And more news from the Arab Spring…
Bahrain
Amnesty urges Bahrain to commute death sentences (AP)
AP – Amnesty International urged Bahrain to overturn the death sentences of two people arrested during Shiite-led anti-government protests in the Gulf island kingdom.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110524/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain
Bahrain police detain 2 reporters for foreign media
DUBAI, May 23 (Reuters) – Two Bahraini journalists working for Western media were detained and at least one was mistreated by police this week, one of the journalists said on Tuesday. Mazen Mahdi, who works for the German news agency DPA, said he and a reporter for French television station France 24 were called in for questioning on Sunday. “They questioned me about my Twitter postings, stories published on DPA, and if I had links to Lebanese or Iranian media,” Mahdi said. Mahdi said he was held for several hours, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten about the head until a senior officer arrived to interrogate him.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bahrain-police-detain-2-reporters-for-foreign-media
Iran summons Bahraini envoy over death sentence (AP)
AP – Iran’s official news agency says the Iran summoned Bahrain’s envoy to the Foreign Ministry over a death sentence against an Iranian national.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110524/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_bahrain
Students boycott University of Bahrain
Hundreds of students have reportedly quit the University of Bahrain to protest against the ruling regime’s brutal crackdown on their anti-government peers.
http://presstv.com/detail/181475.html
Egypt
Egypt must prosecute all those responsible for protest killings
Authorities urged to deliver justice to victims of protest violence after it was announced that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons are to stand trial.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/egypt-must-prosecute-all-those-responsible-protest-killings-2011-05-24
Mubaraks to be tried over deaths
Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons are to be tried over the killing of anti-government protesters, judicial sources say.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-13527102
Mubarak To Criminal court “Graphic”
As I have expected and as I have predicted Hosni Mubarak is put on trial and is expected to be transferred to Cairo in hours to stand in front of criminal court as some source claimed. Oh yes just before #May27 and before the 3rd “15 days” finishes after couple of days and Mubarak will be free according , the general prosecutor has ordered that the former president , his sons and friend Hussein Salem to be put on trial on charges of financial corruption and giving the orders of shooting the protesters. Now this group of disrespectful men are facing several charges as follows…
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/05/mubarak-to-criminal-court-graphic.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
Egyptians face charges in gas deal
CAIRO, May 24 (UPI) — Two former petroleum ministers are among the officials on trial in Egypt for their role in alleged illegal activity in gas exports to Israel, a court said.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/05/24/Egyptians-face-charges-in-gas-deal/UPI-41751306239556/#ixzz1NHp5mP00
House of Saud rally for Mubarak
“Alarmed by the calls for Mr. Mubarak’s prosecution, the Saudi royal family has for weeks urged Egypt’s current military rulers to avoid harsh treatment, fearing that it could intensify unrest in the region, according to Saudi officials and a Western diplomat.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/house-of-saud-rally-for-mubarak.html
Egyptian bloggers rally against military
Hundreds risk potential prosecution to voice criticisms of post-revolution military rule and slow pace of reforms.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/20115231207306343.html
Egypt’s first female presidential candidate
Recently, I met Buthayna Kamel, TV-presenter-turned-activist and the first woman to announce she will run for the presidency her. Here’s a bit about it from a profile I wrote up for The Daily Beast.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/5/24/egypts-first-female-presidential-candidate.html
Cairo: Some names for new govt selected
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Several names have been agreed on for the new technocrat government being compiled by Fatah and Hamas officials in Cairo, a party member told Ma’an on Tuesday. From Gaza City, Fatah national relations official Diab Al-Loh assured that progress was being made in the now nearly three-week long wait for the announcement of a new government, following the signing of a unity deal on 4 May.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=390524
Revolution halts tourists visiting Egypt
The recent uprising in Egypt brought political changes to the country, but it has also scared the tourists away. In February, there were just over 200,000 foreign visitors, while the year before the number was 1.1 million. With this loss, many businesses are now struggling to cope. And even the finance minister admits that when the tourist industry is hit, the entire economy takes a knock. Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reports from Giza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8SYu1X96Wg&feature=youtube_gdata
The Demands of #May27 Million Man Protest
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/05/demands-of-may27-million-man-protest.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
JFK award given to Egypt activist who sparked January 25 revolution
A Google executive who launched a Facebook page that sparked protests in Egypt and a North Carolina school board member who fought redistricting plans because of racial segregation concerns were given the annual John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Monday.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/24/150305.html
Granger: No aid for Egypt if Muslim Brotherhood has large presence
President Barack Obama announced $2 billion in new aid to Egypt in his May 19 speech on the Middle East, but top appropriators in the House said on Monday that they don’t support giving the money to any government that includes the Muslim Brotherhood.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/23/granger_no_aid_for_egypt_if_muslim_brotherhood_is_in_gov
“Who is the new Egyptian government? We don’t know. That’s the problem,”
“… House Appropriations State and Foreign Ops subcommittee chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) and ranking Democrat Nita Lowey (D-NY) spoke at a Monday afternoon panel at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington. Asked by The Cable if they supported Obama’s new aid initiative to Egypt, especially if the Muslim Brotherhood sees increased power as part of an elected government, Granger said, “The answer for me is no. I don’t approve of it.” The crowd erupted in applause….”
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/05/who-is-new-egyptian-government-we-dont.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+friday-lunch-club+%28%22friday-lunch-club%22%29
“Egypt is not in our pocket!”
“… We asked them: Will the coming days in Egypt be good for Israel or will the new era bring an evil south wind to the cloudy relations between the two countries? Everyone’s reply was that Egypt’s domestic troubles will top the country’s agenda for years to come. Whatever the makeup of Egypt’s new government, the peace treaty with Israel has survived two wars with Lebanon and two intifadas in the territories. It will survive the Egyptian revolution. But four months ago our interlocutors would have recommended a mental hospital for anyone who said Egypt’s former interior minister Habib el-Adly, the terror of the Egyptian people, would be behind bars. And perhaps for that very reason, no one is willing to predict what might happen in Tahrir Square if, the day after the expected recognition of Palestine by the United Nations in September, tens of thousands of Palestinians head from Manara Square in Ramallah toward Zion Square in Jerusalem. The economic crisis and the energy of the protests have already begun to fuel solidarity with the Palestinian freedom fighters. The young revolutionaries and their spin-offs poured out their wrath on Mubarak last week in a march to the besieged embassy of Israel, the friend of their hated enemy….”
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/05/egypt-is-not-in-our-pocket.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+friday-lunch-club+%28%22friday-lunch-club%22%29
What Thomas Friedman did not see in Cairo, and Israeli journalist saw
“Business was fairly slow for the revolution’s souvenir sellers in Cairo’s Tahrir Square last Friday. Only a few thousand remained at center stage, cheering a woman who spoke about prosecuting the members of the old regime to the full extent of the law. A poster showed former President Hosni Mubarak with a noose around his neck. Another speaker, young and dynamic, doing his best to energize the thinning crowd, called out passionately: “Israel, leave Egypt alone.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-thomas-friedman-did-not-see-in.html
Libya
Zuma to offer Gaddafi ‘exit strategy’
South African leader to visit Tripoli in bid to persuade Libyan leader to step down, as NATO steps up bombing campaign.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/20115259220999993.html
VIDEO: Libya ‘echoes’ Iraq campaign
The former head of the British army, General Lord Richard Dannatt, has told BBC HARDtalk that Nato’s operations in Libya are reminiscent of the campaign in Baghdad in 2003.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9495064.stm
France says Libyan mission to last “a few months”
PARIS, May 24 (Reuters) – French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday that a NATO bombing campaign against troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was making progress and should achieve its objectives within months.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/france-says-libyan-mission-to-last-a-few-months
Libya’s rebel council to base an office in Paris
PARIS, May 24 (Reuters) – The Libyan rebel council fighting to oust Muammar Gaddafi will open an office in Paris but a representative has not yet been named, a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. The United States on Monday invited the council to base a representative in Washington as it was no longer talking to Gaddafi and his government. “We are naturally in favor of NTC (National Transitional Council) representation in France … and we are working towards it,” Bernard Valero, a foreign affairs ministry spokesman, told reporters. “It should designate its permanent representative in Paris soon.” France was the first country to recognize the rebel council as the legitimate representative of Libya’s people. The council’s forces have been struggling to unseat Gaddafi for the last three months.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyas-rebel-council-to-base-an-office-in-paris
U.S. says asks Libya rebels to have Washington rep
BENGHAZI, Libya, May 24 (Reuters) – The United States has invited Libya’s rebel council to base a representative in Washington because it is no longer talking to Muammar Gaddafi and his government, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Monday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/us-says-asks-libya-rebels-to-have-washington-rep
France sends attack choppers to Libya
In an apparent change of tactics – France is sending attack helicopters to the country, and says Britain will also do so. Al Jazeera’s Will Jordan has the details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Ntqf-xm8Q&feature=youtube_gdata
Turkey meets Libyan rebels, tells Gaddafi to quit
ANKARA, May 23 (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi should quit in order to allow a peaceful transition of power, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday, standing alongside the head of Libya’s revolutionary movement. A major Muslim partner in NATO, Turkey earlier this month proposed a timetable for a ceasefire that could allow a political transition to take place.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/turkey-meets-libyan-rebels-tells-gaddafi-to-quit
Libya’s prisoners of war
An unknown number of fighters from the Libyan conflict have been captured – and have effectively become prisoners of war. Al Jazeera has been given exclusive access to a temporary detention centre in Zintan, located in the country’s western mountains, where opposition fighters are holding some of Gaddafi’s men. We are not showing their faces to protect their identities. Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnLx1lQipIg&feature=youtube_gdata
Heaviest NATO airstrikes rock Tripoli as Washington says time against Qaddafi
NATO warplanes bombarded targets in Tripoli with more than 20 airstrikes early Tuesday, striking around Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s residential compound in what appeared to be the heaviest night of bombing of the Libyan capital since the Western alliance launched its air campaign against.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/24/150276.html
Battle scars rebel-held Misurata
From Grad rockets to heavy machine guns, troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi unleashed a maassive assault on Misurata, the country’s third-largest city and the most significant rebel holdout in the west. Inside a ripped-apart vegetable market, Gaddafi’s tanks sit destroyed, not by NATO warplanes, which had difficulty striking targets in the urban environment, but by dedicated rebels. Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley, reporting from the city, explores the devastated remainders of Misurata.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wInExRDu_c&feature=youtube_gdata
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Free Woman Who Dared to Drive
(Beirut) – King Abdullah should immediately order the release of Manal al-Sharif, who was arrested on the morning of May 22, 2011, after she defied the kingdom’s de facto ban on driving by women, Human Rights Watch said today.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/05/23/saudi-arabia-free-woman-who-dared-drive
Saudi Arabia pressed to free woman driver
Rights groups say detention of Manal al-Sherif for defying driving ban opens kingdom to condemnation and mockery.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/2011524204758681709.html
Saudi Arabia: Arrest of female driver sparks debate
Dammam, Asharq Al-Awsat – The arrest of Manal al-Sherif has brought the issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia into the spotlight once again; the issue is an extremely contentions one, causing division between different components of Saudi society. This controversy was raised against the backdrop of the arrest of Manal al-Sherif on Saturday, a day after she posted footage of herself behind the wheel on the video-sharing website YouTube.
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=25296
Manal al-Sherif, Saudi Woman, Re-Arrest For Driving
CAIRO — Saudi authorities have re-arrested an activist who defied a ban on female drivers in the conservative kingdom, a security official said Monday. Manal al-Sherif was accused of “violating public order” and ordered held for five days while the case is investigated.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/saudi-authorities-rearres_n_865593.html
Female Saudi doctor appeals to top court for right to choose a husband
Samia fled to a women’s shelter rather than be forced by her male relatives to marry a less educated cousin. Her case illustrates women’s growing fight against Saudi Arabia’s guardianship system.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/z9WDr4z_B9c/Female-Saudi-doctor-appeals-to-top-court-for-right-to-choose-a-husband
Saudi macho-male Facebook effort to deter women from driving as women wage another campaign to get behind the wheel
Around 5,537 participants on the social network site Facebook vowed to physically beat men and women who support Saudi women driving their four wheels.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/24/150254.html
One-man protest
Saudi authorities dampen demands for political reform.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/24/150254.html
Let me hear Western leaders mouth off on this one
“Saudi Arabia is the only country that bars women from driving. But the topic remains a highly emotional issue in the kingdom, where women are also not allowed to vote, or even work without their husbands’, or fathers’, permission. For religious puritans, the ban on women driving is a sign that the government remains steadfast in the face of a Western onslaught on Saudi traditions. A political cartoon here once depicted car keys attached to a hand grenade.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/let-me-hear-western-leaders-mouth-off.html
Syria
Syria death toll ‘surpasses 1,000’
Rights groups say they have documented names of civilians allegedly killed by security forces since protests erupted.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/2011524182251952727.html
Syrians speak of deaths in custody
Families of protesters are accusing Syrian security forces of torturing their relatives in custody. An Al Jazeera exclusive shows their testimonies on the Bashar al-Assad regime’s brutality against pro-democracy protesters. Florence Looi reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BueqfhBBnmA&feature=youtube_gdata
Syrians take to night protests to outwit security forces
In a cat-and-mouse game with Syrian security forces, young protesters, helped by residents, are staging demonstrations at night that move from neighborhood to neighborhood as troops move in. Protesters challenging the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad are increasingly turning nocturnal, taking their uprising to the streets after dark to wear down security forces and stay one step ahead of the law.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/P3H6LWtafXQ/la-fg-syria-nights-20110524,0,1106075.story
Syrian Children Orphaned By Crackdown On Anti-Government Violence Escape To Lebanon (VIDEO)
CNN’s Arwa Damon spoke to four children left orphaned by the crackdown on the ongoing anti-government violence in Syria. The children, whose identities have not been released for their own safety, spoke frankly about their experiences during the military assault on their hometown, during which they were separated from their parents.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/syria-children-orphaned-crackdown-lebanon-_n_866209.html
The Lede: Syrian Beaten on Camera Appears on State Television
A surprise appearance on Syrian state television by a man whose beating by government security forces was captured on video last month.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=2fae1f7b863e0fde52b980923de51c18
Robert Fisk doubts Syrian sanctions will work
Robert Fisk, a longtime foreign correspondent for The Independent, a British newspaper, has told Al Jazeera that he does not believe Western sanctions imposed on top Syrian officials will have a real impact against the government’s crackdown on protesters. Fisk said that sanctions against other countries in the past had failed to work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE5qTaCSK2g&feature=youtube_gdata
Samir Amin, “On the Revolt in Syria”
Undoubtedly, the drift of the Ba’athist regime, won over to neoliberalism and singularly passive in the face of the Israeli occupation of Golan, is the reason for the uprising of people. However, the CIA’s intervention must not be ruled out: i.e., groups who have infiltrated into Daraa from neighboring Jordan.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/amin230511.html
Two sources on Syria for the New York Times: one in…Maryland and another in…Washington, DC
Really. This is a typical story. They let the two fellows tell stories and anecdotes about the situation in Syria: and their propaganda basically allows the Syrian regime propaganda to talk about a foreign conspiracy (of course, there is a foreign conspiracy in Syria but the underlying causes for the uprisings is largely domestic and indigenous). Look at one guy: ”“They are using these tactics to cut off communication for the people,” said Dr. Radwan Ziadeh, director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies. He said the Facebook pages of at least two close friends had been recently hacked and now featured conspicuously pro-government messages.” Anything they say becomes news. Then the other guy: ”said Ammar Abudlhamid, a Syrian activist based in Maryland who was one of several Syrian exiles to help organize delivery of satellite phones, cameras and laptops into the country earlier this year.” I have one question: what would happen to an American living in Maryland if he admits to the New York Times that he helped in the “delivery” of satellite phones, cameras, and laptops” into, say, the opposition in Bahrain? Would he not be put on trial on terrorism charges?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/two-sources-on-syria-for-new-york-times.html
Elias Muhanna and Camille Otrakji, “Reform and Revolution in Syria”
Elias Muhanna: Since when have Middle Eastern governments, or any governments for that matter, managed to stifle religious parties in the Middle East by preventing them from coming to the fore? If they pass a political parties law in Syria but they don’t allow religious parties, don’t you think that’s just gonna blow up in their face? Camille Otrakji: No. . . . Anything that separates Syria or divides Syria is not a good thing. . . . It’s too dangerous to start reform along those lines. . . . Let’s keep the religious, ethnic, and regional divisions out [of the political party laws]. . . .
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/mo240511.html
Tunisia
Tunisian public opinion: don’t discount the Arab left
Look at this comprehensive survey of Tunisian public opinion. The Nahdah Party has the support of 1/3 of Tunisian public, which is within less a percentage point from public support from the leftist Democratic Progressive Party. More importantly, the Communist Workers Party got the support of 9.2% of the public (the party really was the leading force in the Tunisian uprising).
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/tunisian-public-opinion-dont-discount.html
UAE
The UAE’s Silenced Spring
Numerous death threats, his employer’s demand to transfer out of the country and a middle-of-the-night visit from state security forces were not enough to intimidate the prominent Emirati rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, who recently called for political reforms.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/05/23/uaes-silenced-spring
Yemen
Saleh ‘won’t be dragged into civil war’
Yemeni president blames clashes in capital on opposition fighters and says he is ready to sign a GCC-brokered exit deal.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201152581852254396.html
In Yemen, Saleh’s military forces showing signs of strain
Yemen may fall into the hands of its military. But the military is already strained by defections and it could splinter further – resulting in civil war.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/3aCwg-vqiqQ/In-Yemen-Saleh-s-military-forces-showing-signs-of-strain
Yemen’s Gulf-brokered deal stalls
Gulf countries who brokered the deal that would see Yemen’s president stepping down have taken the agreement off the table, citing “a lack of suitable conditions”. While the president’s party and Yemen’s opposition have all signed the agreement, president Ali Abdullah Saleh has – for the third time – refused to. Saleh blames the opposition for not agreeing to some of his terms. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is accusing the president of turning his back on his commitments. Al Jazeera’s Iain Bruce reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0dIY6mAxmw&feature=youtube_gdata
Deaths in renewed Yemen clashes
At least four people killed as fighting continues in the capital between government loyalists and tribal forces.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/2011524119165564.html
Powerful Yemeni tribe turns guns against Saleh
SANAA, Yemen, (AP) – Fighters for Yemen’s largest tribe sealed off key government buildings and barricaded streets in the heart of the capital Tuesday as the revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=25288
Yemen’s Shia dilemma
Shia Muslims say they are facing persecution from the authorities, including raids on homes and torture.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/05/201152483619116456.html
Can US keep aid flowing to Yemen’s Saleh after embassy siege?
Saleh loyalists trapped the US ambassador for hours yesterday in a well-timed warning that Saleh is essential to Yemen’s stability – a stance that has secured him millions in US aid.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/XCSCzBxv490/Can-US-keep-aid-flowing-to-Yemen-s-Saleh-after-embassy-siege
my article on the persecution of Yemeni Shiites, Nir Rosen
In 2009, Yemeni security forces arrested four men for being Shia. Yemen’s north is dominated by Zaydis, a sect of Shias very distinct from the Twelver Shias who are found in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Bahrain and elsewhere. Zaydis do not follow the same clerics that Twelvers do. Sectarian tensions throughout the Middle East increased since the 2003 American invasion of Iraq and the civil war that followed, getting worse after the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al Hariri who was posthumously made into a Sunni symbol, as was Iraq’s Saddam Hussein following his 2006 execution. Lebanese Hezbollah’s 2006 defeat of the Israeli army and its increased influence in Lebanese politics provoked a campaign of sectarian agitation against it.
http://nirrosen.tumblr.com/post/5819463285
Analysis/Op-ed
Like parliaments in third world countries
Like most Arabs I know, As-Safir newspaper could not help but notice that US Congress in the presence of Netanyahu appeared and sounded just like “third world parliaments.” At any moment yesterday, I was expecting the Zionist throng to chant: With Blood, with Spirit, we sacrifice ourselves for you, O Netanyahu.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/05/like-parliaments-in-third-world.html
Obama’s AIPAC speech, Issandr El Amrani
It’s interesting that a lot of people who follow Israel lobby issues think that Obama’s speech to AIPAC was actually a tough one, once you strip away the usual “unbreakable bond” stuff. I’m less excited about this because I think in their enthusiasm that Obama is making it clear to the Lobby that they are imperiling Israel’s future (and America’s ability to guarantee it) they oversee the fact that the Lobby is winning the tactical fight — even if it may be at the cost of longer-term strategy. Netanyahu will once again get away with running circles around an American president. People might be growing increasingly bitter about this, but American politics is structured in such a way that it resets frequently. A new PM in Israel or a new president in the White House and we might be back, for all intents and purposes, to zero while we wait for the long game of delegitimizing AIPAC and the lobby more generally.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/5/24/obamas-aipac-speech-1.html
The Choice, Stephen M. Walt
I was wrong. I thought it made little sense for President Obama to deliver a speech to the AIPAC policy conference, because he’d lose points globally if all he did was pander, and he’d face a firestorm at home if he told the truth and offered up a little tough love. Plus, I thought it was a little demeaning for a sitting president to appear in front of any foreign policy lobbying group.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/23/the_choice
Al Jazeera, Behind The Cameras: GQ Reports
On a cold March evening in Manhattan, Ayman Mohyeldin rode in the back of a black Lincoln Town Car on his way to an appearance on The Colbert Report. Mohyeldin (pronounced moh-hee-deen) is the Cairo correspondent for Al Jazeera English, which helps explain two things: (1) accustomed to the temperate winters of the Triumphant City along the lazy Nile, he was sorely underdressed for the windy stabs of Manhattan, and (2) after his network’s critically acclaimed coverage of the Egyptian uprising, he was in town to take his star turn on Stephen Colbert’s hot seat, constituting what promised to be a pop-cultural coming-out for Al Jazeera in the United States. Hunkered over his BlackBerry as the passing lights of the city tracered overhead, Mohyeldin kept up an evening-long ticker of e-mails and tweets to his 30,000-plus friends and followers. This is gonna be crazy, he pecked. Oh boy…bracing myself for a grilling…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/al-jazeera-arab-spring_n_866435.html
