Middle East

In his latest article for “The New Yorker” magazine, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh says that the United States might attack Iran based on distorted estimates of Iran’s nuclear and military threat — just like it did some years ago when it started the war against Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq.

About 1 million people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and across Egypt May 27 for a “Friday of Anger” that showed that revolution against dictator Mubarak and his regime has reached a new stage.
27M demonstrations were called by left organizations in defiance of military rulers, as well as Muslim Brotherhood and liberal groups that were part of the mass protests in February

Though hardly in a position to amend the situation, UN is profoundly concerned about grave human rights violations in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, as governments crack down on unrelenting protestors demanding political overhaul and participation. Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights says that many opposition leaders and activists have been targeted across the country.

Here we publish an open letter to the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, that was distributed to some press agencies from the signer: Hajar Mahfoodh, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed Ali Almahfoodh, the chairman of Amal Islamic Society in Bahrein, who was recently detained and send to unknown destination.

Bahraini government must end its relentless crackdown on human rights, Amnesty International said after the country’s parliament voted to extend a repressive state of emergency amid continued arrests of dissidents.
“The Bahraini authorities must stop detaining anyone who opposes them and release protesters who have been locked up for peacefully demanding reform,” said Luther.

A group of prominent Israelis met Thursday in Tel Aviv to announce their support for the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

Forty-seven leading Israeli cultural figures and academics signed a “Declaration of Independence from the Occupation.” Yaron Ezrahi is a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Three days after Hosni Mubarak resigned as the long-standing dictator in Egypt, people in the small Gulf state of Bahrain took to the streets, marching to their version of Tahrir: Pearl Square, in the capital city of Manama. Bahrain has been ruled by the same family, the House of Khalifa, since the 1780s – more than 220 years.

At least 55 people are believed to have been killed during a week of unrest in and around the Syrian town of Dera’a, Amnesty International said today as protests spread across the country.
Security forces opened fire on protesters in al-Sanamayn and carried out arrests in Damascus, according to reports on Friday, a day after the authorities pledged to investigate the violence

The total death toll from a Syrian government crackdown on opposition protesters continues to rise today. At least 15 people were killed last Wednesday when repressive forces raided a mosque housing protesters in the early morning hours. But there have been reports insisting that the death toll may be significantly higher.

Amnesty International today revealed evidence of the Bahraini security forces’ systematic use of excessive force in cracking down against protesters, as fresh violence left as many as 8 people dead.
The organization documents how security forces used live ammunition and extreme force against protesters and impeded and assaulted medical staff trying to help the wounded.