Sourian Nationalism Must Overcome (Part 3/4)

When the Egyptian protesters yelled “tahya Masr,” the Christians turned themselves into human shields to protect their Muslim brothers and sisters while they prostrated in their prayers.

Sourian Nationalism Must Overcome (Part 2/4)

The extent of treason by infiltrators and informers (some enticed with money, others tortured into cooperation), for those who dare read into the historical record, was so enormous and grotesque; a catastrophe of a magnitude only equal to its Orwellian necessity to destroy, once and for all, the nationalist aspirations of all Sourians.

Islamist Citizenship

A dream that must be passed on generation after generation, until the long-awaited day comes when Islamism triumphs against all man-made political innovations

South Sudan Is Not Arab

When I look at Salva Kiir Mayardit (the first president of South Sudan), read his name, or hear him speak, I’m thinking “definitely Arab.” Don’t you?

Why Arab Governments Fail to Contain?

The level of oppression and the extreme absence of freedom of expression in the Arab World should not be viewed as a sign of backwardness, but in fact as a sign of strong will and desire to be free.

Bahrain Tears Down Pearl Statue

The most symbolic of this twisted sentiment is the destruction of the Pearl Statue in the main square of Manama, where the Bahraini protesters have gathered for weeks. The Pearl symbolized Bahrain’s previous fortune and the main driver of its economy prior to petroleum, pearl harvesting is among the most iconic of the Bahraini heritage.

Gaddafi: A Mixture of Mubarak and Saddam (Guest Post)

Originally published for Deaf Walls by Yousef K.B.
(click on the link for access to the hyperlinks in the original post):

When former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben-Ali left Tunisia after he lost control of the state following massive protests that gripped his country in January, Arab leaders were silent, each looking on with shock at the prospects of people overcoming their fear and toppling a vicious security state much like theirs. The only voice that spoke up was Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, the president of Libya, known for his off-the-cuff remarks. He told the Tunisian public: “I am very pained by what is happening in Tunisia. Tunisia now lives in fear … Families could be raided and slaughtered in their bedrooms and the citizens in the street killed as if it was the Bolshevik or the American Revolution. … What is this for? To change Zine al-Abidine? Hasn’t he told you he would step down after three years? Be patient for three years and your son stays alive.” Seeped in hubris, Gaddafi could not imagine that he was in line to be toppled by his own people.

How Big Business Ruled Egypt

An exposé an AlJazeera on how the Egyptian business elite ruled the country provides some horrifying details about this incestuous relationship that concentrated the nation’s wealth in the hands of the privileged few, virtually destroyed the living standard of the middle class and the poor, and robbed the resources of the country for the benefit of western corporations.

A list of who’s who in the Ahmed Natheef cabinet that was just fired by Mubarak gives you the impression that ministerial positions were being occupied by individuals with specific, narrow agenda of securing favorable environments for their own and family businesses. Mind you Egyptian constitution explicitly forbids public servants from remaining invested in private enterprise or having other jobs or conflict of interest. A few examples:

Reading Into Whitehouse Stance On Egypt

Todays Whitehouse press conference was deafening in the prevalence of nothingness in it. Spokesman Robert Gibbs managed to speak for nearly a full hour, yet say nothing.

- It is clear that the Whitehouse is in panic mode that its dictator ally may not survive many more days of this uprising. The Whitehouse should fear reaping what it sowed over the past thirty years of supporting this brutal dictator.

As the first domino falls…

The Arab public has long been bubbling under the surface, but in Tunisia, it is under the surface no more.

Arab dictators now have a warning, and they will try to manipulate the public and issue progressive-sounding promises, they important thing is that people do not accept any of those. If Mubarak was going to allow freedoms to Egyptians, he would have done it in the last 30 years, he does not need, or deserve, another year for a do over.