Syria unleashes force on protesters demanding freedom as unrest spreads
Reports of many killed as marchers take to streets, plus confrontations in Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain
- The Guardian, Saturday 26 March 2011
- Article history
Protesters shout anti-government slogans after Friday prayers at Omayyad mosque, in Damascus, Syria. Photograph: Muzaffar Salman/AP
Demonstrations in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and elsewhere were met with force as security forces struggled to contain unrest that had begun in the southern city of Deraa a week ago.
Thousands once again joined funeral processions in Deraa on Friday, chanting: "Deraa people are hungry, we want freedom."
Hundreds took to the streets in the cities of Homs, Hama, Tel and Latakia and in towns surrounding Deraa, with smaller protests in the major cities of Damascus and Aleppo, which are more firmly under the watch of security forces. Troops reportedly opened fire in some cases.
There were reports that at least 23 people had been killed, some of them in Damascus, hitherto unaffected; the reports could not be independently verified. Amnesty International put the death toll around Deraa in the past week at 55 at least.
Protests in the capital are rare and not tolerated by the Ba'athist regime. A witness told the Guardian that efforts at protests in Damascus were broken up by plain-clothed agents using batons.
By nightfall, a counter-demonstration had been put on near the historic Umayyad mosque in the heart of the capital. Clashes were reported between anti-regime demonstrators and loyalists. A large rally then began in support of President Bashar al-Assad. Hundreds drove around beeping horns and waving flags, whilst posters of the president were put up in the city.
The violence in Syria came after the government had pledged on Thursday to look into reforms. But activists using the Syrian Revolution Facebook page had called for a day of solidarity with Deraa. In the past, many young Syrians had been willing to overlook corruption, a lack of freedom and the slow pace of reforms in return for what they have seen as dignified leadership brought about by Assad's anti-Western foreign policy. He has also had a youthful appeal. Both appear to now be wearing thin.
"Regimes become really weak when their image turns to brutality. The killings in Deraa have done that," said Ziad Malki, an activist living in exile in Switzerland. "The Syrian people want more now."
Others agreed that a turning point had been reached. "Syrians [normally] never come out to protest. This shows how the killings, the worthless reforms announced yesterday and the government propaganda is insulting and is only making us angrier," said a 32-year-old man.
The protests and revolts across the Arab world continued elsewhere in Jordan, Bahrain and Yemen.
In Amman, one person was killed and more than 100 wounded when pro-government loyalists attacked a weekly pro-reform vigil in the heart of the Jordanian capital. The clashes were broken up by riot police. The violence was the first of its kind in Jordan in more than two months of protests which have seen the king sack his cabinet and pledge reforms.
Islamic Action Front leader Hamza Mansour, whose party leads Jordan's nascent opposition, said one of its members, Khairi Jamil Saeed, 26, was killed by being beaten by police. "This is an atrocious crime and we blame it on prime minister Marouf al-Bakhit and his cabinet," Mansour told the Associated Press. "The prime minister and the cabinet must resign."
Bakhit blamed opposition Islamists for the clash. "What happened today is definitely the start of chaos and it is unacceptable and I warn of the consequences," Bakhit told Jordanian television.
Addressing Islamists whom he said were taking orders from Egypt and Jordan, he said: "Enough playing with fire. I ask you, where are you taking Jordan?"
In Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that he was willing to relinquish power but not unconditionally.
"We are prepared to give up power but only to good, capable hands, not to malicious forces who conspire against the homeland," said Saleh after calling on young people leading protests against him to establish a political party and deliver a roadmap for Yemen's future.
Striking a defiant pose, Saleh attacked those he claims are "conspiring against him", calling them Houthis – an armed clan demanding autonomy in north Yemen – and drug dealers.
A few miles away, anti-government protesters staged their biggest pro-democracy rally since unrest broke out five months ago, in what they called the Friday of Departure. Tens of thousands knelt in neat rows for a mass prayer ceremony as a weeping imam demanded: "Why do you kill us Ali? Why?" A week ago, 53 protesters were killed at the spot by plain-clothed government loyalists firing from the roofs of nearby houses.
In the Bahrain capital, Manama, riot police fired teargas at demonstrators who defied a ban on public gatherings and staged a rally in the Shia suburb of Duraz. At least 20 people have been killed in a two-month uprising led by a disaffected Shia majority against the Gulf island's Sunni rulers.
Katherine Marsh is a pseudonym for a journalist living in Damascus
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Syria unleashes force on protesters demanding freedom as unrest spreads | World news | The Guardian
7iber Dot Com » صور وفيديو: اعتصام دوار الداخلية، الجمعة | Photos & Video : March24 Sit in, Friday
المزيد من الصور في عرض الشرائح التالي، تصوير لينا عجيلات
More photos in the following slide show, by Lina Ejeilat
Please note that the following video contains foul language
تنويه: يحتوي الفيديو التالي على هتافات خادشة للحياء
Photographer shooting the moon ‘saw a UFO’ - Local Headlines - Berwick Advertiser
Photographer shooting the moon ‘saw a UFO’
HE was on his way to Seahouses harbour to take pictures of the moon, but what local photographer Quentin Hutchinson saw instead was a “very bright orange ball of light”.
Quentin claims what he witnessed on Saturday night was a UFO. He had gone down to the harbour shortly after 10pm to take pictures of the moon, unusually large because it was at its closest to Earth since 1992, but he found his attention diverted by strange lights in the sky.
“On the way back from the harbour, walking along main street and approaching the first school, I noticed a very bright orange ball of light appear on the skyline above North Sunderland, and which moved fast and without sound towards me,” he explained.
“Then I noticed it was followed in line astern by a second similar light, both totally silent and moving at high speed. I managed to take a quick photo of them, and then saw a third orange light following further behind.
“All flew in formation at high speed towards me (as if flying towards the sea) but then they changed direction in a sweeping curve to head up north. As I stopped an elderly couple to point the objects out to them, the lead object did a zoom climb to high altitude.”
He contacted RAF Boulmer which confirmed they did not have any fast jet activity in the area that night at that time, and had nothing on their tapes to explain these lights.
UFO sightings and an “alien abduction” were detailed in thousands of documents released by the National Archives earlier this month. Previously classified documents reveal UFOs were discussed by the UK government
Japanese elevators get voice recognition, Japanese elevator rides get even more awkward -- Engadget
Japanese elevators get voice recognition, Japanese elevator rides get even more awkward
We here at Engadget are all about helping the less fortunate, so Mitsubishi Electric's latest innovation in elevator tech has us all warm and fuzzy. The new interface allows for blind users -- and presumably lazy users -- to select their destination floor by voice, with a subsequent announcement when they arrive. Additionally, the system kicks in whenever it detects a wheelchair, replacing the potentially difficult process of reaching high buttons with the simple act of speaking. No word on whether the system works in English just yet or if it'll make it to the States, but you might want to brush up on your Japanese either way.
Islamic Feminism: The Feminism I Relate To | Peace X Peace
Lana Abu Ayyash
A Jordanian woman leader reflects on her path to Islamic feminism, including how she founded Sister Power, the online social network for Muslim women.
***
I have always been interested in women’s rights. I remember reading hardcore feminist literature at 12 years old and writing about women’s rights at 17.
Why?
I cannot say it’s entirely because I was opposed to how women were treated in our society. Nor can I claim that I was brought up in a traditional Islamic household and that did it for me. This interest or passion, if you will, was always just there as part of who I am.
Early on, I rebelled against my traditions, religion, and everything else I could think of. Looking back to those years I can see that I did everything except read and educate myself about the very same tradition and religion that I declared war against.
In the year 2000, I was living in Canada and attending women’s studies classes at the University Of Western Ontario. As much as I loved it, I felt somehow foreign. The material we discussed was something I couldn’t relate to entirely – even though at the time I considered myself a secular agnostic. I felt that my roots and my traditions were calling to me.
I began a crusade to understand who I was, where I came from, what I want, what is Islam, and who was Muhammad. I wanted to understand the issue of women in Islam—a subject that has always provoked me. I began to read the Quran—something I never did when I was advocating against the Quran.
After several years I became convinced that Islam was what I was looking for. It is who I am and it is the “type” of feminism that I understand and can relate to.
I found my calling.
I began a study of Islamic law and philosophy. I became a full time researcher on women’s rights in Islam. I started meeting with women several times a week, giving lectures at times, and writing articles. The more deeply I dug into our tradition the more I was saddened by the bad reputation the tradition has.
In 2008, I started a social network for Muslim women called SisterPower.net. It is a place where, as Muslim women, we can interact, share ideas, express our feelings, and voice our concerns.
I am a feminist, and will always be. But now I realize that feminism, freedom, and liberty have many faces and comes in many different and rich colors.
***
To learn more about Islamic feminism, go to these sites:
In Search of What Islam Really Says
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