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Archives: July 2011
Top Developments in the Arab Spring this Weekend
As usual, Friday was a big day for the popular Arab reform movements that are challenging dictatorial governments. 1. Syrian security forces are alleged to have killed about 20 protesters on Friday,…![Arabic Reporting on Anders Breivik](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2011/07/Arabreivik.jpg)
European Extremism Scares Arabs
Egyptian newspaper Al-Shuruq in Arabic for July 29, 2011: Article on Anders Breivik with the title, "Europe's Extreme Right: A Hatred Factory"![](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2016/04/top-stories-more-important-than-debt-limit-kabuki-187x137.gif)
A Story More Important than Debt Limit Kabuki
I take it the American news cycle is dominated by the artificial debate over raising the debt limit. It is a silly season story. The budget was being balanced by Clinton in…![Controversies over Younis assassination in Libya](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/controversies-over-younis-assassination-in-libya.html-187x137.jpg)
Controversies over Younis assassination in Libya
Abdel Fattah Younis, military leader of the Free Libya Forces, was assassinated Thursday. Younis was too close to Qaddafi, despite his defection, to remain truly popular with the rebels, and it is…Dear Foreigner-Haters: Immigration is Good for You
Why is there such strong anti-immigrant sentiment in the industrialized democracies, and why does it get focused on Muslims? The shooting rampage and bombing by anti-immigrant Islamophobe Anders Breivik has raised these…O’Reilly’s Muslim-Hatred and Christian Terrorists
Television commentator Bill O'Reilly lambasted the press for referring to Anders Breivik as a Christian terrorist, on the grounds that he is not a practicing Christian and on the grounds that no…Boycott Beck! Brands Child Victims Hitler Youth
Glenn Beck, who was purveyed to the American public in their millions by Time Warner's CNN for some time, before he was picked up and built up by Rupert Murdoch's Fox Cable…The Irrelevance of the Knights in a Global Society
Norwegian right wing Christian terrorist Anders Breivik spoke of being a member of the "Knights Templar," and if anything is further terrorizing about Friday's attacks beyond their own horror, it is the…When Extremism Learns to Blow things Up
The revelation by CNN that Norwegian right wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik kept a diary in which he obsessed about the dangers of cultural Marxism, multiculturalism, and the "Islamification" of Europe will…![White Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism in Norway](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/white-terrorism-in-norway.html-187x137.jpg)
White Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism in Norway
That the horrible terrorist attacks in Oslo on Friday that left some 90 persons or more dead-- a bombing of the prime minister's office and shootings at a Labor Party youth camp--…![Syrian Gov’t Besieges Homs Ahead of Friday Demonstrations](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/syrian-govt-besieges-homs-ahead-of-friday-demonstrations.html-187x137.jpg)
Syrian Gov’t Besieges Homs Ahead of Friday Demonstrations
AP reports that most people were trapped in their homes as gunfire crackled in the background in Homs, Syria, the country's third-largest city on Thursday. Government troops have the dissident city under…Is the Arab Spring Coming to Palestine?
Marwan Barghouti, a jailed Palestinian leader who was important to the "Second Intifada" or Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, has called for "million-person marches" in support of the Palestinian bid for membership…Top Self-Defeating Moves in the Middle East
One of the great mysteries in Hollywood is how bad films get made. After all, no one sets out to make a bad film. And most major films are made by professionals…Can Bookstores be Saved?
I like bookstores. I savor being in a place with book-lined walls. I love the covers, the titles, the blurbs. Some bookstores have jazz playing in the background. Some have coffeeshops. I…Qaddafi was Linchpin of Corrupt Dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt
Abd al-Rahman Shalqam, former foreign minister of Libya, has revealed in an interview with al-Hayat in Arabic that Muammar Qaddafi was central to propping up the corrupt and dictatorial regimes of Hosni…![Free Libya Offensive in Brega Begins](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/free-libya-offensive-in-brega-begins.html-187x137.jpg)
Free Libya Offensive in Brega Begins
Update: Midday Monday Libyan time, Free Libya forces announced that the bulk of the Qaddafi brigades at Brega had retreated to Ra's Lanuf and that Transitional National Council troops had taken much…![Syrian Opposition Congress in Istanbul Demands al-Asad Step Down](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/syrian-opposition-congress-in-istanbul-demands-al-asad-step-down.html-187x137.jpg)
Syrian Opposition Congress in Istanbul Demands al-Asad Step Down
Over 350 Syrian expatriate opposition leaders, from a wide range of political currents, including liberal and Muslim fundamentalist, met in Istanbul Saturday. They had originally intended to meet at the same time…![32 Nations Recognize Free Libya](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/32-nations-recognize-free-libya.html-187x137.jpg)
32 Nations Recognize Free Libya
The 32 nations of the Libya contact group, meeting in Istanbul, have decided to recognize the Transitional National Council in Benghazi as the legitimate government of Libya. The US was among those…![Egyptian Government Backs Down as Tahrir Protesters Gear UP](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/egyptian-government-backs-down-as-tahrir-protesters-gear-up.html-187x137.jpg)
Egyptian Government Backs Down as Tahrir Protesters Gear UP
The renewed protest movement at Tahrir ("Liberation") Square in downtown Cairo beginning last Friday, July 8, has pushed the transitional government to make a further set of concessions to a still-angry public.…Cole, ACLU, Sue CIA, FBI seeking Bloggergate Documents
Spencer Ackerman at Wired reports on the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit launched on my behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union against the CIA, FBI, Department of Justice, and Office of…Is Murdoch’s Media Empire a Cult?
The scandals besetting billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch's British properties simply cannot be ignored in the United States. Murdoch owns a newspaper of record, the Wall Street Journal, and his Fox Cable…Ahmad Wali Karzai Killing Points to More Instability
The murder Tuesday of Ahmad Wali Karzai, the behind-the-scenes authority over Qandahar province and brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, shows the continued instability in that country. It is not entirely clear…![Clinton: al-Asad has lost Legitimacy after Mobs Storm US, French Embassies](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/pro-regime-mobs-storm-damascus-embassies-of-us-france.html-187x137.jpg)
Clinton: al-Asad has lost Legitimacy after Mobs Storm US, French Embassies
The mob attacks on the US and French embassies by 'pro-regime elements' in Damascus on Monday provoked a heated response from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said that President Bashar al-Asad…![Today’s Top 5 Crises in the 2011 Arab Revolutions](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/todays-top-5-crises-in-the-2011-arab-revolutions.html-187x137.jpg)
Today’s Top 5 Crises in the 2011 Arab Revolutions
1. The protest movement in Egypt, which started up in earnest again last Friday, is expanding. Thousands were camped out in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo throughout the weekend, and people streamed…On Panetta and Defeating al-Qaeda
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said on his arrival in Kabul that the US could be on the verge of defeating al-Qaeda, and could do so in the wake of the killing…![Egyptian Revolution 2.0?](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/egyptian-revolution-2-0.html-187x137.jpg)
Egyptian Revolution 2.0?
Thousands of protesters came back to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday. Despite the sometimes dark depictions of continuing unrest in the Western press, from all accounts the atmosphere was light and carnivalesque.…Anthony Case Index
Number of murders in US in 2009: 13,636 Number of murders committed by firearm: 9,146 Number of alleged murders discussed for past 3 years by t.v. "news": 1 Number of most-talked-about accused…![Yemen’s Saleh Addresses Nation from Hospital Bed](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/12624.html-187x137.jpg)
Yemen’s Saleh Addresses Nation from Hospital Bed
Badly wounded and burned Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh appeared on Yemeni television on Thursday in a pre-recorded address that reiterated his intent to hold onto power even as he made vague…![Free Libya Forces Advance in Western Mountains](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/free-libya-forces-advance-in-western-mountains.html-187x137.jpg)
Free Libya Forces Advance in Western Mountains
Rebel forces took the city al-Qawalish on Wednesday, extending their control toward the capital and putting them in striking distance of the key city of Gharyan. Meanwhile, a Russian report said that…10 Ways Arab Democracies Can Avoid American Mistakes
Dear Arab World: Your peoples have demonstrated enormous courage and idealism in challenging a whole series of seedy police states throughout the Middle East. In two instances, Tunisia and Egypt, you have…![Syrian Tanks enter Hama](http://web.archive.org./web/20171010222708im_/https://media.juancole.com/images/2013/11/syrian-tanks-enter-hama.html-187x137.jpg)