US, Europe Call On Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Step Down

US, Europe Call for Syria’s Assad to 'Step Aside'
VOA - David Gollust

The United States and its key European allies on Thursday made a coordinated call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, after he ignored appeals to end a brutal five-month crackdown on protestors. The U.S. appeal for regime change is coupled with far-reaching sanctions against the Damascus government, including a ban on imports of Syrian oil.

President Barack Obama began the diplomatic effort with a written statement condemning the Syrian leader for “ferocious brutality” against democracy protestors, including what, he called, “disgraceful” attacks on cities like Hama and Deir al-Zour.

Mr. Obama said President Assad’s calls for dialogue and reform have “rung hollow” as he imprisoned, tortured and slaughtered his own people. He said that for the sake of the Syrian people, “the time has come for President Assad to step aside.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed the call in a press appearance here.

“The people of Syria deserve a government that respects their dignity, protects their rights and lives up to their aspirations," said Clinton. "Assad is standing in their way. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for him to step aside and leave this transition to the Syrians themselves.

Soon after the U.S. announcement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a joint statement that by resorting to brutal military force against his own people, Mr. Assad “has lost all legitimacy and can no longer claim to lead the country.”

The Obama administration had been poised to make the call for regime change earlier this month, but reportedly delayed action pending final reform appeals to President Assad from Arab states and neighboring Turkey -- calls that went unanswered.

Secretary Clinton, who helped orchestrate the U.S.-European action, said the allies are not trying to dictate a resolution of the crisis.

“We understand the strong desire of the Syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle, and we respect their wishes," she said. "At the same time, we will do our part to support their aspiration for a Syria that is democratic, just and inclusive.”

The new sanctions announced by President Obama sharply expand on punitive measures targeted at the Syrian leader and his inner circle. An executive order by the president freezes all Syrian government assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and it bans U.S. imports of Syrian petroleum products. If as expected, the move is matched by the European Union on Friday, it will severely affect what has been the main driver Syria's economy.

Syria expert Andrew Tabler of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy says the U.S. action makes dealings in Syrian oil politically risky for European and other companies.

“It forces a lot of their companies to make a choice," said Tabler. "Do they continue their relatively small Syrian business or purchases of Syrian crude, or do they maintain their relationship with the United States? These kinds of sanctions push those companies into those kind of dilemmas.”

Analyst Ed Husain of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations says that calling on Mr. Assad to step down weakens opposition members who will now be seen as stooges of the United States. He adds that Mr. Assad’s departure would trigger instability in a country that is a patchwork of ethnic alliances.

“It’s a country that is divided along sectarian lines hugely," said Husain. "And Assad’s party and Assad’s family - whether we like it [or not], it’s an ugly truth - have held that country together. And they know if Assad falls, there will be a bloodbath between the Alawis and Druze, the other minorities as well as the Sunni majority. And for those reasons, I think at least in the short term, Bashar al-Assad remains the least worst option.”

Omar al-Issawi, Middle East and North Africa Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch says that although his organization takes no position on the call for regime change, he hopes it will increase international pressure for accountability on Syrian human rights abuses.

“Our prime concern is for the [Syrian] regime to put an end to the very serious, grave, human rights violations that have been taking place against overwhelmingly peaceful protestors," said al-Issawi. "We hope that the authorities in Syria follow up on the declaration of President Assad yesterday, when he said military operations have stopped.”

The U.N. Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session on Syria on Monday in Geneva.


VOA - August 18, 2011

Violence in Syria - Rights groups say at least 1,100 have been killed...

France to Push for UN Vote to Condemn Syrian Violence

VOA, Margaret Besheer - United Nations June 07, 2011

France says it will push for a vote in the U.N. Security Council on a resolution condemning a government crackdown on protesters in Syria. Foreign Minister Alain Juppé says a vote could come soon.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Security Council meeting on HIV/AIDS, Juppé said the situation in Syria is escalating and the council must take action.

“The repression is getting worse; the massacres are on the rise. It is inconceivable that the U.N. remains silent on such a matter. We are working with our U.K. friends to have as large a majority as possible on the Security Council. I think we have to move to a vote so that everyone can assume their responsibilities,” Juppe said.

Pre-1967 Borders - Israel will not return to its pre-1967 borders says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

Netanyahu: No Compromise on Pre-1967 Borders

VOA News May 24, 2011

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is ready to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, but he says Israel will not return to its pre-1967 borders.

President Barack Obama Tells Syria's Assad to Lead Transition or Leave

Obama Tells Syria's Assad to Lead Transition or Leave

VOA - David Gollust | State Department May 19, 2011

US President Barack Obama delivers a speech about United States' policy on the Middle East and North Africa at the State Department in Washington, May 19, 2011.

In his Middle East policy speech, President Barack Obama said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faces the choice of either leading a democratic transition in his country or getting out of the way.  The comment came a day after the U.S. administration imposed sanctions on the Syrian leader and key aides.

President Barack Obama's comments stopped short of an outright demand Syria's leader step down. But the remarks were another sign of diminishing U.S. patience with President Bashar al-Assad, whose reform promises have been contradicted by an ongoing brutal crackdown on protesters.

"The Syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy," said Obama.  "President Assad now has a choice: he can lead that transition, or get out of the way.  The Syrian government must stop shooting demonstrators and allow peaceful protests, release political prisoners and stop unjust arrests, they must allow human rights monitors to have access to cities like Daraa, and start a serious dialogue to advance a democratic transition."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on anti-government protesters...

Assad Family Grip on Syria Hampers Reform

VOA - Elizabeth Arrott | Cairo May 17, 2011

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on anti-government protesters has been leavened with at least verbal concessions to reform. But given the history of the country, the government and his family, some political analysts believe those promises will never be fulfilled.

Women in the Middle East Revolution - Will they get more rights?

Will Women Benefit from Middle East Revolution?
VOA - Aida F. Akl | Washington, D.C. March 09, 2011

When the dust of Egypt's revolution began to settle and the country struggled toward a democratic government, many of the women who stood side-by-side with men in Cairo's Tahrir Square were struck that not one woman was named to the committee to reform the constitution.

Prominent Egyptian author and activist Nawaal el-Saadawi says that angered women who marched on equal footing with men to oust former President Hosni Mubarak - only to find themselves thrown back to the old ways and excluded from the new order. She said the women felt their rights were being taken from them.

"Women’s rights cannot be given ... We have to take [them] by the political power of women," she said. "And that’s why we are reestablishing our Egyptian Women Union."

Al-Saadawi says women were scattered, weak and divided under the former regime and efforts are under way to unite them.

"So we are trying to bring women together to have political power so that we can fight for our rights in a collective group," al-Saadawi explained.

Fears of being excluded also echoed in neighboring Tunisia among many of the women who participated in the revolution to oust the Ben-Ali regime. Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations says Tunisian women worry about the return to power of some of the more conservative elements might try to repeal Tunisia's progressive family laws.

Coleman notes that Iraq saw a similar situation a few years ago, when the country's new government tried to rescind the family law that had been in place under the Baathist regime for a long time and replace it with religious law. Many Iraqi women favored the implementation of Islamic law, says Coleman, while others feared it would mean a regression of their rights.

But it remains unclear how women will benefit from revolutionary change in the Middle East. Coleman says the first consequence has been the "fall of more secular-oriented governments that have used their authoritarian power to push through, often against the wishes of powerful voices within the country, more progressive rights for women."

She says governments are now going to have grapple with the possible resurgence of Islamists. "And women's rights will be a very clear litmus test of whether they are finding compatibility between Islam and democracy or not," noted Coleman.

Crucial to finding that compatibility is a clear definition of women's roles in society. The problem, says Shadi Hamid, a Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center, is that there is no clear consensus around the role women should play, particularly in Arab society. That is partially due to the perception that women's rights are more of a Western concept.

"And that's why we see the odd phenomenon in some countries of Arab women working against their own supposed 'rights,' " explained Hamid. "And we see this, for example, in some of the Gulf countries where women have actually advocated against being given the right to vote or have not been in favor of, supposedly, pro-Western reform."

Cheryl Benard, a Senior Analyst with the RAND Corporation, says there are women who have made a "generations-long bargain" with the existing society, where they accept that they are going to be in an inferior position, and they believe that, in exchange for that, they get something.

"They get security. They get the shelter of their relatives taking care of them," said Benard. "So those women, I think, are, in part, afraid of change because they are afraid of what it will mean if that traditional, conservative protection maybe falls away and they have to be in charge of themselves."

Benard says that fear is less prevalent among the young and educated urban populations, leaving a gap between rural and urbal populations. Equally pronounced are the gaps that stand out in education, political participation and labor in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2010.

The report also reveals some interesting extremes. Women in the United Arab Emirates, for example, surpass men in educational attainment by two points, but lag behind men in Yemen by about 36 percentage points.

But the Rand Corporation's Benard cautions that the statistics don't tell the whole story. She says the overall, long-term picture is promising. For example, countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia no longer publish grades at universities because the women are so far ahead of the men that they don’t want to embarrass the men.

"Yes there are countries where women lag behind, where they are more of the illiterates compared to men. But if you look at it generationally, first of all it tends to be often not really true anymore of the younger women," Benard said. "And if you look at it regionally - urban vs. rural areas - it’s also not quite true. There have been a lot of changes going on and women have actually even pulled ahead of men in the educational field in some areas. The same is true economically."

But progress in education has not been matched on the political front. Women parliamentarians remain absent in places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar and their share of cabinet positions in most other countries is contingent on a quota-based system.

"There are a couple different models here," says Hamid of Brookings. "One model ... that you’ve seen in Morocco and Jordan, is where the regime, or in this case the monarchies, ignore popular opinions and effectively impose changes in the sphere of women’s participation."

Hamid says the majority opinion is not very supportive of a very visible role for women. "And that's why when there aren't quotas in the political system, women have immense difficulties winning even the smallest number of seats in parliamentary elections."

Top-down efforts, says Hamid, don’t have the support of the larger population. Many people don't feel comfortable voting women into senior positions, and not all women are in favor of women's empowerment. He says a lot of women's empowerment efforts come from the secular, elite side of society, which is a minority in Arab society.

"The population will go along with it, but it’s not really based on a cultural shift," he said. "It’s not based on a shift in attitudes. And without that shift in attitudes at the grassroots level, change is not going to be deep or sustainable ... The question is how do you initiate a grassroots process in favor of women’s empowerment?"

As democracy begins to emerge in the Middle East, Hamid says women and liberal groups advocating their rights will have greater political space and room to make their voices heard.

"We have to question the whole premise that equal rights in the Western sense, is something that all societies would like and want to fight for," he cautioned. "And it appears to be the case that Arab societies aren’t willing to go all the way to where the West is ... I think everyone supports women’s empowerment. But I think it means different things to different people."

While Benard of the RAND Corporation agrees that the region has to find its own formula for women's empowerment, she says the women and their families who participated in the revolutions embody a change in Middle Eastern women that has disspelled some of the Western misconceptions.

"This is quite a different picture of the role of women in the Middle East ... where one thought that the families were all ultra-conservative, [that] they don’t want the women to be out and about, [that] they don’t think that the public space is something appropriate for women," Benard said. "That is not what we have seen. We’ve also seen women ... online, taking a leadership role often and organizing this and calling for things to happen."

So how will Middle Eastern women shape their own future in the new order?

The populations of the region are able to determine their own destiny, says Benard, and are more capable than they are given credit for. "Sometimes, she says, "the best thing you can do for somebody is [to] get out of their way."


Will Women Benefit from Middle East Revolution?
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Oil - What will the future bring?

Will Political Turmoil Collapse the Old Oil Order?
VOA - Joe DeCapua March 09, 2011

The political turmoil in the Arab world may not only lead to much higher oil prices, but greater competition for resources and a shift in priorities for oil-producing nations. So says the author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet.

What’s happening in North Africa and the Middle East, says Michael Klare, is the collapse of what he calls the “Old Oil Order.”

“The old oil order, as I see it, is a network, a constellation of governments in the region, largely authoritarian, that were devoted to producing oil and making it available for sale to international markets. And these governments were supported to a great deal by the United States and the West, not all of them, but most of them, because these governments favored the international market – the trade in oil,” he says.

Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He says some cracks were seen in the old oil order over the years in such countries as Iran and Iraq.

Now what?

The new oil order that’s emerging, he says, will cater less to Western desires.

“I think it’ll look a lot like Venezuela, in some cases, where (President) Hugo Chavez rules the state oil company, PDVSA, and uses the money for social purposes and political purposes in his country and to promote what he sees as the welfare of his people. And he’s not very interested in improving the capacity, the efficiency of the company. So, Venezuela’s oil production has fallen since he’s been in power,” he says.

He says any new governments that emerge in the Arab world, whatever their political orientation, will face “tremendous social and economic challenges.” Those challenges will arise from growing populations and high unemployment.

“Their priority is going to be to use their money from oil production to improve employment, not to feed the thirst for oil in the rest of the world,” he says.

Pumped up price at the pump

Klare says, “With the demise of the old oil order, we will see the end of cheap petroleum forever.” That means much higher fuel prices. How high? That depends on Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia,” he says, “is the linchpin of the global oil order because it has the world’s largest reserves. It is the largest supplier of oil to international markets and it has the largest spare capacity – the ability to ramp up production in times of crisis like you have today. So, as long as Saudi Arabia remains stable and keeps producing, I think oil won’t go beyond the record it set in 2008 of about $140-$150 a barrel.”

But, he says, if Saudi Arabia goes the way of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, then there are no limits to how high the price of oil could go.

“$200 a barrel wouldn’t surprise me,” says Klare.

That could mean gasoline costing at least $5 a gallon here in the United States. He says tapping the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve to hold down gasoline prices would only have a temporary effect. One thing, he says, that could cause oil prices to drop suddenly is another global economic crisis like the one in 2008.

What's food got to do with it?

The professor of peace and world security studies says it’s important to remember that oil and food prices are intertwined. And that prior to the economic crisis, a food crisis gripped the world.

“While the price of oil is rising, we have also seen a huge surge in the price of food, partly because oil is so expensive. When oil rises, the price of food rises. And it’s been the high price of food that triggered many of the uprisings, first in Algeria, then in Tunisia and Jordan and in some of the other cases. And the price of food continues to rise, too. And I expect that we’ll see more uprisings about food. And I fear that there’ll be more of this in the future because of global climate change,” he says.

Climate change has been blamed for many droughts and floods, both of which destroy agricultural land.

Klare says the 21st Century brings greater competition for food, fuel and water among the western powers, as well as India, Russia and China. Sub-Saharan African oil producing nations, such as Angola and Nigeria, he says, will be pressured to solve domestic problems, while trying to meeting growing demand for oil.

Klare says the world must develop some type of new energy system soon, not only to meet greater demand, but to deal with climate change, as well.




Will Political Turmoil Collapse the Old Oil Order?
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President Barack Obama Urges Peaceful Response to Protests in Mideast

 

Obama Urges Peaceful Response to Protests in Mideast

Dan Robinson | White House February 15, 2011 - VOA

President Barack Obama has again criticized Iran's government for its crackdown on opposition protesters.  The president used a news conference to address ramifications for the Middle East following what happened in Egypt and Tunisia, and also responded to criticisms of the $3.73 trillion budget he sent to Congress this week.

President Obama said governments must respond peacefully to peaceful protests in the wake of the anti-government rallies in Egypt that brought down former President Hosni Mubarak and a series of protests in other countries in the region in recent days, where authorities have cracked down. Mr. Obama said people must be allowed to voice their grievances.

The president turned to Iran where the government broke up an opposition rally on Monday.

"I find it ironic that you've got the Iranian regime pretending to celebrate what happened in Egypt, when in fact, they have acted in direct contrast to what happened in Egypt by gunning down and beating people who were trying to express themselves peacefully," said Obama.

Obama reiterated that real change in societies "is not going to happen because of terrorism… or killing innocents," but by people coming together and applying moral force.

On Iran, Obama said he was clear after mass demonstrations following Iran's elections in 2009, and is clear now, that people should be able to express grievances and seek a more responsive government.

Saying America cannot "ultimately dictate," but can lend moral support, he said the U.S. is concerned about stability in the region, but sends a consistent message.

"The message that we have sent, even before the demonstrations in Egypt, has been to friend and foe alike,  that the world is changing, that you have a young, vibrant generation within the Middle East, that is looking for greater opportunity and that if you are governing these countries, you have got to get out ahead of change, you can't be behind the curve," added Obama.

Obama rejected suggestions that his administration was too cautious in supporting protesters in Egypt.   "History will end up recording" he said that at "every juncture" the U.S. was on the right side of history.

What will achieve stability in the Middle East, he said, is for governments to provide avenues for mobility and opportunity, adding he believes governments are starting to understand that they cannot maintain power through coercion.

President Obama also addressed the dispute with Pakistan over a jailed U.S. diplomat, Raymond Davis, who has been accused of killing two people.  He said the matter involves the broader principle of diplomatic immunity that must be upheld, saying the U.S. has been "very firm" about the need for Mr. Davis's release.

The president also addressed criticism by opposition Republicans of his $3.73 trillion 2012 fiscal year budget, which proposes what he calls "tough choices," but which he says would result in no additions to the $14 trillion national debt by the middle of the decade.

Saying he is ready to work with Republicans, Mr. Obama rejected "symbolic cuts" he says might endanger economic recovery.  He said there will be tough negotiations on the budget, and on the larger issues of huge government "entitlement" programs, Medicare and Social Security.

"The key thing that I think the American people want to see is that all sides are serious about it, and all sides are willing to give a little bit, and that there is a genuine spirit of compromise as opposed to people being interested in scoring political points," Obama said.

On proposed cuts to some government programs that help lower income citizens, the president said he feels people's pain, adding he is both inspired by people's strength, but also frustrated by the number of people struggling in the current economy.

Mr. Obama said his budget reflects growth in the economy and more business confidence now that the U.S. economy has moved away from crisis.  However, he says the job ahead is to look at medium and long term problems in a much more urgent and serious way.

The president said recommendations of a bipartisan fiscal commission, which proposed drastic cuts to deal with deficit spending and the debt, provided a "framework" for tough conversations.

Obama Urges Peaceful Response to Protests in Mideast

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Rising Price of Food Helped Spark Egypt Protests

High Food Prices Helped Spark Egypt Protests

Food production has not kept pace with population growth

Steve Baragona | Washington, D.C. February 14, 2011 - VOA

 

Many developing countries are closely watching the role escalating food prices is playing in the turmoil in North Africa.

Government repression, corruption, unemployment and poverty united protesters to oust Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last week. But experts say the rising price of food was one of the sparks that set off the historic protests.

The global price of wheat has risen 60 percent in the past year, and Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer. But that was not always the case.

"I find it actually ironic that bread lines are what provoked the latest political unrest," says policy analyst Marie Brill, with the advocacy group ActionAid, "considering that in the 1960s, Egypt had been a breadbasket (major wheat producer) and able to meet its own wheat needs."

Focus on exports

So what happened? Brill says it goes back to the 1980s and 90s, when the United States, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund encouraged developing countries to import grain produced cheaply in the U.S. and elsewhere and to focus their farming on export crops.

"This has been a policy that has been pushed around the world, not just in Egypt or in the Middle East," Brill says. "But what we've found was that, as Egypt became more and more dependent on [imported] wheat, Egypt also became more and more vulnerable to price hikes and price volatility."

 

Bad governance

Others say the roots of Egypt's vulnerability go much deeper. Democracy activist Mohamed Eljahmi blames 1950s land reform laws and bad governance in Egypt, not economic policies emanating from Washington.

"That has been used as a crutch by Arab regimes to justify their failures," Eljahmi says. "The problem is, there is a legacy of corruption. There is a lack of accountability. So, the failure really rests with the nature of the military regime in Egypt. Not the IMF or anything."

Subsidized bread

Whatever the cause of the failure, Egypt's food production has not kept pace with its population growth.

As prices climbed in recent months, the Egyptian government had to pay dearly to import wheat for its subsidized bread program. The country was already deeply in debt, which limited how it could respond to the protests.

"So, they really didn't have any scope for doing what an oil-producing country like Algeria could," says senior fellow Mohsin Khan at the Peterson Institute of International Economics. "Which is, you have unrest and you can throw money at it."

Algeria has made huge wheat purchases and set price controls following street protests. Not all citizens have been placated, and some protesters returned to the streets this weekend.

Other countries watching

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, there are 77 low-income countries that rely heavily on food imports.

Khan says policymakers in these countries are going to say, "'Look, we have large-scale unemployment.We have high food prices rising and therefore pushing up inflation. This is likely to trigger protests in our country. So, what do we need to do?'"

Targeted aid, not subsidies

Khan says poor countries need to target help to the poor, rather than blanketing the economy with price controls or food subsidies, which are expensive and bad for the economy in the long run.

But they are among the easiest options. And Khan adds that people in other repressed countries may be inspired by events in Egypt and Tunisia, where food prices also contributed to the ouster of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali  last month. He says governments will likely be tempted to step in rather than risk protests.

"It's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out in terms of who's going to [act] first," he says. "Are the protests going to come first, or [are the governments going to] start subsidizing food?"

Many experts agree the likelihood of protests is rising along with the cost of food.

High Food Prices Helped Spark Egypt Protests

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Protests in Iran - Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters, Arrest Dozens

Iranian Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters, Arrest Dozens

VOA News February 14, 2011

 

Thousands of defiant Iranian opposition supporters have staged what they said was a rally supporting Arab revolts as riot police armed with batons moved in to disperse them, February 14, 2011

Thousands of Iranian opposition activists rallied in support of popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt Monday, while a semi-official Iranian news agency said one person was killed and several wounded by protesters in the capital, Tehran.

Witnesses say security forces, many of them on motorbikes, fanned out across central Tehran Monday as opposition groups demonstrated despite a protest ban. Hundreds of black-clad Iranian riot police fired tear gas and paintball guns to disperse the crowds.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said what it called "seditionists" had shot a bystander dead at the Tehran rally.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's Kaleme  website reported that "Tehran security forces arrested dozens of protesters." There was no official confirmation of the detentions. Mousavi's website and that of fellow reformist leader Mehdi Karroubi said security forces surrounded their homes, preventing the two men from joining the march. Authorities also cut telephone lines at Mousavi's house.

Some demonstrators chanted "death to the dictator" - a slogan used by protesters against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the disputed 2009 presidential election. By late evening Monday, chants echoed from Tehran rooftops, as they did during the unrest two years ago.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States "very clearly and directly" supports "the aspirations of the people who are in the streets of Iran today."

Clinton pressed the Iranian government to follow Egypt's example and "open up" its political system, reaffirming U.S. calls for non-violence, human rights and democratic political change. She called the protests a testament to the "courage" of the Iranian people and "an indictment of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime."

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has praised this year's revolts in Egypt and Tunisia as an Islamic awakening, akin to the 1979 revolution that ousted Iran's U.S.-backed shah. But the regime has tried to suppress opposition at home. It warned the reformists against proceeding with Monday's rallies, calling them a ploy to mobilize anti-government protests and revive the Green movement.

Demonstrations were also reportedly held in other cities across Iran, including Isfahan, Shiraz and Kermanshah.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called on Iranian authorities to exercise restraint and allow people to express their views freely.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, on a visit to Tehran, urged Middle Eastern governments to listen to the demands of their people, although he did not mention Iran directly.

Mousavi and Karroubi headed the 2009 protests. The two reformists ran against Mr. Ahmadinejad and accused him of rigging the vote, a charge the government denies.

The 2009 protests ended in a violent crackdown by Iranian militiamen loyal to the clerical establishment. Scores of people were killed and wounded during demonstrations that lasted several months.

Iranian Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters, Arrest Dozens

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Valentine's Day Not Loved by Some

 

Valentine's Day Not Loved in Many Areas of the World

Ira Mellman February 13, 2011 - VOA

 

An activist of India's opposition BJP party prepares to burst heart shaped balloon during a protest against Valentine's Day celebrations in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, Feb.13, 2011.

Monday marks the celebration of Valentine’s Day by much of the world. But it is a celebration that is drawing protests in some areas.
In Southern India, members of a Hindu political party recently gathered to burn Valentine’s Day cards.

One protestor said he is against what he called the "cultural exploitation" of the day. He added people sharing sexual greetings with each other in public in the name of Valentine’s Day should be strongly condemned.

Many Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, have banned the celebration of Valentine’s Day

In Malaysia, officials have warned Muslims against celebrating something they call "synonymous with vice activities."
That warning follows plans announced last week by several Malaysian states to crack down on "immoral acts" during Valentine's Day as part of a campaign to encourage a sin-free lifestyle.

The head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, which oversees the country's Islamic policies, told state media."In reality, as well as historically, the celebration of Valentine's Day is synonymous with vice activities."

Valentine’s Day has been outlawed in Iran as well. Officials say they will take action against those who ignore the ban.

In Dubai, which has traditionally permitted celebration of Valentine’s Day, the tourism authority has banned the sale of alcohol because of the day's proximity of the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, which this year falls on Tuesday, February 15.

Valentine's Day Not Loved in Many Areas of the World
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President Hosni Mubarak’s Ouster - First Full Day of Business in Egypt

Egypt's Army Prodding a Return to Normalcy After Weeks of Protests

Lauren Frayer | Cairo February 13, 2011 - VOA

 

Egyptian Army soldiers remove tents of protesters from Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011. Egypt's military has started taking down the makeshift tents of protesters who camped out on Tahrir Square in an effort to allow traffic and normal life to return to central Cairo.

Egypt’s army is prodding pro-democracy demonstrators to put down their placards and get back to work Sunday, on the first full day of business since President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

Soldiers are dismantling protesters’ tents, and Cairo’s infamous traffic jams have returned to Tahrir Square. Despite a few scuffles with soldiers, pro-democracy demonstrators have largely put down their placards and are heading back to school and work.

But they are still airing their demands that Egypt’s new military rulers lift emergency laws, in place 30 years, that grant security forces broad powers to detain people without charge. They also want parliament dissolved and a new unity government in its place, and they want the constitution amended or rewritten entirely.

Former protester Khalid Shahwan says he understands that could take a while.

"It’s going to take time for them to change the constitution, for them to make good elections, proper elections," Khalid said.

His friend Gihan Mohamed says the very culture of Egypt’s ruling elite has to change.

"I hope things are going to change because there is a lot of corruption in the country, like lots of corruption, and I hope it will change," Gihan said.

The Egyptian Cabinet is meeting Sunday, and the prime minister is expected to outline which ministers will stay on and which may go. The military is asking the Cabinet to keep working in a caretaker capacity, until elections can be held in September.

But Information Minister Anas El-Fiqqi told state television he has already resigned. And others could follow. The public prosecutor has opened an investigation into top ruling party figures, freezing some politicians’ assets and imposing a travel ban on others.

The military’s Supreme Council, which took power after President Hosni Mubarak resigned, promised Saturday to eventually hand power to an elected government. It vowed too to abide by international treaties, an indication that peace with Israel will remain.

The military council also called on Egyptians themselves to push the economy forward, urging them back to their jobs. Sunday is the first regular business day since President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

Egypt's Army Prodding a Return to Normalcy After Weeks of Protests
Article from VOA

Mr. Dictator, tear down this wall! - Protests for Freedom in 2011

"Mr. Dictator, tear down this wall!"

As the walls of dictators around the world collapse in 2011 from protests for freedom, we can look back at an important quote in history. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" was the challenge from U.S. President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan spoke these historic words in West Berlin at the base of the Brandenburg Gate, near the Berlin wall.

Sunday, February 6, 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of late United States President Ronald Reagan, who served two terms in the White House during the 1980's. America's 40th president is remembered by many as the Great Communicator - and as the man who helped end the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a single-party political system dominated by the Communist Party until 1990.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"





"Mr. Dictator, tear down this wall!" is a quote inspired by the late United States President Ronald Reagan and the brave people of the world protesting for freedom. Dictators have fallen in Tunisia and Egypt. Who will be next?
Copyright 2011

2/12/2011 - "Mr. Dictator, tear down this wall!"  Copyright © 2011 - All rights reserved.

New Protests in Middle East - Yemen, Algeria

New Wave of Protests Sweeps Middle East

VOA News February 12, 2011

Thousands of protesters gathered in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, Saturday, calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down a day after Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned.

The protesters began marching toward the Egyptian Embassy but clashed with a group of pro-government demonstrators on the way.

The gathering points for protesters seemed to be at Sana'a University and the city's Tahrir Square, which bears the same name as the point of origin of the Cairo protests in Egypt.

Like Mr. Mubarak, President Ali has been in power for more than three decades - since 1978. In an effort to quell unrest, he has promised to step down at the end of his term in 2013.

Meanwhile, some 30,000 police are out in the Algerian capital to guard against a planned anti-government protest, which is illegal under Algeria's 19-year-old state of emergency. But reports say as many as 2,000 people are out on the streets anyway, calling for the end of the emergency laws and the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The Algerian government has promised to lift the state of emergency in the future.

Activists in Bahrain are calling for protests to start Monday.  In an effort to placate would-be demonstrators, Bahrain's king announced Friday that every  family in the oil-rich kingdom will receive $1,000 as a sign of the monarch's "appreciation of the people of Bahrain."


New Wave of Protests Sweeps Middle East
Article from VOA

Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak Presidency Timeline - History

The Presidency of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak
Friday, February 11th, 2011 - VOA

May 4, 1928: Hosni Mubarak is born in the Nile Delta village of Kafr el-Moseilha in Egypt.


April 1975: Appointed Vice President of Egypt by President Anwar Sadat.


Oct. 6, 1981: Seated next to President Anwar Sadat as he is shot and killed in a reviewing stand at a military parade in Cairo. Mubarak was injured in the attack.


Oct. 14, 1981: Mubarak is sworn in as the president of Egypt.


April 25, 1982: Israel hands over the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt after occupying it for 15 years.


October 1987: Mubarak wins a second six-year term as president.


October 1993: Wins a third six-year term.


June 26, 1995: Gunmen attack Mubarak's motorcade as he arrives at a summit of the Organization of African Unity in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. He is unhurt and returns to Egypt.


Nov. 17, 1997: Members Egypt's largest Islamist militant group, al-Gama's al-Islamiya kill 58 tourists and four Egyptians at an ancient temple in the southern town of Luxor. Six gunmen and three police officers also die in the attack.


October 1999: Mubarak is elected to his fourth term as president.


December 22, 1999: Egypt agrees to sell natural gas to Israel through what Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak calls the “pipeline of peace.”


March 2005: Hundreds of protesters take to the streets to oppose Mubarak's run for a fifth six-year term.


December 2005: The Muslim Brotherhood increases its seats in parliament after violent elections, which Mubarak wins.


Nov. 19, 2006: Mubarak announces he will retain the responsibilities of his office for the rest of his life.


March 27, 2010: Returns to Egypt after spending three weeks in Germany following gall bladder surgery.


Jan. 25, 2011: Anti-government protests erupt across Egypt.


Jan 28, 2011: Mubarak orders troops and tanks into cities to quell the demonstrations.


Jan. 29, 2011: Mubarak appoints the nation's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his first vice president.


Feb. 1, 2011: Mubarak promises not to seek re-election but says he will serve out the last few months of his terms and “die on Egyptian soil.”


Feb 5, 2011: The United States and leading European nations call for a smooth transition of power in Egypt.


Feb. 10, 2011: Mubarak announces plan to cede some powers to the vice presidency, but refuses to step aside.


Feb. 11, 2011: President Hosni Mubarak leaves power and travels with his family to his home in southern resort of Sharm el-Sheik.



The Presidency of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak Timeline
From VOA

Mubarak Rule Ends - Egyptians Cheer

Egyptians celebrate the news of the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, who handed control of the country to the military, in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt, February 11, 2011.

Egyptians Cheer End of Mubarak Rule

Elizabeth Arrott February 11, 2011 - VOA

The resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak electrified the tens of thousands of people in Cairo's Tahrir Square. People danced, cheered and shed tears of joy as the central demand of their 18 days of protest was met and nearly 30 years of a presidency came to an end.

"It's over. The nation ended the regime." The words were chanted by young and old, men, women and the children they brought to celebrate the profound change Egypt has undergone.

"Welcome, welcome in New Egypt. Welcome in new Egypt." The simple sentiment of this protester was expressed by many on the square; an era has ended, and the future is theirs.

Women ululated, young men danced in spontaneous conga lines, and everywhere on the square - remarkably well-kept after 18 days of occupation - emotions overflowed.

Another protester said, "We were suppressed. We were subjected to such tyranny, and now I am saying we won the match against  him."

"Him" is former President Mubarak, whose seeming intransigence in a speech the day before prompted opposition figure Mohammed el Baradei to warn the nation would explode. And it did, just not in the way he thought.

Even in the street party that engulfed Cairo, however, there were voices of trepidation.

Cairene Adel Mohamed is among the wary. "He should have stayed until he finished his duration, and then he should have seen who comes after him. It's going to be chaos."

The military that has stepped in is promising to protect the nation, an echo of the origins of the regime that is now at its end. Not everywhere do people welcome a takeover by the armed forces, but such was the case in Egypt in the last century, when Gamal Abdel Nasser helped overthrow the monarchy and told his countrymen to "lift up your heads"

The same words were chanted anew Friday on Tahrir Square, a reminder of the American author Mark Twain's observation that "history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."

Others, like Karim Fanous, joining in the mass movement to the streets, looked to the long days of hard work ahead.

"It's a very important transition that needs to be undergone progressively and carefully monitored," said Fanous. "I still don't believe it frankly - a bit skeptical."

With few independent institutions and a civil society that has been stifled for decades, plus a victorious opposition that includes secular leftists and conservative Islamists, there are many questions about how the transition will proceed.

On this Friday, though, this Cairo woman, was thinking of the more immediate future. "I think it will be the biggest party that Egypt's ever seen probably."

As Halah Said held a flag, whose colors emblazoned the band holding back her hair, she added, "I can't believe that it happened."

Egyptians Cheer End of Mubarak Rule
Article and Video from VOA

Mubarak Vows to Stay Until September Election

Mubarak Vows to Stay, Angering Protesters
Cairo February 10, 2011 - VOA

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has delegated powers to his vice president but insists he will stay in office until a September election His announcement on state television late Thursday angered anti-government demonstrators who had hoped to hear the president announce his resignation.

President Hosni Mubarak's speech was followed by loud and disappointed roars from the thousands of protesters who had massed at Cairo's Tahrir Square on Thursday. Some waved shoes as a sign of anger and disrespect.

Their hopes had been raised when an army commander addressed them earlier in the day and said the 82-year-old president was going to meet their demands.

The demonstrators want Mr. Mubarak to resign immediately. Those words did not come Thursday night when the man who has led Egypt nearly 30 years addressed the nation on state television.

Mr. Mubarak said he is transferring some of his powers to his newly appointed vice president, and said he would work to carry out a peaceful transition of power.

He did not specify which powers he is handing over. Mr, Mubarak said he will not be subjected to foreign pressure for him to step down.

Elections are scheduled for September, and Mr. Mubarak said he would not seek re-election. That statement a few days ago did nothing to stop the protests which have been going on since January 25 and have sometimes triggered violence.

Mr. Mubarak's vice president went on television shortly after the leader's speech and urged demonstrators to go back to work.

There was no sign that the demonstrators are ready to comply. More large protests are expected Friday after Muslim prayers.





Mubarak Vows to Stay, Angering Protesters
Article and Video from VOA

Mubarak to Meet Demands of Egypt Protesters - Egyptian Military Said

Reports: ‘Mubarak to Meet Protesters’ Demands’
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 - VOA

Egyptian military officials and members of the ruling party say that President Hosni Mubarak will “meet protesters' demands.”

Egyptians have been demonstrating for 17 days, calling for the ouster of President Mubarak, who has been in power for nearly 30 years.

Cairo's Tahrir Square has been a focal point of the protests.

The opposition has also turned to labor actions across Egypt affecting tourism, textiles, railways and the government.


Reports: ‘Mubarak to Meet Protesters’ Demands’
Article from VOA

'Arab Voices' - James Zogby - New Book

New Book Busts Myths about Arabs

'Arab Voices' examines major US false perceptions about the Middle East
Mohamed Elshinnawi - Washington, D.C. - 20 January 2011 - VOA

James Zogby's new book points out the diversity of Arabs across the Middle East and North Africa, but finds many are united on key issues such as Palestine.

The United States has committed more money, troops and resources to the Middle East than to any other part of the world since the Vietnam conflict of the 1960s. Yet Americans know very little about the Arab world, and much of what they know is wrong, according to James Zogby, author of the new book, Arab Voices.


Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute - a non-profit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. - challenges what he sees as five super myths which distort Americans’ perception of Arabs.


The first myth is that Arabs are all the same, while the second holds that there is no "Arab world." His brother John’s polling organization, Zogby International, conducted surveys in six Arab countries from Morocco in the west to the United Arab Emirates in the east. The results reveal a rich and varied landscape, with diverse sub-cultures. However, James Zogby notes, they also show a sense of belonging to a greater Arab world.


"Culture in Morocco is different than culture in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia is different than Egypt," he says. "We get a tremendous diversity of opinion about daily life and about uniqueness of one’s own country but at the same time there are these common threads that go throughout the region that are born of a common language and a common sensibility. Arabs can be as diverse as any people on earth but when Iraq was invaded they came together, when Palestine is hurting, they come together and they speak in one language and they feel and they resonate together with certain words that mean something powerful to them."


Zogby blames the American news media for the third myth, which is the false perception that Arabs despise the United States, its values and way of life.


"The notion we have is that they go to bed at night hating America, wake up in the morning hating Israel and during the day, they watch TV news fueling the hatred," he says. "In fact what we find in our polling that their number one concerns are their children, health care and education. They go to bed at night thinking about their jobs like everybody else all over the world and wake up in the morning thinking about their families. And during the day, they are watching TV to be sure, but the number-one rated shows are movies and soap operas and dramas."


According to public opinion surveys conducted across the Middle East over the past decade, mosque attendance rates are around the same as church attendance rates in the U.S.


Zogby also discounts the fourth myth - the idea that most Arabs are driven by religious fanaticism. According to public opinion surveys conducted across the Middle East over the past decade, mosque attendance rates are around the same as church attendance rates in the U.S. The author suggests this misperception is due to Hollywood’s portrayal of Arabs as either terrorists or corrupt oil millionaires.


"Is it fair to have an Arab who is a terrorist? Of course, there are Arab terrorists. There are Arab oil Sheiks who do awful things with their money," he says. "What we are questioning is, if the only black person on TV were a street criminal or the only Jewish person were some shyster businessman, if the only characters in other words were these stereotypes, then that is the image that sticks. The problem is there needs to be at least as many characters or types of characters as there are real images in the Arab world to balance those negatives, so that people go away with the sense that they are really not all that way."


The fifth super myth challenged in Arab Voices is a fundamental one: that Arabs reject reform and will never change unless the West pushes them. Zogby uses polling data to show that people across the Arab world want social and political change, but resent having it imposed on them. They aspire to their own kind of reforms. Zogby recommends that American politicians learn from Americans doing business in the Arab world.


"Businessmen are open to making a deal. They listen to the other side, in order to understand what the other side wants. They know they can’t sell unless they know the market they are selling into," he notes. "If we did our politics the way we do our business we will succeed in making peace and having good friends all over the world. I think our best public diplomats are our businessmen in the region because they are selling America everyday and they actually doing a great job of it because people want a little piece of America. They love our values, they love our culture, they love our products. They like our way of life, they just want to be a part of us, but we keep pushing them politically."


These misperceptions seem poised to impact the next generation of Americans as well. Zogby points out that the U.S. education system teaches little about Arabs and the Middle East. He argues that this knowledge gap must be overcome - and false U.S. perceptions debunked - before the United States can truly hope to win the hearts and minds of the Arab people.




New Book Busts Myths about Arabs
'Arab Voices' examines major US false perceptions about the Middle East - article came from VOA