Posts Tagged ‘Iran’
Hassan Nasrallah Backs Murders in Syria.
One time radical and firebrand, Hassan Nasrallah, has gone with the money.
He is backing the murderous President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Not too surprising, because if he didn’t, he would lose the support of the Iranian regime and their money.
Since the uprising against the Syrian dictators some 1100 people have been killed by the regime and their thugs, according to Sawasiah, ABC News reports:
“Human rights activists in Syria say the two-month crackdown by security forces on anti-government protesters has cost the lives of at least 1,100 people.
The Syrian human rights organisation Sawasiah says it has the names of 1,100 people reportedly killed during the unrest that broke out in mid-March.
Most were from southern areas in Hauran Plain – including the city of Deraa where the protests first began two months ago.
The human rights group says it in fact has heard reports of another 200 civilian deaths but has no names to base the figures on.
The death toll in Syria rose sharply after the protests spread from Deraa to other parts of the country.”
Yahoo News has more on Nasrallah’s speech:
” “We call on all Syrians to preserve their country as well as the ruling regime, a regime of resistance, and to give their leaders a chance to cooperate with all Syria’s communities in order to implement the necessary reforms,” he said in the speech broadcast by his party’s Al-Manar television.
The speech, marking the 11th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation, was broadcast on a giant screen to thousands of Hezbollah supporters in the village of Nabi Sheet, a Shiite stronghold in the eastern Bekaa Valley.
It was the first time the reclusive Hezbollah chief commented on the protests in Syria, which along with Iran is a major backer of his Shiite militant party.
“The difference between the Arab uprisings and Syria… is that President Assad is convinced that reforms are necessary, unlike Bahrain and other Arab countries,” said Nasrallah, who has not appeared in public since 2008.
Libya: Some Round Up.
[I have made the post sticky and will update things as events change in and around Libya. Newer posts will appear below this one for the time being.]
Was away at the weekend and didn’t follow the news at all, so events in Libya have caught me on the back foot.
Nevertheless, here’s a bit of a round up from those in the know, all very subjective and incomplete:
Nick Griffin and Colonel Gaddafi, weird, but then they did share the same pet hate at one time in life, if you think about it.
Terry Glavin on that Libyan Slave Revolt.
Salon has a primer on Libya, with this revealing photo of Mubarak and Moammar Gadhafi holding hands:
Comrade Dave looks at the Libya crackdown: the trajectory of Brother Gaddafi.
From December 2010, Hugo Chavez and the gift from Muammar Gaddafi.
From the Don’t vote BNP channel on YouTube, more on Nick Griffin and the Libyan connection:
Over at the Guardian, WikiLeaks cables: A guide to Gaddafi’s ‘famously fractious’ family. This is the bottom line:
“Like all the Gaddafi children and favourites is supposed to have income streams from the national oil company and oil services subsidiaries.”
This is superb, Mapping Violence Against Pro-Democracy Protests in Libya, a Google map of the on-going events in Libya.
Marko Attila Hoare reminds us of how money talks in academia, Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi and the London School of Economics.
Kellie Strøm takes a wider perspective, Revolution Overload.
CNN has a breaking news feed from Libya.
Finally, thanks to Graham Lloyd, here’s “The Harder They Come” by Jimmy Cliff.
Iran And Bahrain, What Do They Have in Common?
Answer: censorship, riot police and civilians shot by the state.
Who can forget the events of June 2009 in Iran, and how the Iranians theocracy is kept in power by the use of violence.
That theme is seen across the Middle East today, as the Toronto Star reports:
“MANAMA, BAHRAIN—As international leaders urged Bahrain to use restraint following a predawn raid that left five dead and hundreds more injured, its foreign minister justified the crackdown as necessary because protesters were “polarizing the country” and pushing it to the “brink of sectarian abyss.”
Khalid Al Khalifa told reporters the violence was “regrettable,” as soldiers and tanks patrolled the streets and public gatherings were banned in the capital.
However, the crackdown has only ignited more fury among the protesters who sought refuge in the parking lot outside the Salmaniya hospital Thursday.
Their calls to oust the unelected prime minister and his cabinet have grown to targeting a man long seen as untouchable in this Gulf island kingdom: King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.”
MSNBC describes what happens in Bahrain:
“Bahrain’s a small country with a large Internet population, and it hasn’t hesitated before to smack down websites or bloggers it doesn’t like, long before this week’s protests began. Internet service, though, had remained somewhat constant, at least until recent days, according to reports.
Bahranian users of Batelco’s high-speed Internet service, one of the more prominent in the country, said they were starting to notice “service degradation” as of Wednesday.“
Meanwhile in Libya:
“At one person has been killed in protests across Libya on Thursday in what anti-government activists described as a “Day of Rage”.
Amnesty International says a man was shot dead when security forces opened fire in the city of al-Bayda.
Police and protesters also clashed in Zentan and Benghazi, where one witness told the BBC at least 16 people are believed to have been killed.
This week’s protests are the first in Libya, where dissent is rarely allowed.”
Meanwhile In Iran.
Just as a popular revolt in Egypt succeeded in removing Mubarak events are moving on apace in Iran.
Like Mubarak, the dictators in Tehran resorted to brutality and teargas to stay in power, as the BBC reports:
“Thousands of opposition supporters have clashed with security forces in the centre of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Police used tear gas and detained dozens rallying in solidarity with uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. There was one report of a death in Tehran.
The BBC also received reports of similar protests being held in the cities of Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz.
Earlier, the police placed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi under house arrest, according to his website.
It said the move was intended to prevent the former prime minister attending the march in Tehran, which the authorities had prohibited. The road leading to Mr Mousavi’s house was also blocked by police vans.
Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament and a senior cleric, is also reportedly under de facto house arrest. “
Meanwhile in Syria, the dictatorship there are clamping down on everybody, including bloggers:
“Lawyers allowed into the closed session of the court in Damascus said Ms Mallohi was motionless after hearing her sentence. Her mother, who was waiting outside the court building, burst out crying after being told.
The judge did not give evidence or details as to why she was convicted, they added. However, when she was charged, one official claimed that “her spying led to an attack against a Syrian army officer”.
“Trumping up charges that imply treason as a lesson for others is quite old fashioned,” one human rights activist told the Reuters news agency. “Sadly, the regime has not learnt any lessons from Tunisia or Egypt.”
There has so far been no comment from the Syrian authorities.
Ms Mallohi, the granddaughter of a former minister, has already served one year of her sentence, as she has been in custody since late December 2009. She was held without charge for the first nine months.
Last month, the state security court sentenced Abbas Abbas, a 69-year-old left-wing activist, to seven years in jail.
The BBC’s Lina Sinjab in Damascus says Ms Mallohi’s conviction comes at a time of political upheaval in the region, with popular protests in Tunisia and Egypt which were largely organised through social networking websites and blogs.”
She was jailed for five years, without any evidence.
Update 1: Over in Bahrain there were protests too:
Update 2: Also Hamas are none too keen on election, as Haaretz relates:
” But Hamas, which holds power in the Gaza Strip, immediately said it would move to prevent such a vote from taking place in the coastal territory.”
Update 3: Not forgetting Algeria:
“Hundreds of youths have clashed with security forces during protests in the northern Algerian town of Akbou.
Police reportedly used tear gas and batons to drive back crowds protesting over unemployment. About 30 people, most of them protesters, were hurt.
In January Algeria was the first in a string of countries to see street protests, as people rallied against high food prices and unemployment.
Several people were killed as unrest spread across the country.
The sporadic protests have been continuing since early January.
On Saturday, thousands of people took part in protests in the capital, Algiers, demanding the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but were dispersed by riot police.”
Ken and Press TV.
James Bloodworth has a fine post on Ken Livingstone’s ingratiation with Press TV.
Update 1: I have covered Press TV many times, but Jhate’s post on Press TV uses US anti-Semites as commentators explains it better than I could.
Update 2: Dieudonne on Press TV at the CST.
Update 3: Not forgetting Lady Renouf, neo-Nazis and PressTV.
Union Coverage.
One of my regular readers has reminded me that I don’t cover trade unions enough.
I thought I would have a look at trade union rights in the Middle East, as it’s not a topic covered much in the Western media.
In the West, we take for granted what we have, and what others fought for, 8 hour working day, holidays, etc, the basics, so the Middle East, with its untold wealth and resources is a good starting place.
Despite a massive population, maybe as much as 300 million, we hear little news of the situation of ordinary people and workers in the Middle East.
Not unsurprisingly trade unions and trade unionists have many difficulties in the Middle East, their legal rights are often nonexistent, they are persecuted, attacked and even assassinated.
Attitudes towards trade unions and the treatment of workers is always a good indicator of the health of a society and we find a rather mixed picture when we consider the Middle East.
More often than not ordinary people in the Middle East don’t even have the basic right to join a free trade union, defend their working conditions, let alone strike.
In the end, the picture of workers’ rights in the Middle East is frequently bleak, as the International Trade Union Confederation 2009 survey relates:
“In Lebanon, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, the political tensions and violence are having a negative impact on trade union activities. The offices of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, and some of the houses of its members, were destroyed by bombardments. In Lebanon, the government called on the army after a general strike was called in May that coincided with the aggravation of internal political tensions.
Changes in legislation have continued, but rather slowly. The effective exercise of union rights has accordingly been restricted or non-existent. In Iran, a new law enabling the establishment of free trade unions is being discussed. Promises of new laws guaranteeing increased trade union freedom have still not been kept in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. In Iraq, the new labour code has not been presented to the Parliament; as a result, laws dating back to the former regime that severely restrict trade union activities remain in force. As a general rule throughout the region, migrant workers have no trade union rights. In Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, the governments have brought in measures or proposed reforms aimed at improving the lot of migrant workers, however.
Trade unions are still banned in Saudi Arabia (where only the national workers’ committees are allowed to be set up in companies with over 100 workers), Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Despite the fact that trade union rights are enshrined in constitutions, restrictions remain and trade union pluralism and collective bargaining are virtually non-existent in the region. In Bahrain, for instance, although the government committed itself in 2007 to adopting a law allowing collective bargaining, the law has still not been adopted.
The right to strike remains limited in Oman, Qatar, Syria and Yemen, whilst it is totally banned in Saudi Arabia and banned in the public sector in the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Kuwait and Qatar. In addition, in many cases the list of essential services in which strikes are banned goes beyond the ILO definition.”
More later on.
19 And A Half Years.
Blogging has been criminalised by the Iranian State.
Hossein Derakhshan has been jailed on spurious charges, which is intended to send a message to Iranian bloggers, “follow the State’s line or you’ll be locked up”.
Reporters without Borders has more:
“Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the extremely long jail sentence that has just been passed on Iranian blogger and journalist Hossein Derakhshan. He has been sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison followed by a five-year ban on political and journalistic activities. He has also been fined the equivalent of more than 30,000 euros.
“Such a long jail term has never before been imposed on a blogger in Iran and is indicative of a desire to make an example out of Derakhshan,” Reporters Without Borders said. “He is the victim of political rivalry within the government and the case against him was fabricated. We urge President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to intercede personally in order to obtain his release without delay.”
The press freedom organisation added: “Derakhshan defended the Islamic Revolution’s principles, supported Ahmadinejad’s policies and returned to Iran from Canada after being assured by people close to the president that he would not be arrested. Canada and the rest of the international community must press for this harsh sentence to be quashed and for Derakhshan to be freed at once.”
Derakhshan’s partner, Sandrine Murcia, said the judge in charge of the case telephoned the family today to confirm the verdict and sentence, details of which had been published on the pro-government website Asriran.
Derakhshan was convicted of collaborating with enemy states, propaganda against the Islamic Republic, propaganda in support of counter-revolutionary groups, “insulting what is holy” and creating immoral websites. He can appeal against the verdict.
Arrested by Revolutionary Guards on 1 November 2008, Derakhshan was given a trial without due process and had remained in detention even since awaiting the court’s verdict. He is a collateral victim of in-fighting between the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian intelligence services.”
The Globe and Mail has background:
“Mr. Derakhshan, 35, is widely known by his online name “Hoder.” He was born in Iran, but moved to Canada and became a Canadian citizen in early adulthood. He is a staunch advocate of free expression in Iran, and became known as the “blogfather” of Iran’s on-line community for training pro-democracy advocates to blog and podcast in the late nineties. Later, he apologized for his dissenting views, and emerged as an unlikely supporter of the regime, at one point comparing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a modern-day Che Guevara.
So when the Iranian government invited him to travel to Iran in 2008, he accepted, thinking he would help his country reach out to the world, according to friends and family. Upon his arrival, however, another branch of the government arrested him.
On Tuesday, he was convicted of insulting Islamic thought and religious figures, managing obscene websites and co-operating with “enemy states” because he visited Israel five years ago. He was also ordered to pay the equivalent of approximately $45,000 in fines.
“It’s not as bad as a death sentence, but it’s an awful and really bad sentence for someone that’s only writing,” Mr. Derakhshan’s former wife, Marjan Alemi told CBC’s The Current.
“He went back thinking he could go back to Iran and help,” she added.
Ms. Alemi said Mr. Derakhshan has spent most of the two years preceding his trial in solitary confinement.
“He can’t exercise. He can’t have books. He can see his family for only five or 10 minutes a week,” Ms. Alemi said. Neither the family’s lawyer, nor any representative from the Canadian government were present at his trial.”
Update 1: Iranian.com has a piece on him.
These are clips from Hossein Derakhshan before his return to Iran and arrest. He answered questions from his blog visitors.
Update 2: Free the blog father has a petition.
Update 3: I missed Terry Glavin’s earlier piece on this issue.
Plus the Free Hoder blog.
And the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran too.
Viva Fidel Castro.
Fidel Castro has shown that he isn’t just a declining ex-dictator with an eye to history.
No, Castro may have largely controlled and manipulated events in Cuba for nearly 50 years, but he’s no old codger.
Castro may have inflicted one-party rule on Cubans and limited their lives irreparably, but he’s no fool.
Fidel Castro has done what countless Western “anti-imperialists” avoided doing.
Castro has robustly and openly condemned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s racism.
Castro does more in one interview with Jeff Goldberg than most Western “anti-imperialists” have managed to do in years, Castro sees through Ahmadinejad’s antisemitism and he is clearly against it.
Goldberg summarises:
“Castro’s message to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, was not so abstract, however. Over the course of this first, five-hour discussion, Castro repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism. He criticized Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and explained why the Iranian government would better serve the cause of peace by acknowledging the “unique” history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.
…
He said the Iranian government should understand the consequences of theological anti-Semitism. “This went on for maybe two thousand years,” he said. “I don’t think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything.” The Iranian government should understand that the Jews “were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God. “
Fidel Castro has stated concisely in a few paragraphs more than the concerted Western media would really like to acknowledge, the length and persistency of antisemitism, and how that plays a part in Israeli’s thinking.
Castro has stated openly that antisemitism lingers on today, that is something that Western “anti-imperialists” would do well to ponder.
Viva Fidel Castro!!!
(H/T: Engage)
More Repression in Iran.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that Ahmadinejad’s regime is again attacking human rights lawyers:
“Ebadi noted that prominent lawyers Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and Abdolfattah Soltani have both been imprisoned during the past year and released on large bails, Mohammad Seifzadeh is awaiting his trial, Mohammad Oliaeifar is serving a one year prison sentence, and Shadi Sadr and Mohammad Mostafaie have been forced into exile.
Two members of the One Million Signatures Campaign advocating for gender equality, Fatemeh Masjedi and Maryam Bidgoli, have been sentenced to one year in prison. On 22 August, security forces arbitrarily detained human rights activists Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi and Ali Jamali. Prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has been summoned and her assets frozen.
In an interview with the Campaign, Sotoudeh said that a new method of persecuting human rights lawyers by the authorities is to make unfounded financial allegations on tax grounds.
“I was referred to the taxation bureau and while there I noticed in addition to my name, they are conducting special investigations into thirty human rights lawyers,” Sotoudeh told the Campaign. She noted that while human rights lawyers take on cases on pro-bono bases, authorities are using bogus tax charges to prosecute them.
Sotoudeh said she believes these developments are aimed at putting an end to any legal defense by the human rights community. “The only institution capable of defending lawyers is the Bar Association, but the authorities are putting it under tremendous pressure and attempting to incorporate it into the Judiciary and take away its independence,” she said. “
(H/T: Roxana Saberi )
Ahmadinejad’s Racism.
Over the years some strange individuals in the West were arguing essentially that ‘Ahmadinejad is misunderstood, that he really wasn’t a racist’ and that his demagogic speeches were mistranslated.
These excuses became weaker and weaker as Ahmadinejad invited the creme de la creme of the world’s Holocaust denying sewer to Tehran, including the ex-Grand Wizard of the KKK, David Duke.
So now it will be all the more interesting to see how apologists, excusers and obfuscators in the West try to explain away the new Iranian web site, the truly disgusting HoloCartoons.com [Warning: link to an extreme racist site.]
The preface of their Flash booklet starts with:
“This book tends to denounce the conspicuous lie of the “planned murder of 6 million Jews during the Second World War” allegedly called “Holocaust”.
The lie which is so obvious that there is no need for any further explanation.”
I found the rest to be indescribably wretched. Wiki has a small entry on it.
Update 1:
After a bit of digging around it seems that the site is registered to:
”Registrant:
Shahbazi Ins.
Mohamad Mahdi HematiNo 204, No 32 St., Janbazan e Sharghi St., Nabovvat Sq.
Tehran
Tehran,1649975683
IR
Tel. +98.9123789761
Fax. +98.2177209040Creation Date: 10-Dec-2008
Expiration Date: 10-Dec-2010”
It goes through the DNS servers at mihannic.com, which is registered to:
”Registrant:
tsit
mihannic sales departmentNo 167 farhad ave.
mashhad
khorasan,91839
IR
Tel. +98.5117688642
Fax. +98.5117625855Creation Date: 12-Nov-2005
Expiration Date: 12-Nov-2013”
Ebrahim Hamidi And His Lawyer.
Mohammad Mostafaei, the lawyer for Ebrahim Hamidi has been forced to leave Iran.
His wife, Fereshteh Halimi, had been kidnapped and kept in Evin prison without charge until recently, the Guardian explains more:
“Mostafaei fled to Turkey, where he was promptly arrested for entering the country illegally. On Friday, however, the Turkish authorities released him after EU diplomats intervened on his behalf. As he left, Mostafaei had repeated his fears for his wife’s safety. “They’ve taken her in as a hostage; it’s kidnapping,” he told the Observer. “Just look at what is happening to my wife and realise the flaws and failings of the Iranian legal system, especially towards Ebrahim Hamidi and Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who are awaiting execution on basis of false accusations,” he added.
Mostafaei, whose office in Tehran is now sealed off, is credited with saving at least 50 people from execution during his career, among them many juvenile offenders. A recent client, Ali Mahin-Torabi, 21, was released in July after Mostafaei’s efforts commuted his death sentence. With Mostafaei exiled, activists are worried for Hamidi. “It’s shocking that although Hamidi’s accuser admitted in a recorded testimony that he had lied, he is still facing execution,” Mostafaei said.”
ModernityBlog 