Resolving Palestine-Israel and Iraq should be no barrier to progress on already-pressing human rights and democratic abuses in the Middle East. And the travesty in Bahrain - not to mention that at the hands of extremist Muslims in North Africa (Sudan) - are grievously ignored by Arab leaders and most global observers when taking accounts.

Sharing his expertise on this and more in "The Dismal Prospects for Indigenous Arab Reform" is Cairo-based freelance commentator Kamel Labidi. His op-ed appears in tommorow's Daily Star (Lebanon).

The Daily Star, BTW, is the most independent and credible Mid-East daily newspaper around. This is evident mainly in their opinion section, which is linked in the Rosenblogroll for your daily edification, and mine.

Here's a big chunk of Labidi's essential and damning screed. It's important reading. Start here (if you wish), but read the whole thing.

.....the most scathing reactions to the Tunis Declaration and to two other summit documents (on reform and on solidarity and cooperation between Arab states) came from Arab human rights groups....(which) accused Arab rulers of preparing the ground for more outside pressure for reform by turning their backs on domestic Arab reform and by continuing to tighten the screws on civil society in the region.

And.

Other groups accused the Arab leaders of delaying the pace of reform by linking it to the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and to the situation in Iraq. "It is as if the (ed: difficulties with) liberation of Palestine and Iraq necessitated the continuation of corruption, torture and despotism, undermining democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the Arab world," said a group of NGOs from different Arab countries, including Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia.

More, from Labidi's Daily Star op-ed. Because it matters.

They added that the Arab summit issued statements aimed at "deluding Arab public opinion and the international community" and that it had become clear that reform should be undertaken by Arab civil society, "particularly political parties, syndicates and human rights groups, regardless of the rhetorical promises of Arab governments."

....The most tragic abuse of human rights is still continuing in Darfur, in western Sudan, where thousands of people have been killed or turned into refugees by armed nomadic groups, the so-called Janjaweed, backed by the Sudanese military government. The Arab states did condemn the abuses, but they offered no real means to put an end to the violence.

Hello, Mother Jones, and The Nation.

In other Arab countries, independent journalists have also been harassed and jailed in recent weeks and attempts by Arab governments to pass restrictive legislation in different fields, including the media, have continued unabated. ....the Bahraini government, which loosened its grip over civil society more than three years ago, has during the past weeks introduced a campaign aimed at silencing pro-democracy activists and those denouncing the use of torture by the kingdom's authorities. The Syrian government has also recently cracked down on human rights defenders, including Aktham Naissa, the head of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria.

What's up with that?

The arbitrary arrest of Naissa and other jailed human rights defenders are believed to have been prompted by their participation in a campaign to end the state of emergency which has been in force for more than four decades, and by their reporting on human rights violations against Syrian Kurds in March and April.

Hi, ZNet.

All over the Middle East, attacks have increased against freedom of expression and association and the independence of the judiciary. So too has torture perpetrated by Arab governments, a development that has not gotten much attention, even as Arab eyes were focused on the abuse committed by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The scandal there, unfortunately, made Arab rulers appear "normal." But that will not be enough to convince the Arab publics that things are going well in their societies. And the expectations are that the G8 summit (in Sea Island, Georgia) next week will merely reaffirm this evident proposition.

ROSENBLOG SEZ: Where is the U.S. print media on all this (Arab human rights, recent news in Bahrain, Sudan)? The odd squib here and there. The token, heart-warming local feature on the brave and truly heroic Lost Boys of Sudan. The very occasional page A13 update on ethnic cleansing in Darfur, Sudan, or Sudan civil war peace negotiations.

But overall, basically heedless. Why? Because when brown- or black-skinned people are being oppressed by other brown- or black-skinned people, that's not news. Whites have to be the heavies for the story to get traction. We badly need people who are less schooled in "isms" - and more schooled in fair play - running our nation's newsrooms.

I don't see it happening soon. Or ever. Viva la blogosphere.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at June 4, 2004 06:49 PM

---

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.rosenblog.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/354

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference All The News That's Not Fit to Print:

---

» shemale sex from
asian ladyboys tranny girls shemale clip shemale personals shemale tranny sex [Read More]

Tracked on August 22, 2005 11:48 PM

» shemale galleries from
tranny tranny tranny sex shemale toons asian ladyboys asian shemale free ... [Read More]

Tracked on August 22, 2005 11:48 PM

» trannys from
trannies tranny tranny sex shemale anime shemale galleries shemale hentai [Read More]

Tracked on August 22, 2005 11:48 PM