Rolling MENA 2014 (Middle East)

this is so fucked: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116241/burma-2014-countryside-concentration-camps

(i know it doesn't really fit the purvey of this thread but idk where we're talking about myanmar if anywhere?)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/01/28/267836867/a-palestinian-explains-why-he-worked-as-an-israeli-informant

this profile is nuts:
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=1713

Yay Tunisia on their new constitution. Everything else here is too depressing and complicated.

yay tunisia :)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/30/how-scarlett-johansson-got-mired-in-one-of-the-middle-easts-touchiest-controversies/?hpid=z4

"touchy"

obv this whole "controversy" just made me like scarlett more

obdsv

also i love my sodastream. we use it every day. i haven't bought seltzer in years.

a disturbing amount of my twitter feed did agree that obv scarjo is a war criminal, clearly anyone can see that, etc this past week

http://africaindc.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/ethiopian-retail-establishments-protest-israeli-treatment-of-africans/

a January 22 protest march in front of the Embassy of Israel by diaspora Eritreans calling on Israel to respect the rights of African refugees.

protest took place in dc

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/08/iran-says-warships-headed-close-to-us-borders/5316199/

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian warships dispatched to the Atlantic Ocean will travel close to U.S. maritime borders for the first time, a senior Iranian naval commander said Saturday.

The commander of Iran's Northern Navy Fleet, Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, said the vessels have already entered the Atlantic Ocean via waters near South Africa, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The fleet, consisting of a destroyer and a helicopter-carrying supply ship, began its voyage last month from the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. The ships, carrying some 30 navy academy cadets for training along with their regular crews, are on a three-month mission.

The voyage comes amid an ongoing push by Iran to demonstrate its ability to project power across the Middle East and beyond.

IRNA quoted Haddad as saying the fleet is approaching U.S. maritime borders for the first time. The Islamic Republic considers the move as a response to U.S. naval deployments near its own coastlines. The U.S. Navy's 5th fleet is based in Bahrain, just across the Persian Gulf.

What thread should this go on?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/lynching-of-christian-man-by-muslims-is-sign-of-chaos-in-central-african-republic/2014/02/09/ecd02e54-91d5-11e3-b3f7-f5107432ca45_story.html?hpid=z1

Pumandele’s body was taken inside his small house. His father, Gilbert, seemed confused by his son’s unexpected demise. “He’s a civilian,” he said. “He doesn’t own a gun. He doesn’t carry a knife. Why? Why?”

It was a question no one in the crowds outside could answer. They possessed only anger and blame. The war had reached their home. Pumandele, they said, was the first in their community to be killed by the sectarian violence.

Some blamed the roughly 6,500 French and African soldiers, authorized by the U.N. Security Council, for being unable to protect their community. Others blamed the nation’s politicians, whose government collapsed after a coup in March by Muslim Seleka rebels, who tormented the majority-Christian population. That prompted the rise of the anti-Balaka, Christian vigilantes who are targeting Muslims.

“We want PK5 to be completely disarmed,” said Kisito Ngoni, 38, a neighbor.

“Let’s take his body to the United Nations office,” suggested Aime Neka, 32, Pumandele’s uncle. “We’ll demonstrate there until they find a solution to the violence

if i lived in israel i'd vote for bennett; dude is money:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/opinion/putting-all-israelis-to-work.html

http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/Yarmouk%20Refugee%20Camp/BitariFinal.pdf

^ btw, this article is an amazing read and i highly recommend

if this is true, holy fuck:
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Egyptian-reports-highlight-alleged-Morsi-al-Qaida-cooperation-340556

But this too, from the NY Times:

QUOTATION OF THE DAY
"This is a dangerous decision. It validates an attack not just on me and my two colleagues, but on freedom of speech across Egypt."
PETER GRESTE, a journalist for Al Jazeera English, imprisoned under a widening crackdown by Egypt's government that has ensnared scores of reporters, bloggers and teachers.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26323638

Egypt's government has apparently resigned.

well.

"The country is facing huge dangers. It is time we stood together to protect it and help it get out of this narrow tunnel," he added.

"This is neither the time for demands by public workers nor the time for personal interests, but the time for us to put our country's interests above all others."

u'd think the country's interest would include a stable government for the 2 months until elections

Do you think Al-Sisi cares about that?

from that BBC article

The cabinet's decision to submit its resignation to interim President Adly Mansour was made after a 30-minute meeting on Monday attended by Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, defence minister and first deputy prime minister.

The field marshal is widely expected to announce soon that he will step down from both posts and run for president.

According to the new constitution approved in January, an election must take place by mid-April. Correspondents say Field Marshal Sisi would be likely to win, given his popularity and the lack of any serious rivals.

http://www.mrdrybones.com/blog/D14223_2.gif

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-apWroNK5OrA/Uwpd-0j7b3I/AAAAAAAAce8/IQ8Ei5FeYuk/s1600/pew+enemy2.jpg

Surprised to see Poland so low.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhU20FgCAAAiVyN.jpg

lolololol

Israeli forces have repeatedly violated their obligations under international human rights law by using excessive force to stifle dissent and freedom of expression, resulting in a pattern of unlawful killings and injuries to civilians. They do so with virtual impunity due to the authorities’ failure to conduct thorough investigations. This report focuses on the use of excessive force in the West Bank since the beginning of 2011. It includes cases of killings and injuries of Palestinian civilians in the context of protests against Israel’s continuing military occupation of the Palestinian territories, illegal Israeli settlements and the fence/wall.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE15/002/2014/en

According to Amnesty International’s research, he was among the first of at least 22 Palestinian civilians to be killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2013, four of whom were children.

Obviously every death is unfortunate, a tragedy, but let's be clear what kind of numbers we're discussing here.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2014/03/skyshield/

let's be clear what kind of numbers we're discussing here.

― Mordy , Friday, February 28, 2014 11:00 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what is 22 being opposed to here

i'm sure i'll get in trouble for answering that question, but --

i actually apologized for that callous comment on the posts very much in character thread. i guess my pt was that it actually seems like a very low number to me considering the circumstances, especially compared to neighboring countries + other western countries. eg 7,818 civilians killed in Iraq in 2013, 1,319 in Afghanistan, Syria numbers so high they are no longer counting, 11 people killed in the Turkish protests, dozens dead in Ukraine in the recent bout, not to mention the numerous fatalities of the US drone wars in Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, etc. Law enforcement in the United States killed 309 ppl in 2013. Re Israel directly, in 2013 6 Israelis were killed (5 of them in the West Bank) and 9 Gazans were killed by the IDF. Essentially in looking at an occupation where protests often turn violent (rock throwings, firebombings, etc) + compared to other locations of unrest, it just struck me as pretty hysterical language (Amnesty International calling for all arms to be cut off to Israel) for what is comparably a historically + politically very low number. This is especially when compared to historical casualty numbers between Israel + Palestine in previous years which far surpassed 22 deaths (you don't even need to look back to the Second Intifada to see vastly larger numbers).

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-intercepts-ship-transporting-iranian-weapons-004328955.html

Why would Syrian-made weapons be sent to Iran to then be ferried to Gaza?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/world/middleeast/syria.html

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/03/12/world/SYRIA/SYRIA-superJumbo.jpg

Digital photography experts said they believed that the image was real.

wow.

back to this shit - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-rockets.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/03/11/289058115/which-place-is-more-sexist-the-middle-east-or-latin-america?ft=1&f=1060

groaned when that showed up in the feed

this is amazing: http://electronicintifada.net/content/phony-pluralism-israels-universities/13246

Palestinian students at Israeli universities are likely to notice an increase in the number of scholarships they can apply for in the coming months. Various websites for academic institutions will also be translated into Arabic.

These changes are the result of a government decision to allocate some $82 million over the course of six years for integrating “minorities” into the higher education system.

At first glance, it may appear that Israel has undertaken a U-turn in policy following decades of discriminatory and exclusionary practices against Palestinian students.

Yet when deeper questions are asked, it becomes obvious that whatever intentions those who drafted this policy had, standing up for the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel was not one of them.

The new policy was devised as part of a project to boost “pluralism” in Israeli universities by ensuring greater access for minorities.

The Israeli Council for Higher Education, the body behind the project, has identified the minorities targeted as “Arabs, Druze and Circassians.”

Instead of celebrating an $82 million dollar program to open higher education to Arab Israeli citizens, the author compares this to "pinkwashing," and says it is just a way to distract the world from the occupation of the West Bank. It is impossible for Israel to do anything good without it just being cynical subterfuge to hide its many crimes. imho this is a kind of psychosis.

this is the video electronicintifada didn't like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5fNIpE_rZs

http://doctorzamalek2.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/bisbb1kccaex_a9.png

529* muslim brotherhood supporters who were in the camps that were forcibly closed last summer have been sentenced to death

*bbc seems to be alone in saying 528

U.S. and Israel Said to Be Near Agreement on Release of Spy
By JODI RUDOREN

The reported deal would extend Israeli-Palestinian talks into 2015 in exchange for the release of Jonathan J. Pollard, an American convicted of spying for Israel, along with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

hmmmmm

i'm not a big fan of this deal

Feels like they're just manipulating the US