Jordan & Syria Day of Rage Feb 5

Feb 5th is the Day of Rage for both Syria and Jordan

Jordan's Day of Rage Feb 5th

يوم الغضب الأُردني٥شباط

JordanDayOfRageFeb5

Jordan's Day of Rage Jan 15

Ma'an, Tafileh Avoided Participation in 'Jordan Day of Rage' Print ArticlePrint Article with Comments Print Article Titles |

2011-01-15

AMMONNEWS - Residents of the two governorates of Ma'an and Tafileh in southern Jordan avoided participation in the massive protests that stirred in the streets of major cities and towns throughout the Kingdom on Friday, in what was called 'Jordan's Day of Rage.' Local tribal leaders and populist figures had urged the residents of the two governorates to avoid storming to the streets in protest "because of the extraordinary circumstances in Ma'an and Tafileh," in reference to the violence and riots there in the past few weeks following the death of several people in fights there. Local leaders noted that they feared demonstrations would turn violent, and go against the demands of protest organizers that demonstrations should be peaceful. Thousands of Jordanians protested in various towns and cities on Friday afternoon against soaring prices, unemployment, and difficult economic conditions, and called on Prime Minister Samir Rifai's government to step-down. Several protests also witnessed chants and slogans against the parliament, which had granted Rifai's government a record 111 vote-of-confidence out of a total of 119 MPs.

Jordan's Day of Anger Feb 5th

Jordan's Day of Anger Feb 5th

Erekat's Quote Of The Day

Erekat: I’m lying, I’ve been lying for the last weeks. Yossi Gal: Between jogging? Erekat: No, no, lying, lying. I was in Cairo, I was in Jordan, I was in America. Everybody is asking me what is going on Israel, what is Olmert going to do? Gal: And you are telling everyone we are on the verge of success. Erekat: And I always tell them this is an internal Israeli matter, a domestic Israeli matter and I keep lying. If somebody sneezed in Tel-Aviv, I get the flu in Jericho, and I have to lie. So that’s my last week- all lies. Gal: As a professor of negotiations, you know that white lies are allowed now and then. Erekat: I’m not complaining, I’m admitting – and sometimes I don’t feel like lying. Gal: Well, around this table we won’t be lying.

The Palestinian Papers: Erekat's contempt for Islamic Charities

By September 17, 2009, Erekat was bragging to U.S. officials that the PA had complete control over “zakat” committees, or Muslim charities, in the West Bank, as well as the weekly Friday sermons. Related Qurei to Israel: "Occupy the crossing" Top PA negotiator offers to allow Israel to reoccupy the Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border. Ali Abunimah: Cutting off a vital connection Palestinian officials were often more concerned with applying pressure to Hamas than easing a humanitarian crisis. “We have invested time and effort and even killed our own people to maintain order and the rule of law,” Erekat said. “The Prime Minister is doing everything possible to build the institutions. We are not a country yet but we are the only ones in the Arab world who control the Zakat and the sermons in the mosques. We are getting our act together.” In 2007, Reuters reported that Fatah was “increasing pressure on ‘zakat’ charity committees that support the network of Islamic schools and health clinics which helped fuel Hamas's rise to power.” On one occasion, the news service reported, 20 gunmen stormed a dairy funded by such a zakat committee but were ultimately persuaded to leave. http://arikatmail.tumblr.com/ http://freeglobalinformation.wordpress.com/ http://freedomforjordan.blogspot.com/

The Palestinian Papers: Erekat's contempt for Hamas

By September 17, 2009, Erekat was bragging to U.S. officials that the PA had complete control over “zakat” committees, or Muslim charities, in the West Bank, as well as the weekly Friday sermons. Related Qurei to Israel: "Occupy the crossing" Top PA negotiator offers to allow Israel to reoccupy the Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border. Ali Abunimah: Cutting off a vital connection Palestinian officials were often more concerned with applying pressure to Hamas than easing a humanitarian crisis. “We have invested time and effort and even killed our own people to maintain order and the rule of law,” Erekat said. “The Prime Minister is doing everything possible to build the institutions. We are not a country yet but we are the only ones in the Arab world who control the Zakat and the sermons in the mosques. We are getting our act together.” In 2007, Reuters reported that Fatah was “increasing pressure on ‘zakat’ charity committees that support the network of Islamic schools and health clinics which helped fuel Hamas's rise to power.” On one occasion, the news service reported, 20 gunmen stormed a dairy funded by such a zakat committee but were ultimately persuaded to leave. http://arikatmail.tumblr.com/ http://freeglobalinformation.wordpress.com/ http://freedomforjordan.blogspot.com/

Erekat's Quote Of The Day

Erekat: I’m lying, I’ve been lying for the last weeks.

Yossi Gal: Between jogging?

Erekat: No, no, lying, lying. I was in Cairo, I was in Jordan, I was in America. Everybody is asking me what is going on Israel, what is Olmert going to do?

Gal: And you are telling everyone we are on the verge of success.

Erekat: And I always tell them this is an internal Israeli matter, a domestic Israeli matter and I keep lying. If somebody sneezed in Tel-Aviv, I get the flu in Jericho, and I have to lie. So that’s my last week- all lies.

Gal: As a professor of negotiations, you know that white lies are allowed now and then.

Erekat: I’m not complaining, I’m admitting – and sometimes I don’t feel like lying.

Gal: Well, around this table we won’t be lying.

War Of The Leaks

Wikileaks responds to Aljazeera’s Palestinian Papers with the Israeli leaks:Here is a sample of a wikileak discussing what Fayyad is saying to the Israelis and the US about the PA’s crackdown on the resistance movements in Jenin and Nablus:

The culture of violence in Palestinian society is waning, PM Fayyad said, and “the PA has responded to the public’s need for security despite the abuse we have suffered from (Palestinian) extremists.” Fayyad said Israeli Defense Minister Barak has not delivered on positive comments in their meetings with Secretary Rice. He said there are more obstacles to movement in the West Bank than ever before, and more incursions in Nablus and Jenin than before the PA’s security campaigns. He said the GOI should work with the PA on prisoner releases rather than only freeing prisoners for Hamas and Hizbullah

Palestinian leaders weak – and increasingly desperate

guardian.co.uk Leaked documents show PA and PLO leaders pleading with dismissive US officials in face of Israel's unyielding negotiators The overwhelming impression that emerges from the confidential records of a decade of Middle East peace talks is of the weakness and desperation of Palestinian leaders, the unyielding correctness of Israeli negotiators and the often contemptuous attitude towards the Palestinian side shown by US politicians and officials. It is a picture that graphically illustrates the gradual breakdown of a process now widely believed to have reached a dead end. The documents reveal Palestinian Authority leaders often tipping over into making ingratiating appeals to their Israeli counterparts, as well as US leaders. "I would vote for you," the then senior Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qureia (also known as Abu Ala), told Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, during talks at the King David hotel in Jerusalem in June 2008, as she was preparing for elections in her Kadima party. Given the choice, Livni shot back, "you don't have much of a dilemma." Qureia's comment echoed earlier private remarks by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), to Ariel Sharon in a June 2005 meeting at the then Israeli prime minister's residence which would have caused outrage if they had been made known at the time. Having listened to Sharon berate him for failing to crack down on the "terrorist infrastructure" of Hamas and Islamic jihad, Abbas was recorded as noting "with pleasure the fact that Sharon considered him a friend, and the fact that he too considered Sharon a friend", adding that "every bullet that is aimed in the direction of Israel is a bullet aimed at the Palestinians as well". In March 2008, the documents show that Qureia greeted the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, with the words: "You bring back life to the region when you come." But as the 2007-08 Annapolis negotiations led nowhere and the government of Binyamin Netanyahu successfully resisted US pressure to halt settlement building in the occupied territories during 2009-10, Palestinian negotiators are shown adopting an increasingly injured and despairing tone with US officials, as they seek to demonstrate the scale of concessions they have made to no avail. In an emotional – and apparently humiliating – outburst to Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, in Washington in October 2009, the senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat complained that the Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership wasn't even being offered a "figleaf". He said: "Nineteen years of promises and you haven't made up your minds what you want to do with us ... We delivered on our road map obligations. Even Yuval Diskin [director of Israel's internal security service, Shabak] raises his hat on security. But no, they can't even give a six-month freeze to give me a figleaf." All the US government was interested in, Erekat went on, was "PR, quick news, and we're cost free", ending up with the appeal: "What good am I if I'm the joke of my wife, if I'm so weak?" A few months later, in January 2010, Erekat returned to a similar theme with the US state department official David Hale, saying he was offering Israel "the biggest Yerushalayim in Jewish history" (using the Hebrew name for Jerusalem), a "symbolic number of refugees' return, demilitarised state ... What more can I give?" But as became clear even under the earlier, less hardline Israeli government of Ehud Olmert, the scale of concessions offered by Erekat and other Palestinian Authority negotiators – far beyond what the majority of the Palestinian public would be likely to accept – was insufficient for Israeli leaders. During the most intensive recent negotiations, before and after George Bush's Annapolis conference, the documents show the Israelis conducting themselves in a businesslike manner. In an attempt to show her good faith, Livni is recorded confirming what Palestinians have always accused Israeli governments of doing: creating facts on the ground to prevent the possibility of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. At a west Jerusalem meeting in November 2007, she told Qureia that she believed Palestinians saw settlement building as meaning "Israel takes more land [so] that the Palestinian state will be impossible"; that "the Israel policy is to take more and more land day after day and that at the end of the day we'll say that is impossible, we already have the land and we cannot create the state". She conceded that it had been "the policy of the government for a really long time". At the end of 2007, though, "it is still the policy of some of the parties but not the government". But when Palestinian leaders balked at the prospect of an entirely demilitarised state, Livni made clear where the negotiating power lay. In May 2008, Erekat asked Livni: "Short of your jet fighters in my sky and your army on my territory, can I choose where I secure external defence?" "No," Livni replied. "In order to create your state you have to agree in advance with Israel – you choose not to have the right of choice afterwards." By the following year, Erekat appeared to have accepted that choice. "The Palestinians know they will have a country with limitations," he told Mitchell. "They won't have an army, air force or navy." A string of other major concessions had been made, but the issues were no further forward. "They need decisions," Erekat pleaded. Increasingly, PA leaders resorted to warning US officials that if they failed to deliver an agreement with Israel, the door would be opened to Hamas and Iran. In October 2009, Erekat told Mitchell: "In no time you will have Aziz Dweik as your partner," referring to the Hamas speaker of the Palestinian parliament, who constitutionally assumes the role of Palestinian president when the job is vacant. PA leaders repeatedly threatened to abandon attempts to negotiate a two-state solution in favour of a one-state option. At the same meeting, Erekat declared that if the settlement of the West Bank continued, "we will announce the one state and the struggle for equality in the state of Israel". But the documents show US officials unmoved by such claims. Why were the Palestinians "always in a chapter of a Greek tragedy", secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, asked at a meeting with Erekat in Washington in the autumn of 2009. Her predecessor, Rice, had been even more dismissive. In July 2008 during talks with Palestinian leaders over compensation for refugees who fled or were forced from their homes when Israel was established in 1948, she said: "Bad things happen to people all around the world all the time." If the Palestinians kept insisting that Israel could not keep the large settlements of Ma'ale Adumim (near Jerusalem) and Ariel (in the heart of the West Bank), Rice told them: "You won't have a state". No Israeli leader could accept a deal "without including them in an Israeli state". As to the most neuralgic issue – Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount holy sites in Jerusalem – she declared: "If we wait until you decide sovereignty ... your children's children will not have an agreement."

Palestinian leaders weak – and increasingly desperate

The overwhelming impression that emerges from the confidential records of a decade of Middle East peace talks is of the weakness and desperation of Palestinian leaders, the unyielding correctness of Israeli negotiators and the often contemptuous attitude towards the Palestinian side shown by US politicians and officials. It is a picture that graphically illustrates the gradual breakdown of a process now widely believed to have reached a dead end. The documents reveal Palestinian Authority leaders often tipping over into making ingratiating appeals to their Israeli counterparts, as well as US leaders. "I would vote for you," the then senior Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qureia (also known as Abu Ala), told Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, during talks at the King David hotel in Jerusalem in June 2008, as she was preparing for elections in her Kadima party. Given the choice, Livni shot back, "you don't have much of a dilemma." Qureia's comment echoed earlier private remarks by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), to Ariel Sharon in a June 2005 meeting at the then Israeli prime minister's residence which would have caused outrage if they had been made known at the time. Having listened to Sharon berate him for failing to crack down on the "terrorist infrastructure" of Hamas and Islamic jihad, Abbas was recorded as noting "with pleasure the fact that Sharon considered him a friend, and the fact that he too considered Sharon a friend", adding that "every bullet that is aimed in the direction of Israel is a bullet aimed at the Palestinians as well". In March 2008, the documents show that Qureia greeted the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, with the words: "You bring back life to the region when you come." But as the 2007-08 Annapolis negotiations led nowhere and the government of Binyamin Netanyahu successfully resisted US pressure to halt settlement building in the occupied territories during 2009-10, Palestinian negotiators are shown adopting an increasingly injured and despairing tone with US officials, as they seek to demonstrate the scale of concessions they have made to no avail. In an emotional – and apparently humiliating – outburst to Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, in Washington in October 2009, the senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat complained that the Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership wasn't even being offered a "figleaf". He said: "Nineteen years of promises and you haven't made up your minds what you want to do with us ... We delivered on our road map obligations. Even Yuval Diskin [director of Israel's internal security service, Shabak] raises his hat on security. But no, they can't even give a six-month freeze to give me a figleaf." All the US government was interested in, Erekat went on, was "PR, quick news, and we're cost free", ending up with the appeal: "What good am I if I'm the joke of my wife, if I'm so weak?" A few months later, in January 2010, Erekat returned to a similar theme with the US state department official David Hale, saying he was offering Israel "the biggest Yerushalayim in Jewish history" (using the Hebrew name for Jerusalem), a "symbolic number of refugees' return, demilitarised state ... What more can I give?" But as became clear even under the earlier, less hardline Israeli government of Ehud Olmert, the scale of concessions offered by Erekat and other Palestinian Authority negotiators – far beyond what the majority of the Palestinian public would be likely to accept – was insufficient for Israeli leaders. During the most intensive recent negotiations, before and after George Bush's Annapolis conference, the documents show the Israelis conducting themselves in a businesslike manner. In an attempt to show her good faith, Livni is recorded confirming what Palestinians have always accused Israeli governments of doing: creating facts on the ground to prevent the possibility of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. At a west Jerusalem meeting in November 2007, she told Qureia that she believed Palestinians saw settlement building as meaning "Israel takes more land [so] that the Palestinian state will be impossible"; that "the Israel policy is to take more and more land day after day and that at the end of the day we'll say that is impossible, we already have the land and we cannot create the state". She conceded that it had been "the policy of the government for a really long time". At the end of 2007, though, "it is still the policy of some of the parties but not the government". But when Palestinian leaders balked at the prospect of an entirely demilitarised state, Livni made clear where the negotiating power lay. In May 2008, Erekat asked Livni: "Short of your jet fighters in my sky and your army on my territory, can I choose where I secure external defence?" "No," Livni replied. "In order to create your state you have to agree in advance with Israel – you choose not to have the right of choice afterwards." By the following year, Erekat appeared to have accepted that choice. "The Palestinians know they will have a country with limitations," he told Mitchell. "They won't have an army, air force or navy." A string of other major concessions had been made, but the issues were no further forward. "They need decisions," Erekat pleaded. Increasingly, PA leaders resorted to warning US officials that if they failed to deliver an agreement with Israel, the door would be opened to Hamas and Iran. In October 2009, Erekat told Mitchell: "In no time you will have Aziz Dweik as your partner," referring to the Hamas speaker of the Palestinian parliament, who constitutionally assumes the role of Palestinian president when the job is vacant. PA leaders repeatedly threatened to abandon attempts to negotiate a two-state solution in favour of a one-state option. At the same meeting, Erekat declared that if the settlement of the West Bank continued, "we will announce the one state and the struggle for equality in the state of Israel". But the documents show US officials unmoved by such claims. Why were the Palestinians "always in a chapter of a Greek tragedy", secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, asked at a meeting with Erekat in Washington in the autumn of 2009. Her predecessor, Rice, had been even more dismissive. In July 2008 during talks with Palestinian leaders over compensation for refugees who fled or were forced from their homes when Israel was established in 1948, she said: "Bad things happen to people all around the world all the time." If the Palestinians kept insisting that Israel could not keep the large settlements of Ma'ale Adumim (near Jerusalem) and Ariel (in the heart of the West Bank), Rice told them: "You won't have a state". No Israeli leader could accept a deal "without including them in an Israeli state". As to the most neuralgic issue – Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount holy sites in Jerusalem – she declared: "If we wait until you decide sovereignty ... your children's children will not have an agreement."

Lebanon's Sunni religious leaders warn Hezbollah not to ignore their sect's opinion

By The Associated Press (CP) – BEIRUT — Lebanon's Sunni Muslim religious leaders warned Hezbollah on Sunday not to ignore their sect's opinion ahead of key parliamentary talks to pick a new prime minister. The Shiite Hezbollah and their allies said they won't name caretaker prime minister Saad Hariri to form a new Cabinet during two days of consultations that begin Monday. They have not publicly said whom they will name instead. The clerics, led by Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, the Sunnis' spiritual leader in Lebanon, said after a meeting they support Hariri because he represents majority of Sunnis. "We warn against ignoring the Sunni majority and the parliament majority," the leaders said in a statement. "We also warn against the dangers of an imposed government." Ministers from Hezbollah and its allies toppled Hariri's government on Jan. 12 after walking out because of disagreements over a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, Saad Hariri's father. Sunday's announcement came two days after a potential kingmaker in Lebanese politics threw his support behind Hezbollah, giving the militant group a major boost. Walid Jumblatt, the influential leader of the Druse sect, refused to say exactly how many lawmakers are with him. The support of at least 65 lawmakers is required to form a government in Lebanon's 128-seat Parliament. Hezbollah and its allies already claim 57 seats. Saad Hariri has 60. The announcement is the latest twist in a political crisis pitting the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah against the western-backed Hariri, who said this week he will seek the premiership again. Lebanon's crisis stems from a U.N. tribunal investigating Rafik Hariri's assassination. Many fear Hezbollah will react violently if its members, as is widely expected, are named in the court's sealed indictment. The indictment was filed last week but its contents likely will not be made public for weeks. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to speak about the latest political developments later Sunday. http://arikatmail.tumblr.com/ http://freeglobalinformation.wordpress.com/ http://freedomforjordan.blogspot.com/

Lawyers condemn 'abuse' of suspected WikiLeaker Bradley Manning

Lawyers condemn 'abuse' of suspected WikiLeaker Bradley Manning American soldier's lawyers say holding him in maximum security and putting him on suicide watch breaches his rights The lawyer for Bradley Manning, the army private suspected of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, has filed a complaint that he is being unfairly treated at the marine base jail in Virginia. David Coombs, Manning's lawyer, said that holding him in maximum custody over the last five months and placing him on suicide watch amounted to abuse. Coombs called for his removal from such tight monitoring. The complaint was filed on Wednesday and on Thursday the marines downgraded his classification from suicide watch to prevention of injury. But Coombs argues that prevention of injury is not significantly different in practical terms and is seeking his removal from maximum security. Coombs, writing on his office website, said that on Wednesday, against the recommendation of two forensic psychiatrists, the commander of the Quantico jail, James Averhart, listed Manning as a suicide risk, which meant he was confined to his cell 24 hours a day. "He was stripped of all clothing with the exception of his underwear. His prescription eyeglasses were taken away from him. He was forced to sit in essential blindness with the exception of the times that he was reading or given limited television privileges. During those times, his glasses were returned to him," Coombs wrote. Manning, aged 23, who had been based in Iraq, was transferred to Quantico on July 29 last year. He is facing court-martial later this year and faces a heavy prison sentence if found guilty of leaking classified material. Coombs said that the downgrading of Manning from suicide watch to prevention of injury does not make much practical difference and that he remains under close scrutiny. The guards check him every five minutes during the day and Manning is required to respond, Coombs said. "At night, if the guards cannot see him clearly, because he has a blanket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure that he is okay," Coombs said. He is not allowed to do exercises in his cell, only during the one hour a day when he goes from his cell to an empty room with some gym equipment. First Lieutenant Scott Villiard, a spokesman for Quantico, told the Washington Post: "The most important thing is that we're not treating Private Manning any differently from anyone else that would be in the same classification. Whether it's maximum custody or prevention of injury, he's being treated the same as anybody else." There was "a responsibility to make sure that these detainees are safe, secure and make it to trial," Villiard said. Manning had been placed in maximum custody because, the authorities said, his escape could pose a risk to life, property or national security. For latest news and opinion check out: http://arikatmail.tumblr.com/ http://freeglobalinformation.wordpress.com/ http://freedomforjordan.blogspot.com/.

Lawyers condemn 'abuse' of suspected WikiLeaker Bradley Manning

American soldier's lawyers say holding him in maximum security and putting him on suicide watch breaches his rights The lawyer for Bradley Manning, the army private suspected of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, has filed a complaint that he is being unfairly treated at the marine base jail in Virginia. David Coombs, Manning's lawyer, said that holding him in maximum custody over the last five months and placing him on suicide watch amounted to abuse. Coombs called for his removal from such tight monitoring. The complaint was filed on Wednesday and on Thursday the marines downgraded his classification from suicide watch to prevention of injury. But Coombs argues that prevention of injury is not significantly different in practical terms and is seeking his removal from maximum security. Coombs, writing on his office website, said that on Wednesday, against the recommendation of two forensic psychiatrists, the commander of the Quantico jail, James Averhart, listed Manning as a suicide risk, which meant he was confined to his cell 24 hours a day. "He was stripped of all clothing with the exception of his underwear. His prescription eyeglasses were taken away from him. He was forced to sit in essential blindness with the exception of the times that he was reading or given limited television privileges. During those times, his glasses were returned to him," Coombs wrote. Manning, aged 23, who had been based in Iraq, was transferred to Quantico on July 29 last year. He is facing court-martial later this year and faces a heavy prison sentence if found guilty of leaking classified material. Coombs said that the downgrading of Manning from suicide watch to prevention of injury does not make much practical difference and that he remains under close scrutiny. The guards check him every five minutes during the day and Manning is required to respond, Coombs said. "At night, if the guards cannot see him clearly, because he has a blanket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure that he is okay," Coombs said. He is not allowed to do exercises in his cell, only during the one hour a day when he goes from his cell to an empty room with some gym equipment. First Lieutenant Scott Villiard, a spokesman for Quantico, told the Washington Post: "The most important thing is that we're not treating Private Manning any differently from anyone else that would be in the same classification. Whether it's maximum custody or prevention of injury, he's being treated the same as anybody else." There was "a responsibility to make sure that these detainees are safe, secure and make it to trial," Villiard said. Manning had been placed in maximum custody because, the authorities said, his escape could pose a risk to life, property or national security.

Free Bradley Manning-The Wikileaks Whistle Blower

January 21, 2011 Bradley Manning 'abused' - lawyers Ewen MacAskill Amer i can sol dier's lawyers say hold ing him in max i mum secu ri ty and putting him on sui cide watch breach es his rights The lawyer for Bradley Man ning, the army pri vate sus pect ed of leak ing hun dreds of thou sands of doc u ments to Wik iLeaks, has filed a com plaint that he is being unfair ly treat ed at the marine base jail in Vir ginia. David Coombs, Man ning's lawyer, said that hold ing him in max i mum cus tody over the last five months and plac ing him on sui cide watch amount ed to abuse. Coombs called for his removal from such tight mon i tor ing. The com plaint was filed on Wednes day and on Thurs day the marines down grad ed his clas si fi ca tion from sui cide watch to pre ven tion of injury. But Coombs argues that pre­ven tion of injury is not sig nif i cant ly dif fer ent in prac ti cal terms and is seek ing his removal from max i mum secu ri ty. Coombs, writ ing on his office web site, said that on Wednes day, against the rec om men­da tion of two foren sic psy chi a trists, the com man der of the Quan ti co jail, James Aver­hart, list ed Man ning as a sui cide risk, which meant he was con fined to his cell 24 hours a day. "He was stripped of all cloth ing with the excep tion of his under wear. His pre scrip­tion eye glass es were taken away from him. He was forced to sit in essen tial blind ness with the excep tion of the times that he was read ing or given lim it ed tele vi sion priv i leges. Dur ing those times, his glass es were returned to him," Coombs wrote. Man ning, aged 23, who had been based in Iraq, was trans ferred to Quan ti co on July 29 last year. He is fac ing court-martial later this year and faces a heavy prison sen tence if found guilty of leak ing clas si fied mate r i al. Coombs said that the down grad ing of Man ning from sui cide watch to pre ven tion of injury does not make much prac ti cal dif fer ence and that he remains under close scruti­ny. The guards check him every five min utes dur ing the day and Man ning is required to respond, Coombs said. "At night, if the guards can not see him clear ly, because he has a blan ket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure that he is okay," Coombs said. He is not allowed to do exer cis es in his cell, only dur ing the one hour a day when he goes from his cell to an empty room with some gym equip ment. First Lieu tenant Scott Vil liard, a spokesman for Quan ti co, told the Wash ing ton Post: "The most impor tant thing is that we're not treat ing Pri vate Man ning any dif fer ent ly from any one else that would be in the same clas si fi ca tion. Whether it's max i mum cus­tody or pre ven tion of injury, he's being treat ed the same as any body else." There was "a respon si bil i ty to make sure that these detainees are safe, secure and make it to trial," Vil liard said. Man ning had been placed in max i mum cus tody because, the author i ties said, his escape could pose a risk to life, prop er ty or nation al secu ri ty.

No Change in Jordan's Torture Policy

According to Human Rights Watch there is no significant change in Jordan's torture policy, Or as HRW put it: Torture, which independent prison inspections conducted by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch in 2006, 2007, and 2008 found to be routine and widespread, continues. Positive initiatives, such as training programs run by the National Center for Human Rights and other groups to raise awareness about torture among law enforcement officials, are far from sufficient considering Jordan’s lack of both political will and effective mechanisms to bring perpetrators to justice. http://arikatmail.tumblr.com/ http://freeglobalinformation.wordpress.com/ http://freedomforjordan.blogspot.com/

No change in Jordan's torture policy

According to Human Rights Watch there is no significant change in Jordan's torture policy,
Or as HRW put it: Torture, which independent prison inspections conducted by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch in 2006, 2007, and 2008 found to be routine and widespread, continues. Positive initiatives, such as training programs run by the National Center for Human Rights and other groups to raise awareness about torture among law enforcement officials, are far from sufficient considering Jordan’s lack of both political will and effective mechanisms to bring perpetrators to justice.


http://arikatmail.tumblr.com/
http://freeglobalinformation.wordpress.com/
http://freedomforjordan.blogspot.com/

Saudi Meddling in Lebanon

By: Marwan Arikat . Since When The Saudi Régime Has Become The Guardian Of Sunni Muslims?    As Far As We Know, Saudi Arabia Is Participating In The Siege And The Starvation Of The Palestinians In The Gaza Strip Where 99% of The Population Are Sunni Muslims.    In Addition, The Hamas Government In Gaza Is The Only Democratically Elected Government In The Arab World, Where The Legislation Is Based On Pure Sunni Islamic Interpretation Of The Quran And Sunnah.   Yet, The Saudi Kingdom Is Conspiring With The US, Europe, Israel And All The Arab Dictatorships Except Syria, To Remove The Elected Government In Gaza. So Why In Lebanon, The Saudi Régime Is Interfering In Lebanese Domestic Affairs And The Saudi Kingdom Justifies Its Meddling In Lebanese Affair " In Order It To Protect The Interests Of The Lebanese Sunni Population"?   And Out Of All The Qualified Sunnis In Lebanon, Why Does The The Saudi Monarchy Insist On Backing Saad Al Hariri As Prime-Minister Of Lebanon?  Is It Because The Slain Father Of Saad Al Hariri Has A Saudi Citizenship And Was Intimately Close To The Saudi Royal Family And His Son, Saad Al Hariri Was Born In Saudi Arabia?   Or Is It Because Saad Al Hariri With All His Wealth, Can Mobilize The Sunni Community Against The Shiite Hezbollah Whose Loyalty Is To The Ayatollah Régime In Iran? The Saudis Have Always Tried To Eliminate The Pro-Tehran Forces In Lebanon And Other Arab And Muslim Countries.   The Saudis Are Pushing The Sunni Population To Engage In A Sectarian War With The Shiites, Which Will Be a Gift To The Enemies Of Lebanon, Like Israel And The US, Who Want The Lebanese Resistence To Get Distracted By A Civil War And Internal Conflicts, Thus Allowing The Israelis to Attack The Resistence From Behind To Make Up For Their Defeat In 2006. Sunnis Should Not Allow The Saudis To Drag Them Into Another Civil War, And They Should Pick A Different Leader To Represent Them, Other Than Hariri, Whose Loyality Is To Saudi Arabia And The US. Please visit the following sites for News, Opinions and Analysis:  http://arikatmail.tumblr.com/ http://freeglobalinformation.wordpress.com/ http://freedomforjordan.blogspot.com/

ملك الأردن قلق من تداعيات الاحتجاج

أوردت صحيفة إسرائيلية شهادات مفادها أن الملك الأردني عبد الله الثاني بات قلقا من تداعيات خطط الجماعات المعارضة في البلاد لتنظيم مزيد من المظاهرات احتجاجا على السياسات الاقتصادية للحكومة التي يقودها سمير الرفاعي.

ونقلت صحيفة جيروزاليم بوست الإسرائيلية عن تاجر من الضفة الغربية قضى الأسابيع الثالثة الماضية في عمان، أن الملك الأردني قد يكون في غاية التوتر بسبب موجة المظاهرات المتوقعة في الأيام المقبلة والتي سبقتها مسيرات أخرى في الأيام القليلة الماضية.

وحسب نفس المصدر فإن هناك أحاديث متداولة في الأردن مفادها أن الملك عبد الله الثاني قد يكون أنشأ غرفة عمليات خاصة في القصر الملكي للحيلولة دون إغراق البلاد في حالة من الفوضى وانعدام القانون.

كما نقلت الصحيفة عن فلسطينيين عادوا إلى الضفة الغربية من الأردن في الأيام الأخيرة، أن الكثير من الأردنيين باتوا يتحدثون علنا عن الحاجة إلى تكرار النموذج التونسي في المملكة والثورة على النظام.

وشهدت الأردن مظاهرات شارك فيها الآلاف للمطالبة باستقالة حكومة الرفاعي التي يحملونها مسؤولية تردي الأوضاع الاقتصادية وارتفاع معدل البطالة والزيادة في الأسعار.

وخلال تلك المظاهرات تم ترديد شعارات تدعم "الثورة التونسية" التي أطاحت بنظام الرئيس زين العابدين بن علي وأجبرته على الفرار بعد أن قضى أكثر من 23 عاما في سدة الحكم.

 
المتظاهرون دأبوا على انتقاد الحكومات دون توجيه اللوم للنظام الملكي الحاكم (الجزيرة نت)
النظام الحاكم
ورغم أن الاحتجاجات موجهة بالدرجة الأولى ضد الحكومة الرفاعي، فإن بعض الأردنيين لا سيما أولئك المرتبطين بالقوى الإسلامية، دعوا بشكل علني إلى تغيير نظام الحكم في المملكة.

وقال الناشط السياسي المعارض ليث شبيلات متوجها للمشاركين في إحدى المظاهرات إن المسؤولية تقع على عاتق من يعين الحكومات وإن مكافحة الفساد تبدأ من القمة، وذلك في إشارة ضمنية إلى الملك عبد الله الثاني.

ونقلت الصحيفة الإسرائيلية عن رجل أعمال ينتقل باستمرار بين الأدرن والضفة الغربية، أن الكثير من الأردنيين غاضبون من حكومة الرفاعي بسبب البطالة والفقر، وأن هناك أيضا كثيرا من الناس يلقون باللوم على ملك البلاد.

وأمام اتساع رقعة المظاهرات من العاصمة عمان إلى مدن أخرى مثل الكرك ومعان، أعطى الملك عبد الله الثاني أوامر لحكومته بخفض أسعار الوقود والسلع الأساسية، لكن ذلك لم يخمد غضب الأردنيين ويحتوي استياءهم.

وكانت السلطات الأمنية حذرة في التعامل مع المظاهرات المناهضة للحكومة، حيث إنها درجت على التسامح مع المظاهرات طالما أنها موجهة فقط إلى الحكومة.

وحسب طالب بجامعة القدس يعيش منذ عامين في عمان، فإن الجميع يعرف أن تعامل السلطات سيكون مختلفا تماما إذا أصبحت المظاهرات موجهة إلى الملك، لأن دستور البلاد يمنع المواطنين من قول أي شيء سيئ ضد الملك.

ونقلت جيروزاليم بوست عن صحفي فلسطيني دأب على العمل في عمان أن "الضغط على الملك يتصاعد" وأنه "إذا انتشرت المظاهرات يمكن أن تخرج الأمور عن نطاق السيطرة وأن يؤدي ذلك إلى سقوط النظام الملكي"

'King Abdullah is very nervous' about Jordanian opposition

Opposition groups plan to increase anti-government activity; monarch reportedly set up "special operations room" to prevent anarchy in Jordan. Talkbacks (1) Jordan’s opposition groups plan to step up their anti-government protests in the coming days amid increased fears that the kingdom may be headed toward a period of instability and unrest. Some Jordanian opposition figures are talking about organizing a one-million-strong demonstration in Amman in a bid to force the king to remove the unpopular government headed by Prime Minister Samir Rifai. RELATED: Violence-scarred Tunisia announces new government Jordan puts on trial pro-Taliban militants Palestinians who returned to the West Bank from Jordan in recent days said that many Jordanians were openly talking about the need to copy the Tunisian model and revolt against the regime. “King Abdullah is said to be very nervous,” said a merchant from Ramallah who spent the past three weeks in Amman. “There is even talk in Jordan that the king has set up a special operations room in his palace to prevent the kingdom from plunging into anarchy and lawlessness.” In recent days, thousands of Jordanians have staged street protests to demand the resignation of Rifai’s government, which they hold responsible for the bad economy and high rate of unemployment. On Friday, thousands of people emerged from a mosque in downtown Amman chanting, “Jordan is not only for the wealthy,” “Down with the Samir Rifai government!” and “Bread is a red line.” The demonstrators also chanted slogans in support of the “Tunisian revolution.” Although the protests were directed primarily against the Rifai government, some Jordanians, especially those affiliated with Islamic groups, openly called for regime change in the kingdom. “He who appoints governments is responsible because fighting corruption starts with the head,” opposition leader Leith Shbeilat told the demonstrators in an implicit reference to Abdullah. Although the anti-government protesters have been careful not to mention the king by name, some Jordanians, like Shbeilat, did not hesitate to express their disenchantment with the monarch, who appoints the prime minister. “Many Jordanians are furious with the Rifai government because of unemployment and poverty, but there are also many people who are blaming the king,” said Mufid Abu Khalaf, a businessman who shuttles frequently between Amman and Hebron. “Some Jordanians are saying that what happened to [deposed Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine] Ben Ali will repeat itself in other Arab countries, including Jordan.” The demonstrations have, meanwhile, spread to other parts of the kingdom, especially Karak and Maan, prompting Abdullah to instruct his government to reduce prices of fuel and basic commodities. But the latest attempt to appease angry Jordanians has thus far failed to contain the resentment. The current wave of anti-government demonstrations is being organized by secular leftist parties and Islamic groups. But the two forces have thus far refrained from holding joint protests, and the feeling among many Jordanians is that they are even competing with each other over who will attract the biggest number of demonstrators. Many Jordanians are also angry with their parliament, which has almost unanimously backed the Rifai government in votes of noconfidence that had been submitted by opposition parties. In the most recent vote, the government won the support of 111 out of 120 members of parliament. On Sunday evening, hundreds of Jordanians staged a demonstration outside the parliament building in Amman to express their anger with the legislature’s actions. Security authorities have been cautious in dealing with the anti-government demonstrations, allowing protesters to vent their frustration and anger. “The authorities can tolerate the demonstrations as long as they are directed only against the government’s economic policies,” said Muneer Shami, an east Jerusalem university student who has been living in Amman for two years. “Everyone knows that the situation will change if the demonstrators turn against the king. The law in Jordan forbids citizens from saying anything bad against the king.” Meanwhile, the king has been busy of late dealing with feuds between rival tribes in various parts of the kingdom. The violence has claimed several lives in the past few months. In some cases, entire tribes have been forced to leave their homes due to the authorities’ failure to enforce law and order. The removal of Ben Ali from power is expected to serve as a catalyst for further unrest in Jordan. In the coming days and weeks, Jordanian opposition groups plan a series of public protests that could lead to scenes of anarchy and lawlessness similar to those coming out of Tunisia. “The pressure on the king is mounting,” said Maher Abdel Kareem, a Palestinian journalist who used to work in Amman. “If the demonstrations spread, things could get out of control and lead to the downfall of the monarchy.”

How the Widow of Arafat contributed to the Tunisian Revolution ?

Suha Arafat, the widow of the late PLO Leader Yasser Arafat, revelation about the Tunisian Presidential family after her Tunisian citizenship was revoked For the full Wikileaks cable go to: http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2007/11/07TUNIS1489.html Here are some of Suha's allegations regarding the former President of Tunisia and his wife: -- President Ben Ali remains weakened by his battle with cancer (NFI); -- President Ben Ali spends all his time playing with his son and following him around the residence; -- President Ben Ali simply does what his wife asks him to do; -- Leila Ben Ali and her family are stealing everything of value in the country; -- Leila Ben Ali believes that she will succeed her husband as President of Tunisia; -- The members of Ben Ali's extended family can do whatever they want with impunity, including the falsification of documents; -- Leila Ben Ali dropped the American curriculum that had been planned for the Carthage school because she fundamentally wants nothing to do with Americans

Corruption in Jordan

GeoTagged, [N32.80128, E116.93242]


The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is published by Transparency International (TI), a non-governmental Organization (NGO), that monitors corruption in countries around the world and ranks countries accordingly. The Kingdom of Jordan ranked 50 In 2010 As Reported By The CPI, however, Jordan ranked 47 in 2009. Thus, Corruption Level Went Up Three Points, which is a significant increase in a one year period.
Freedom for Jordan

The Fall of a Dictator

The Fall of a Dictator
By: Marwan Arikat

The First Popular Revolution Since 1979, The Coup d'etat In Tunisia Comes As A Relief, For Those Who Have Given Up On The Will Of The People Of The Middle East, To Overthrow Their Authoritarian governments. But The Tunisian Revolution Also Comes As A Shock And As A Disappointment To The Neighboring Dictatorships, Because It Could Mean Their Turn, To Quit Or Be Removed, Has Come.

It Is Only The West That Seems To Be Confused And Apprehensive About The Tunisian Events. Governments In The US And Europe Don't Know Whether To Embrace Or Ignore The Developments In Tunisia. The Western World Has Always Harbored Deep-seated Feelings Of Anxiety Regarding Any Actual Change In The Middle East, Because Change Or Regime Change (Whether It Is Democratic Or Not) In The Arab And The Muslim World, Could Mean More Anti-western Governments And More Nationalistic And Islamic Countries.
Because Change Or Regime Change (Whether It Is Democratic Or Not) In The Arab And The Muslim World, Could Mean More Anti-western Governments And More Nationalistic And Islamic Countries.

However, The People Of The Middle East Do Not Care Anymore About What The Western World Thinks, Because They Know That It Was Always Th Western Governments That Have Supported The Aging Dictatorships In Their Countries.
Finally, I Hope That The Tunisian Revolution Is Contagious And I Wish To See The Revolution Spread ThroughoutThe Arab And Islamic World.