Bloodbath that is not a bloodbath - Why Egypt is doomed

 

 

Egyptians mourn over bodies wrapped in shrouds at a mosque in Cairo on August 15, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Khaled)

By: Pepe Escobar

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/op-edge/egypt-protests-terror-muslim-brotherhood-526/

Egypt's ‘bloodbath that is not a bloodbath’ has shown that the forces of hardcore suppression and corruption reign supreme, while foreign interests - the House of Saud, Israel and the Pentagon - support the military's merciless strategy.

Stop. Look at the photos. Linger on dozens of bodies lined up in a makeshift morgue. How can the appalling bloodbath in Egypt be justified? Take your pick. Either it’s Egypt’s remix of Tiananmen Square, or it’s the bloodbath that is not a bloodbath, conducted by the leaders of the coup that is not a coup, with the aim of fighting “terror”.

It certainly was not a crowd clearing operation – as in the New York Police Department ‘clearing’Occupy Wall Street. As a Sky journalist tweeted, it was more like “a major military assault largely on unarmed civilians”, using everything from bulldozers to tear gas to snipers.

Thus the scores indiscriminately killed – with crossfire estimates ranging from the low hundreds (the “interim government”) to at least 4,500 (the Muslim Brotherhood), including at least four journalists and the 17-year-old Asmaa, daughter of top Muslim Brotherhood politician Mohamed El Beltagy.

El Beltagy, before being arrested, said, crucially, “If you do not take to the streets, he [as in General Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, the leader of the coup that is not a coup who appointed the interim government] will make the country like Syria.”

Wrong. Sisi is not Bashar al-Assad. Don’t expect passionate Western calls for “targeted strikes” or a no-fly zone over Egypt. He may be a military dictator killing his own people. But he’s one of “our” bastards.

What we say goes

Let’s look at the reactions. The lethargic poodles of the European Union called for “restraint”and described it all as “extremely worrying.” A White House statement said the interim government should “respect human rights” – which can be arguably interpreted as the Manning/Snowden/droning of Pakistan and Yemen school of human rights.

That pathetic excuse for a diplomat, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, at least was blunt: “Egypt is an important partner for NATO through the Mediterranean Dialogue.” Translation: the only thing we really care about is that those Arabs do as we say.

 

A man grieves as he looks at one of many bodies laid out in a make shift morgue after Egyptian security forces stormed two huge protest camps at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and Al-Nahda squares where supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi were camped, in Cairo, on August 14, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mosaab El-Shamy)

Stripped of all rhetoric – indignant or otherwise – the key point is that Washington won’t cut its $1.3 billion annual aid to Sisi’s army no matter what. Wily Sisi has declared a “war on terror”. The Pentagon is behind it. And the Obama administration is tagging along – reluctantly or not.

Now let’s see who’s in revolt. Predictably, Qatar condemned it; after all Qatar was bankrolling the Morsi presidency. The Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, encouraged Egyptians to keep protesting to “thwart the conspiracy” by the former regime – as in Mubarakists without Mubarak.

Turkey – which also supports the Muslim Brotherhood - urged the UN Security Council and the Arab League to act quickly to stop a “massacre”; as if the UN and the Saudi-controlled Arab League would interrupt their three-hour-long expense account lunches to do anything.

Iran – correctly - warned of the risk of civil war. That does not mean that Tehran is blindly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood – especially after Morsi had incited Egyptians to join a jihad against Assad in Syria. What Tehran has noted is that the civil war is already on.

Let’s aim for the kill

“Byzantine” does not even begin to explain the blame game. The bloodbath that is not a bloodbath happened as the Sisi-appointed “government” had promised it would engage in a military-supported “transition”that would be politically all-inclusive.

Yet, fed up with six weeks of protests denouncing the “coup that is not a coup,” the interim government changed the narrative and decided to take no prisoners.

According to the best informed Egyptian media analyses, Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Baha Eldin and Vice President for foreign affairs Mohamed ElBaradei wanted to go soft against the protesters, while Interior Minister Gen. Mohammad Ibrahim Mustafa and the Defense Minister - Sisi himself - wanted to go medieval.

The first step was to pre-emptively blame the Muslim Brotherhood for the bloodshed – just as the Muslim Brotherhood blamed Jemaah Islamiyah for deploying Kalashnikovs and burning churches and police stations.

 

An Egyptian woman mourns over the body of her daughter wrapped in shrouds at a mosque in Cairo on August 15, 2013 (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

A key reason to launch the “bloodbath that is not a bloodbath” this Wednesday was an attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood to march on the perennially dreaded Interior Ministry. Hardcore Ibrahim Mustafa would have none of it.

Sisi’s minions appointed 25 provincial governors, of which 19 are generals, in perfect timing to “reward” the top military echelon and thus solidify the Egyptian “deep state”, or actually police state. And to crown the “bloodbath that is not a bloodbath,” Sisi’s minions declared martial law for a month. Under these circumstances, the resignation of Western darling ElBaradei won’t make Sisi lose any sleep.

The original spirit of Tahrir Square is now dead and buried , as a Yemeni miraculously not targeted by Obama’s drones, Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman, pointed out.

The key question is who profits from a hyper-polarized Egypt, with a civil war pitting the well-organized, fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood against the military-controlled “deep state”.

Both options are equally repulsive (not to mention incompetent). Yet the local winners are easily identifiable: the counter-revolution, as in the fulool – diehard Mubarakists – a bunch of corrupt oligarchs, and most of all the deep state itself.

Hardcore repression rules. Corruption rules. And foreign domination rules (as in Saudi Arabia, who’s now paying most of the bills, alongside the UAE).

Internationally, the big winners are Saudi Arabia (displacing Qatar), Israel (because the Egyptian army is even more docile than the Brotherhood), and – who else – the Pentagon, the Egyptian army’s pimp. Nowhere in the Milky Way this House of Saud/Israel/Pentagon axis can be spun as “good for the Egyptian people”.

Sheikh Al-Torture is our man

A quick recap is in order. In 2011, the Obama administration never said, “Mubarak must go”until the last minute. Hilary Clinton wanted a “transition” led by CIA asset and spy chief Omar Suleiman – widely known in Tahrir Square as “Sheikh al-Torture”.

 

Reporters run for cover during clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, and police in Cairo on August 14, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mosaab El-Shamy)

Then a Washington inside joke was that the Obama administration had gleefully become a Muslim Brotherhood cheerleader (allied with Qatar). Now, like a yo-yo, the Obama administration is weighing on how to spin the new narrative - the ‘loyal’Egyptian army courageously wiping out the “terrorist” Muslim Brotherhood to “protect the revolution.”

There was never any revolution to begin with; the head of the snake (Mubarak) was gone, but the snake remained alive and kicking. Now it’s met the new snake, same as the old snake. Additionally, it’s so easy to sell to the uninformed galleries the Muslim Brotherhood = al-Qaeda equation.

Pentagon supremo Chuck Hagel was glued on the phone with Sisi as the July 3 “coup that is not a coup” was taking place. Pentagon spin would want us to believe that Sisi promised Hagel he would be on top of things in a heartbeat. Virtually 100% of the Beltway agreed. Thus the official Washington spin of “coup that is not a coup.”Tim Kaine from Virginia, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, even extolled those model democracies, the UAE and Jordan, in their enthusiasmfor the “coup that is not a coup.”

It’s essential to outline the five countries that have explicitly endorsed the “coup that is not a coup.” Four of them are GCC petro-monarchies (members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, also known as Gulf Counter-Revolution Club); Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. And the fifth is that little monarchy, Jordan, the GCC wants to annex to the Gulf.

Even more pathetic than Egypt’s so-called liberals, some leftists, some Nasserists and assorted progressives defending Sisi’s bloodlust has been the volte-face of Mahmoud Badr, the founder of Tamarrod – the movement that spearheaded the massive demonstrations that led to Morsi’s ouster. In 2012, he blasted Saudi Arabia. After the coup, he prostrated himself in their honor. At least he knows who’s paying the bills.

And then there’s Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, the Vatican of Sunni Islam. He said, “Al-Azhar…did not know about the methods used for the dispersal of the protests except through media channels.” Nonsense; he has repeatedly praised Sisi

 

Egyptian Muslim brotherhood supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi evacuate a wounded man during clashes with riot police at Cairo's Mustafa Mahmoud Square after security forces dispersed supporters Morsi on August 14, 2013 (AFP Photo / Str)

Feel free to adore my eyelashes

There’s no other way of saying it; from Washington’s point of view, Arabs can kill each other to Kingdom Come, be it Sunnis against Shiites, jihadis against secularists, peasants against urbanites, and Egyptians against Egyptians. The only thing that matters is the Camp David agreements; and nobody is allowed to antagonize Israel.

So it’s fitting that Sisi’s minions in boots asked Israel to keep their drones near the border, as they need to pursue their “war on terror” in the Sinai. For all practical purposes, Israel runs the Sinai.

But then there’s the cancellation of a delivery of F-16s to Sisi’s army. In real life, every US weapons sale across the Middle East has to be “cleared” with Israel. So a case can be made that Israel – for the moment - is not exactly sure what Sisi is really up to.

It’s quite instructive to read what Sisi thinks of “democracy” – as demonstrated when he was at the US War College. He’s essentially an Islamist – but most of all he craves power. And the MB is standing in his way. So they have to be disposed of.

Sisi’s “war on terror” is arguably a roaring success as a PR stunt to legitimize his run for a popular mandate. He’s trying to pose as the new Nasser. He’s Sisi the Savior, surrounded by a bunch of Sisi groupies. A columnist wrote in Al-Masry Al-Youm that Sisi doesn't even need to issue an order; it’s enough to “just flutter his eyelashes”. The Sisi-for-president campaign is already on.

Anyone familiar with US-propped 1970s tin-pot Latin American dictators is able to spot one. This is no Savior. This is no more than an Al-Sisi-nator – the vainglorious tin-pot ruler of what my colleague Spengler bluntly defined as a banana republic without the bananas.

About: Pepe Escobar

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT and TomDispatch, and a frequent contributor to websites and radio shows ranging from the US to East Asia

 

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Thousands take to streets in Argentina to protest economic woes (PHOTOS)

 

Aerial view of people gathering during a "cacerolazo" (a form of civilian protest where pots are used to make noise) against Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's government in Cordoba, Argentina on November 8, 2012 (AFP Photo)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/argentina-protest-march-government-304/

Thousands of Argentineans gathered in the streets of capital Buenos Aires to voice anger against the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The rally, reportedly the biggest in a decade, was organized on social networks.

­The protesters banged pots and pans as they rallied against soaring inflation and sky-high levels of crime and corruption. Many demonstrators also said that they were driven to protest by the prospect of President Fernandez seeking a third term in office.

The president’s supporters in Congress have lobbied for a constitutional amendment allowing Fernandez to run for a third consecutive term in 2015. President Fernandez was reelected to a second term in 2011, but her popularity has plummeted since she assumed office.

Protesters also spoke out against restrictions on the purchase of dollars that were introduced last year and ramped up this year. The new law has made it harder for Argentineans worried about inflation to trade in their currency.

Official data on inflation in the country puts the current rate at 12%, though some economists predict the actual figure is much higher.

The International Monetary Fund warned Argentina in September that the country could face sanctions if it fails to produce reliable growth and bring down inflation by December.

The Argentinean leadership has claimed that the economic crisis gripping the country is the result of a global recession, not government policy.

 

 

Image from instagram.com @sofidangavs

 

 

Image from twitter.com @AntonellaMarty

 

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Greek police, firefighters, coast guards, medics protest against cuts

 

Greek police officers, firefighters, and coast guards protest outside parliament during an anti-austerity demonstration in central Athens on November 1, 2012.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/01/269989/1000s-of-greeks-hold-demo-against-cuts/

Thousands of Greek police officers, coast guards, firefighters, and medical professionals have held demonstrations to protest against the government’s austerity measures.

The protesters took to the streets in the capital Athens on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Thousands of police officers and coast guards from various Greek regions marched to parliament to protest against salary cuts expected to be included in a new austerity bill.

Next week, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras is likely to send the parliament a bill of labor reforms, which includes the officers' salary cuts.

In protest to the cuts, the police officers and the coast guards also handed out bowls of bean soup to the needy.

"[We say] 'No' to modern slavery. Our rage is overflowing. They lied to us again; those pre-election promises became dust after the elections, and will lead us to new medieval times," said Dimitris Sarantakis, the president of the Panhellenic Coast Guard Officers' Federation.

"Even if these measures pass the way they have arranged them, we will overturn them because we have not only reached our limits, we have now surpassed our limits," said Dimitris Vogiatzis, the president of the Police Officers' Federation.

A large number of Greek firefighters chanting anti-austerity slogans also marched on the parliament.

Earlier in the day, public hospital staff including doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers, walked off the job and staged a demonstration outside Greek Health Ministry headquarters. They said austerity cuts have weakened citizens' health and made their jobs more difficult.

They carried banners reading, "Austerity measures are bad for your health" and "Free public health care for all".

Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its fifth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left about half a million people without jobs.

One in every five Greek workers is currently unemployed, banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been slashed by up to 40 percent.

Greek youths have also been badly affected, and more than half of them are unemployed.

The long-drawn-out eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and reached Italy, Spain, and France in 2011, is viewed as a threat not only to Europe but also to many of the world’s other developed economies.

Also on Thursday, a Greek court ruled that some of the spending cuts needed to secure more bailout funds for the near-bankrupt country are unconstitutional.

The Court of Auditors, which examines Greek laws before they are presented to parliament, said planned austerity measures such as raising the age of retirement to 67 and reducing pensions by 5 to 10 percent, could be against the constitution.

The court said the pension cuts for a fifth time since May 2010 violated many constitutional provisions, including the principles of individual dignity and equality before the law.

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Canadian protesters to show faces or get 10 years in jail

 

A demonstrator with a Guy Fawkes mask protests against the tuition hikes and Bill 78 in Quebec City.(Reuters / Mathieu Belanger)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/canada-mask-bill-riots-759/

Canadian lawmakers weren’t exactly in the Halloween spirit when they approved a new bill on Wednesday. The legislation makes it illegal to wear masks during riots and protests. Guilty parties could face up to 10 years in prison.

Bill C-309 passed with a vote of 153 to 126 in the Canadian Parliament. It will now move on to the Senate.

If it becomes law, mask-wearers at riots face up to 10 years in jail. Those busted wearing a disguise at an unlawful protest could be sentenced to up to five years in the big house.

The sanctions would not apply to those taking part in peaceful demonstrations or protests.

Parliamentarian Blake Richards, who sponsored the bill, says the measure is aimed at targeting the “growing threat” of vandalism and violence.

Lawmakers are particularly targeting the Blak Bloc anarchist group, whose members dress in black and hide their faces with glasses, scarves, and hoods. The group engaged in violence during the Quebec student protests earlier this year.

MPs supporting the bill are unsurprisingly thrilled that it passed through parliament.

"To have the support of the house, to get the bill through, obviously we're on the way to where we want to be, which is having the opportunity to better protect public safety," Richards said in a statement.

The legislation was brought forward as a response to the 2011 Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver.

Police documented 15,000 criminal acts during the riots, but were able to make very few charges because they couldn’t identify the people involved.

However, not everyone is so quick to support the bill. Some say it could be the beginning of a slippery slope.

"I don't think people understand the implications that it has — when does wearing a toque low on your face become a mask? Are we going to ban people from appearing in a protest because they are wearing a burqa? Are we going to say that on a cold day that people can't wear a mask?" Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said in a statement.

Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett said the bill could have unintended consequences by encouraging pre-emptive arrests, which may lead to lawsuits by demonstrators who feel they were unlawfully detained.

Other opposition members say the bill is unnecessary because it merely criminalizes what is already criminal.

It is already illegal to wear a disguise while committing an offense, including rioting. However, unlawful assemblies do not fall under the current law.

The bill is controversial as it makes it difficult to draw a line between a peaceful demonstration and unlawful gathering, Michael Forian, reporter at CJAD Radio, told RT.

“What this law basically does is that it will criminalize people who are in protest if the police of that city deem the protest to be an unlawful assembly,” he argues.

“Let’s look at Montreal for example and any major city in Quebec, where if you are 50 people or more in a peaceful protest, a non-violent protest – that could be deemed an unlawful assembly if you have not presented your itinerary, and the directions of your protest routes to the police force of the municipality on Quebec.”

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Turkish police teargas thousands-strong secularist demo

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/turkey-police-teargas-protest-506/

Tear gas and water cannons met thousands of protesters in Ankara who had staged a pro-secular rally on Republic Day. The clashes mark a growing gap between the Islam-leaning government and the country's secular layers.

­“Turkey is secular and will remain secular!” chanted protesters waving Turkish flags and banners.

The capital’s governor last week banned a planned pro-secular rally citing fears that “some groups may seek to incite anarchy in the country.” But Monday, over 30 civil society groups, led by the Youth Union of Turkey, still took to the streets.

Tens of thousands gathered in Ankara's old city to march to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the secular republic on October 29, 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

“We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal!” shouted the demonstrators, who have been angered by an Islamic bent demonstrated recently by the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Since Erdogan first occupied the PM’s seat in 2003, his government has pushed a number of democratic reforms to bring Turkey closer to EU standards, such as abolishment of many restrictions on freedom of speech and the press.

But a recent education reform has been slammed by opposition groups as “promoting more Korans in schools and veil wearing.” Other criticisms stem from Erdogan’s strong political personality, with many suspecting the PM of “elected sultan” ambitions.

In recent years, Republic Day celebrations have become a common date to mark the country’s fears for its secular traditions. But as on Monday demonstrators failed to reach Mustafa Kemal’s mausoleum, where Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and other top officials had laid wreaths hours earlier.

“Great Ataturk… We stand before you with the pride of being a country that is improving its democracy, protecting human rights and freedoms, strengthening its economy and maintaining reforms. We are trying our best to surpass the level of contemporary civilization, to maintain the basic values of our republic,” President Gul wrote in the special ceremonial register at the mausoleum.

 

Riot police use tear gas and water canons to disperse the crowd as thousands of people holding national flags marched to the mausoleum of Ataturk to celebrate the country's Republic Day in Ankara, on October 29, 2012. (AFP Photo / Adem Altan)

 

Riot police use tear gas and water canons to disperse the crowd as thousands of people holding national flags marched to the mausoleum of Ataturk to celebrate the country's Republic Day in Ankara, on October 29, 2012. (AFP Photo / Adem Altan)

 

The Ankara governor's office has banned the Republic Day rally, arguing that the state's security services received intelligence that groups might be planning "provocative" actions. (AFP Photo / Adem Altan)

 

Thousands of people holding national flags gather at the mausoleum of Ataturk to celebrate the country's Republic Day in Ankara, on October 29, 2012. (AFP Photo / Adem Altan)

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Thousands march in Madrid against government austerity measures

A picture taken on October 27, 2012 shows placards on a fence installed by police to protect the Spanish Congress during a protest against the government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts in Madrid (AFP Photo / Dominique Faget)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/madrid-austerity-protest-march-396/

A massive police escort accompanied tens of thousands of Spaniards marching on the country’s parliament in Madrid as part of anti-austerity protests.

­The 2.3-kilometers march organized by the "Surround parliament" protest group was closely guarded by law enforcement with dog teams, vans with reinforced windows, officers in full riot gear as well as mounted police.

At the Parliament, the crowd was greeted by an even larger police presence and pushed them back behind a chain of metal rail barricades.

Demonstrators were protesting against the latest measures introduced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government as tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the third quarter with a bank bailout in sight.

“And now they are going to give banks a bailout, rescue them as if they were princesses,” Alan Pipo told the AP. “They should be put out on the streets, just like all those families who are being evicted from their homes because they are unable to keep up with mortgage payments! "

Demonstrators held a minute’s silence with their backs turned on parliament to show their condemnation of the government’s policies, that’s as a quarter of Spaniards are now unemployed.

The crowd also moved in front of Bankia Bank, where a group of protesters have been camping out since Monday, in an effort to pressure the bank to halt evictions that have so far affected 400,000 families in Spain.

Earlier on Saturday, nearly 3,000 off-duty police officers had also taken to the streets to voice their anger over austerity measures and the withdrawal of their Christmas bonuses.

Overall the Spanish economy has been struggling for years and now faces a staggering unemployment rate among the young of 52.34 per cent according to country’s National Statistical Institute.

In an effort to rebound the economic growth PM Rajoy has hiked taxes, cut spending and introduced harsh labor reforms in an effort to persuade investors that his government can manage Spain's financial trouble without a full bailout.

But some researchers believe that instead of cutting spending, it might be wise to increase it.

“The alternative is actually not to cut spending, but to invest in the economy, to invest in growth to make sure that there’re jobs. And the only way to ultimately get out of this debt, is to grow out of debt and not to cut your way of debt,” Jerome Roos, a researcher on the EU debt crisis at the European University Institute in Florence, told RT.

Spain’s economic output has shrunk for five quarters in a row and the country’s banking sector has been given a €100 billion loan by the 17 Eurozone states.

 

Demonstrators take part in a protest against the government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts in Madrid on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Caesar Manso)

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Violent clashes erupt as Italy protests austerity

Demonstrators march on the ring road during the No Monti Day demonstration on October 27, 2012 in Rome (AFP Photo / STR)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/italy-austerity-protest-clashes-384/

Violent clashes erupted between police and protesters in the northern Italian town of Riva del Garda as tens of thousands took to the streets of Italy in a nationwide anti-austerity demonstration dubbed ‘No Monti Day.’

Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd of angry protesters who fought back with clubs and banners on the streets of Riva del Garda.

Reports say the country’s Prime Minister Mario Monti, who is seen by many as a root cause of the Italian people’s suffering, was attending a meeting in Riva del Garda when the clashes began.

The demonstration in Riva del Garda was just one out of many taking place in Italy on Saturday.

In Rome police expected some 30,000 to take to the streets, but activists estimate that up to 100,000 showed up.

Protesters marched through the city to demand more jobs, investment in schools and universities, more money for healthcare and the end of the austerity policy brokered by Monti and his technocratic cabinet.

Monti, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi last November, is accused of introducing tough austerity measures that have hit ordinary Italians hardest asthe country’s economy continues to falter.

The protests in Italy come a year after ‘Occupy Rome’ turned extremely violent as scores of masked protesters attacked police with rocks, clubs and hummers.

The rioters torched cars, smashed windows, looted shops and even set the building housing Italy’s Defense Ministry on fire.

 

Screen shot from AP video

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Hungarian demonstrators burn Israeli flag in Budapest

 

File photo shows an Israeli flag being burned.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/25/268630/israel-flag-burned-in-hungary-capital/

Members of Hungary’s Jobbik ultra-nationalist party have burned an Israeli flag in front of a major synagogue in the capital Budapest, calling on the government to cut diplomatic and economic ties with the Tel Aviv regime.

The protesters gathered outside the Dohany Street Synagogue, which is regarded as the largest synagogue in Europe, on Tuesday, when the country marked the 56th anniversary of the anti-Communist revolution in 1956.

Jobbik leader Gabor Vona denounced Hungary’s cooperation with the Israeli regime and said any “agreement between Hungary and Israel should be canceled.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to Budapest Ilan Mor appeared on a TV program later in the day, condemning the anti-Israel demonstration in Budapest.

Jobbik holds 47 parliamentary seats and has been against Israeli investment in Hungary. It also considers Israeli business as threatening for the country.

In an interview in February, the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Marton Gyongyosi, condemned policies of the Tel Aviv regime toward Palestinians.

Gyongyosi stated that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians amounted to a “Nazi system.”

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Thousands in Madrid protest 2013 budget cuts (PHOTOS)

 

Demonstrators raise their arms during an assembly outside Madrid's Parliament October 23, 2012, as the debate for the 2013 budget goes on inside.(Reuters/Susana Vera)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/spain-protests-parliament-budget-madrid-091/

Thousands have taken to the streets of the Spanish capital, just outside the Parliament building, to protest their government’s latest bid to further cut spending in 2013.

­Cordoned off by police riot vans, the crowd outside the government headquarters in Madrid yelled slogans lambasting further austerity measures and political corruption, demanding the resignations of the deputies of both the ruling conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists.

"People in the street feel like [lawmakers] don't respect us," Noelia Urdialesa, a care assistant, told the AFP. "They are making cuts in health and education, affecting the most vulnerable."

Earlier in the day, students also staged an anti-austerity protest against new cuts to education that are expected in the 2013 budget, which will lead to larger class sizes and higher tuition fees.

Approximately $6.5 billion has been cut from education funding in Spain since 2010.

Politicians, meanwhile, are debating a new budget plan that would add an additional €39 billion in savings, as part of the plan to reduce spending by €150 billion between 2012 and 2014 with pay cuts and tax rises.

Speaking at the start of the debate, Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said the draft budget "aimed to combat the crisis," adding that it was a budget that would make "2013 the last year of recession for Spain."

But people outside do not believe that reaching such targets is even a remote possibility.

“Those deficit targets are impossible to meet. Everybody knows that, so the government is counting on the EU to ease those targets. But the problem is that easing the targets does not mean that the government will ease their austerity policies,” journalist Miguel-Anxo Murado told RT.

This is very difficult, as Spain’s economy continued to shrink in the third quarter, according to central bank estimates Tuesday. This is the fifth quarter in a row that Spain's economic output has shrunk.

In late September during similar protests, 38 people were arrested and 64 injured when officers clashed with protesters demonstrating against austerity cutbacks and tax hikes.

This time, no casualties have been reported.

More protests outside Parliament are planned for Thursday and Saturday.

 

Demonstrators gather outside Parliament as the debate for the 2013 budget goes on inside Parliament in Madrid October 23, 2012. (Reuters/Susana Vera)

 

A demonstrator (C) wearing a Guy Fawkes mask does the Nazi salute as he holds a placard depicting a EU flag with a swatiska in his centre as he takes part in a protest against government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts on October 23, 2012 in Madrid. (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget

 

Reuters/Susana Vera

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Clashes erupt near besieged Bahrain village

 

Bahrainis shout anti-government slogans during a march on the outskirts of Manama, October 19, 2012.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/22/268091/clashes-erupt-near-besieged-bahrain-village/

Clashes have erupted between Saudi-backed regime forces and protesters trying to enter a besieged village in eastern Bahrain, Press TVreports.

Activists say security forces on Sunday fired tear gas to disperse people heading to the village of al-Eker which is under clampdown since late Thursday when a policeman was killed in a bomb blast there.

Some reports say at least three human rights activists including Zainab al-Khawaja were arrested by security forces during the protest rally that started from the island town of Sitra, south of the capital Manama.

Khawaja, the daughter of a jailed opposition leader Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, said earlier that the protesters were carrying food and medical supplies for the residents of the besieged village.

Authorities have detained seven people in relation to the deadly blast.

On Saturday, several protesters were also arrested during a demonstration in Eker.

Bahrain’s revolution began in mid-February 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations.

The Bahraini government promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring Persian Gulf states to help crack down on the demonstrations

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Panama protests against free trade zone land sales (PHOTOS)

 

A police officer runs as a photographer lies on the street as police opened fire during a massive protest against a new government law, which allows for the sale of land in Panama's free trade zone of Colon, in Colon City October 19, 2012 (Reuters / Carlos Jasso)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/panama-protests-trade-zone-843/

The Panamanian government’s decision to sell land in the free-trade zone at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal has sparked violent protests. Clashes with police the streets of the sea-port of Colon reportedly left 15 people wounded.

According to Venezuelan state TV channel Venezolana de Televisión, there have been at least 25 protesters detained by police. Information about a 15-year-old person killed in clashes has found no confirmation.

Curfew has been enacted in Colon immediately after the clashes when protesters were burning tires to block the streets.

­Facts about Panama Canal:

Panama Canal was constructed between 1880 and 1914.

Between 1904 and 1913, a total of 56,307 persons were employed during the construction of the Panama Canal. Nearly 20,000 French and 6,000 American workers died during the completion of the Panama Canal.

The length of the Panama Canal is 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the deep waters of the Atlantic to the deep waters of the Pacific.

A ship takes an average of eight to 10 hours to transit the Panama Canal.

At the end of fiscal year 2011, 1,015,721 vessels had used the waterway since its opening on August 15, 1914.

Between 12,000 and 15,000 ships About 40 ships cross the Panama Canal every year.

The Canal transports 4 per cent of world trade

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Demonstrators in Colon believe the government’s decision to sell state-owned land in the Colon Free Zone (CFZ) will hit those who work in the free-trade zone and affect the income of many citizens of the country. The protesters insist the law is unconstitutional.

The head of the Colonense Broad Movement, Felipe Cabezas, told the AP news agency,"We do not want the land to be sold because these are assets that belong to Colon."

President Ricardo Martinelli said those instigating protests are protecting “small-minded interests” of their own and that sale of state-owned land will benefit the country.

The law supposes creation of a “social investments” trust that would manage 35 per cent of the revenues received from the sale of the land just outside the former Panama Canal Zone.

The larger, 65 per cent, share will go to the country’s central government.

he free trade port of Colon is one of the largest in the world. In operation for over half a century now, the port hosts over 2,000 companies doing business in the profitable free-trade zone.

In 1999, the United States passed control over the Panama Canal to the Panamanian state. Since then the waterway linking Atlantic and Pacific oceans is the principal source of the revenues for Panama.

It is expected that in 2014 the works on expansion of the waterway will be over just ahead of the Panama Canal’s centenary.

 

People take part in a massive protest against a new government law, which allows for the sale of land in Panama's free trade zone of Colon, in Colon City October 19, 2012 (Reuters / Carlos Jasso)

 

A family runs for shelter after tear gas was shot by riots police during a massive protest against a new government law, which allows for the sale of land in Panama's free trade zone of Colon, in Colon City October 19, 2012 (Reuters / Carlos Jasso)

 

A police officer positions his gun during a massive protest against a new government law, which allows for the sale of land in Panama's free trade zone of Colon, in Colon City October 19, 2012 (Reuters / Carlos Jasso)

 

A riot policeman fires tear gas during a massive protest against a new government law, which allows for the sale of land in Panama's free trade zone of Colon, in Colon City October 19, 2012 (Reuters / Carlos Jasso)

 

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Opposition arrests in Kuwait Political standoff deepens

 

Kuwaiti MP Msallam al-Barrak (C) speaks to the press during a protest outside the national assembly in Kuwait City. (AFP Photo / Yasser Al-Zayyat)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/political-emir-opposition-country-792/

Three former opposition Kuwaiti MPs were ordered to be detained for three days on Friday. They were accused of politically undermining the emir by criticizing him publicly at an opposition rally, an illegal act in the US-backed oil nation.

­The three, Falah al-Sawwagh, Bader al-Dahum and Khaled al-Tahus, criticized Emir Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah at an opposition rally on October 10, protesting alleged government plans to manipulate election results.

“Two former [Islamist] MPs, Falah al-Sawwagh and Bader al-Dahum, have just been arrested by the state security police," former deputy Mussallam al-Barrak, told AFP reporters.

The three MPs were questioned for nine hours by authorities before finally being taken into custody on Friday.

More arrests are expected in the wake of repeated demonstrations, some of which have turned violent. Four were wounded and six arrested as police used batons to disperse some 5,000 protestors on Tuesday, October 16, angry over the political deadlock that has gripped the country for months.

Sheik Sabah dissolved the Kuwaiti parliament on October 7 to prevent opposition Islamist groups from gaining more power in the government. A parliamentary election in February gave Islamists control of the 50-seat parliament. The dissolution started a 60-day deadline to hold new elections.

Al-Barrak also broke the law by directly addressing the emir at the October 16 protest, saying, "We won't let you rule this country on your own."

“We are not scared of your new batons nor the jails you have built … violence will only lead to counter-violence…Kuwaiti people will not allow the country to be governed through an autocratic rule," he told the crowd.

It is illegal under Kuwait’s constitution to criticize the emir, who by law must be from the Al-Sabah family, a clan that has been in power for over 250 years.

Kuwait is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nation and its plentiful oil-based economy make it the fifth-richest nation in the world. It is also a major non-NATO US ally, and the main hub for all US military operations in the area.

The movement for government reforms have placed united several groups with greatly differing beliefs on how the country should proceed. There is however, a sense of caution expressed by liberals at the agenda of the Islamists.

Bassam Al-Asoussi, a member of the liberal Democratic Forum political bloc, said “Yes, the government has many shortcomings indeed, but [the opposition leaders] aren't the people who will save the country," he said, AP reports. "They are regressive, not progressive.”

The emir has until December to hold new elections in the hopes that he can counter the upswing in reform sentiments.

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Global Noise takes on austerity: 'We are not going to be silent'

 

People make noise as they take part in a casserole march to protest against government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts on October 13, 2012 in Madrid. (AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/global-noise-demonstrations-378/

Demonstrators across the world are calling for an end to austerity as Global Noise protests kick off in more than 30 countries, including many in the Nobel Peace laureate European Union.

­The worldwide demonstrations on Saturday passed without incident, and Caleb Maupin from the International Action Centre explained what's driving the public to take to the streets.

RT: A year ago Occupy Wall Street spread across the world, and now it’s Global Noise. What is Global Noise all about? How is it different?

Caleb Maupin: Basically, Global Noise is saying we are not going to be silent. Because right now the banks are coming for us – they are cutting all of the programs. There is mass unemployment. There is cutting in government spending and the governments of the world are just having to pay back the banks.

And in the process, our future is being destroyed. It is impossible to get an education in this country without a rising debt. What we are saying is that we are going to be a global noise. We are the next generation, the youth part of the working class as our future is being destroyed. We are not going to silently sit back and let them destroy our future. We are going to be loud. We are going to be confrontational and we are going demand that this stop.

Austerity is a crime against the people. These cuts are a crime against us, and we are going to demonstrate and we are going to oppose it.

RT: America has not seen austerity cuts as of yet. But in Europe this is precisely what the Global Noise rallies were aimed against. Is it merely a show of support for Europe, or is there, say, a message in the demonstrations for the US presidential candidates?

CM: There are plenty of austerity cuts in the United States. Food stamps, a program which many millions of people depend on so they can have food, is being cut. College prices are going up. They had kind of halted it because they are planning after the elections to have austerity. All the major cuts are going to happen after the election.

But even with these latest debates, you see Romney and Ryan, Obama and Biden, they are all debating how much to cut. How responsibly can you get rid of Social Security, how responsibly can we do it? It is austerity, it is global austerity. Because, you know, Lenin spoke of it in his book – imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, because the banks kind of become the center of capitalism, its monopoly stage.

And right now it is a revolt against banks. Instead of people having to take all these cuts, why don’t they simply start the cuts to the banks? The government of the United States has the ability to do that. They can pass legislature saying that the banks have to be delayed, but instead they keep paying back the banks with these loans that have taken from the government, and programs that people need to survive on are being cut.

At a time of mass unemployment, millions of youth have great anger on what’s going on, and it is exploding into a global anti-capitalist rebellion. It is here in US. The phrase "we are the 99%" represents what millions of people understand, which is that a small elite, the bankers, capitalists, they own the world and the rest of us just get to live in it.

Well, it is time that we are heard. We are a global noise and we are going to rise up and demand a change to that situation.

RT: Presidential elections are coming up in the US and the Obama administration is criticized for the bailout, while Republicans are promising austerity. And what do you think the policy should be for the US here?

CM: I think whoever wins this election, it is very clear that after the election, it's over. They are going to begin an extreme amount of mass austerity. And the terms of the debate are sickening – the terms of the debate are essentially how much to cut. Some people say, we should just cut everything; others say we should just cut a little bit. No! The people don’t have to pay for the crisis the bankers created.

But that message is not part of the discourse in this country right now. The discourse is limited to one form of cutting or one form of cutbacks, and that is frightening. And that is why the Occupy movement came in. We are the 99%, or as the labor movement and progressive forces have said for a long time – class against class.

It is not Republicans versus Democrats. It is about the bankers versus the people – the people who sell their labor to survive and those who own the world.

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