

2004-04-18T21:01:00.000-07:00
You Won't See This on al-Jazeera

A story about how the penalty for dealing in foreign currency in Saddam's Iraq was amputation of one's good right hand. How soon we all forget the barbarism that was Ba'athist Iraq.

2004-04-14T19:40:00.000-07:00
Berbers : A Forgotten People

I had a piece in the April 8 issue of the Wall Street Journal Europe arguing that policymakers ought to pay far more attention to the plight of the Berbers. - Jonathan Eric Lewis

Money quote:

With a population of approximately twenty-five million, the Berbers live in the vast expanse of land that stretches across North Africa. As a non-Arabic population in countries increasingly under the sway of Arab-Islamic nationalism, the Berbers were, during much of the twentieth-century, disenfranchised from political power. Berbers, who speak several regional dialects of the Afro-Asiatic language Tamazight, have had an enormous impact on the culture and history of the Maghreb and are, apart from arch-secularist Kabyle intellectuals, nominally Sunni Muslims. While Berber dynasties once ruled the important cities of Fez and Tunis, their culture and music have become integral parts of modern Algerian and Moroccan national identity.

The Berbers, or Imazighen, have been, on balance, marginalized in the post-independence period in both Algeria and Morocco. In the interest of both promoting democratic reforms in the Arab world and countering Islamic militancy, the U.S. should begin to become more engaged in mediating the cultural and political disputes between Arabs and Berbers. With the fall of Saddam Hussein and the growing rapprochement with Gadhafi, Washington now has an opportunity to mediate an ethnic dispute that the international community has done little to ameliorate and which, if left unresolved, could become both a rallying cry for disenchanted Arab nationalists and a major hindrance to promoting a stable, pro-Western North Africa at peace with its neighbors.

2004-04-14T18:10:00.000-07:00
More Arrests in Syria of Democracy Dissidents

This time, it's one of Syria's leading human rights activists that has been "disappeared". This is what the Baath do, they attempt to immediately wipe out any dissident group, no matter how small, before such groups flower into popular movements. Then, when anti-Baath dissidents are forced out of the country either by exile or fear for life, the Baath recycle the claim that such dissidents are attempting to impose "unrealistic" reform "from abroad"

2004-04-13T14:00:00.000-07:00
More Baathist Arrests of Dissidents

More than one thousand have been arrested so far as a direct result of the uprisings in northern Syria last month

2004-04-12T21:09:00.000-07:00
Intifada, What Intifada?

The "popular revolution" fueled by the likes of al-Jazeera seems to be petering out. This just in from the Washington Post:

A week after seizing control of Najaf, Iraq's holiest city, members of a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr relinquished their hold on police stations and government buildings Monday as hundreds of U.S. soldiers mobilized in preparation for an assault on the city.

2004-04-11T13:58:00.000-07:00
A voice of reason

Tony Blair's analysis of Iraq

MONEY QUOTE:

But our greatest threat, apart from the immediate one of terrorism, is our complacency. When some ascribe, as they do, the upsurge in Islamic extremism to Iraq, do they really forget who killed whom on 11 September 2001? When they call on us to bring the troops home, do they seriously think that this would slake the thirst of these extremists, to say nothing of what it would do to the Iraqis?

Or if we scorned our American allies and told them to go and fight on their own, that somehow we would be spared? If we withdraw from Iraq, they will tell us to withdraw from Afghanistan and, after that, to withdraw from the Middle East completely and, after that, who knows? But one thing is for sure: they have faith in our weakness just as they have faith in their own religious fanaticism. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us.

2004-04-11T10:08:00.000-07:00
Voices of Freedom

For all our Arabic readership: Radio Free Syria Online

2004-04-11T09:40:00.000-07:00
Who is Sadr?

This piece in the Wall Street Journal explains

2004-04-09T11:21:00.000-07:00
John Kerry: Token of Radical Islamists ?

This Washington Times editorial shows that either JFK is totally clueless when it comes to figuring out which groups that he speaks to have a penchant for supporting terrorism and mass murder or that he himself sees nothing wrong with lending legitimacy to an explicitly anti-American terror-front group-- The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Interestingly enough, there seems to be a trend in the ranks of the modern left to attempt to apologize for such groups as MPAC and CAIR; quite possibly it's a rite of passage these days for radical leftists to find the most outlandish and self-delusory excuse for why we should not shun groups that promote Wahhabism and lend moral-and in MPAC's case financial- support to terrorism.

2004-04-09T10:58:00.000-07:00
Syria's Gulag: a horror story

Some had their finger nails removed. Another said that he was beaten with cables aimed at his penis as if it were a target. There was a young man, oh uncle, who stood all the time because he could not sit down or rest against the wall. We took turns, during these seven days, holding his head in our arms and body so that he could get some sleep. What I saw from these killers, I will never forget all my life, oh uncle; and I will never forgive them, never, ever forgive them. Never, oh uncle, Never”.

....more

2004-04-09T10:40:00.000-07:00
Western Cannabilism

We did not ask for this war, but it came. In our time and according to our station, it is now our duty to end it. And that resolution will not come from recrimination in time of war, nor promises to let fundamentalists and their autocratic sponsors alone, but only through the military defeat and subsequent humiliation of their cause. So let us cease the hysterics, make the needed sacrifices, and allow our military the resources, money, and support with which it most surely will destroy the guilty and give hope at last to the innocent.

.... more from the brilliant Victor David Hanson

2004-04-08T00:29:00.000-07:00
Hundreds still imprisoned after uprising in northern Syria

In its statement on Tuesday, Amnesty International said: "The incommunicado detention at unknown locations of many hundreds of Syrian Kurds is of serious concern, not least as it puts detainees at greater risk of torture or ill-treatment," the statement said. "Unless they are to be charged with recognisably criminal offences and brought to trial without undue delay, they should be released immediately,"

2004-04-07T02:17:00.000-07:00
Barbarism from Sadr's Thugs

From Pulitzer Prize Winning journalist Anthony Shadid, describing how Sadr's thugs have ethnically cleansed a Gypsy village in Iraq:

Attack on gypsy village goes unanswered

By Anthony Shadid
WASHINGTON POST

QAWLIYA, Iraq - No one lives here anymore.

A month ago, Qawliya's collection of perhaps 150 homes in southern Iraq contained a small red-light district, an isolated warren known for prostitution and gunrunning and as a haven from the law. Today, it is destroyed, the few sounds of life made by barking dogs and scavengers piling bricks from razed homes.

Its residents -- hundreds of men, women and children, mostly members of Iraq's tiny Gypsy minority -- were driven out by a militia controlled by a militant Shiite Muslim cleric, residents and police say. Neighbors systematically looted it. Some accounts say the village was burned, though the militia denies it.

No one has been punished, police say. The U.S.-led occupation, which learned of the raid soon after it happened on March 12, has yet to make it public. Qawliya's residents, most of whom fled to other cities, largely remain in hiding, fearful to talk.

Qawliya's fate is a grim tale about the forces that are shaping southern Iraq as the civil occupation nears an end -- the ascent of religious militias, the frailty of outgunned police and the perceived reluctance of foreign peacekeepers to play an assertive role. Making those factors more combustible, residents say, is the question of whose law rules Iraq's people.

This is the sick mentality of Sadr's criminals and why a crackdown on this riffraff is needed - NOW:

There were few casualties, residents said, because the village appeared to have been tipped off before the attack. Several residents said the militiamen had come to retrieve a girl from Diwaniyah who was either abducted or had sought refuge in Qawliya.

That was the justification cited by Hussein Tawil, a spokesman for Sadr's office in Diwaniyah, who wore a pistol slung around his chest. Two Kalashnikov rifles sat in the corner of his cramped office, which was lined with four plastic chairs and a wooden stool.
"They provided a fertile land for sinning," said Tawil, a burly man. "There were so many crimes in that village."

For months, Tawil said, Sadr's office had sought to reform the village. It had offered to send a preacher to serve there, provide religious CDs and videos, hold Friday prayers in the town and send five of its residents to the seminary in Najaf. "Since the fall of the regime, we tried to call on these people to improve," he said. "I wanted to give them an opportunity for a decent life."

"They refused," he added.

2004-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00
From Gaza to California

An article written by an Arab-American woman about growing up in Gaza and how it led her to America and specifically to a lecture by an Islamic scholar at University of California.

2004-04-01T22:05:00.000-07:00
MOVE ON ISLAMISTS, ORAN IS A PARTY TOWN

This is the new face of Algeria : the secular youth of Oran who aren't interested in Wahabbism. They, not HAMAS, are the vanguard of Arab democracy.

MONEY QUOTE:

Young girls giggle as they watch the latest Hollywood movie clip at an Internet cafe. Across the street label-conscious youths test the stereo system in a brand new car.

The scene could be anywhere in Europe but this is Oran, Muslim Algeria's second largest city.

"Fast money, fast cars, and fast women -- that's the new generation of Algerian men," said 24-year-old Nassim, who works in a store selling mobile phones.

2004-03-31T21:39:00.000-07:00
Bush Did Good For Arab World? So Says an Arab

Youssef F. Ibrahim, former New York Times reporter, has some very interesting ideas in his piece in the April 1 edition of the Beiruti newspaper, The Daily Star

Using a cost-benefit approach to the year since American troops attacked and occupied Iraq, the conclusion could be that on the whole, without intending it, the administration of US President George W. Bush did a good thing for Americans, Arabs and the world.

The invasion of Iraq has opened many eyes, shined lights on hitherto dark corners of US and Arab politics and uncovered a plethora of thought-provoking secrets on both sides of the Atlantic about notions such as the meaning of patriotism, democracy, terrorism, jihad, and, above all, the nagging American question posed ever since Sept. 11, 2001: Why do they hate us?

HE ALSO REPORTS:

Having spent the past three months in the US, I have never seen so much media time devoted to the region and Islam, and some of it has, in fact, been fair, informative and reasonable.

2004-03-30T23:39:00.000-07:00
Syrian Baath block dissident websites

Syria : Government blocks access to two Kurdish websites
The Internet under surveillance

29 March 2004 (en français à la suite)

SYRIA

Government blocks access to two Kurdish websites

Reporters Without Borders today deplored Syria's blocking of two Kurdish-language news websites - www.amude.com and www.qamislo.com - which had carried news, pictures and video clips of demonstrations by the country's Kurdish minority.

It said it was "disgusted by the regime's authoritarian attitude and flagrant contempt for freedom of expression" by censoring websites and noted that a journalism student, arrested last July for posting photos on amude.com, was still in prison. "The authorities have now gone a step further," it said.

The two websites, run from Germany and blocked for Syrian Internet users in mid-March, are a major source of information for Kurds abroad and for foreign media, which regularly use their photos and videos.

Syrian users now get an "access denied" message when they try to go to the sites. Amude.com manager Siruan Hadsch-Hossein (whose pseudonym is Sirwan Heci Berko) said the authorities filter websites and block their domain name, so the material was initially still available at another address, www.amude.net, which had now been blocked.

The state-run Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (STE) filters hundreds of websites it deems pornographic, pro-Israeli or critical of the regime. Syria has only two Internet service providers (ISPs), both government-controlled - one operated by the post office and the other by the Syrian Computer Society. Much evidence suggests that e-mail, like phone conversations, are extensively monitored by the authorities.

Two Internet users are in prison for posting allegedly "offensive" material online.

One is Kurdish journalism student Massud Hamid, 29, who was arrested on 24 July last year while sitting an exam at Damascus University. He has since been held in secret at Adra prison, near Damascus, and reportedly ill-treated. He was picked up a month after photos were posted on amude.com of a peaceful Kurdish demonstration in Damascus.

The other cyber-dissident in jail is Abdel Rahman Shaguri, arrested on 23 February last year after e-mailing Levant News, the newsletter of the banned website www.thisissyria.net. He too is being held in secret, at Saidnaya prison, near Damascus, pending trial by the state security court.

www.internet.rsf.org

2004-03-30T01:02:00.000-07:00
Islamic World vs. Homosexual Rights

This piece from the Washington Times discusses how unenlightened Egypt and Pakistan are on gay rights:

The Brazilian government, bowing to economic and political pressure from the Islamic world, yesterday withdrew its effort to protect the civil rights of homosexuals.
Brazil had introduced a resolution before the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Commission to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

2004-03-29T12:29:00.000-07:00
Ibish Fiddles While Arab World Burns

You would think that the ADC would have something to say about hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in mass graves, or about the close to 100,000 persons killed in Algeria's Civil War, slavery and genocide in Sudan, Palestinian on Palestinian violence in Nablus, Lebanon's discriminatory policy against Palestinian Muslims, or about how Syria tortures Arab dissidents.... But alas, no... While the Arab world burns and the Arab League falls apart, the ADC fiddles with words in an attempt to mock the Jewish community. If this is Arab leadership in America, no wonder why most educated Arab-Americans shun the ADC and why their best and brightest wouldn't dare lower themselves to show up for a street protest against the Iraq War with the likes of the ADC!

2004-03-29T12:24:00.000-07:00
Baathist War Criminals Still Supporting Terror

This from the JTA:

Hezbollah link to bombing found
Hezbollah helped finance and plan the deadly bombings in Ashdod, Israeli investigators believe. The March 14 attack was carried out by Hamas and the Al-Aksa Brigade, a wing of Yasser Arafats Fatah movement. Ten people died in the attack.

2004-03-28T20:35:00.000-07:00
Breaking Stereotypes

We at the FAF like to break stereotypes about Arabs and Arab-Americans. Thus, we are proud to present the fact that Miss New York is a Jordanian-American whose sister serves honorably in the US Armed Forces in Iraq. Congrats to Miss New York and We are proud of you too, Captain!

2004-03-28T19:13:00.000-07:00
Genocide Continues, Kofi Annan Remains Silent

This article here discusses the horrible violence engulfing Sudan and Chad. Don't expect any UN Security Council resolution anytime soon.

2004-03-28T19:10:00.000-07:00
Dreams of democracy in Syria

The uprising of Syrian Kurds is an opportunity to support democracy in the Middle East that the administration should embrace. It is time to apply the unrivalled power now possessed by the United States in support of Syria's Kurds.

....from Wash. Times

2004-03-28T19:07:00.000-07:00
SYRIA: BEGGING FOR REGIME CHANGE

Damascus should understand that America's patience is limited. Even with its heavy commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States could easily punish Syria in ways that would mean the beginning of the end of rule by the Ba'ath Party and the Assad family. A development long overdue.

....from NY Post

2004-03-28T19:04:00.000-07:00
Syria detains up to 2000 Kurds

Syria has continued to arrest Kurds in the wake of deadly riots earlier this month, raising the number behind bars to more than 2000, the head of a banned Kurdish party said on Sunday.

...from Al-Jazeera

2004-03-28T19:01:00.000-07:00
Ripples of change felt in Syria

The larger-than-life statue of the late President Hafez Assad that towers over a traffic circle here stands hidden beneath a canvas tarpaulin, which residents say hides the fact that protesters knocked off its head.

...more from the Houston Chronicle

2004-03-28T01:19:00.000-07:00
All Eyes (Not) On Algeria

Those concerned about democracy in the Middle East and Islamism ought to look at Algeria, a country usually ignored in the Anglophone press. I wrote these words for an article that appeared in the National Interest earlier this year. - Jonathan Eric Lewis

Washington Cannot Afford to Neglect Algeria

Traditionally viewed as part of Frances sphere of influence and as peripheral to Washington’s national interests in the Middle East, Algeria has long been an afterthought in American foreign policy decision-making. Since Algerian militants constitute a significant core of the new cadres of al-Qaeda and similar Islamist groups hostile to the United States and its allies, Washington can no longer relegate Algeria to the margins of its national security policy. Given that Algerian members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat are active in Western Europe and are engaged in international terrorism that directly threatens vital American national interests, it is imperative that Washington begin to vigorously press for a more stable, pro-Western Algeria that no longer produces large numbers of militant Islamic groups and one that will eventually join with Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia in seeking a rapprochement with Israel.

This coming April, Algeria will have its presidential election. This will be a good bellwether for the political future of North Africa. In many ways, Algeria is a laboratory for the relationship between Islam and the West and for many of the political conflicts engulfing the Arab-Islamic world. Such fundamental questions as the roles of both Islam and military authoritarianism in politics, the relationship between Arabism and ethnic minorities, the role of a free press, and attitudes toward Israel, have all been contested in the Algerian public sphere throughout the 1990s and up until today. Washington would be well-advised to seriously engage with both the government and the legitimate, non-Islamist opposition movements, all in an effort to help foster a more open, pluralistic Algerian society in which free-market reforms and economic development might stem the tide of both radical Islam and the mass emigration of unemployed men who are easy converts to Islamism in Western Europe and, if holders of European passports, hidden threats to American national security.

I would add that with increased US aid to Algeria, that Washington has ever right to demand that Algeria undertake serious economic and political reforms

2004-03-26T21:10:00.000-07:00
Terrorism in Africa

Reuters reports from Zanizbar. Seems as if some diplomats got a wake-up call that terrorism is alive and well in East Africa. This article from Reuters:

A grenade hurled at the Mercury restaurant landed on the dinner table of a British diplomat on Saturday evening, but failed to go off. An American diplomat and about 25 foreigners were also dining in the restaurant at the time, police said.

Rau, who is on a tour of Africa, is making a one-day visit to the Indian Ocean island of one million people to meet government leaders, welfare groups and visit historical sites.

Police said they suspected the Society for Islamic Awareness (UAMSHO), a religious movement which has been at loggerheads with the government recently, was behind the weekend explosions.

UAMSHO has been angry with the Tanzanian government since it appointed Khelef as Mufti over a religious leader who had been chosen by the islanders. The weekend blasts followed bomb attacks last week on a church, a school bus and a number of electric transformers.

Kizuguto said five Muslim leaders held over last week's attacks would be charged in court on Monday.

2004-03-25T23:26:00.000-07:00
U.S. may recognize Israeli sovereignty in West Bank

From JTA

The United States is considering recognizing Israeli sovereignty in parts of the West Bank, a Bush administration official said. The official said some sort of recognition of Israeli sovereignty over three West Bank settlement blocs could be part of a withdrawal plan in which Israel would pull out of most of the West Bank. The Palestinians’ failure to be viable peace partners led the Americans to reconsider their prior opposition to such recognition, the official said. “In the current environment, anything is possible,” the official said.

2004-03-25T23:19:00.000-07:00
Democracy Now!

After noticing a pro-Baathist speaker on MSNBC the other day using the same tired mantra "Democracy must come from within" referring to how the USA cannot "impose" democracy on the Arab world, I started to think........ Ever notice that those who are most concerned about promoting democracy "from within" are also those who are always the most against supporting Arab dissidents. I mean, if democracy must come from within, why aren't there massive protests by Arab-Americans in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC condemning Mubarak's authoritarianism? Democracy from within all too often means ..... support for status quo.

2004-03-25T21:28:00.000-07:00
Syria may be experiencing the warming tremors of a political earthquake

At issue is not only the status of Kurds but a historic challenge to Arab, Turkish, and Iranian societies. They must learn to let minorities live among majorities without effacing their otherness.

....from the Boston Globe

2004-03-25T19:46:00.000-07:00
Women's Rights and Freedom

I have said it before and I will say it again - the future of the Middle East lies with its women, with their untapped talent, with their ability to integrate into the workplace, to dress how they like, to not fear honor killings in certain states, to be able to be presidents and prime ministers. Here are some great photos of a women's group protest in Iraq. The fact that this event took place should be cause for thought for those who think that the "occupation" has brought no benefits to Iraqis.

2004-03-25T14:17:00.000-07:00
Statehood or Struggle : That is the Palestinian choice

Interesting article about how Palestinian notables realize the futility of violence. Whether this does any good remains to be seen.

2004-03-25T14:13:00.000-07:00
Will Wonders Never Cease

Never thought I would find myself agreeing with a Qaddafi..... This from the Associated Press:

``Instead of shouting and criticizing the American initiative, you have to bring democracy to your countries, and then there will be no need to fear America or your people,'' said Seif al-Islam Gadhafi. ``The Arabs should either change or change will be imposed on them from outside.''

Seif denied reports that he is a candidate to succeed his father, who rules Libya with little tolerance of opposition.

``Many Arab countries are now following the policy of inheriting the leadership, but there are hundreds of Libyans who are better (suited) than I,'' Seif said.

Seif even praised Israel, saying that unlike Arab countries, sons do not tend to succeed their fathers in power there.

``We don't put the appropriate person in the right place, but Israel is a democratic country,'' told the Al-Jazeera television station.

2004-03-25T14:06:00.000-07:00
Baath still supporting anti-US terror groups

from the Reform Party of Syria

Middle East Newsline reported March 24 that the CIA has determined that Syria still maintains the operational arms of leading Islamic insurgency groups based in Damascus.

Officials said the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the regime of President Baschar al-Assad has stopped the propaganda arms of Islamic and Palestinian insurgency groups from operating in Damascus. These groups include Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the General Command of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The CIA, according to closed door testimony by CIA director George Tenet to the Senate Intelligence Committee, has determined that groups labeled as terrorist organizations by the US State Department continue to plan and carry out operations from Damascus. Officials said much of the funding for attacks by Hamas, Jihad and Hezbollah inside Israel either originated or were transferred through Syria.

2004-03-24T11:03:00.000-07:00
I guess walls are useful fighting terrorism, after all

Britain is to build a massive concrete wall to surround the Houses of Parliament to ward off possible terror attacks following the Madrid train bombings, a British newspaper said.

The Daily Mirror tabloid reported that Prime Minister Tony Blair's Government was planning to replace the Westminster Parliament's historic iron railings with a 4.6-metre tall wall topped with razor wire.

2004-03-24T10:16:00.000-07:00
2,4,6,8 the United Nations is a Racist State (Why the silence?)

whatever your feelings about the tactical choice or political choice of Israel to assassinate the leader of Hamas - and Israelis are mixed about this, including some senior officials - it is notable that the UN Security Council had a meeting last night to possibly condemn Israel for killing him and the UN Human Rights Commission is also taking up the issue. Yet, there is no action at all on the Sudan-Chad border where a genocide is taking place. What message does this send to the world's dictatorships? Given the fact that killing Yassin was a controversial decision and one not supported by Shimon Peres and Tommy Lapid (Israeli Justice Minister), one can say that this will be debated for years to come. However, no one should doubt who Yassin was, what he stood for (mass murder, no peace with Israel at any time, indoctrinating children to hate and suicide and murder, abusing Islam for political goals). I personally thing Israel made the right choice ----- for the long term. But if killing an arch-terrorist is condemned by the world, and a genocide is passed over in silence, what does that mean for the future of democracy?

From Nicholas Kristof in today (March 24) New York Times:

The most vicious ethnic cleansing you've never heard of is unfolding here in the southeastern fringes of the Sahara Desert. It's a campaign of murder, rape and pillage by Sudan's Arab rulers that has forced 700,000 black African Sudanese to flee their villages.

The desert is strewn with the carcasses of cattle and goats, as well as fresh refugee graves that are covered with brush so wild animals will not dig them up. Refugees crowd around overused wells, which now run dry, and they mourn loved ones whose bodies they cannot recover.

Western and African countries need to intervene urgently. Sudan's leaders should not be able to get away with mass murder just because they are shrewd enough to choose victims who inhabit a poor region without airports, electricity or paved roads.

The culprit is the Sudanese government, one of the world's nastiest. Its Arab leaders have been fighting a civil war for more than 20 years against its rebellious black African south. Lately it has armed lighter-skinned Arab raiders, the Janjaweed, who are killing or driving out blacks in the Darfur region near Chad.

2004-03-22T17:19:00.000-07:00
Is Baathist-supported Hizbollah Next Target of USA?

This piece from the Christian Science Monitor raises that possibility

2004-03-22T12:17:00.000-07:00
Americans in Syria Could Be Targets of Baathists and Islamists

This is an interesting piece from Fox News. I wouldn't be surprised if the Baathist criminals would try to use the death of Hamas founder Yassin as a means of distracting world attention from their crimes against the Kurds.

2004-03-22T09:25:00.000-07:00
Incitement Against Syrian Kurds

Syrian Kurds say they fear being seen as traitors

By Mariam Karouny

KAMESHLI, Syria, March 20 (Reuters) - Many Syrian Kurds said on
Saturday they feared fellow Arab countrymen would see them as traitors
after government suggestions of a foreign hand in a wave of unrest in
northeastern Syria.

"We all want security. We only want the good of our country and they
can't accuse us of dealing with outsiders," said Ibrahim Darwish, a
Kurdish tribal leader. "These accusations harmed us and will harm us
more than the clashes themselves."

2004-03-21T23:35:00.000-07:00
Another Terrorist Leader Gone

The HAMAS movement will carry on, but Israel has killed Sheikh Yassin, the founder of an organization that has:

(1) killed and maimed hundreds of Palestinians who were accused of "collaborating" with Israel or who sought peace with Israel
(2) murdered thousands of Israelis - Jews and Arabs alike
(3) carried out suicide attacks against discos and cafes
(4) trained young children to strive for death rather than to grow up to be doctors and engineers
(5) did eveything it could to stop the peace process
(6) diverted funds meant for humanitarian purposes to terrorism
(7) brainwashed Palestinian children to believe that murder and suicide were noble goals
(8) called for the destruction of Israel and promoted hate
(9) made a mockery of the great religious traditions within Islam
(10) made it known that the Christians were next on their list

2004-03-21T14:27:00.000-07:00
Syria With Minority Rights

This should be the goal - a Syria where the majority Arab population lives in peace with the minority Armenian, Assyrian, Circassian, Druze, Jewish, and Kurd communities. I have long advocated the notion that the Middle East needs minority rights as in this article here on Iraqi Assyrians, states that do not persecute people on behalf of their language or religion. There is nothing wrong with Syrian celebrating their Arab identity - in fact they have much to be proud of - however, the government, if it is a just one, must allow for Syrian Kurds to educate their children in the language of their choosing.

2004-03-21T14:03:00.000-07:00
Hussein's Fall Leads Syrians to Test Government Limits

A year ago, it would have been inconceivable for a citizen of Syria, run by the Baath Party of President Bashar al-Assad, to make a documentary film with the working title, "Fifteen Reasons Why I Hate the Baath." Yet watching the overthrow of Saddam Hussein across the border in Iraq prompted Omar Amiralay to do just that. "It gave me the courage to do it," he said. "When you see one of the two Baath parties broken, collapsing, you can only hope that it will be the turn of the Syrian Baath next," he added

more from the New York Times

2004-03-21T01:03:00.000-07:00
INDICT BAATHISTS FROM DAMASCUS TO NORTHERN VIRGINIA

I remember, prior to the Iraq War, that a number of Iraqi organizations in the diaspora called for the indictment of Saddam Hussein. Perhaps it is thus time for friends of Syrian democracy to begin a process of hiring international lawyers to prepare for indictments against the criminals in Damascus and for those in the United States and Europe who have long been on the Baathist payroll. The Syrian people have a right to know who in the West - which Arab organizations or members of the "peace movement" - have made tacit deals with the criminal regime in exchange for money or power. It is time that Syrian Kurds learn which journalists have been silent (maybe through bribes) in the face of Baathist atrocities! However, no one SHOULD EVER confuse the regime with the people. Syria is a proud country with great people, great culture, and a strong tradition of multiple religious and people living together. Syrians should not been seen as the enemy, just the regime. That is something that supporters of Middle East freedom should never forget.

2004-03-21T00:33:00.000-07:00
Death to the Baath

You're next, Assad.

2004-03-21T00:12:00.000-07:00
Too Little, Too Late

From the Sunday Times (Australia) March 21 edition:

Notice, how the cleric tries to pretend there are no differences between Arabs and Kurds. This is typical of Baathism, which has long been a supremicist movement for Arab nationalists and those willing to embrace Baathist's fascist conception of Arab identity. Likewise, the cleric promotes the notion that outside agitators are responsible for Syrian unrest. Again, this is the typical paranoid denial of reality that has festered in Baathist societies - that "outsiders" (Americans, Jews) are to blame. Did it ever occur to the Baathists and their supporters that had not the Assad clan run the Syrian economy into the ground; had they not used funds for the Syrian people to fund terrorism in Israel; had they not occupied Lebanon; had they not suppressed Assyrians and Kurds; had they not promoted anti-Jewish hate, that maybe, just maybe Syria would be looked upon with respect in the international community? It is time that the honorable Syrian people have a chance at a better life, something Baathism has long denied them. It is time that Baathism be discarded as the wretched ideology that it is - JONATHAN

Meanwhile, in an important symbolic gesture, the son of Syria's top Muslim authority appealed at Friday prayers for Kurds to be respected after nearly a week of clashes involving the minority killed at least 25 people.

But a Kurdish politician accused the Government of distorting the facts of the riots, which were sparked in northeastern Hassake governorate by rival fans at a football match and pitted Kurds against security forces and Arab tribesmen.

Salaheddine Kaftaro, the son of Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, said at Abu al-Nur mosque in the city's Kurdish neighbourhood of Rukn al-Din: "We will not allow anyone to make a distinction between Kurds and Arabs. We are all Syrian."

He claimed Syria was the target of a major plot to destabilise it from inside, after traps from outside, such as the Syria Accountability Act and the accusations of support for terrorism had failed, referring to moves in Washington to slap economic and political sanctions on Damascus.

2004-03-20T21:55:00.000-07:00
Kurds Being Detained by Baathists

From AFP:

Abdul Aziz Dawd, secretary general of the banned Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party ... added that around 1,500 other Kurds are still being detained in the northeastern province of Hassake and Alepp on the northwest. The trouble broke out at a football match in Qamishli, 600 kilometres (375 miles) northeast of Damascus on the Turkish border, when Arab tribesmen taunted Kurds with slogans against Iraqi Kurdish leaders and brandished portraits of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

2004-03-20T21:37:00.000-07:00
Dramatic Video of Baath security services opening fire on Kurds

( via Kurdishmedia.com)

Video 1 ( unedited)

Video 2 (edited)

Video 3 (edited)

2004-03-20T17:09:00.000-07:00
Now Not Boarding on Flights to America

From Maariv:

Sources reported that no planes owned or operated by the Syrian government would be allowed to land in the US or transverse US airspace. Existing energy projects would be allowed to continue but no new initiatives would be permitted. US exports to Syria will be limited to food and medicine. Even though the law also permits imposing diplomatic sanctions, none are expected at this time.

2004-03-19T23:56:00.000-07:00
Baathism Soon Will Be Discarded into Trashheap of History

Very interesting analysis in the Dubai press by a former Canadian diplomat:

The clashes are minor so far but if they grow or Kurds begin to make demands can the Syrian government crush them at will? Will the world turn a blind eye to this act? Not very likely.

They are an Alawite regime that has survived over a Sunni majority through unquestioned rule of force. If the Kurds crack this façade, many others may be encouraged to also push the limits. Bashar and his men may be standing at the tip of an iceberg, exactly where the American government wants them to be.

Indeed, the US is betting that the Syrian regime will crack without invasion, through slow and steady pressure because it does not have a very stable base.

The challenge ahead for the Syrian president is to find the techniques of government to manage the Kurdish affair, as well the nascent voices for liberalisation while maintaining rule.

It is a large question mark whether the holders of power in Syria have the experience or the make-up to navigate the shoals of this new circumstance.

2004-03-19T19:15:00.000-07:00
Newroz March 21

March 21 is Newroz - the Kurdish New Year - which is part of the Kurdish Zoroastrian heritage....... Newroz is often referred to as Persian New Year and is celebrated by Iranians, Zoroastrians, Afghans, and Parsis in India..... Given the historical importance of this holiday, there may be renewed Kurdish demands for rights.....

2004-03-19T15:53:00.000-07:00
''The fear from the regime is gone. Nobody is afraid anymore. . . . This [was] an era, and it's over''

... Michel Kilo, a Syrian Christian and government critic whose writings are officially banned in Syria

2004-03-19T15:51:00.000-07:00
A year after Saddam Hussein's Baath Party regime was toppled next door in Iraq, Syria's Baathist regime is facing the greatest challenge to its power since it took over 41 years ago this month

... from the Miami Herald

Unfortunately the article parrots the completely false assertion that the "old guard" is really in control and that Bashar Assad needs time to "consolidate" his power in order to enact reform. As this blog previously pointed out, this is absolutely not the case; there IS no "old guard" left in substantial positions of power, Bashar Assad is in total control and ,as his actions have proven over the past years, reform is not on his agenda.

2004-03-19T11:39:00.000-07:00
So you say you want a revolution ?

A call for aid: A press release sent out by Kurdishmedia asking for financial support for the Syrian uprising

Could this be the first case of a blogger-fueled pro-democracy revolution in the Arab world ? Certainly mainstream press didn't even begin to fully report the story of the uprising until two full days after the story began circulating on the blogosphere. And now bloggers all over the US who desire a peaceful and democratic middle east have a chance to possibly play a direct role in changing the face of the region (and in turn history) for generations to come.

The liberty revolutions of the middle east may have begun with the young men and women courageous enough to stand up to their respective dictatorships, but their efforts can only be sustained by the watchful eyes of the world. This is where the blogosphere comes in to play, no one can deny that blogs have proved an important informational catalyst for news of the uprising to reach the mainstream press. The fuel to the flame of democratic revolution in Syria and the middle east is our consciousness and the whole world's of it. If the Baath believe no one is watching, they will not hesitate to uproot every last seed of liberty that has already been planted.

2004-03-19T09:13:00.000-07:00
Kurdish uprising continues on

From the Seattle press

Notice how this article here on the Syrian Kurds describes them as "non-Arab." This is perhaps the case because far too many people have assumed that just because the Baathists use the name "Syrian Arab Republic" for their country, that Syria's population has been and is exclusively Arab. This is far from the case - Syrians are Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Jews, Kurds, Turks..... They are Sunni Muslims, 'Alawites, Christians, Druze......

2004-03-19T08:53:00.000-07:00
Celebrating Zoroastrianism

Some good news, for once, from Iran where the authorities have permitted Iranians to celebrate their ancient Zoroastrian roots. It is time that the EU, along with the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand make sure that all peoples of the Middle East are free to worship God in whatever way they choose. After all, if Copenhagen and London can have churches, mosques, and synagogues, why shouldn't Saudi Arabia likewise allow for the constuction of churches and synagogues? We will know that change has come to the Middle East when a Jew can worship in a synagogue in Riyadh just like a Muslim can worship in a mosque in Toronto.

From the Australian daily, The Age

Sparks fly as Tehran lifts ban on ancient festival
Date: March 18 2004

By Paul Hughes
Tehran

Iranians danced in the street, threw firecrackers and jumped over bonfires as authorities tolerated an ancient fire festival for the first time in 25 years.

Halted since the 1979 Islamic revolution because hardliners considered it un-Islamic, the Chaharshanbeh Suri, or Red Wednesday, festival was officially recognised in Tehran where the city council set aside dozens of parks for people to enjoy the boisterous celebrations.

Tens of thousands packed the streets of the capital, hurling firecrackers into the air to mark the eve of the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar year.

The festival dates back centuries to pre-Islamic times and is thought to be derived from Zoroastrian traditions that accord special properties to fire. The Iranian New Year, which falls on March 20 this year, coincides with the northern spring equinox.

Unlike previous years, when riot police blocked off streets and hardline Islamic vigilantes beat and arrested many trying to enjoy the festivities, security forces were virtually absent.

2004-03-18T22:14:00.000-07:00
Between Haifa and Qamishli

I am wondering : when will the Baathists in Damascus put together a plan for all students in Qamishli to have mandatory Kurdish-language education? Will a leading Arab-American organization like the ADC support the teaching of Kurdish and Assyrian to elementary school students in Qamishli?

This from the Jewish Week:

Haifa is very unique in its relations between Arabs and Jews, says Roni Grossman, the municipalitys spokesman. We really do live together.

Grossman notes that the mayor is a Jew and the deputy mayor is an Arab. The mayors personal assistant is an Arab. The treasurer is an Arab. When the bombings occurred we went to a Jewish funeral, then an Arab one.

Excitement over the proposed program is already being expressed by Arab workers in the municipality.

We live together, Jews and Arabs, but we can communicate in only one language, says Nahed Allo, assistant to Mayor Yahav. The vast majority of Arab citizens of Israel speak Hebrew, but that doesn’t mean that we wouldnt welcome others to learn our culture through our language.

Jewish parents who want their children to learn Arabic at a young age have limited educational options. One is the bilingual Arab-Jewish preschool at the Jerusalem YMCA.

In the colorful classrooms Jewish and Arab children aged 3 to 5 receive instructions from two teachers — one who speaks only in Hebrew, the other an Arabic speaker. Jewish, Christian and Muslim holidays are celebrated from a cultural perspective.

We are trying to promote equality and respect for one another, and learning and speaking anothers language is a way of respecting the other, says Daphna Bassewitch-Ginzburg, the preschools director.

2004-03-18T16:38:00.000-07:00
''If the American slogans about freedom are true, then we want them to topple the regime in Syria like they did here, whether by force or by political means''

Kurds in Iraq demonstrate in solidarity with Syrian uprising

2004-03-18T15:10:00.000-07:00
Baathists Teach Hatred, Not Peace

from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency archives

Syrian textbooks reject peace and
promote hatred of Israel — report
By Sharon Samber

The United States hopes Syria will play a role in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Syrian children are getting a different kind of message in their schools.

There is neither excuse nor forgiveness for the one who refrains from Jihad for the cause of God, for the purification of Palestine of the Jews, reads an excerpt from one of Syrias Islamic education textbooks for sixth graders.

Much has been made of Palestinian textbooks and how the culture of hatred, in the words of Jewish organizations, that is being instilled in Palestinian children destroys chances for peace in future generations.

That culture is alive and well in Syria, Bnai Brith International says, and people should recognize the importance of what public schools there are teaching.

They are raising one generation after another of haters, Daniel Mariaschin, executive vice president of Bnai Brith International, said as he unveiled a new report on Syrian textbooks on Tuesday.

No matter what happens on the political and diplomatic levels, this will certainly never allow us to get to the point we’d like to reach, which is peace for Israel and its neighbors, Mariaschin said.

The report, entitled Jihad, Jews and Anti-Semitism in Syrian School Texts details how schoolchildren are taught in different classes and at all grade levels to hate Zionism and Jews, view terrorist attacks as martyrdom, reject peace with Israel and even seek to destroy it.

2004-03-18T14:55:00.000-07:00
"I don't know what will come next, I am afraid that no one will come to our aid. If there is no pressure from the outside, this will be a prelude to another massacre just like in 1982."

...from Freedom Fighter in northern Syria

2004-03-18T14:50:00.000-07:00
Time for the US to stand with Syrian freedom-fighters

Washington Times editorial board calls for greater US support for Kurdish uprising

2004-03-18T11:50:00.000-07:00
Video of uprising from Kurdish underground

right click and choose "save target as"

Video 1

Video 2

2004-03-18T11:00:00.000-07:00
Qamishli Spring continues

Tanks in streets of Qamishli

2004-03-18T01:31:00.000-07:00
As-Safir Comments on Kurdish Situation

The Lebanese daily had some interesting comments on the situation in Syria, as reflected in the Review of the Arab Press from UPI:

On the ongoing Kurdish unrest in Syria, Lebanon's independent as-Safir reported that predominantly Kurdish-populated towns near Aleppo and Ras al-Ain in Syria witnessed on Tuesday, and for a fourth consecutive day, clashes between Kurds and Arab tribes in which an unknown number of people were killed, injured and arrested. The paper quoted unnamed Syrian sources as saying that a wave of arrests was carried out across several Syrian towns "upon high-level instructions, in order to deal with the issue and punish all those who exceed their limits in expressing their protest." The paper said that despite a visit by the head of the political security department, Gen. Ghazi Kanaan, on Monday to Aleppo, the tension in the city was on the rise. It reported that the Ashrafiya and Sheikh Maksoud districts, with predominantly Kurdish residents, were sealed on Tuesday. The daily quoted eyewitnesses as saying they saw the armed forces in the area in an indication that the control of the areas have has been transferred from the security forces to the army.

2004-03-18T00:56:00.000-07:00
The youth of liberty die in the streets of Syria and Iran while the 'policy makers' quibble....

It follows ineluctably that we should be supporting these freedom fighters in the streets of our worst, and most totalitarian enemies in the region. But instead, the State Department sends diplomats to calm the situation in Syria, and our diplomats cluck their tongues about the unpleasantness in Iran.

read the whole thing

2004-03-18T00:35:00.000-07:00
QAMISHLI SPRING

There is no going back. Assad has been exposed. Baathism's fascistic ideology is soon to be cast into the dustbin of history..... Inshallah

2004-03-18T00:19:00.000-07:00
Keep scrolling all the way down for more pictures of the uprising