UPDATED! Sydney Muslims Join Worldwide Anti-US Protests

As Verity Penfold penned her summation of the latest Islamic uprising – Arab Spring Turns to Islamic Winter as Muslims Prove Unruly Ways – Sydney Muslims geared up for what was meant to be a peaceful protest. Several hundred protesters gathered in central Sydney with the intention of marching  to the US Consulate.

OPINION! …Islamic community leaders need to GET A GRIP! remove the RADICAL elements, CUT the rhetoric and calm the rest of us with a little unity and LEADERSHIP! The truth is always averagely simple! The Australian Public watches the news nightly on their tv sets, sat there with the kids, possibly gnawing away at dinner. Three nights in a row each and every tv station is running news on the escalating violence, destruction of property, the anti US protests in the middle east. On the fourth night the Australian public watches the tv news and that same fracas is occurring in it’s own city!?

UPDATE! Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister – and former Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr has waded into the discussion over Sydney’s Muslim riot, urging the Australian public not to blame the broader Muslim community for the behaviour of what he called a “Telephone Box Minority” Australia’s Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen has also chirped into the criticism and indicated he may cancel the visas of any “non-citizens” charged after the weekend’s violent protests in Sydney ::

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Arab Spring Turns to Islamic Winter as Muslims Prove Unruly Ways

UPDATE! As this post is being penned news is coming in via wires and Reuters that there has been an explosion of protests around the globe, including protests in London and Sydney. The theme of the protests is similar to those occurring in the middle east.

Reuters has quoted a protester in London as saying that he doesn’t believe in freedom of speech, that no one is allowed to criticise his prophet. Oh the irony… When asked if he understood that he was exercising his right to free speech, he responded that he did, “but he wasn’t criticising Mohamed.”

It’s hard to believe, less than 2 years the world celebrated the Islamic worlds uprising for justice, a fight to right the many wrongs imposed upon it by corrupt and brutal regimes. The Arab spring that kicked of in mid December 2010 has smouldered on to what can now only be viewed as a brawl without a good cause.

While Syrians continue their territorial to-and-fro – displacing hundreds of thousands of refugees to bordering nations, and displacing millions of citizens within the war torn country - the rest of the Arab world is busy bashing down any symbol of westernisation.

Kicking off in Cairo on Tuesday, crowds of angry muslim protestors vented their anger over an anti-Islamic film released on youtube.com, the initial Cairo protest has been reported as consisting  mostly of hardline Islamists, supporters of the Salafist movement.

The protests have now moved to Tunisa – the original Arab Spring  - Sudan, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq, as well as continuing in Egypt and Libya WARNING VIDEO CONTENT MAY BE OFFENSIVE :: Read the full article »»»»

US State Department Blanket Tweets Iran

The US State Department has begun sending Twitter messages to Iranians in Farsi, alluding to the “historic role” social media have played in mass protests against Iran’s 2009 disputed presidential polls.

The Twitter feeds in the Iranian language began on Sunday as US officials accused Iran of hypocrisy by supporting the anti-government revolt in Egypt but seeking to prevent anti-government demonstrations in Iran.

On the Twitter account @USAdarFarsi, the State Department said it “recognises historic role of social media among Iranians. We want to join in your conversations”.

In another tweet, the State Department said: “Iran has shown that the activities it praised Egyptians for it sees as illegal, illegitimate for its own people”.

In a third tweet, it said “US calls on #Iran to allow people to enjoy same universal rights to peacefully assemble, demonstrate as in Cairo”.

In Tehran yesterday, riot police fired tear gas and shot paintballs at protesters who turned what they said was a Tehran rally in support of Arab revolts into an anti-government demonstration, witnesses said.

International and local Iranian media were banned from freely covering the massive wave of protest sparked by the disputed re-election in June 2009 of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But Iranians overcame the reporting ban by using social-networking and image-sharing websites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr despite efforts by local officials to cut off mobile phones and the internet.

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Michael Courtenay Facebook |     Twitter |     michael@cankler.com

via aap

Egypt, Journalists Attacked

Egypt, On the Verge of Coup d'état

Is our western perspective on what revolution is; clouding our view of what a likely outcome might be. As we moan and groan about how harsh it is not having internet or cell phone services – is it possible we’ve missed the point of revolution – 60% poverty in a developed nation is NOT something the west can comprehend. If at the end of this civil unreast all Egyptians get back is Facebook, Twitter and an Austrian Based Leader, will they have won anything.

Politically embattled Egypt has been rocked and stunned by an eruption of surprisingly bold street protests this week.

The radical Muslim Brotherhood called for its followers to demonstrate after the weekly Muslim prayers on Friday, the country’s opposition called on supporters to take to the streets. Mohamed El Baradei, the Egyptian Nobel laureate and opposition leader, is returned home from Europe on Thursday and has been central in calling for Egyptians to take to the streets.

“I am there to make sure that things will be managed in a peaceful way,” El Baradei said as he was waiting to leave Vienna, Austria.

El Baradei “I have to give them as much support, political support, spiritual, moral, whatever I can do, you know,” he said. “I will be with them. They are my people, and I have to be there, and I’d like to see Egypt, a new Egypt.” The more El Baradei talks, the mor irrelevant he becomes.

Egypt is suffering serious unrest, the entire country is falling further into chaos:

In Suez, the port city east of Cairo on the Gulf of Suez, people congregated to demand the release of those detained, and clashes broke out between demonstrators and security forces, a witness told CNN.

In Ismaeliya, Hani Abdel Latif, an Interior Ministry official, said 50 people demonstrated peacefully. But there were news reports of clashes there.

The protest movement in Egypt has been fueled by blogs, Twitter and Facebook, and El Baradei, who is also the former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, has been posting messages of support for the demonstrators on Twitter.

El Baradei “Stability is when you have a government that is elected on a free and fair basis. And we have seen, you know, how the election has been rigged in Egypt. We have seen how people have been tortured,” he said.

El Baridei is unlikely to become the next Egyption President, his relevance is lent more toward negotiation, not Leadership. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood has stated as much.

Western media reports: As civil unrest in Egypt enters its sixth day – social media is regaining its footing in Egypt. The government has officially shut down the Internet in Egypt, bringing the information flow out of the country to a trickle. Fortunately resourceful Twitter and Facebook users are still managing to get tweets and SMS messages out of the country using clever methods.

Egyptians are rebelling against the nearly 30 year reign of President Mosni Mubarak and the government corruption associated with his regime. More than 60% of the population live in poverty, protesters charge the ruling elite with squandering the country’s resources. The People Want Mubarak Out!

The current fear must be – if the civil unrest isn’t quelled, the opposition remains muted by an inappropriate leader and without a presidential resignation - the Egyptian Military will have little choice but to take power. the Washington Post reported on sunday – CAIRO – The Egyptian military moved on multiple fronts Sunday to display its strength and consolidate support as factions within the government and on the street vied for control of this strategically vital nation at the heart of the Arab world – the point of revolution is to over-throw an untenable government and restore STABILITY. If this doesn’t happen – with speed – the military will have few options but to cease power – Coup d’etat?

As outlandish as this sounds – it can’t be dismissed – if the radical Muslim Brotherhood takes any form of power, Egypt has every chance of becoming the next Iran. In the region this will have serious consequence, for the USA and West in general this spells uncertainty, For Israel losing it’s only regional ally would be diabolical, Israel is currently deep in high level talks with the US. Watch This Space!

A source in the region – Australian Gov Trade Delegate: says “the atmosphere in Israel is tense, like the whole country is holding it’s Breath”

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Michael Courtenay     Facebook |     Twitter |     michael@cankler.com

With M.Aaron Silverman

Riots in Egypt Trigger Hysteria, Not in the streets of Cairo but in the corridors of power

“The riots in Egypt have triggered hysteria – not in the streets of Cairo but in the corridors of power”

Cristina Odone says on her Telegraph blog that “We should not be afraid of democracy in the Arab world“:

“The riots in Egypt have triggered hysteria – not in the streets of Cairo but in the corridors of power in the West. From Washington to Whitehall, officials are terrified by the talk of ‘power to the people’. The people, after all, are Arabs; the last time Muslims formed a democratic movement to oust a dictator was in Iran in 1979, and you know where that led – the birth of Muslim fundamentalism, the rise of Islamic terrorism, the us-against-the-West mentality that today infects so much of the Arab world. (The fact that Iranians are not actually Arabs is often overlooked.

picture via Getty Images