You are in the the 127th Child Diary of the Liveblog of the 2011 uprisings throught North Africa and the Middle East. We stand with our international friends and their courageous struggle for dignity, self-determination and human rights.
PLS REC this diary. PLS UNREC the previous diary.
The liveblog is for witnessing, for other actions see the group page.
Here is the latest Intervention Diary by conchita. (comment in lieu of diary today.)
Their Revolutions: What Can We Do, a place to discuss how you assess for yourself whether you are called to witness, intervene or both.
LIBYA: Per Gaddafi: Don't drink the Nescafé and everything will go back to normal.
Weasel's Libya diary gives a fuller update on Libya.
Signs that Libya is liberating herself from Qaddafi:
From The Guardian:
# In the sacked second city of Benghazi, basic order is returning to the streets after days of fierce fighting that saw the military defect en masse and virtually all government buildings razed and looted.
# There are long lines outside closed banks this morning, as citizens attempt to resume their lives. Cars have returned to city streets but almost all shops remain closed and the internet is blocked.
# Bengahzi is now being run by a makeshift organising committee of judges, lawyers and other professionals who have dispatched youths to the streets to coordinate traffic at intersections and reinstall basic order.
# "We started just as lawyers looking for our rights and now we are revolutionaries," said one high court lawyer, Amal Bagaigis, "and we don't know how to manage. We want to have our own face. For 42 years we lived with this kind of barbarianism. We now want to live by ourselves."
Pilots parachute out and crash their planes rather than attacking Benghazi.
Power plant workers refuse to cut electricity to Benghazi..
the city of Zwaara is now in the hands of the protesters and under their control. This is a very strategic location as it is approximately 58km away from the Libyan Tunisian border.
If true, this another Qaddafi crime against humanity revealed:
1500 young men discovered in underground room
Translation of a voice recording:
Jazeera, I want to deliver this information, I confirmed it personally, on my responsibility. I am a Libyan citizen. Today in Benghazi they discovered a room underground, a room that is completely locked-in. Completely locked. Holding 1500 young men from Benghazi. From the 15th of February the first day of demonstrations to today when they got them out, the 22nd, they had been without food or water. They heard the voices from the barracks, noise, people. After they went to check, they got them out, God be praised, alive. 1500 young men, buried alive, buried alive. Muammar must be obliterated. We will not surrender. Our dead are in heaven, he is in hell. God bear witness that I have delivered this message, if there are any Muslims. God willing.
Translated by: @tasnimq
More regional tidbits after the fold....
PLS REC THIS DIARY! We are changing the "mothership" practice, for now, as we navigate our new DK4 environment and the changing nature of events which we are following. Will you please do the following to keep our dKos community eyes on our international friends risking their lives for self-determination:
1. Rec this diary. (click that star just under the title)
2. "Follow" " Eyes on Egypt and the Region"by clicking on the link and then scrolling down the group box on the right-hand side and clicking "Follow".
3. Get the word out by putting links in FP threads and telling all your friends.
Thank you!
GENERAL ANALYSIS: (thank you NYBritExpat)
the project for a new Arab century: good piece of analysis, read: http://english.aljazeera.net/...
pan-arabism's revival: http://english.aljazeera.net/...
Dan Hind, from protest to revolution:http://english.aljazeera.net/...
SYRIA: (thank you NYBritExpat)
Syria is now cracking down on peaceful protesters:
Tensions are mounting in the Syrian capital, Damascus, after the third peaceful demonstration in three weeks was violently dispersed on Wednesday. There are increasing reports of intimidation and blocking of communications by secret services in the wake of violent unrest in neighbouring Arab countries.
Fourteen people were arrested and several people beaten by uniformed and plainclothes police on Tuesday after about 200 staged a peaceful sit-in outside the Libyan embassy to show support for Libya's protesters.
Witnesses said at least two women were among those beaten.
BAHRAIN: (thank you NYBritExpat)
http://english.aljazeera.net/...
YEMEN: (thank you NYBritExpat)
http://english.aljazeera.net/...
IRAN: In the "The World Really Doesn't Need This" category, Iran did send two warships through the Suez Canal. Egypt was required by International Agreement to let the ships through. They can only deny passage in the case of war. Though Israel says this is a provocation,
But the significance of the deployment is entirely diplomatic, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
He says the two Iranian vessels do not represent any significant threat to either the Israeli navy or US vessels in the Mediterranean.
The ships involved are the Alvand - thought to be a British-built Vosper Mark 5 class frigate - and a supply vessel, the Kharg, also British-built.
The Alvand, a missile-carrying frigate, was launched in 1968. It is an impressive vessel by the standards of the Iranian navy, but no match for comparable Western warships nor the sophisticated missile boats of the Israeli navy, our correspondent says.
What is clear is that this deployment is not a direct response to the current upheavals in the Middle East, he adds.
ALGERIA: (thank you NYBritExpat)
http://english.aljazeera.net/...
http://english.aljazeera.net/...
MOROCCO: (thank you JustJennifer)
Protests in Morocco: Just Don't Call It A Revolution
In a country in which the King is not only "executive monarch" but also the supreme religious leader, it can be dangerous to criticize almost anything associated with him. Which is why journalist Ali Amar was encouraged by the chants in favor of constitutional reform, a banner that declared "We refuse a regime that loots the nation's wealth" and another that called for the government to step down. "That's a first," he said. "Before, no one would have dared say that. Egypt has created a new context for us."
Spain urges Europe to Embrace Middle East Democracy
But Zapatero said Morocco, Spain's southern neighbor, was in a different situation from other countries that have seen popular revolts because it already had a multi-party system.
"Of course things are different in Morocco. It's a country that has made reforms... certainly the citizens want more reforms, but it is a different situation with more potential for stability and gradual progress," he said.
...
King Mohammed VI vowed not to cede to 'demagoguery,' but promised important reforms shortly, without giving details.
...
The protesters called for the resignation of the government and the dissolution of parliament, a more democratic constitution, an end to corruption and press censorship, and better economic and social conditions.
....
The country has a variety of political parties and a freely elected parliament, although governmental powers are restricted in key areas where the monarch has the final word. The king also appoints key cabinet ministers.
JORDAN: (thank you NYBritExpat)
http://english.aljazeera.net/...
EGYPT: (thank you dmac)
Probe of violence, mass escapes from Egypt prisons (AP)
It remains one of the many murky chapters of Egypt's uprising — how did one-fourth of the nation's prisoners manage to escape and at least 120 end up dead, most in a single chaotic weekend?
Egypt's activists skeptical about army intentions
CAIRO (AP) — Some of the young activists who launched the Egyptian uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak say they are skeptical about the military's pledges to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
Hosni Mubarak's Cronies Face Corruption Charges
Will Egypt regain it's cultural influence in the Arab world?
TUNISIA: Thousands March for Secularism in Tunisia
A 43-year-old Tunisian man was arrested on Tuesday (February 22nd) in connection with the murder of a Polish Catholic priest, which stunned the nation.
The alleged killer, Chokri Ben Mustapha Bessadek Mestiri, worked as a carpenter at the school in Manouba where Marek Marius Rybinski was serving. According to TAP, Mestiri confessed to the homicide, saying he did it to cover up the theft of funds used to buy building materials.
The killing outraged many Tunisians and led activists to organise a march for secularism and religious tolerance on Facebook. The first-of-its-kind rally took place on Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis on Saturday and was reportedly attended by more than 15,000 people.
PALESTINE:(thank you NYBritExpat) is the west bank next?: http://english.aljazeera.net/...
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Our Egyptian brethren articulated what people around the region are fighting for, though variations to the theme may exist from country to country. banner held by protesters and translated to English:
1 The departure of Mubarak
2 An end to the current Parliament
3 An end of the state of emergency
4 The creation of a national united government
5 A parliament elected by the people to modify the constitution and run the presidential elections
6 Put those responsible for the killings on trial
7 Put those responsible for stealing the country's money and other acts of corruption on trial
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Resources:
Note: The Mothership Diary is the place to go for a complete list of resources.
Al Jazeera English - Watch Live (the Youtube link below should work for Mac users unable to load this.)
Al Jazeera live also available on
Dish Network channel 9410
DirecTV: Channel 375 Link
Al Jazeera on Facebook:
http: //www.facebook.com/aljazeera
Al Jazeera Live on YouTube
English Stream http://www.youtube.com/...
Arabic Stream http://www.youtube.com/...
BBC Reports
BBC Middle East is doing specific Egypt coverage
WorldWideTahrir{NEW} : Worldwide protests being organized to coincide with the upcoming ones in Egypt.
bicycle Hussein paladin - Why Iran 1979 Went to the Islamists and This One Won't
weasel - Updates on the Egyptian Protests
People to follow on twitter:
@sharifkouddous
@monasosh
@ioerror
@ElBaradei
@SultanAlQassemi
@evanchill
@glcarlstrom
@nolanjazeera
@3arabawy
@shadihamid
@bencnn
@arabist
@speaktotweet: Egyptian Voice Tweets on Twitter
Previous Child Diaries:
Egypt and the Region Liveblog Archive by unaspenser
PLEASE PLACE LINKS NOT EMBEDS INTO COMMENTS
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