Middle East Policy

Syria's Baath is, as usual, practicing its Baathism and turning Syria into an "Internet black hole” according to Reporters Without Borders. I would like to congratulate al-Baath on this new exceptional achievement to be added to the long list of its revolution's achievements in Syria. More than 100 websites blocked in growing wave of online censorship Reporters Without Borders 7.12.2007 Reporters Without Borders is concerned that the number of websites to which access is blocked in Syria has been growing steadily for the past month. More than 100 websites, including the video-sharing site YouTube, the blog platform Blogspot and the email service Hotmail, are now inaccessible. “We call on the authorities to explain what is going on,” the press freedom organisation said. “The number of websites rendered inaccessible doubled in two weeks. We do not believe all this suddenly happened for technical reasons as a common feature of all these sites is that they contained criticism ...

Bush Promotes Freedom, Justice Across the Middle East Those who desire liberty will defeat extremists, president says By Merle Kellerhals USINFO 14 January 2008 Washington -- President Bush is encouraging the advance of freedom and justice throughout the Middle East during his eight-day trip in the region, but he also is warning of the dangers posed by those who promote extremism, terrorism and insurgency that threaten regional security and undermine societies. "For decades, the people of this region saw their desire for liberty and justice denied at home and dismissed abroad in the name of stability. Today your aspirations are threatened by violent extremists who murder the innocent in pursuit of power," Bush said during remarks January 13 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The president began his eight-day regional visit by focusing attention on an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement that would lead to creation of a Palestinian state. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators op...

These are some excerpts from the latest issues of Weekly Wire by the Project on Middle East Democracy . January 14, 2008 Thoughts on Bush's Middle East Trip: President Bush left last Tuesday on a nine-day trip to the Middle East with stops in Israel, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Some had low expectations for the visit, describing the desire to revive support for Middle Eastern democracy as hopeless, while others urge Bush to use this opportune time to set a new course in addressing tensions with Iran. Another analyst implores Bush to advocate a small, easy-to-build-upon initiative, rather than a grand gesture, for the Israeli and Palestinian people. One article remarks on the irony that four of the six Arab nations on the trip are monarchies and highlight Saudi Arabia as a prominent monarchy of great relevance to US foreign policy. In a different light, an editorial argues that the trip exemplifies Bush's stature as "the mos...

This is the news section of the December issue (latest issue) of Arab Reform Bulletin Published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Headlines: Lebanon: Presidential Vote Delayed Palestine: Annapolis Follow Up; Settlement Plans; Attacks on Journalists Jordan: Parliamentary Election Results; New Cabinet Syria: Activists Arrested; Websites Blocked Iraq: Justice and Accountability Law; Sunni MPs End Boycott; Press Freedoms Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Arrests; Torturers Punished; Other Developments Sudan: Cabinet Reshuffle; British Teacher Released; Journalists Fined Gulf Countries: Common Market Pledged Kuwait: Draft Political Parties Law; Questioning of Education Minister Saudi Arabia: Religious Police Cleared; Rape Victim and Her Lawyer Punished Bahrain: Human Rights Defender on Trial UAE: Crackdown on Human Trafficking; Press Freedom Violations Algeria: Local Election Results Tunisia: Journalist Trial Morocco: Arrests of Homosexuals Upcoming Political Events Contents: Leb...