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fcastro2

Syria keen on Russian expansion in Middle East - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East - 0 views

  • Syria has called on its Russian ally to expand in the Middle East, by expanding its small pier in the city of Tartus and turning it into a base
  • This has coincided with Saudi Arabia leading a coalition against Ansar Allah in Yemen, with a cover by the United States
  • meeting with a group of Russian journalists March 27, and in response to a question on Damascus’ desire to see a wider Russian activity in the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he certainly welcomes “any expansion of Russian presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, precisely on the Syrian shores and ports.
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  • Assad said: “The Russian presence in different parts of the world, including the Eastern Mediterranean and the Syrian port of Tartus, is very necessary, in order to create a sort of balance, which the world has lost after the dissolution of the Soviet Union more than 20 years ago.
  • Syrian president welcomed the Russian presence in his country and the region. “For us, the stronger this presence is in our region, the better it is for stability [in the region], because Russia is assuming an important role in world stability,”
  • Syrian nod is only a repetition of a former call made under the rule of late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, who saw that the presence of a Russian military representation in Syria in the Mediterranean region contributes to the promotion of the idea of “the balance of terror” against Israel and the United States
  • The talk was, however, halted, until the last two years, when an actual need to promote Russian presence in the Mediterranean emerged in light of the reignition of the Cold War.
  • deployment of missile systems on the Mediterranean coast, as a sort of “symbolic deterrence.” The rumors were repeated as the NATO missile defense project was announced, which was supposed to be deployed in different countries, including Turkey and other countries bordering Russia
  • e US invasion of Iraq, as the US desire to change the face of the Middle East seemed free of any rational considerations. Assad made several visits to Moscow, and although this has not been publicly mentioned, Syrian diplomats and officials stressed to As-Safir that Syria expressed its desire to expand the Russian presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly through Tartus, so that it turns into a military presence with limited standards
  • , Russia and Syria signed the biggest deal of its kind to explore oil in the Syrian waters, which covers a 2,190 square-kilometer surface area, and to achieve economic ambitions, namely extracting 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 8.5 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, the oil and gas magazine said back then
  • is understandable, without neglecting the importance of other political and military issue
  • “any decision to modernize the infrastructure of the Russian Material-Technical Support Point in Tartus can only be made after a political decision is taken in this regard, in coordination with the Syrian side.” He explained that any modernization should “take into account the political and military situation in the Mediterranean region,” and therefore “it will include the promotion of all sorts of protection in the facility, including surface-to-air missiles and anti-riots weapons, and will be in coordination with the Syrian side.”
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    Syria is determined to keep Russia in the loop when it comes to its presence in the Middle East. As the United States increases its presence so to those Russia and Syria claims that they encourage Russian presence solely to "keep the balance" in the Middle East. 
sheldonmer

Timeline: What's Happened Since Egypt's Revolution? | Egypt in Crisis | FRONTLINE | PBS - 0 views

    • sheldonmer
       
      This article lays out what has happened in Egypt since the 2001 revolution. Starting from when Mubarak stepped down, the article gives a timeline of significant events up until September 12th of 2013. It highlights events such as Morsi being voted into presidency in 2012, The first draft of the constitution on Nov. 29th 2012, when protestors return to Tahrir Square on Jan. 25 2013, to when Sisi warns Mubarak of military intervention, to when Morsi is removed from office, to when Supreme Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour is chosen by Sisi to step in as Egypt's interim president, etc.
sheldonmer

Egyptians visit Washington to defend their 'revolution' - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the ... - 0 views

  • during an anti-Morsi and anti-Muslim Brotherhood protest in Tahrir Square in Cairo, June 28, 2013. (photo by REUTERSAsmaa Waguih)
  • group of influential Egyptians sought to convince a dozen Americans that the removal of elected president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 and his replacement by Field Marshal Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was a plus for Egypt’s political evolution and US interests.
  • Morsi had violated the constitution by claiming dictatorial powers in November 2012 and acquiesced in the brutal beating of demonstrators in front of the presidential palace. Crime rose during Morsi’s tenure and Egyptians were afraid to walk the streets or send their kids to school, she told Al-Monitor.
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  • The Americans, in turn, criticized Egypt for criminalizing the Muslim Brotherhood, killing more than a thousand people and detaining thousands more, including journalists and secular liberals, in the aftermath of Morsi’s ouster.
  • Coptic and other Christian leaders and a representative of the Ministry of Endowments. T
  • told Al-Monitor that the Egyptians conveyed their support for Sisi, who, after ruling as head of a military council that replaced Morsi, was elected president in May with a large percentage of votes, although a smaller turnout than in the previous presidential election.
  • Zaki said the delegation also expressed their view that while “we know we are moving toward a strong state, a strong state needs civil society and political opposition.” The third message, he said, was that Egypt wants US support in the fight against terrorism.
  • Washington has praised Cairo for mediating last summer’s Gaza war between Israel and Hamas and expressed sympathy for those fighting Islamic extremists, such as the Egyptian soldiers killed in the Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 24.
  • l some restrictions on US aid to Egypt and many analysts in Washington assert that Egypt cannot return to stability while repressing major components of its society. They also criticize an impending edict for civil society groups to register with the government, which has led many respected foreign-funded nonprofit organizations
  • encouraged the Egyptians to embrace political and religious pluralism. “The Egyptians should understand that no government can deliver peace, prosperity and law and order that does not involve all sections of society,” he said.
  • “Don’t deal with us like a teacher with a pupil,” said Nashwa el-Houfi, a columnist for the daily newspaper Al Watan. “No one has the whole truth. You have part and I have part.”
  • Another plea was for Americans to stop acting as though they knew better what was in the interests of a country with a recorded history going back 7,000 years.
    • sheldonmer
       
      This article talks about how some Americans feel like Egypt did itself a disservice by getting rid of Morsi's rule. This article describes the conversation had by some members of the Egyptian delegation that were invited to Washington by Hands Along the Nile Development Services. This articles goes on to talk about different issues regarding U.S., Egyptian relations and basically was the U.S. condones and what it doesn't, as if it mattered.
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    The article mentions the views of Americans and the views of Egyptians regarding the state of Egypt with concerns surrounding the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptians were able to carry a message to Americans. Egyptians voiced their want for U.S assistance with terrorism. 
benjaming9

Can Turkey seize the 'Kurdish card' for itself? - Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs - 0 views

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    Turkey has seen the Kurdish groups as an enemy. But because Assad faces a much greater threat, they are forced to see the Kurds as allies in fighting. Similarly the Kurds must utilize Turkey as an allie, or be surrounded by enemies.
diamond03

Egypt receives 300 recommendations in UN human rights review - Daily News Egypt - 0 views

  • Egypt has been provide
  • with 300 recommendations by the United Nations Human Rights Council
  • recommendations relating to the controversial Protest and NGO Laws, media freedoms, freedom of association, the use of the death penalty, and women’s rights.
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  • Egypt received 165 recommendations following its first review in 2010.
  • 20 recommendations that dealt with the status of civil society organisations in Egypt and called for a revision of the current law
  • in line with provisions set out in the constitution and “international norms”.
  • Seven Egyptian NGOs refused to participate in the UN UPR, citing a fear of reprisals by the Egyptian government.
  • 13 times among the 300 recommendations, with calls to amend the law and “bring it in line with international standards
  • Egypt was urged to ratify international conventions on the death penalty.
  • no international consensus on the death penalty
  • 50 countr
  • ies” still have death as a punishment within their criminal justice systems.
  • Iceland read “Ensure thorough, independent and impartial investigations into the mass killings in [Rabaa Al-Adaweya] Square in 2013 and hold the perpetrators accountable
  • The US also recommended that Egypt “release those detained solely for exercising rights to freedom of expression or for membership in a political group, and ensure remaining detainees full fair trial guarantees on an individual level”.
  • included recommendations to tackle corruption, human trafficking, the promotion of human rights, and investment in education for young people.
  • UN human rights representatives
  • not to participate in the review.
  • “the appalling deterioration in the state of human rights in Egypt”.
  • decided
  • “reconsider its policies and orientation before Egypt slides into an abyss of unremitting terrorism and political violence”.
  • Egypt has until March 2015 to respond to the recommendations
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    Egypt received 300 recommendation to review their human rights. The list also stated they wanted to tackle corruption, human trafficking, and human rights. Egypt has until March 2015 to respond. 
agomez117

Egyptian graffiti artists target whitewashed walls and the president - 1 views

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    Reuters - No sooner had Egyptian authorities painted over a wall of revolutionary graffiti near Tahrir Square this week than the street artists were back with spray cans and a new target: President Mohamed Mursi.
agomez117

Egypt's powerful street art packs a punch - 2 views

  • best examples
  • street art movement that has flourished since the protests against Mubarak began.
  • artists were forged in the fire
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  • 8-day demonstrations against Mubarak in early 2011
  • mural
  • talk about the walls of Egypt being under an ‘art attack’.”
  • mural of a large tank aiming its cannon at a boy on a bicycle
  • painting slogans and murals
  • struggle for freedom.
  • panda bear
  • ongoing mayhem
  • pacifist rebuke to the violence
  • engulfed Egypt since 2011.
  • integrated part
  • esponse to events
  • . I must make people remember this culture, this history – because we can lose it. And we can’t know our future if we forget our past.”
    • mariebenavides
       
      This is a crucial line to this article and to the artists main objective. By saying this, Awad is stating that he thinks the people of Egypt have begun to forget who they are in light of revolution and in change and wants to help them recall who they are.
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    This article from BBC showcases how Egyptian street art is a new voice among Egyptian protestors. In response to events, artists have filled the walls with murals and slogans in response to events such as the Maspero Massacre in 2011. Some of the reoccurring images are of a tank aiming its cannon at a boy on a bicycle carrying bread on his head as well as a melancholy panda. Other artists have integrated some of Egypt's history in their murals showcasing Egyptian pride amongst the rebellion.
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    More than two years after protesters toppled Hosni Mubarak, Cairo is still ablaze with fiery visual reminders of Egypt's revolution. On the edge of Tahrir Square - the nerve centre of dissent - the burned-out tower block that once housed the headquarters of Mubarak's National Democratic Party stands blackened and empty.
agomez117

anthropologies - 1 views

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    In the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek in Cairo, Egypt, a military tank faces off with a man, on a bicycle, carrying bread. This scene is a five-minute taxi ride from Tahrir Square, the primary spot within the city and the country where thousands of protesters are currently fighting against the rule of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF).
alarsso

Understanding Syria: From Pre-Civil War to Post-Assad - The Atlantic - 0 views

  • xtreme temperatures
  • drought from 2006 to 2011
  • 2001 to 2010, Syria had 60 “significant” dust storms.
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  • lessening of rainfall
  • as of the last year before the civil war, only about 13,500 square kilometers could be irrigated
  • agriculture
  • 20 percent of national income
  • employed about 17 percent
  • Syria’s oil is of poor quality, sour, and expensive to refine
  • densely populated
  • less than 0.25 hectares (just over a third of an acre) of agricultural land per person
  • population/resource ratio is out of balance.
  • So it is important to understand how their “social contract”—their view of their relationship with one another and with the government—evolved and then shattered.
  • threw the country into the arms of
  • Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser
  • or three and a half years
  • part of the United Arab Republic
  • A fundamental problem they faced was what it meant to be a Syrian.
  • 1961 Syrians were thrown back on their own resources
  • The majority of those who became Syrians were Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims
  • seven and eight in 10 Syrians saw themselves as Muslim Arab
  • being a Muslim Arab as the very definition of Syrian identity.
  • Nationalists took this diversity as a primary cause of weakness and adopted as their primary task integrating the population into a single political and social structure.
  • Israel
  • Looming over Syrian politics and heightening the tensions
  • A ceasefire, negotiated in 1974, has held, but today the two states are still legally at war.
  • or Hafez al-Assad, the secular, nationalist Baath Party was a natural choice: it offered, or seemed to offer, the means to overcome his origins in a minority community and to point toward a solution to the disunity of Syrian politics
  • bridge the gaps between rich and poor
  • socialism
  • Muslims and minorities
  • Islam
  • society
  • hould be modern
  • secular
  • defined by a culture of “Arabism”
  • the very antithesis of
  • Muslim Brotherhood
  • military, which seemed
  • o embody the nation.
  • help the Syrian people to live better provided only that they not challenge his rule
  • his stern and often-brutal monopoly of power
  • foreign troublemakers
  • Hafez al-Assad sided with Iran in the Iran-Iraq war
  • During the rule of the two Assads, Syria made considerable progress.
  • locked into the cities and towns
  • they f
  • had to compete
  • Palestinians
  • Iraqis
  • Syria was already a refuge
  • March 15, 2011
  • small group gathered in the southwestern town of Daraa to protest against government failure to help them
  • government saw them as subversives.
  • He ordered a crackdown
  • And the army,
  • responded violently.
  • Riots broke out
  • attempted to quell them with military
  • what had begun as a food and water issue gradually turned into a political and religious cause.
  • interpretation of Islam
  • the Syrian government is charged with using illegal chemical weapons
  • All observers agree that the foreign-controlled and foreign-constituted insurgent groups are the most coherent, organized, and effective
  • astonishing as they share no common language and come from a wide variety of cultures
  • slam has at least so far failed to provide an effective unifying force
  • all the rebels regard the conflict in Syria as fundamentally a religious issue
  • pwards of $150 billion
  • a whole generation of Syrians have been subjected to either or both the loss of their homes and their trust in fellow human beings.
  • How the victims and the perpetrators can be returned to a “normal life”
  • First, the war might continue.
  • Second, if the Syrian government continues or even prevails, there is no assurance that,
  • t will be able to suppress the insurgency.
  • Third,
  • Syria will remain effectively “balkanized”
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    This article captures Syria's geography, history, and all events leading up to the state Syria is in today.
tdford333

Yemen ex-ruler flees to Aden after house arrest | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR - 0 views

  • Yemen's former president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi escaped weeks of house arrest by the Houthi militia at his
  • Houthi militiamen opened fire on protesters in the central city of Ibb, killing one person and wounding another, activists said. The crowd had gathered in a square to demonstrate against the Houthis' role in overturning the government last month.
  • Western countries are worried that unrest in Yemen could create opportunities for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to plot more attacks against international targets.
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    Yemen's ousted ruler flees house the arrest that was forced upon him by the Houthi Rebels that took power in Yemen's capitol. The unrest in Yemen leaves the opportunity for terrorist groups to gain power.
ijones3

Who's afraid of Art? - 0 views

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    This article shows and explains a number of street artists views, murals, political cartoons and internet memes. This is one of the newer articles I have read because the backlash is centered mainly on Sisi and not Mubarek or the art from 2011 and Tahrir square.
ijones3

Chico - 0 views

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    Chico is an Egyptian street artist who is responsible for most of the stencil graffiti work from Tahrir Square and known for his opposition of Mubarek. Chico is also an activist for his freedom of speech whether that be in regards to the revolution or any other subject.
aacosta8

Women in the new Egypt: A cyber-activist's perspective - 0 views

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    Perhaps one of the most memorable facets of Egypt's pro-democracy uprisings earlier this year was the strong presence of women in the (largely peaceful) demonstrations that took place in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in other Egyptian public arenas. This article focuses on gender equality in Egypt and movements by women at the time.
mkulach

Five years on, why do Egyptian authorities still fear January 25? - Al-Monitor: the Pul... - 0 views

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    Rates of poverty, unemployment, administrative corruption and the violation of freedoms continue to soar in Egypt, and many people including activists are still frustrated. Five years after the revolutions a "tense calm" still remains in Egypt. Tanks have been in Tahrir Square this January incase of uprisings and constant searches in people's flats keep occurring of suspected activists promoting uprisings.
aromo0

Egypt's Trouble With Women - The New York Times - 2 views

  • The first plane to cross the finish line was piloted by a 26-year-old woman named Lotfia El Nadi, Egypt’s first female aviator.
  • father had rejected the idea, but she did not despa
  • “I learned to fly because I love to be free.”
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  • hero and a national treasure in the eyes of Egyptians.
  • Women saw her as an inspiration in their struggle for equal rights
  • women followed her exam
  • Gamal Abdel Nasser, women continued to advance, achieving positions in universities, Parliament and the senior judiciary.
  • women
  • 22 Arab countries for discrimination in law, sexual harassment and the paucity of female political representation
  • Egyptian women made advances in equality throughout the period of the monarchy
  • Egypt’s tradition of moderate Islam recognized women’s rights and encouraged women to study and work.
  • promote female genital mutilation
  • woman’s job is to please her husband and provide offspring.
  • cover her body completely and may not study,
  • women started to wear the
  • cannot even leave the house without her husband’s permission.
  • control women’s sexuality.
  • Wahhabism has influenced all Islamic societies and movements, including Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.
  • many Egyptian women still went without head scarves, wearing modern Western-style dress, yet incidents of sexual harassment were rare. Now, with the spread of the hijab, harassm
  • hijab
  • 83 percent of women interviewed had been subjected to sexual harassment at least once, and that 50 percent experienced it on a daily basis.
  • When ultraconservative doctrine dehumanizes women, reducing them to objects, it legitimizes acts of sexual aggression against them.
  • until 2005 that sexual harassment became an organized form of retribution against Egyptian women
  • The security apparatus paid thugs, known as “beltagiya,” to gang up on a woman attending a demonstration, tear off her clothes and molest her.
  • Dec. 17, 201
  • Tahrir Square in Cairo, soldiers pulled a female protester’s clothes off and dragged her along the ground, stomping on her with their boots
  • victim of the attack became an icon for Egyptian women
  • mocked the victim, blaming her for not staying
  • During the revolution, millions of Egyptian women went out and bravely faced snipers’ bullets
  • in the home
  • 10 female members of Parliament out of a total of 508
  • President Mohamed Morsi’s later attempt to rewrite the Egyptian Constitution would also have removed the only female judge on the Supreme Constitutional Court.
  • They tried to overturn the law punishing doctors who carried out female genital mutilation, and refused to consider the marriage of minors as a form of human trafficking by claiming that Islam permitted a girl as young as 10 years old to be married.
  • The revolutionaries are fighting for equality
  • trying to strip women of their political and social rights and make them subject to men’s autho
  • rity.
  • epresents a future that no one can prevent.
  •  
    This article discusses how women have been treated differently since the beginning of time. Things began to change once women began to stand up for themselves in protests. 
  •  
    Egypt's tradition of was not initially oppressive. The 1973 war in the Middle East introduced Egyptians to Wahhabis values.
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