Subjects Archives: Revolutions

We return from a recent trip to the region persuaded that the main question engaging people with respect to the “Arab spring” is no longer “who’s next,” but rather “how far will Saudi Arabia go in pushing a counter-revolutionary agenda” across the Middle East?  Whether Saudi Arabia is really capable of coping with the momentous […]

Candlelight March in Solidarity with the People of Bahrain, 14.04.11 Funeral March for Saudi Torture Victim Mohammad Hassan al-Hayek, 14.04.11: “The People Want Human Rights” Jaroudiya and Awamiya Villagers Participate in the Central Qatif March, 14.04.11 The Message of the People of Qatif to the House of Saud, 15.04.11: “Friday, 22 April 2011 Will Be […]

Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión.  This cartoon was first published in his blog on 12 April 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print

  Jon Stewart: Jon Stewart: Oh, people, we are now into our third week of a military bombing campaign in Libya, Operation Odyssey Dawn.  The operation cleverly named for the Odyssey, a 20-year harrowing journey through a hellscape where nearly everyone is killed.  Adding “dawn” . . . so it’s the earliest part of that […]

  A twenty-five person peace delegation made up of academics, lawyers, journalists and professionals will be departing for Libya on 9th April, to call for an immediate ceasefire in Libya and an end to all hostilities.  This is the first half of a two stage process that will involve reconciliation talks with tribal leaders, government […]

  Bahraini government forces backed by Saudi troops have completely blocked access to several villages.  Reports say the military have set up checkpoints and deployed secret police around the village of Ma’ameer, to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the village.  Saudi and Bahraini troops have also fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the […]

Millions of Syrians rallied all over Syria, pledging loyalty to the country, in support of Bashar al-Assad, on 29 March 2011.  The dialectic of the regime and the opposition in Syria, it is safe to say, is neither like Tunisia and Egypt, nor like Iraq and Libya.  Instead, it is more like what happened in […]

Fidel Castro was right.  The West was planning an attack on a sovereign third world nation imminently: Libya.  Nothing like a good old war against brown and black people in Libya by the West to remind oneself of what Western civilisation is all about.  Many of us who have been politically active since the 1990s […]

Protests demanding democratic rights in general, as well as the release of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer (arrested in February this year for advocating constitutional monarchy), were held on Friday, 4 March 2011, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Al-Ahsa Qatif The protests, albeit far from the magnitude seen in Arab intifadas elsewhere, still appear to […]

  The one uprising that is most likely to be hijacked and sabotaged is the Libyan Uprising.  Not only because of the opportunistic and sinister Western intervention but also because the faces of the old detested regime are now leading the so-called opposition. I mean, to listen to Qadhdhafi’s UN ambassador, ‘Abdur-Rahman Shulqum, speak against […]

Hundreds of Egyptians gathered at the Libyan Embassy in Cairo to show their support for the Libyan uprising and to demand that Muammar al-Gaddafi step down. This video was released by Ahram Online on 21 February 2011. | Print

  Bahraini man in the revolutionary camp: “Zine El Abidine down, Mubarak down, Al Khalifa down, down, down.” James Bays: “Can the king make political concessions, or is it too late?” Bahraini woman in the revolutionary camp: “It’s too late.  Too late now.  Now the people, they — you can hear them — they want […]

Shias and Sunnis, we stand as brothers, chanting, “We Will Not Sell Our Nation!” This video was released by Ahlulbayt TV on 17 February 2011.  Cf. “Comrade Ibrahim Al-Amin criticizes Aljazeera Arabic for its coverage (or lack thereof) of Bahrain” (As’ad AbuKhalil, “Aljazeera (Ar) and Bahrain,” Angry Arab News Service, 18 February 2011).  | Print

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  | Print

  Patty Culhane: Now that shots have been fired in the name of Bahrain’s government, a key ally to the US and home to the strategically critical US Navy base, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to be showing some support for the Bahraini government’s position. . . . Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute: Not […]

Stateless Arabs in Kuwait held protests today, demanding citizenship.  The protests reportedly took place in Taima’ and Sulaibiya, Jahra Governorate, and Ahmadi, Ahmadi Governorate. Taima’ Sulaibiya, 18 February 2011 Ahmadi, 18 February 2011 On Al Watan TV For more information, visit .  Cf. “More than 1,000 stateless Arabs demonstrated in Kuwait on Friday demanding citizenship, […]

  “They renamed it [Manama’s central square] Tahrir Square after the one in Cairo.  They’ve started setting up tents, and vans are bringing supplies of food and water.” — Ahmed Hazim The Euronews video at the top and the Al Jazeera videos below it were released on 16 February 2011.  Cf. <www.facebook.com/TrueRoyalDemocracy>. | Print  

Much like Mubarak, the former democratic reformer turned long-serving US dictator for the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, demonstrates what can happen to even stalwart defenders of capitalism when they are opposed by their citizens en masse.  Like Mubarak, Marcos previously provided a ray of hope for Western elites intent on quelling popular resistance within their own […]

I said several days ago that the die was cast for Mubarak and that not even Obama could save him. The world knows what is taking place in the Middle East. The news is circulating at incredible speed. Politicians barely have time to read the cables coming in by the hour. Everyone is aware of […]

The events of the last weeks are one of those historical moments where the lessons of many decades can be telescoped into a few brief moments and seemingly minor occurrences can take on immense significance.  The entry of millions of Egyptians onto the political stage has graphically illuminated the real processes that underlie the politics […]