Posts Tagged protest

Protesters March Against NY SAFE Act

Newsday.com reports on the protest:

The protesters were encouraged to register to vote, join a political party and get active in political committees. Organizers said the goal is to repeal the law or else in 2014 make its supporters face consequences at the polls. At one table, they handed out voter registration forms and encouraged demonstrators to take them home to family and friends who feel the same way.

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Open Carry March on Washington on July 4th

Former Marine Adam Kokesh is organizing the protest. This is going to be interesting.

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NY Gun Owners March On Albany

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The Syria Crisis: Assessing Foreign Intervention

The Syria Crisis: Assessing Foreign Intervention is republished with permission of STRATFOR.

By Scott Stewart

The ongoing unrest, violence and security crackdowns in Syria have been the subject of major international attention since February. Our current assessment is that the government and opposition forces have reached a stalemate in which the government cannot quell the unrest and the opposition cannot bring down the regime without outside intervention.

In the Dec. 8 Security Weekly, we discussed the covert intelligence war being waged by the United States, Israel and other U.S. allies against Iran. Their efforts are directed not only against Tehran’s nuclear program but also against Iran’s ability to establish an arc of influence that stretches through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. To that end, the United States and its allies are trying to limit Iran’s influence in Iraq and to constrain Hezbollah in Lebanon. But apparently they are also exploring ways to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al Assad, a longtime ally of Iran whose position is in danger due to the current unrest in the country. In fact, a U.S. State Department official recently characterized the al Assad regime as a “dead man walking.”

We therefore would like to examine more closely the potential external efforts required to topple the Syrian regime. In doing so, we will examine the types of tools that are available to external forces seeking to overthrow governments and where those tools fit within the force continuum, an array of activities ranging from clandestine, deniable activities to all-out invasion. We will also discuss some of the indicators that can be used by outside observers seeking to understand any efforts taken against the Syrian regime. Read the rest of this entry »

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Protesting New Hampshire Campus Gun Ban

From Human Events:

Jardis said the idea for the protest came about when he learned that campuses of the state’s university system never updated their gun bans to reflect the concealed carry laws passed in New Hampshire in 2003 and in 2007, he said.

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Egypt, Israel and a Strategic Reconsideration

Egypt, Israel and a Strategic Reconsideration is republished with permission of STRATFOR.

By George Friedman

The events in Egypt have sent shock waves through Israel. The 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel have been the bedrock of Israeli national security. In three of the four wars Israel fought before the accords, a catastrophic outcome for Israel was conceivable. In 1948, 1967 and 1973, credible scenarios existed in which the Israelis were defeated and the state of Israel ceased to exist. In 1973, it appeared for several days that one of those scenarios was unfolding.

The survival of Israel was no longer at stake after 1978. In the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the various Palestinian intifadas and the wars with Hezbollah in 2006 and Hamas in Gaza in 2008, Israeli interests were involved, but not survival. There is a huge difference between the two. Israel had achieved a geopolitical ideal after 1978 in which it had divided and effectively made peace with two of the four Arab states that bordered it, and neutralized one of those states. The treaty with Egypt removed the threat to the Negev and the southern coastal approaches to Tel Aviv.

The agreement with Jordan in 1994, which formalized a long-standing relationship, secured the longest and most vulnerable border along the Jordan River. The situation in Lebanon was such that whatever threat emerged from there was limited. Only Syria remained hostile but, by itself, it could not threaten Israel. Damascus was far more focused on Lebanon anyway. As for the Palestinians, they posed a problem for Israel, but without the foreign military forces along the frontiers, the Palestinians could trouble but not destroy Israel. Israel’s existence was not at stake, nor was it an issue for 33 years. Read the rest of this entry »

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Social Media as a Tool for Protest

Social Media as a Tool for Protest is republished with permission of STRATFOR.

By Marko Papic and Sean Noonan

Internet services were reportedly restored in Egypt on Feb. 2 after being completely shut down for two days. Egyptian authorities unplugged the last Internet service provider (ISP) still operating Jan. 31 amidst ongoing protests across the country. The other four providers in Egypt — Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt and Etisalat Misr — were shut down as the crisis boiled over on Jan. 27. Commentators immediately assumed this was a response to the organizational capabilities of social media websites that Cairo could not completely block from public access.

The role of social media in protests and revolutions has garnered considerable media attention in recent years. Current conventional wisdom has it that social networks have made regime change easier to organize and execute. An underlying assumption is that social media is making it more difficult to sustain an authoritarian regime — even for hardened autocracies like Iran and Myanmar — which could usher in a new wave of democratization around the globe. In a Jan. 27 YouTube interview, U.S. President Barack Obama went as far as to compare social networking to universal liberties such as freedom of speech.

Social media alone, however, do not instigate revolutions. They are no more responsible for the recent unrest in Tunisia and Egypt than cassette-tape recordings of Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini speeches were responsible for the 1979 revolution in Iran. Social media are tools that allow revolutionary groups to lower the costs of participation, organization, recruitment and training. But like any tool, social media have inherent weaknesses and strengths, and their effectiveness depends on how effectively leaders use them and how accessible they are to people who know how to use them. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mubarak Declines to Run for Re-Election

This report republished with permission of Stratfor.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Feb. 1 he would not seek another term as president in elections slated for September but that he will complete his current term. In a televised national address, his second since the Egyptian unrest began the previous week, Mubarak said he would use the remainder of his term to oversee the transition of power. He also called on the parliament to amend the Egyptian Constitution’s Article 76 (which narrows the pool of potential presidential candidates) and Article 77 (which allows for unlimited presidential terms). It is currently unclear whether these measures will be considered.

The opposition immediately rejected the pronouncement. Each political concession offered during this crisis by the Egyptian political establishment — which until this point had ruled with absolute authority since the 1950s — has only emboldened the opposition. Unrest is thus likely to continue, which means the Egyptian military likely will attempt to force Mubarak to step down before the elections. However, even this will not likely resolve matters, as the need to create a neutral caretaker government until elections can be held will be the basis for further struggles between the regime and the opposition.

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Arizona Woman pulls her registration from Arizona State University in protest of illegal immigrant grads

“MESA, AZ – After watching the story of two Arizona State University graduates who admitted they are not U.S. citizens, the Mesa woman [Amber Kunau] says she decided not to enroll at the school.

Kunau said she recently pulled her registration from Arizona State University after seeing the story of two ASU graduates who admitted they were not U.S. citizens and went to Washington, D.C. fighting for the DREAM Act.

The two students, Dulce Matuz and Erika Andiola, spoke to ABC15 Sunday and described how they came to the United States as children, graduated college and hope the DREAM Act passes for a path to citizenship.

“After that story broke I changed my mind and talked to my husband about not attending ASU and he agreed,” said Kunau.

“I think it is really unfair that ASU is knowingly allowing illegal immigrants to attend their school,” said Kunau.

Kunau said the cost of her education at ASU for the psychology program would be around $21,000.

“I believe everyone should have the opportunity for a good education don’t get me wrong on that,” said Kunau. “There are many students that could also use that money that are here legally and I’m pretty sure those girls got some kind of financial aid.”

University spokesperson Julie Newberg released the following statement via email:

“ASU complies with all state and federal laws. Under Arizona law, students must be citizens or legal residents, or have lawful immigration status, in order to qualify for in-state tuition status or financial aid paid from state monies.”

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/woman-won%27t-attend-asu-due-to-undocumented-students

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