(Iran) White House’s Gibbs: Ahmadinejad ‘elected leader’ of Iran
— AP: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is ‘the elected leader’ of the Islamic republic.”
— “Gibbs was asked Tuesday if the White House recognized Ahmadinejad as the country’s legitimate president.”
— “‘He’s the elected leader,’ Gibbs responded.”
Category: Other
Iraq: Five Shiite Mosques Bombed by Suspected Sunni Extremists
(Iraq) Wave of blasts near mosques kills 29 in Iraq
— “A string of bombings targeted Shiite worshippers in the Baghdad area during Friday prayers, killing at least 29 people in an apparently coordinated attack against followers of an anti-U.S. cleric who were blamed for some of Iraq’s worst sectarian violence.”
— “The blasts shattered a recent calm and underscored warnings that suspected Sunni insurgents would step up efforts to stoke sectarian violence”
Iran Protest News: July 30, 2009
Iran police beat opposition sympathizers at graveside memorial
— “Iranian police have used force at a Tehran cemetery to stop crowds rallying at the grave of a protester Neda Agha-Soltan who died in demonstrations after the disputed presidential election”
— Iran police arrest mourners in cemetery memorial
(Iran) Arshin Adib-Moghaddam says Iranian protesters fighting for “Islamic Republic”
— regarding Martin Amis, “He should note that the protesters are shouting Allah-u-Akbar”
(Iran) Francis Fukuyama’s on Iran’s future: evolve towards “supreme court that could pass judgment on the consistency of legislation with Shariah”
— states Noah Feldman’s view of Sharia law is for “respected Islamic rules of justice — Islamic rule of law”
Egypt: Progressive Thinker Dr. Sayed El Qemany Challenged as “Apostate” for Receiving Egyptian Award for Social Sciences
— Global Voices Report: “Egypt: The Egyptian Apostate”
— Report: “Egyptian progressive thinker, Dr. Sayed El Qemany was granted the State Award for Social Sciences. Egyptian liberals and seculars hailed the award while Wahabis and conservatives declared war on the ‘Egyptian Apostate'”
— Facebook group supporting Dr. Sayed El Qemany
— Report quotes Dr. Sayed El Qemany: “The State Award is not given to anyone based on the degree of his piety or his following of Islam – we are in Egypt not in Saudi Arabia. The award is granted to Egyptian icons who have avidly applied the ethics and basics of scientific research reaching conclusions and facts based on true references without tampering or twisting. Once again, the State Award is not a religious award.”
— Report quotes Tarek Heggy addressing Dr. El Qemany: “Granting you this award – last given to Taha Hussein half a century ago – is a well deserved honor; it is a celebration of the scholar and thinker whose publications are each worthy of the most prestigious of awards. Your publications assumed leadership in three fields; comparative religions, the study of the history of Islam and Islamic dogma, and modernism, post modernism, and contemporary studies”
=– Egyptian Editor Hassan El Helali also reports that the recent winner of the Egyptian State Award for Social Sciences award, Dr. Sayed El Qemany, is being threatened with “excommunication” and “incitements to kill” by Islamist individuals, leaders, and organizations, including Egyptian Grand Sheik Ali Gomaa and the Muslim Brotherhood.
— According to this report, Dr. Sayed El Qemany has issued “an appeal to the world’s conscience from the Egyptian writer and academic researcher of Islamic Affairs Dr. Sayed Mahmoud El Qemany who is being exposed to incite to assassinate him.”
=– The reports of such Islamist pronouncements and threats demonstrate the continuing threat of such organizations to freedom, equality, liberty, and democracy, and demonstrate why those of us who support our Universal Human Rights must never endorse or legitimize anti-democratic organizations and ideologies.
Iran Protest News: July 26, 2009
(Iran) Mir Hossein Mousavi plans memorial for victims of election violence
(Iran) Revolutionary Guard tightens hold in Iran crisis
(Iran) Another Iran protester dies in jail: Report
— “An Iranian student arrested in protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election has died in jail, a newspaper said today, the
second such death reported in recent days. ”
— “Amir Javadifar, “a student of industrial management in Qazvin (city) died in prison,” the reformist Etemad newspaper said, adding that his family has been asked to come for the body today morning.”
— “Etemad said Javadifar had been arrested in July 9 protests and had injuries in his arm and nose but it did not elaborate on the cause of death.”
— “Newspapers reported yesterday that Mohsen Ruholamini, 25, who had also been arrested on July 9 when thousands of protesters took to the streets on the anniversary of a bloody student uprising in 1999, also died in custody.”
(Iran) Senate OKs funds to thwart Iran Web censors
— “The Victim of Iranian Censorship, or VOICE, Act, was added to the Senate’s defense-authorization bill Thursday evening as a response to mass protests following Iran’s disputed June 12 presidential elections and amid concerns that Western companies have sold Iran technology used to monitor dissidents”
Iran: two protesters die in Iranian jail – Mohsen Ruholamini and Amir Javadifar
(Iran) Another Iran protester dies in jail: Report
— “An Iranian student arrested in protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election has died in jail, a newspaper said today, the
second such death reported in recent days. ”
— “Amir Javadifar, “a student of industrial management in Qazvin (city) died in prison,” the reformist Etemad newspaper said, adding that his family has been asked to come for the body today morning.”
— “Etemad said Javadifar had been arrested in July 9 protests and had injuries in his arm and nose but it did not elaborate on the cause of death.”
— “Newspapers reported yesterday that Mohsen Ruholamini, 25, who had also been arrested on July 9 when thousands of protesters took to the streets on the anniversary of a bloody student uprising in 1999, also died in custody.”
Iran opposition leader’s brother-in-law arrested
Iran opposition leader’s brother-in-law arrested
— “The wife of Iran’s opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, said on Thursday that her 62-year-old brother was among the hundreds arrested in Iran’s post-election crackdown, as Mousavi warned that the country is becoming ‘more militarised’ amid the turmoil.”
UK: 609 Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes in First Half of 2009
(UK) Anti-semitic attacks in Britain increase
— “The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 609 anti-Semitic incidents in the first half of 2009, more than the total for all of last year.”
Russia: Another Human Rights Activist Dead in Russia – Andrei Kulagin
(Russia) Another Human Rights Activist Dead in Russia
— “Just days after the kidnapping and murder of prominent human rights activist Natalya Estemirova, another civil rights activist in Russia has been buried after being found dead. The body of Andrei Kulagin, head of Spravedlivost (‘Justice’), was discovered in a quarry on July 10, roughly 600 miles north of Moscow”
Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority – Petition to Challenge Use of Iran Business Partners
— United Against Nuclear Iran reports: “Action Alert: Time Is Running Out To Send A Message To The LA MTA Board
— “Time is running out to send the Los Angeles MTA Board Members the message that you do not want your tax dollars going to corporations that support Iran’s nuclear program and facilitate Iran’s brutal repression of its own people.”
— Web Link for Action and Petition
— Los Angeles Times: “MTA delays decision on extending Italian firm’s rail contract”