From Amnesty International–Tania Stewart | Media Relations Assistant | Amnesty International USA (Washington, D.C.) — Graphic new video footage of a public hanging in Iran this week highlights the brutalization of both the condemned and those who watch executions, Amnesty International said today. The video can currently be viewed on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YTlbObayk8 . The video provided to […]
The crisis in Syria is deepening and the Assad regime is fighting for its life. The rhythm of the revolution is familiar: the state cracks down on demonstrators throughout the week, inevitably committing some new outrage on its citizens; rage builds and explodes on Friday after prayers; repeat as necessary. The state’s crackdown seems more […]
In chess there are several ways a game can end without a victor, none of them particularly satisfying. There is the stalemate, when a player cannot move but is not in check; essentially a locked board. There is the fifty-move rule, which kicks in when fifty successive moves do not result in a capture; no […]
Iran is a land of not only great empires, but also of great traditions and cultures. The traditions that have shaped Iranian culture come from a variety of ethnic groups and cultures, blessing Iran with a longstanding and strong tradition of diversity that continues to date despite efforts by the current Iranian government to suppress […]
In a striking turn of events last week, Greece came to the rescue of Israel by curbing the highly anticipated “Freedom Flotilla II.” The contingency of 350 activists on 10 boats, mostly from the U.S. and Europe, was determined to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. All boats were either intercepted by the Greek coastguard […]
Update: Knesset passes anti-democratic BDS law, with many members absent, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Israel has the most vibrant democracy in the Middle East, with the Knesset (parliament) including representatives from Jews and non-Jews alike. However, once more, extremists in the Knesset are trying to use the democratic process […]
On Tuesday, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, dubbed the most powerful military man in Yemen, opened up to CNN in a lengthy interview. General Mohsen famously defected from the Regime in March 2011, breaking away from President Saleh after 30 years of loyal services. Now a supporter of the Revolution, Ali Mohsen remains however a senior […]
The same day Iraq signed a $365 million agreement to install a pipeline network to import 25 million cubic meters of Iranian natural gas a day to the Sadr, al-Quds and South Baghdad power stations in the Iraqi capital, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hinted to aides that he was considering cutting half of his government’s […]
As the FPA Blog site is going under the knife in about an hour, I won’t have time to put up a full post today. However, I wanted to get something up before the anesthetic sets in. As readers of yesterday’s post know, signs were pointing towards a governmental attempt to seize the reform narrative. […]
First of all, allow yours truly to apologize for the conspicuous gap in posts of late. There has been a fairly serious medical emergency with the paterfamilias which has kept me away from the blogosphere. My bad. The good news is that all is now well, and I’m back to a regular posting schedule. Lucky […]
One of the less publicized issues going on during Egypt’s rebuilding process is the trouble in the Sinai Peninsula. Since the revolution toppled the former autocratic government, lawlessness and chaos have taken hold of society. The nomadic Bedouin of the Sinai, who under Mubarak were controlled and coerced in to cooperating with the regime, have […]
Indictments have been issued in the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Four members of Hizballah are reportedly named in the case and the Lebanese government has a month to make arrests, after which the sealed indictments will become public. The indictments come at a particularly tense time for Lebanon, both internally and externally. […]
Recently, the folks over at The American Spectator saw fit to publish a piece I wrote about the political threat posed by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr…
Lisa Daftari, Iranian-American award-winning journalist with expertise in counterterrorism and the Middle East, in a discussion with the American Thinker, reflects on the prospects of democratic change in Iran. The discussion was conducted by Amil Imani. Introduction: Since the fraudulent June 12th, 2009 Presidential Election in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), an increasingly emboldened opposition, […]
Turkey faces a growing danger of Syrian economic and social disruption spilling onto its soil, with some fearing an influx of refugees could draw Turkish troops into border operations uncomfortably close to Syrian forces.President Bashar Al Assad’s crackdown on opposition has pushed once-warm ties between Turkey and Syria close to breaking point. Syrian policy towards […]