Annan has a plan, and because it’s the only plan in circulation everyone in the international community is clinging to it. And yet you will not find two people who truly believe that the deployment of United Nations monitors will slow the leviathan of civil war in Syria.
As the experience of Iran’s 1979 revolution demonstrates, liberals are already suspect when it comes to their anti-American and anti-Israel bona fides; Islamists and other radicals will always “out-compete” them on the anti-Western front. Liberals do themselves no favors by seeking to placate illiberal impulses—however popular they may be—and hoping to tame them further down the road through the electoral process. If liberal values are worth fighting and dying for when it comes to confronting autocracy, they must be guarded more jealously against Islamists, who hate liberalism even more than did the likes of Mubarak and Ben Ali.
Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks including antitank weaponry, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the U.S., according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials. U.S. contacts with the rebel military and information-sharing with Gulf nations mark a shift in Obama administration policy as hopes dim for a political solution. Many officials now consider an expanding military confrontation in Syria to be inevitable.
The flow of weapons significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month. Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood said it has opened its own supply channel to the rebels, using resources from wealthy private individuals and money from Gulf states. “Large shipments have got through,” said one opposition figure.
Hezbollah units marched into Syrian territory and invaded the villages of Safsafa, Masriya, Swadiya, Zeeta, and Matraba around the city of Qasir in the province of Homs. They arrested more than 70 Syrians and set up checkpoints assisted by Assad regime forces. Hezbollah also raided parts of the villages of Nizariya and Zira’a and the city of Qasir under the cover of heavy fire and shelling, and burnt many houses. UN observers travelled to the city of Kafarzeita in the province of Hama and left immediately without even entering the city.
At least 43 people were killed in violence across Syria Tuesday, including 20 gunned down by regime forces while attending the funeral of a man killed the previous day, a monitoring group said.
A number of Egyptian human rights groups have submitted a communication to the Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud against the Muslim Brotherhood`s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) to investigate the complaints of people in the village of Abu Aziz in the Minya governorate, south of Cairo, over the existence of a large medical convoy organized by the party that wanders streets and does medical examination on people, including female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, in violation of Egyptian law, conventions and treaties signed by Egypt.
People from the city of Khanaqin, although outside the KRG area, joined the campaign for free speech and against a blasphemy law in Iraqi Kurdistan. 47 persons and organisations already signed a petition to the parliament not to pass the bill, Islamic parties were submitting last week. In the meanwhile almost 250 prominent individuals have joined the call in Iraqi Kurdistan as well as a growing number of civil society organisations, syndicats and other groups.
The Syrian conflict has bred the emergence of obscure jihadists carrying out bloody attacks, either acting independently or manipulated by the regime seeking to tarnish the image of its opposition, analysts say.
“Al-Qaeda does not exist in Syria. But there are at present several splinter groups of jihadists who employ the same strategies,” said Mathieu Guidere, a France-based analyst who specializes in the Arab and Muslim world.
“We know that these are Syrians, not foreigners, and that they are very few. For now, nobody knows them – neither Al-Qaeda nor the rebels,” he added. (…)
The latest bombings primarily benefit the Syrian regime, analysts say, which, from the start of the 14-month revolt, has described the uprising as a Western-backed Al-Qaeda plot and its opponents as “terrorists” to justify its crackdown.
As the top spiritual leader in the Shiite Muslim world, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has championed Iraqi democracy and warned against Iranian-style clerical rule. Frail at 81, he still greets visitors at his home in Najaf, Iraq, only steps from the glimmering gold dome of the Imam Ali Shrine. But the jockeying to succeed him has begun, and Iran is positioning its own candidate for the post, a hard-line cleric who would give Tehran a direct line of influence over the Iraqi people, heightening fears that Iran’s long-term goal is to transplant its Islamic Revolution to Iraq.
After Islamic Parties submitted a law proposal to the parliament demanding to forbid “blasphemy” and “insulting of religion” in Iraqi-Kurdistan, this petition collecting signatures to defend the freedom of speech was launched
Already many parliamentarians declared they are going to oppose such a law that would strangulate the freedom of expression Iraqi-Kurds were fighting for during the last decades. If democrats and secularists are going to suceed, this would not only be a major step for a better future in Iraqi-Kurdistan but for the whole Middle East.
Jetzt berichtet auch die FAZ, dass Assad früher jene Terroristen großzügig unterstützt hat, die sich nun gegen ihn wenden:
Assad geht dabei ein riskantes Spiel ein. Einig waren sich sein Regime und die Dschihadisten zwar in der Unterstützung des Widerstands gegen die amerikanischen Truppen im Irak. Heute aber, so berichtete die „New York Times“, flössen die Waffen, die einst aus Syrien an Al Qaida in den Irak geschmuggelt worden sind, nach Syrien zurück.
Gola Ahmed Hama arbeitet seit 2008 als Koordinatorin von Wadi Projekten in der Pishder, einer Region in Irakisch, die nordöstlich von Suleymaniah an der iranischen Grenze liegt. (…)
Frage: Die Pishder Region wurde in einem jüngst von unserem Büro in Suleymaniah in Zusammenarbeit mit Euch erarbeiteten Bericht als „Hölle für Frauen“ bezeichnet. Warum?
Selbst im Vergleich mit anderen Regionen in Kurdistan sieht es bei uns schlimm aus. Wir haben gerade neue Zahlen vorgelegt. In den letzten drei Jahren haben wir 13 670 Frauen und Mädchen befragt, ob sie genitalverstümmelt seien oder nicht. 12 760 davon sind es. Das ist eine Rate von fast 95%, während sie ansonsten in Kurdistan durchschnittlich bei 50-60% liegt. In vielen Schulen haben wir kein einziges Mädchen getroffen, das nicht verstümmelt ist.
So gut wie niemand kann sich seinen Ehepartner aussuchen, das arrangieren alles die Familien. Und alleine in den ersten drei Monaten diesen Jahres sind fünf Ehrenmorde gemeldet worden und acht Versuche von Mädchen, sich selbst umzubringen. Und das ist nur die Spitze des Eisberges. Denn noch immer werden viele Fälle von häuslicher Gewalt nicht bekannt.
Kofi Annans Friedensplan ist tot, meint Jonathan Spyrer:
“The hapless attempt to implement the Kofi Annan plan is ending in absurdity and humiliation,” und faehrt fort: He believed Assad stood a good chance of surviving, “unless an international coalition comes into being which supports the opposition at least as firmly as the international coalition behind Assad supports him”.
Dank Obamas kluger Politik und der Europaer kann es also sein, dass der Iran, Russland, die Hizbollah den Krieg um Syrien gewinnen werden. Denn eines scheint sicher: weder die USA noch die Europaer werden einen Teufel tun, um die Opposition gegen Assad zu staerken.
Die Spatzen pfeifen es inzwischen von den Daechern: die Obama Adminstration ist bereet, alls zu tun, um in Syrien nichts tun zu muessen, selbst Verrenkungen, die ans Absurde grenzen, wie dieses Statement:
United Nations ambassador Susan Rice of the United States said, Thursday evening, that it was too early to put the “failure” level on efforts by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan at a cease-fire between government and opposition forces in Syria. Interviewed by Reuters, Rice said, “Although we’ve been skeptical of the Syrian government’s readiness and willingness to implement its commitments, what Annan is trying to do makes eminent sense and we support it.”
Ob sie die Hinhaltetaktik bis zu den Praesidentschaftswahlen durchhalten?
In Syrien dagegen war heute wieder “just another Friday“. Paar Tote eben, paar Massendemonstrationen, Verhaftungen, nichts womit sich nicht bestens leben liesse in Washington, Bruessel oder Berlin.
Even though Hamas continues to build itself up militarily, acquiring long-range rockets and improved antitank missiles, its relations with Israel have never looked better. Strangely, close cooperation exists between the sides on the ground, even in the absence of direct contact. While this is not the kind of security coordination that exists between the Israel Defense Forces and the PA in the West Bank, the very existence of this new unit shows which way the wind is blowing in Hamas: The movement clearly wants to maintain security quiet on the border with Israel and consolidate its rule in the Gaza Strip. (…)
The prevailing feeling in the Gaza Strip is that Hamas is rapidly morphing into a second PA. Even the head of its military wing, Ahmed Jabari – the embodiment of resistance to Israel, who remained in hiding for years – seems to have been thrilled by his travels abroad during the negotiations on the Gilad Shalit deal. Of late he hasn’t been seen much in the training camps of Rafah and Khan Yunis; he was spotted, though, in five-star hotels in Cairo.
Kafranbel, nicht Stadt, nicht Dorf, ein unscheinbarer Ort mit 25.000 Einwohnern irgendwo in der nordsyrischen Provinz Idlib. Entlang der Hauptstraße ziehen sich ein paar Geschäfte, dahinter liegen flache, helle Wohnhäuser über einen felsigen Berghang gewürfelt. (…)
Seit dem Beginn des Aufstandes gegen das Assad-Regime vor 14 Monaten hat Kafranbel mit seinen einfallsreichen, witzigen, bisweilen poetischen, manchmal anarchischen Protestbannern und Slogans ziemlich viel von sich reden gemacht: Immer neue Aufnahmen aus Kafranbel breiten sich über Facebook, YouTube und Twitter im Internet aus.
By Heidi Diedrich, Wadi e. V.
Sulaimani, Iraqi-Kurdistan – In a call to honor the spirit of Law No. 8: the Law Against Domestic Violence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG), more than 50 people gathered in Sulaimani, Iraq on Tuesday, May 8 to discuss a serious plan for the law’s implementation. According to event organizers, the domestic violence law is paramount to advancing human rights in the KRG.
The meeting was one of the first of its kind since the domestic violence law was published in August 2011, bringing together a diverse group of individuals representing government agencies, human rights organizations, and community leaders. The two-hour session included a discussion and debate about the law and the most effective approach to developing a plan of action.
Seine islamkritischen Texte bringen den Kölner Rapper Najafi ins Visier radikaler Muslime. Während ihn Teherans Jugend als “iranischen Eminem” feiert, will ihn Großajatollah Safi-Golpajegani zum Verstummen bringen. Er hat seine Anhänger aufgerufen, Najafi “in die Hölle zu schicken”.
In den Augen von Großajatollah Ali Safi-Golpajegani ist der in Deutschland lebende iranische Rapper Shahin Najafi ein Apostat, ein vom Glauben Abgefallener. Der 31-jährige Musiker aus Köln macht sich in dem Song “Imam Naghi” über den zehnten Imam der schiitischen Muslime lustig. Auf der Facebook-Seite des Rappers ist eine Karikatur von Imam Naghi verlinkt, wie dieser mit Kamel und Esel plaudert und vor einer Moschee sitzt, deren Kuppel einen Busen darstellt.
Die FDP, eine Partei die nach 1945 Sammelbecken für haufenweise (Ex-)NSDAP MItglieder war, nennt sich zwar liberal, stellt aber regelhaft unter Beweis, dass sie dem Geiste des völkischen deutschen Untertanenstaates weit näher steht:
Wer sich nicht zum Grundgesetz bekennt, hat nach Meinung des FDP-Politikers Serkan Tören sein Recht verwirkt, Deutscher zu sein. Darum will er deutschen Salafisten die Staatsbürgerschaft entziehen.
Da mussten die Westalliierten zivilisatorische bürgerliche Mindeststandards nach Deutschland bringen, und jetzt kommen ausgerechnet diese Liberalen mit einem der übelsten repressiven Zwangsmittel um die Ecke. Bei Eingebürgerten fängt es an, und was wenn der Salafit gebürtiger Deutscher ist? Geht es dann weiter? Und was ist der nächste Schritt? Wird künftig ausgebürgert, wer nicht auf dem Boden der FDGO steht?
Solchen Leuten geht es nicht um die Salafiten, sondern um Einschränkung fundamentaler Bürgerrechte. An diesem Punkt ähneln sie den Salafiten mehr, als ihnen lieb sein kann.
Siehe auch: Pack schon mal die Koffer, Serkan