Nikita does not want me to tell the police about his letter as this might push him”, but he makes no mention of the ICSR we]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/Arab-world-views-Israeli-unity-government-as-precursor-to-Iran-strike2012-05-08Elhanan Millerplease click here.]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/Egyptian-pacifist-Time-to-take-a-stand-against-the-military2012-05-02Elhanan Millerplease click here.
]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/The-Middle-Easts-Phony-War2012-05-02Manar Rachwani On March 11, 2011, Khaled al-Johany, a Saudi religious teacher in Riyadh, was the only citizen to show up in response to a call to protest and demand reform in Saudi Arabia. Many of those who saw al-Johany on TV thought that this public appearance before the foreign media would protect him from reprisals from the authorities, especially that he defied them by raising the slogan: “The people want to go to prison.”

Unfortunately, “the bravest man in Saudi Arabia”, as many refer to him now, was arrested within few minutes of talking to the media. On February 22 2012, almost a year after his detention, he “stood trial before the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, a tribunal set up in 2008 to try detainees held on terrorism-related charges,” according to Amnesty International, his case was adjourned until early April.

But if Saudi Arabia can’t bear, or even ‘tolerate!’ a call to reform from a single person,]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/The-Atkin-Fellowship-for-Arab-Israeli-Dialogue----NOW-RECRUITING2012-04-30ICSR ]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/and-now-onto-migrant-workers2012-04-24Sarah KilanyMy recent blog post on modern-day slavery and human trafficking brushed upon the subject of the abuse of migrant workers in the region. However, this topic alone is worthy of a blog post.
On March 14 2012, Dechasa Desisa a young Ethiopian woman committed suicide after being publically abused and humiliated by her employer. News about her unfortunate death filled international and local media outlets, as human rights organisation rushed to condemn the Lebanese government and call for reform of national laws. However, this young woman is one of many migrant workers who are physically and verbally exploited in Lebanon, and this has been going on for too long. There are almost 200,000 migrant workers –from mainly Asian and African countries -and they are not subject to Lebanese labour laws but instead to special immigration laws. Modern day slavery has taken a new and different]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/Iran-and-the-need-for-escalation2012-04-23Manar Rachwani The statements and actions of Iranian clerics and political figures continue to escalate tensions with Gulf States.  This has been followed by President Ahmadinejad visiting one of the Emirate Islands which Iran has occupied, further straining these already fragile relationships.

But why is Iran behaving like this? Especially at a time when it is under international pressure and its enemies are numerous! Would it not at the very least not want to antagonise what could be neutral elements in its “cold war” with its traditional enemies?

The current Iranian regime, in attempt to unify its divided people and assert its grip on power, is creating the impression that the Shia population is a target, and is continuously marginalised in the Arab world. This would also explain Iran’s support of the Syrian regime during the uprising and the explicit antagonising of the Bahraini regime - Iran was the first to give the Bahraini uprising a religious]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/As-the-presidential-field-narrows-Amr-Moussa-rises2012-04-20Elhanan Millerplease click here.
]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/Turning-information-into-action2012-04-19Mohammad Al Azraqplease click here and here.

]]>http://www.icsr.info/blog/Syria-Reform-to-End-all-Reform2012-04-18Manar Rachwani In his speech on 10 January 2012, President Bashar Al Assad of Syria made it clear that local administration (municipal) elections were held - less than a month earlier - “under very hard circumstances. And because of the security situation, it was natural that this elections not to bring about the expected results”. But, between 12 December 2011; the date of the municipal elections, and 26 February 2012; the date of the referendum on the new constitution, security situation worsened.

Then, why did the Syrian regime insist on organising the referendum on the new constitution?

The most plausible reason could have been the regime’s urgent need to convince Syrian opposition, as well as the international community, that the regime is serious about political reform. Thus, consequently, to use ‘constitutional reform’ as a new starting point towards achieving a political settlement in Syria, especially after the failure of sec]]>