Some ulama in the desert kingdom are beginning to speak out against the crimes of the House of Saud. While the ‘Arab Spring’ has not affected the kingdom as much as others, how long will it escape the storm?
The Saudi regime is good at only one thing: creating fitna of the sectarian kind. The war in Syria has provided it an opportunity to play dirty once again.
The Muslim East has undergone radical change over the last two years. There are new political alignments that spell trouble for the US.
Anti-government protests that were relatively small were talked up as bringing out hundreds of thousands of people into Tahrir Square.
The war is on but this one may very well be the opening shots of Armageddon. The war parties are as diverse as they come.
In Israeli-NATO “liberated” Libya, endless violence has forced many people to hark back to the days of Qaddafi rule.
The great hopes aroused by the ouster of two long-ruling dictators in Tunisia and Egypt appear to have dimmed.
One thing has become clear as a result of the movements for dignity and freedom sweeping the Muslim East (aka the Middle East): the old order has been permanently and irrevocably altered.
Egyptians will go to the polls on 11-28-2012 to elect representatives for a new parliament, the People’s Assembly, so that it can draft a new constitution. Elections to the upper Shura Council will take place on 1-29-2012. Once completed, the new constitution will then be put to a referendum for approval.
Soon after the so-called Arab Spring began to blossom, Turkey’s popularity has been on the rise in the Arab world. Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was first elected in 2002, Turkey with its flourishing democracy, and rapidly growing economic and military might has become an emerging regional power.
Islamic movements, intellectuals and activists long tended to have a love-hate relationship with democracy. On the one hand, democracy has been associated with the aggressive, brutal, exploitative, hegemonic policies of the post-colonial Western power.
The Islamic Arab East has fire in its belly. The popular mood is: “fa-al-yasqut al-nizam — down with the regime.” Masses of people are breaking the fear barrier and expressing their century-old, pent-up feelings. Some dictators have been toppled, others are teetering, and still others are trying to change laws and make amends before they, too, are swept away by the people’s fury.
Islamic movements, intellectuals and activists long tended to have a love-hate relationship with democracy. On the one hand, democracy has been associated with the aggressive, brutal, exploitative, hegemonic policies of the post-colonial Western powers, the cynicism, manipulation and dishonesty of Western politics and the increasing moral degeneracy of individualistic and hedonistic Western societies.
Since the first stirrings of revolt erupted in Tunisia on December 17, 2010, the entire Islamic East has been engulfed in civil uprisings. Two tyrants — General Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and General Hosni Mubarak — have been swept from power.
While the world and indeed much of the Muslim world’s attention is diverted to the uprisings sweeping the Islamic East, Zionist Israel is using the regional political turmoil as a cover to do what it has always done best: kill innocent Palestinians in Gaza with its weapons of mass destruction and disinformation.
After Tunisia and Egypt comes Bahrain and Yemen. Add to this popular wave of opposition the civil stirrings now observable in Algeria, Morocco, Jordan and Syria. This places us in front of an exhilarating arousal of people who have been dormant for decades, indeed centuries, when it comes to their own republican dynasties and monarchies.
Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has been forced out of office in the face of determined demands of protesters. Ghannouchi announced his resignation at a press conference in Tunis after a long rambling speech on television extolling his virtues and his record in government.
Displaying mule-like stubbornness, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's unpopular and beleaguered president, confounded critics and observers alike by refusing to quit even while his departure was much anticipated throughout the day on February 10.
The Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak is to make an address on national television, leading to speculation he will announce his resignation as president. This dramatic development followed a meeting of the Military High Council early in the day that was broadcast on television.
Arab dictators--kings, presidents-for-life, generals and colonels--feeling the heat from Egypt's determined protesters, have urged US President Barack Obama not to press the Egyptian tyrant Hosni Mubarak too hard.
