"Fired up with zeal, activists say they have set up dozens of checkpoints in the Syrian city of Hama, alerting neighborhood groups with cries of 'God is great' to the approach of feared security forces and throwing up barricades of burning tires and trash bins to block their path. Hama, the scene of the largest protests yet, has emerged as a potent challenge to President Bashar Assad." (07/06/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3ec2ghh"A Bahraini opposition figure said reconciliation talks between the Sunni monarchy and the Shiite opposition started Tuesday for the first time since anti-government protests erupted in the Gulf kingdom. Washington has pushed for dialogue in the strategic island nation, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. The protests that began in February — inspired by wider Arab uprisings — have been the gravest challenge to any Gulf ruler in decades." (07/05/11)
http://tinyurl.com/6d6b2qh"Syrian security forces may have committed crimes against humanity during a deadly siege in May, Amnesty International said Wednesday, citing witness accounts of deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention. The New York-based rights group called on the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court." (07/05/11)
"Hundreds of Egyptians attacked a courtroom in Cairo on Monday, scuffled with security guards, and blocked a major highway for hours after the court ordered the release of 10 policemen charged with killing protesters during the country's uprising. The unrest added to tensions already running high in Egypt over the ruling military council's failure to hold accountable security forces involved in killing protesters during the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak." (07/04/11)
http://tinyurl.com/43xokwu"The police in Belarus used tear gas to disperse protesters on Sunday after President Aleksandr Lukashenko, presiding over a ceremony to commemorate Belarus’s Independence Day, said in a speech that shadowy forces based in 'the capitals of other countries' were plotting to bring down his government. ... The authorities are engaged in the harshest crackdown of Mr. Lukashenko’s 17 years in power. In response, Internet social networks have been promoting a new form of nonviolent protest, encouraging people to clap their hands in unison rather than shout slogans or hold signs." (07/04/11)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/world/europe/04belarus.html"The international committee investigating violent protests in Bahrain this year will be given access to official files and be able to meet witnesses in secret, the panel's chair said on Thursday. The five-member panel of human rights and legal experts, unveiled ahead of a national dialogue set to start on Saturday, is part of Bahrain's efforts to restore its image after its Sunni rulers cracked down on demonstrations led mostly by the Shi'ite majority in February and March." (06/30/11)
http://tinyurl.com/5tzbe8c"Syrian troops shot dead 11 villagers on Wednesday, residents said, as authorities pressed on with a tank-led assault that has driven thousands of refugees across the northwest border with Turkey. The assault on Jabal al-Zawya, a region 22 miles south of Turkey that has seen spreading protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, was launched overnight, a day after authorities said they would invite opponents to talks on July 10 to set up a dialogue offered by Assad." (06/29/11)
http://tinyurl.com/42j75o4"Egyptian security forces firing tear gas clashed with more than 5,000 rock-throwing protesters in central Cairo late Tuesday, leaving dozens injured in the latest unrest to rattle the country, witnesses and medical officials said. Clouds of tear gas and the wail of police sirens engulfed Tahrir Square as lines of security forces in riot gear battled to regain control of the central plaza from the demonstrators, many of them family members of the more than 850 people killed during the revolution that toppled Egypt's longtime ruler, Hosni Mubarak." (06/28/11)
"Yemeni government warplanes and artillery pounded several villages of anti-government tribes north of the capital on Tuesday, killing at least three people, a senior tribal leader said. Sheik Ali Youssef of the Naham tribe said that Republican Guard forces, which are commanded by embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh's son, began bombarding the villages scattered in the Naham mountain area, some 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Sanaa, on Monday, continued throughout Tuesday." (06/28/11)
http://tinyurl.com/6z664wp"Islamic militants have consolidated their hold over a southern city in Yemen, forcing merchants to lower food prices and helping residents who want to flee shelling by government forces outside the city, residents said Monday. In contrast, militants in control of another nearby city are enforcing a stringent version of Islamic rule, forcing women to stay home and trying to recruit young men to their ranks, according to residents there." (06/27/11)
"The mass trial of 28 Bahraini health professionals who treated injured anti-government protesters campaigning for greater freedoms in the Gulf kingdom resumed on Monday in a special security court. The prosecution of 28 doctors and nurses, who were charged with participating in efforts to topple Bahrain's monarchy, signals that the kingdom's Sunni rulers do not intend to end their relentless pursuit of the Shiite-led opposition despite appeals for dialogue." (06/27/11)
"Syria's military spokesman says more than 400 members of security forces have been killed in the months-long unrest that has taken hold in the country, a charge that came as videos surfaced allegedly showing children killed in the violence. In an interview with CNN in Damascus, Maj. Gen. Riad Haddad said that 1,300 security personnel also were wounded, and that 300 soldiers, 60 security officials and 50 police died in the violence." (06/26/11)
http://tinyurl.com/664lce2"A Bahrain court sentenced eight Shia opposition activists to life in prison Wednesday for 'plotting to overthrow' the kingdom’s Sunni rulers, nearly a week ahead of a national dialogue proposed by the king. The National Safety Court of first instance also jailed 13 others with sentences carrying terms between two to 15 years on similar charges, state news agency BNA added." (06/22/11)
http://tinyurl.com/6dhtc9b"Syria's embattled president said Monday that 'saboteurs' are trying to exploit legitimate demands for reform, as the regime faces its most powerful challenge in more than four decades. ... The opposition estimates more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained as Assad's forces try to crush the protest movement. The deadly crackdown has only fuelled protesters, who now insist they will accept nothing less than the regime's downfall." (06/20/11)
http://tinyurl.com/6dq4w49
Center for a Stateless Society "For 40 years, Syria has been something of a caricature of the worst kind of dictatorship. The autocratic Assad family, sentencing the country to martial law and widespread poverty, long ago banned political parties and handed control of the economy to political favorites. The government’s recent spate of murders and arbitrary arrests have put on display for the world the kinds of policies that Syrians have long had to contend with. And although Syria would seem to represent the utmost extreme of Orwellian, antihuman public policy, its actions are only an instance of what the state is, by definition, geared to do, that is, transgress individual liberty." (06/12/11)
http://c4ss.org/content/7448"Leaders of the political opposition met on Monday with Yemen’s vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, and two other senior governing party officials here in the first known meeting between the two sides since the beginning of the year. The United States ambassador, Gerald Feierstein, had pressed both sides to meet after the attack on the presidential palace on June 3." (06/14/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3pdx9by"Security forces attacked and arrested pro-reform demonstrators gathering in Tehran on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the country's 2009 disputed election, Iran opposition websites reported. 'Security forces attacked the crowd with electric batons ... in the Vali-e Asr street to disperse the demonstrators,' Sahamnews.org said. Another opposition website, Kaleme.com, said 'hundreds of demonstrators' were arrested by the security forces." (06/12/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3etkejr"Yemeni soldiers battled Islamic militants Saturday in an attempt to drive them from several southern towns under the control of hundreds of the fighters. The clashes killed 30 people on both sides, officials said. In an unusual twist, the army commander leading the campaign to drive back the Islamists is among several top military figures who have turned against the country’s president and thrown their support behind the massive protest movement pushing for the autocratic leader’s ouster." (06/12/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3mcvj52"Tanks and helicopters stormed the northwest Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour on Sunday, residents said, and state television said troops had taken full control and chased out remnants of 'armed terrorist organisations.' More than 5,000 Syrian refugees have crossed the border and a U.N. refugee spokesman said the Red Crescent was preparing a fourth camp with room for 2,500 more. Witnesses said some 10,000 Syrians were sheltering near the border." (06/12/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3gbch4v
Ludwig von Mises Institute "One of my friends believes that a second American revolution is imminent and will be sparked by the economic instability now rocking the continent. Frankly, I doubt it. Insurrections may occur, but I expect the US government to lumber along, dragging the world deeper into poverty and conflict for many years to come." (06/08//11)
http://tinyurl.com/5wah3ut"Syrians fled a restive town toward the Turkish border, fearing bloodshed as troops with tanks approached, under orders to hit back after the government accused armed bands there of killing scores of its security men. Though accounts of days of killing in Jisr al-Shughour ranged from an official version of gunmen ambushing troops to residents' reports of an army mutiny, it triggered international alarm that violence may enter a new and bloodier phase after three months of popular unrest that has left over 1,000 dead." (06/08/11)
http://tinyurl.com/4yujku6"The flight of Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh to Saudi Arabia deprives the United States of a fitful ally in the fight against Al Qaeda’s most dangerous affiliate and injects new uncertainty into counterterrorism operations that were already hampered by the country’s bloody internal strife, according to Yemen and security experts. Saudi Arabia, with US backing, will almost certainly prevent Saleh’s return to Yemen, and it is unclear who will replace him and whether there will be a change in attitude toward American efforts to target Islamic militants in the country." (06/07/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3oasgef"Armed men killed 120 Syrian security forces and torched government buildings Monday in a northern region where troops have unleashed deadly assaults on protesters for days, Syria said. The government vowed to respond 'decisively,' hinting at an even more brutal crackdown by a regime known for ruthlessly crushing dissent. If confirmed, the attack in the north would be a turning point in what so far has largely been a peaceful uprising threatening the 40-year rule of President Bashar Assad and his family." (06/06/11)
http://tinyurl.com/65szglg Center for a Stateless Society "Violence is, by definition, at the heart of everything the state does. The very existence of the institution depends on precluding, through the use of coercive force, competition in the sphere of defending the rights of individuals. It is important to make known of market anarchists that we do not advocate or wish for a society in which chaos, lawlessness or mob rule would prevail, that statelessness means only the lack of arbitrary aggression, hierarchy and monopoly." (06/03/11)
http://c4ss.org/content/7290
Syria and the “popular will”
by David D'Amato
"Far from personifying the collective will of the people, the state is merely the unwieldy implement of a power elite, a group of plotters who conspire not behind a curtain, but right out in the open. The political class, the parasitic few who contrive the system of state capitalism, feel no need whatsoever to hide; they cheat and extort the public behind the language of the 'popular will.'" (06/20/11)
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