Jordanian protestors demand a change in policies instead of governments

BBC Arabic - Demonstrations were held in several Jordanian governorates with a variety of slogans and chants, and diverse affiliations and demands. But they were united in their call for accelerating the reform process and combating corruption. The protestors also sharply criticized the council of ministers, and the way in which governments are formed in Jordan. In the capital Amman, the Islamic Action Front had a prominent presence in the protests and participated alongside different popular and youth movements. The protests come one day after the Awn al-Khasawneh's government resigned, and after the Jordanian king, Abdullah II, appointed Fayez al-Tarawneh to form a new government.

Deadly bombing rocks Syrian capital

New TV - A suicide bombing shook the neighborhood of al-Midan in the center of the Syrian capital Damascus. At least nine people were killed as a result, and dozens were injured with body parts seen scattered across two medical centers. The same site had witnessed a similar explosion in January that led to the killing of 27 people. The official news agency SANA described the blast as a terrorist operation carried out by a suicide bomber. Syrian TV raised the death toll to 11, adding that 28 civilians and members of the security forces were injured, broadcasting videos of the explosion site under al-Midan's bridge, near Zein al-Abidin Mosque.

Humanitarian crises in Sudan and Yemen

Dubai TV - The war between Khartoum and the northern command of the People's Movement, the armed confrontations between rebel movements in Darfur, and the Heglig battles are all factors that have contributed to the humanitarian crisis raging in the regions witnessing an armed conflict. According to a new UN report, nearly four million displaced people are at risk of starvation, due to a sharp shortage of food supplies and the difficulty of delivering aid to the famine-stricken because of the violence. The humanitarian situation is far worse in the region of Darfur, especially at the refugee camps scattered along both sides of the Sudanese-Chadian border.

Al Jazeera - Many Yemenis are facing a food crisis due to the high prices and food shortages, especially since the spark of the revolution more than a year ago. Yemeni children are suffering from a number of diseases due to a sharp shortage in food and poor medical care. When a child gets sick and requires hospitalization in the city, transportation is a real challenge due to the shortage of fuel. The bumpy roads and the high cost of medical care pose another challenge.

Egypt announces list of presidential candidates

BBC Arabic - The Presidential Electoral Committee in Egypt announced a list of candidates running in the presidential elections, which are expected to be held next month. There are now 13 candidates, the most prominent of which are Amr Moussa, the former secretary general of the Arab League and a former foreign minister, and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, the former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The committee's surprise decision was allowing Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister during Mubarak's era, back into the presidential race after accepting his appeal. He was initially disqualified by the disenfranchisement law.

Today, Press TV reported that thousands of Islamists rallied in Tahrir Square against an attempt to revive the Mubarak era. They also demanded that the remnants of the former regime be banned from running for president.

Palestinians rally in solidarity with hunger strikers, clash with Israeli troops

Al Jazeera - The area near Ofer Prison, located west of Ramallah, witnessed clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli occupation forces. Israeli soldiers fired large amounts of tear gas at the protestors who organized a sit-in in solidarity with the prisoners waging a hunger strike in the occupation's prisons. Meanwhile, over 1,600 Palestinian prisoners are continuing their open-ended hunger strike for the 10th consecutive day.

Image: BBC Arabic

Bahraini activists demand a 'stop to bloody Formula One'

BBC Arabic - The Bahraini opposition escalated its protests, in a number of Shiite villages in and around al-Manama, on the eve of the opening of the Formula One car race. The demonstrations that started Wednesday night continued until Thursday morning. The authorities are heightening the security measures ahead of the event, but denying they expect the protests to impact the sporting event. Eyewitnesses say security forces were forced to use teargas and stun grenades to disperse protesters who threw Molotov cocktails and stones at the police in confrontations that left dozens injured.
 
Egypt rises against military rule on the 'Friday of self-determination'

Press TV reports that earlier this week, Egypt's electoral body rejected appeals filed by candidates disqualified from running for the May presidential election. Three main disqualified candidates are Egypt's former main intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Khairat al-Shater from the Muslim Brotherhood, and the ultra-conservative Salafist, Hazem Abu Ismail.

Future TV - Under the banner of self-determination, tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square, in the center of Cairo, to demand the protection of the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak over a year ago. This Friday's protest also demanded the transfer of power, and the unification of all political and revolutionary factions. Activists called for the protest today to demand that those who worked with the former president be prevented from running in the presidential elections, the first round of which will be held next month.

However, the Islamists joined the demonstration under the banner "protecting the revolution." And, as an indication that protesters are intent on pushing the ruling military council to fulfill the promise of transferring power to an elected president, the stage set up by the Muslim Brotherhood in the square included a banner that read, "power-transfer on June 30th."

Sudan declares 'liberation' of Heglig as Juba pulls out

Dubai TV -  The Sudanese defense minister has announced that Heglig was "liberated" from the grips of Juba's army, confirming the region was recaptured by force, ten days after South Sudan seized control of the area. This announcement was intended to refute a South Sudanese army statement claiming that its forces voluntarily withdrew from Heglig. Meanwhile, demonstrations broke out in a number of northern cities to celebrate the North's victory in the battle. President Omar al-Bashir stressed the victory marks the beginning of a war to liberate the South from the rule of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

UN chief calls for an expanded monitoring mission in Syria

New TV - On the fourth day of the international observers' presence in Syria, Damascus signed an initial agreement with the United Nations on the terms of the team's work. And in a closed-door meeting, the Security Council discussed sending an expanded monitoring mission to Syria, consisting of 300 observers, for three months. The team will monitor and encourage the halt of armed aggression in all its forms and from all parties, and comes as part of the Annan plan. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed this agreement comes within Syrian efforts aimed at ensuring the success of Annan's plan, and facilitating the observers' mission within the context of Syrian sovereignty and commitment to the concerned parties. The spokesman for UN envoy Kofi Annan announced that his office is holding similar negotiations with representatives from the opposition on the obligations and responsibilities of the armed opposition.

Hunger Striker Khader Adnan's hometown celebrates his release

Palestine TV - It was "a national wedding," "a massive popular festival," "the festival of the dawn of freedom." These were the names given to the celebration in Jenin organized in honor of freed prisoner Khader Adnan, who underwent an open-ended hunger strike that lasted 66 days in protest of his administrative detention in an Israeli jail. Thousands of citizens from all provinces and political factions, both official and popular, attended the festival to honor him.

1,200 Palestinian Prisoners begin an open-ended hunger strike in Israeli jails

Al-Alam - In occupied Palestine, events were held to mark the Prisoners' Day. 1,200 Palestinian detainees in the Israeli prisons began an open-ended hunger strike in protest of their maltreatment and continual detention. Participants in the events demanded to release the prisoners. At the Prisoners' Day festival, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council called for escalating the armed resistance to free the prisoners.

Image: Protesters chant slogans after police used a flashbang stun grenade during an anti-government rally in Manama April 19, 2012. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

There are currently over 300 Palestinians in administrative detention. This means that prisoners are being held with no charge and without being tried. Hana al-Shalabi, a 29 year old from a village near Jenin enters her 15th consecutive day of hunger strike, protesting her administrative detention in the Hasharon Israeli prison. Hana took on the same method to peacefully protest her unjustified detention; similar to Khader Adnan, who successfully drew international attention to his case, and the case of many other Palestinian administrative prisoners. Adnan recently ended his hunger strike, which lasted for 66 days, after Israel agreed to release him on April 17th. 

Although she was previously arrested in 2009, with no charge or trial and was freed in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011, after 30 months in captivity, she was not exempt from being rearrested. She is currently sentenced to six months in prison, and her sentence can be renewed indefinitely.

Many former female detainees gathered outside the Red Cross in Tulkarm this week to stand in solidarity with Hana and other administrative detainees, inside Israeli prisons. Solidarity campaigns and sit-ins in front of the Red Cross are continuing amid warnings of her deteriorating health condition, and the escalating situations inside the occupation prisons. 

Israeli court officials say that Hana is a threat to Israeli security and they claim that she participated in planning actions after her release. The defense called for Hana's prompt release and held Israel accountable for her health.

On Thursday Hana al-Shalabi said that she will continue her hunger strike and that she will remain patient and steadfast despite her detention in the cold, her fatigue and weakness. Hana maintains high spirits and thanked people who support her and she assured that her hunger strike is open until her demands are met.

Photo: Badeeah Shalabi holds a placard depicting her daughter, Palestinian detainee Hana Shalabi, in the West Bank village of Birqin, near Jenin February 27, 2012. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

Palestinians rejoiced today in Gaza and the West Bank as 477 prisoners were released in the first phase of the exchange deal for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. But in an op-ed titled "Thousands Are Left Behind by the Shalit Prisoner Exchange," the general director of al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, warned that the release of 1,000 should not mean forgetting the 6,000 political prisoners still languishing behind bars.

The release of a total 1,027 Palestinian prisoners will be completed within two months. However, 163 detainees will be exiled to Gaza and another 40 will be deported from their homeland to Turkey, Syria, Qatar and Jordan.

For detainees staying behind, worsening conditions in Israeli prisons had pushed over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners to take part in a three-week hunger strike to protest the poor conditions and lack of basic rights. According to Amnesty International, "consistent allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including of children, were frequently reported. Among the most commonly cited methods were beatings, threats to the detainee or their family, sleep deprivation, and being subjected to painful stress positions for long periods. Confessions allegedly obtained under duress were accepted as evidence in Israeli military and civilian courts."

In an article titled "How Israel takes its revenge on boys who throw stones," Catrina Stewart offers a glimpse into the brutal treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli jails. She reports that children as young as 12 are taken from their homes at night, deprived of food and sleep, physically and psychologically abused, and forced to sign a confession they often can't even read. The article states that "Israel's policy has been successful in one sense, sowing fear among children and deterring them from future demonstrations. But the children are left traumatised, prone to nightmares and bed-wetting." And yet Palestinian minors were excluded from the first round of the prisoners' release, leading UNICEF to appeal for the release of Palestinian child detainees.

Amidst joyous celebrations in Gaza City, one Palestinian wrote that she "didn't know whether to be happy or sad…We will never stop singing for the freedom of Palestinian detainees until the Israeli prisons are emptied."

(Press TV: 0833 PST, April 20, 2011) The leader of one of the main opposition parties in Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, is still on a thirst and hunger strike that began during a protest on Saturday April 16. He is calling for an extraordinary election, while President Boris Tadic hopes to delay any vote while Serbia applies for European Union membership.

Bowing to growing international outrage over the imprisonment of film director Jafar Panahi, the Iranian government has now released him on bail. Iranian state television announced that bail was set at $200,000, according to an article published at the Telegraph.co.uk. No further information on Panahi’s release was immediately available.

On March 1, 2010, Jafar Panahi, one of Iran’s most celebrated and influential film directors, was arrested at his home for allegedly planning to make a film about the June 2009 election which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office. On Sunday, May 16, while still being held in Tehran’s Evin prison, Panahi began a hunger strike after government officials apparently threatened to arrest his family.

In a letter released by Panahi’s family on May 18, 2010, and published on the website IranHumanRights.org, Panahi stated:  “On Saturday night [May 15, 2010], agents attacked Evin’s Cell 56, forcing me and my cellmates to go outdoors without any clothing and kept us in the cold weather for one and a half hours… They even threatened to arrest my entire family and transfer them to Evin Prison and to send my daughter to an unsafe detention center in Rajaie Shahr.”

On May 3, 2010 Indiewire.com reported that Hollywood’s A-List directors had just signed a petition condemming Panahi’s detention and demanding his immediate release. Signatories included Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Demme, Ang Lee and Oliver Stone. Another petition, organized on Facebook, includes over 150 international filmmakers and is still accruing signatures online.

Panahi was supposed to serve as a juror at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and his absence did not go unnoticed. His juror’s chair was left vacant for the duration of the festival and Abbas Kiarostami, in Cannes to screen his new movie CERTIFIED COPY, called Panahi’s imprisonment “intolerable." According to the New York Times, Kiarostami also stated:  “When a filmmaker, an artist, is imprisoned, it is art as a whole that is attacked, and it is against this that we should react.”

Another leading figure who played a key role in championing Panahi’s cause was film actor Juliette Binoche, who won Best Actress at Cannes for CERTIFIED COPY. When she won her award, she held up a sign bearing Panahi’s name and said his only crime was “to be an artist, to be independent.”

More About Panahi

Panahi achieved early acclaim with the release of his first film in 1995 —-WHITE BALLOON -- which won a Camera d’Or at the Cannes Festival. When it opened in the U.S. shortly thereafter, it quickly became the most successful Iranian film ever released in North America. The film’s protagonist is a seven year-old girl who wants to buy a goldfish to celebrate Norooz, the Iranian New Year. We see the world through her eyes in real time as she attempts to navigate the “forbidden” Tehran marketplace on her own. Screenplay was by Abbas Kiarostami (THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES) for whom Panahi was an apprentice. Time Out London called the movie an “extraordinary debut feature…of audacious subtlety and simplicity.”
 
After its release, the Iranian government attempted to have the film withdrawn from the Oscar best foreign film category and prevented Panahi from leaving Iran to promote it. Panahi’s second feature, THE MIRROR, received the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival. This film, also dealing with the human experience of social injustice as experienced by children, tells the story of a young girl whose mother fails to pick her up from school. She must make her way home through the chaos of Tehran on her own. Halfway through the movie, the young actress breaks character and asserts that she’s tired of acting and the movie moves back and forth between illusion and reality. In his review, Stephen Holden of the N.Y. Times said the film “…poses the deepest questions about illusion, reality and filmmaking. Its portrait of Tehran is unforgettable.”

Panahi’s most widely recognized achievement in film came in 2000 with the release of THE CIRCLE, a movie that criticized the treatment of Iranian women. Panahi won the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, and the movie was hailed as the Film of the Year at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The film involves the intersecting stories of Iranian women who are struggling with a variety of issues:  giving birth to a girl when a boy was expected, navigating city streets where women are not supposed to walk by themselves, and facing death threats from family members over a possible abortion.  Despite its international awards, the film was banned in Iran.  In the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert explains:  “…the film is profoundly dangerous to the status quo in Iran because it asks us to identify with the plight of women who have done nothing wrong except to be female.”

More recent films, such as CRIMSON GOLD in 2003 earned Panahi the Cannes Film Festival Jury Award. And in 2006, Panahi’s OFFSIDE won the Silver Bear (Jury Grand Prix) at the Berlin Film Festival. In the latter film, a group of Iranian women impersonate men so they can attend a World Cup soccer match.

Updates on Panahi's case will be posted here.