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 Published time: 21 Oct, 2011

Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shout slogans during a pro-regime rally in Damascus on October 12, 2011 (AFP Photo / Louai Beshara) / AFP

The unrest engulfing Syria is mirrored in the internet with a PR-civil-war. While some videos show “atrocious bandits”, others opt for “atrocious army men”. And none shows what ordinary Syrians live through.

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Unlike other countries of the Arab Spring, there are a lot of different videos about Syria on the internet. TV channels around the world broadcast selective videos of atrocities by armed men. At the same time, they fail to show millions of Syrians rallying to support the government. And they don’t show videos of atrocities against Syrian people.

“The atrocity of bandits in this video is a sign that the US made a misjudgment,” Anhar Kochneva, director of the Jordan Club tourism organization comments on the video. “And now they are making an attempt of intimidating. It’s not a secret that they started preparing the anti-Syrian campaigns 10 years ago. They were proceeding from their understanding of Syrian people’s hatred toward the government, but they failed to notice that the country changed. They began supporting the anti-government rallies, but they failed to notice that these rallies actually brought people together. Millions of people just recently rallied in Aleppo, which the US considered an opposition center. The US believed that Syrians themselves would overthrow and betray Bashar al-Assad, but they failed to achieve an overturn performed by Syrians. Now they send in bandits, Syrians as well as those who co-operate with Americans among them. Some who got captured had performed terrible atrocities under the influence of drugs. For many of them, the only education they ever had was several years of school.”

 

Syrian army regulars celebrating a recent victory and hailing Assad.

Kochneva believes that the US Security Force rules these atrocities of bandits:

“Facebook didn’t work. They caused a provocation in Daraa but it didn’t work either. In the mid-April, the opposition met with Dan Feldman, representative of Hillary Clinton, in Istanbul. WikiLeaks reported that at that meeting a decision was made to start killing servicemen who at that time were unarmed, throughout the entire country. Four or 5 days later, servicemen in different parts of Syria were brutally murdered. And presently, many soldiers and officers are getting killed. Armed groups are kidnapping and murdering state officials.

“There are two centers of unrest left, Homs and Idleb. These videos show fierce terror of Sthe summer of 2011 in these cities. Three thousand people were killed, a third of them servicemen, and a lot of state officials. Ninety per cent of these murders were performed by bandits. This is what happened recently: officials stopped for a coffee on their way somewhere, and they got murdered.

“Bandits have been causing outrage in the north of the country, as there are many villages and forests there, which means a place for them to hide,” says Kochneva.

What’s the footwear of Syrian officers?

The Western media show videos of “atrocities of the Syrian army”. Kochneva comments on one of the most popular videos (of an officer beating up a boy): “Why is this officer wearing beach slippers?”

“Unlike foreigners, the entire Syria knows what the army wears on their feet. In the area of Hama, an army uniform warehouse was robbed. Bandits wore these uniforms while looting and ransacking, and making videos of this kind. There was just one trouble – no boots at the warehouse. Therefore the officers in the video are wearing beach slippers. Moreover, after this robbery, the army was quickly transferred to a different type of uniform. Furthermore, how can anyone understand why officers would record their own dirt and post it in the internet? They aren’t even allowed to go home; when would they find time to spend at an internet café? The army has a high authority, and people really ask them to enter their settlements to protect them.”

Kochneva is convinced that the West intentionally places a barrier for news from Syria. Otherwise, she believes, the EU and the US would not have imposed sanctions on the broadcast of Dunya, a Syrian TV channel which discusses videos of this kind of detail. Particularly, this channel even broadcasts the negotiations of the opposition. Some crafty migrants found a way of making voice chats discussing plans for destabilizing the country publicly available. Kochneva believes the authorities managed to take control over the country and to gain the support of the majority:

“People are laughing already at conspirators and their instructors. A French ambassador who attempted to talk patriarch Ignatius into supporting the US had tomatoes and eggs thrown at him when he was taken outside. A US ambassador, who was watching a rally to support peace in Syria from his car window, got wrapped in a Syrian flag with Bashar al-Assad’s portrait on it. People are saying, ‘Yes, there was terror, it was frightening and confusing; but we’re no longer afraid of you.’”

Not only have the Western media failed to report the truth. They have also engaged in an unrelenting propaganda campaign against Russia, Putin, Iran and Assad with the (by now) well known object of demonizing them, chiefly to prepare the American population for “extreme” measures against such targets. This is a typical cartoon floated by the presstitutes to besmirch Assad’s image.

How to create chaos

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]ussian political scientist Ruslan Kurbanov, who spent several years in the Islamic environment in Syria, agrees that there are no preconditions for a civil war; even though several years ago one would have thought that it was indeed possible to happen. According to his observations, unhappiness with the authorities was in the air as early as 2005. It was mainly expressed in rumors:

“They said that people were disappearing. They were allegedly kidnapped by Mukhabarat for being unreliable. They said that kidnapped people were found several years later in prisons. They whispered about terrible conditions in Syrian prisons. I saw those who were personally affected by abuse of power. A family member of one of them was imprisoned for opposition-oriented statements; a relative of another one disappeared; a friend of yet another one went to Iraq, and now Mukhabarat examines his acquaintances. But this was just a tiny percentage of people.”

There were also rumors of stopping armed people:

“They said that armed people were stopped in Damascus. They stated those were militants. There were rumors about attacking and shooting between militants and the authorities,” says Kurbanov.

But the official Syrian media did not respond to these rumors in any way, neither confirming nor denying them.

Kurbanov notes the following characteristic episode:

“Policemen in the street would not respond to the traditional greeting, ‘salam aleikum’. When I asked the locals why the police would not respond to my ‘salam’, I was told that all of the police are Alawis, and they do not like Sunnis, especially explicit ones.”

What is more likely to prevail: hatred toward the US, or tribal ideology?

According to Kurbanov, Syria’s Islamic circles have a strong feeling of resentment against the United States. People are very annoyed by the US trying to impose its standards on Syria, even with regard to modes of dress, and they are upset that the Syrian government agrees to adopt these standards.

“For example, Syria’s authorities conceded to US demands and introduced tight pants for female students in high schools. There were also rumors about the US dictating to the Syrian government whether it should enroll foreign applicants in Islamic universities or not.”

Kurbanov recalls that the US had once declared Syria part of the “Axis of Evil”, and many Syrians feared that the Americans would start bombing Syria the way they did to Iraq. However, Kurbanov believes the US quagmire in Iraq could have its own implication for Syria.

“There were a lot of Syrians who volunteered to fight in Iraq. Bashar al-Assad rode this wave and agitated those who were spoiling for the fight. He let Syrians volunteers infiltrate Iraq. But those fighters were aware that after Iraq, they were to take on the regime back in Syria. I would not rule out that the lone gunners whom the Syrian government later had to hunt down at home were actually former insurgency fighters heading back from Iraq. In fact, it was not that difficult to creep over the border. I have heard stories about people from Syria easily slipping into Iraq, and even Afghanistan, and then coming back. I believe it is possible that some of Syria’s Iraq veterans jumped into the fight at home as soon as it started.”

Kurbanov believes that the animosity and atrocities committed by the opposition as it can be seen from TV films is a manifestation of tribal psychology rather than of an Islamic or revolutionary one:

“In my view, there was no soil for mutual hatred in society until the very last moment. But if blood was spilled in the first protests, I assume that the crowd might easily get filled with thirst to revenge the regime and separate soldiers. Even in the capital the Arabs have preserved their tribal mentality and are ready to stand up for their people.”

Kurbanov believes that the abundance of false reels about the army atrocities has a political goal of causing chaos in the country and forcing Syria to break up its union with Iran.

“I assume that these fakes are being injected into Syrian society to accelerate the speed of the explosion. Forces that are interested in this explosion want to break up Syria’s union with Iran. They include the United States, Saudi Arabia and Sunni Jihad fighters,” Kurbanov said.

Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT

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Nauseated by the
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Had enough of their lies, escapism,
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Every US president bows to the Israeli lobby. Here Barack Obama exchanges a few words with AIPAC president Lee Rosenberg after addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual Policy Conference in Washington Sunday, March 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Times Square Rally on 22 July 2015 (See Addendum)

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he group’s website doesn’t list staff and a board of directors. Instead it lists an “advisory board” consisting of the usual hawkish Democratic former senators, including Mark Begich, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, Evan Bayh, and former Rep. Shelley Berkley. Clearly, this isn’t an independent organization, but rather one established and controlled by AIPAC. Unlike some of groups below which are casting their nets wide, AIPAC seems to be targeting Democratic senators on the fence.

So far this year, according to U.S. Senate public records, AIPAC has spent nearly $2 million on direct lobbying, more than it’s ever spent in any previous six-month period since 1999. This is a further indication of the group’s dead-seriousness in pursuing the defeat of the Iran measure.

Will AIPAC use the ‘Doomsday Weapon’?

The Israeli media site, Walla, even invokes AIPAC’s use of a dreaded “Doomsday Weapon,” a massive payback campaign against those who defy the group and vote for the agreement. This would take the matter to a whole new level: It’s one thing to advocate against a Congressional bill; it’s quite another to spend the tens of millions it would take to fund primary challengers and general election opponents of any Democratic senators defying AIPAC in this vote.

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A PREVIOUS DEMONSTRATION=KEEP IRAN NUKE-FREE Rally NYC- 3-27-15
They’ve been at it for a long time, and rallies like the latest a few days ago have been used before. The clueless, complicit media, is happy to oblige with its own brand of superficial nincompoop coverage.

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Since the article clearly describes internal organization deliberations on the subject, this is not idle speculation. If AIPAC feels it’s on the cusp of winning, it could wheel out the heavy guns of intimidation and blackmail it utilizes in such circumstances.

Of course, if it does make such a major financial and political investment, there is the distinct possibility it could lose, as it did in the fight over the Menendez sanctions resolution. That bill would have torpedoed the Iran negotiations by adding further draconian sanctions against that nation. Democratic support for the measure collapsed amid the hostile fallout from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in March. A similar loss in this case would involve considerable loss of prestige and the sense of invincibility which AIPAC exploits to great advantage in Washington backroom politics.

With the recent announcement of restoration of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba, it’s worth contemplating the toll the blockade against the island nation took on both its inhabitants and relations between the two countries. For fifty years, the U.S. relationship to Cuba was held hostage by a powerful domestic lobby which rewarded its political friends and punished its enemies.

President Barack Obama finally decided enough was enough. He determined that the power of the anti-Castro lobby in Florida had waned sufficiently to take U.S. policy in a new direction.  The Israel lobby wields precisely the same sort of power on matters related to Israel. What would happen if a loss on the nuclear deal put America’s policy on Israel “in play” as happened regarding Cuba policy?

In Seattle, United Against Nuclear Iran aired a TV ad in recent days during prime time. And last month, the group’s chairman, Mark Wallace, who served as the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, boasted of what he’d spend against the deal: “We have a multi-million-dollar budget and we are in it for the long haul. Money continues to pour in.” The group has also distributed a press release expanding on its plans.

United Against Nuclear Iran’s June, 2o15 ad decrying the Iran nuclear deal:

United Against Nuclear Iran is known for exposing companies allegedly doing business with Iran. Their M.O. has been to approach company executives and threaten to “out” them as sanctions scofflaws if they didn’t stop, and, even better, if they didn’t donate to the group.

One shipping owner, Victor Restis, challenged United Against Nuclear Iran, and when the group accused him of violating sanctions, he sued them for libel. In an unprecedented intervention by the government in a private commercial lawsuit, the Justice Department in 2014 asked the judge to shut down the case on the grounds that exposure of the documents Restis was demanding would damage national security. Reporters covering the story wrote that much of the material Restis wanted was believed to have been furnished to United Against Nuclear Iran by Israel’s Mossad or even the CIA. Such a revelation would have exposed the level of collusion between the two intelligence agencies and their exploitation of purportedly independent, non-partisan NGOs to advance their political agenda.

Politico reported last month that the American Security Initiative had bought $1.4 million worth of TV ad time targeted to the June 30 deadline to complete the agreement. American Security Initiative is a hawkish national security 501(c)4 founded by former Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss (who recently said Edward Snowden should be hung), Norm Coleman, and Democrat Evan Bayh.

Politico also noted another pro-Israel lobbying group, Secure America Now, founded by push-poll specialistsPat Caddell and John McLaughlin, was pouring $1 million into its own media blitz targeting undecided Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Michael Bennett and Chuck Schumer. Secure America Now was launched in the aftermath of the Islamophobic campaign against the building of a mosque “on holy ground” near the World Trade Center site.

Watch Secure America Now’s spot featuring an Iranian mushroom cloud:

Another group likely to be closely involved is The Israel Project, whose director, Josh Block, was formerly AIPAC’s public face. The Israel Project will undoubtedly add its own voice to the media melee.

Meanwhile, the tumult over the deal has entered the Republican presidential primary campaign. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, seeking to bolster his flagging prospects, has made opposition to the deal a cornerstone of his campaign. At a recent press conference in New York, at which he promoted his new website,No Nukes for Iran, he warned if the deal was ratified New York City would be one of the Ayatollahs’ first targets. Business Insider reports:

“’Where do you think they’d like to come most outside of Washington?’ Graham said. ‘Right where we’re sitting.’

‘New York City represents America,’ Graham added. ‘This is the place that they’d choose to hit us again if they could.’

Flanked by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Connecticut), Graham struck an almost apocalyptic tone when discussing the deal. He frequently drew parallels between Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Adolf Hitler, suggesting that the deal posed an enormous threat to Israel and to the US and that it would lead to a nuclear-arms race in the Middle East.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the bill in Congress have some new allies in Israel itself. Jonathan Alter reports in the Daily Beast that former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon fully supports the measure. The Israeli navy veteran also reeled off the names of other senior military and intelligence figures who support it.

Adelson: The $64-million question

Sheldon Adelson is the ugly (but true) face of the Israeli lobby. His own money is as dirty as it comes.  In this May 4, 2015 file photo, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO testifies in court in Las Vegas. A news organization and nonprofit group wanted a Nevada judge to unseal a private investigator’s report that they say may tie casino company Las Vegas Sands Corp. to organized crime in Asia.  (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

The casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is the great unknown among all the donors in the Israel lobby sphere. He alone could spend many times the $40 million AIPAC plans to spend, should he choose to. Given his status as Benjamin Netanyahu’s prime financial backer and the $100 million he spent on Mitt Romney’s failed presidential bid, Adelson will likely weigh in on the subject as well. By a conservative estimate, the Israel lobby could spend upwards of $50 million on this campaign. Should Adelson go “all in” (to use gambling parlance appropriate for him) that figure could climb to $100 million.

There are a few organizations which plan to weigh-in on behalf of Secretary of State John Kerry’s agreement. Among them are J Street, an American Jewish group dedicated to supporting Obama administration foreign policy. It plans to spend between $2-3 million in support of the deal. The National Iranian American Council, led by Trita Parsi, has long supported the deal. It’s not known how much it will invest, but its budget and resources aren’t nearly a match for AIPAC.

At a recent National Iranian American Council conference, former Dem. House member Jim Slattery warned of the mind-boggling phenomenon this campaign represents:

“I’ve been around this town for about 30 years now … and I’ve never seen foreign policy debate that is being so profoundly affected by the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars in the American political system.”

President Obama has shown himself adept at outmaneuvering his political adversaries concerning Iran. The failed Menendez bill is just one example. The political math concerning the current legislation also is in the president’s favor. Even if the Senate rejects the nuclear agreement, he will veto it. That means the GOP majority will need 13 Democratic votes. Undoubtedly, they will gain a few. But it’s exceedingly unlikely they will get all of them. If they don’t, the agreement will be ratified and the president wins.

 

Israel loses if nuclear deal wins

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]uch a victory has repercussions for AIPAC and the power of the Israel lobby. But it has even more far-reaching implications for Israel and its changing role in the Middle East. Until now, it has been the indisputable power in the region, especially among the frontline states of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. What Israel wanted, it got. Having 200 nuclear warheads only reinforced Israeli dominance.

The nuclear agreement could augur an age in which Iran takes its place as a responsible participant in regional politics. Instead of supporting Islamist militants in Lebanon and Syria, it might coordinate efforts with the U.S. to contain the Sunni Islamist threat represented by al-Qaida and the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). It certainly will allow Iran to become a commercial power, with foreign delegations arriving in Tehran daily to negotiate new business deals that would follow the lifting of sanctions.

Israel could see its stature recede considerably as Iran’s rises. That’s why Prime Minister Netanyahu has been touting a purported alliance between his nation and the Sunni Gulf states. In fact, The New York Times’s editorial endorsing the Iran deal says Netanyahu has taken this one step further: He’s said that on Iran, Israel has more in common with the Sunni states than with the U.S.

It’s possible this is precisely the sort of posturing for which Netanyahu is well-known. But given the United States’s role as Israel’s arms guarantor in every major war it has fought, it’s extraordinary for the prime minister to claim Arab states are his new go-to allies. During Israel’s next war against Hezbollah or Hamas, does he think King Salman of Saudi Arabia will give him the munitions he needs to maul Lebanon or Gaza?

ADDENDUM

Thousands Of Protesters Rally In Times Square Against Iran Nuclear Deal

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Times Square Wednesday evening in protest over the recent landmark nuclear deal with Iran.

As CBS2’s Jessica Schneider reported, some 10 thousand are rallying in solidarity with signs and voices raised against the nuclear deal.

Protest organizers proclaim: “Washington is prepared to give Iran virtually all that it needs to get to the bomb. To release $150 billion to Iran will result in the expansion of worldwide terror.”

Former New York Governor, and Presidential contender, George Pataki joined the chorus of voices urging lawmakers to block the deal.

“Reject this deal. Protect America. Protect Israel and protect the world from freedom,” Pataki said.

The Stop Iran Rally Coalition — which claims to be a bi-partisan group — is also calling out Sen. Charles Schumer, saying he “has the votes as presumptive leader to override this deal….If this deal is not stopped, New York voters will know whom to blame.”

Sen. Schumer said in a statement Wednesday that he wasn’t ready to make a decision on the deal yet.

“I’ve read the agreement and I’m seeking answers to the many questions I have. Before I make a decision, I’m going to speak at length with experts on both sides,” the lawmaker said.

Thousands Of Protesters Rally In Times Square Against Iran Nuclear Deal

Al Jones reports

play

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In Washington, Secretary of State John Kerry led back-to-back, closed-door briefings, trying to sway lawmakers to approve the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

“We are convinced that the agreement that we have arrived at with world powers is an agreement that will prevent Iran from the potential of securing a nuclear weapon. It will make the region, our friends and allies safer, it will make the world safer,” Kerry said. “And we are convinced that the absence of any viable alternative absolutely underscores that fact.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. is fiercely lobbying lawmakers to reject the deal. And Republicans are pledging to do just that.

“Because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people, and we’re going to do everything possible to stop it,” said Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner.

And many at the rally said more people in the country need to start listening and speaking out as well.

“I’m very concerned about what our situation is here. Nobody wants this deal to go through and we’re hoping that Obama will hear the voice of the American people and we’re hoping that Congresswill listen to what we have say. And hopefully we can do something about that,” said one protester.

“I feel people really don’t understand the main issue. To me the main issue is not what happens 10 years from now, but what happens as soon as the sanctions are removed from Iran,” another protester told Schneider. “Which is the main terrorist regime in the world, which spreads terrorism all around the world, which is responsible for the deaths of Americans as well as Israelis.”

Several academic, military, and political leaders will speak to the crowd Wednesday night. All of them urge that this is an issue that transcends politics and they’re urging Congress to keep sanctions against Iran, even if it means overriding President Barack Obama’s likely veto on any legislation against the deal, Schneider reported.

Congress has 60 days to approve or reject the deal. The Senate will hold a hearing on the deal Thursday.

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[P]rotests against BBC coverage of Israeli military operation against the Palestinian refugee population in the Gaza strip are erupting across the UK, with thousands joining a call for fair, unbiased and contextual reporting of the events on the ground.

London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle saw marches to “protest at the BBC’s biased reporting”as well as to gather signatures for an open letter to the BBC Director General. London took the main stage of the protest movement.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Campaign against Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and many other organizations, in the letter to the publicly funded broadcaster, say that the company is “duty-bound to provide balanced reporting without bias.”

Instead, the organizers argue, the BBC’s reporting of Israel’s assault on Palestinians in the operation Protective Edge, fails to mention the years of occupation, deportations and siege Palestinians have lived through. “BBC’s reporting of these assaults is entirely devoid of context or background,” the organizers write.

The main protest point of a nationwide rally gathered huge crowds outside the BBC Broadcasting House in London.

Booing and demands for better coverage are just among some of the chants heard in the rallies across the UK, that reminded the BBC that “resistance to occupation is a right under international law.”

“When you portray Israel’s shelling of a civilian population as a ‘response’ or ‘retaliation’ to rocket strikes from Gaza, we would like to remind you that these events flow from the displacement of the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people from their homes and communities,” the open letter reads.

In Liverpool, hundreds gathered outside the BBC Radio Merseyside to rally against Israeli attacks on Gaza and against biased reporting of the current situation. Organized by Liverpool Friends of Palestine and supported by Merseyside Stop the War Coalition, the event also became a venue to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to call for peace and a ceasefire.

In Manchester “Stop the Bombing of Gaza” event also gathered a crowd. Organizers, in their call to action said that “Barack Obama, David Cameron and UK foreign secretary William Hague support“Israel’s right to defend itself” through killing “women, children and disabled people.” They gathered in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester center to call for a change in Whitehall’s policy.

A vigil in memory of the Palestinian victims was also held in Newcastle. Similar anti-BBC demonstrations were also held on Sunday in the UK, including Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as Cambridge and Oxford. More protests are scheduled during the week.

https://www.greanvillepost.com/videos/ProRussian_protesters_seize_govt_buildings.flv
THIS REPORT BROUGHT TO TGP BY COLLEGIAL EDITOR STEVEN JONAS

_Protesters in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk have seized the regional department building of Ukraine’s Security Service, local media reported, as cited by ITAR-TASS. It’s after pro-Russian rallies happened across Ukraine during the weekend.

“The people’s militia seized Ukraine’s Security Service in 15 minutes, at 3:32 in the morning,” the activists told the website of the Ukrainian Vesti newspaper.

For once we see the people moving with lucid determination in a direction that displeases the global plutocrats and their shills in Washington, and with a fair chance of success…The Russian masses again deserve the admiration and support of peace loving, democratic humanity.—Eds”

Currently, the perimeter of the building is being blocked to ensure protection from security forces.

On Sunday, thousands of people waving Russian flags flooded the streets of eastern Ukraine on Sunday. Demonstrators in the cities of Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kharkov seized state offices, while in Donetsk they also demanded an independence referendum.

Over 2,000 people gathered in Lenin Square in the center of Donetsk to petition for the Berkut officers, who – they believe – are falsely accused of using fire arms against the rioters during the Maidan standoff.

The participants in the event called on the “illegal junta in Kiev” to end political repressions and persecution of dissidents, the Itar-Tass news agency reports.

They demanded their right for self-determination to be respected, pushing for a Crimea-style referendum on independence from Ukraine.

The protesters carried Russian national flags, chanted “Russia! Russia!” and displayed banners urging the new Donetsk Region governor, Sergey Taruta, who was recently appointed by Kiev, “to get out.”

An effigy of a Nazi zealot was also burnt in the square, with the action labeled “an act of annihilation of fascism” by the protesters in view of neo-Nazi radicals playing a key role in the Ukrainian coup this February.

The people then moved out towards the regional administration’s headquarters, carrying a giant Russian flag.

The confrontation with the police broke out on the porch of the government building, with the pro-Russian protesters depriving a dozen officers of their riot shields.

The demonstrators used the confiscated shields to make their way through the main entrance of the building and occupied the balcony. The Ukrainian flag in front of the administration was replaced by a Russian standard.

Eventually, police blocked the demonstrators inside.

The violence in Donetsk might’ve been provoked by a banner saying “Goodbye, Russia,” which was placed on the administration, Life-News reports.

The administration headquarters were empty, with only guards inside, as Government officials don’t work on Sundays.

“The situation is pretty tense. The demonstrators are occupying the city council building and are demanding that an independence referendum be held to determine the future of the region of Donetsk,” activist Aleksandr Borodin told RT.

“The protesters are calling on officials to conduct a special session over the referendum situation. If it doesn’t take place, the demonstrators say they will organize an initiative group to settle the issue. The protesters say they will not acknowledge the Kiev-appointed authorities and are also demanding freedom for the recently elected so-called “public governor.”

Lugansk

The events evolved in a similar way in Lugansk where around a thousand people rallied in front of the local Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) office.

They demanded the release of protest leader, Aleksandr Kharitonov, who has been in detention since mid-march, as well as 15 pro-Russian activists detained on Saturday.

The people carried Russian flags and chanted “Shame on the SBU!” and “Freedom to political prisoners.”

Up to eight people were injured as demonstrators stormed the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) office, Ukraine’s Channel 5 reported. According to the Russian Spring website, a policeman was injured and hospitalized.

The governor of Lugansk region and the local Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) chief went out to talk to the demonstrators, which resulted in six of the detained anti-Maidan activists being released from custody.

For more on building seizure in Lugansk watch Ruptly video

Kharkov

Violence also broke out in the city of Kharkov where pro-Russian protesters clashed with alleged activists from the far-right Right Sector movement.

Fireworks were used as weapons during the scuffle, with several explosions heard. However, there were no reports of injuries as the police managed to quickly separate the sides.

Following the incident, the Maidan activists had to crawl inside the corridor, erected by police for their protection, as the crowd threw foreign objects at them.

Following the rally, around 1,500 pro-Russian activists have made their way to Kharkov’s regional administration headquarters, UNIAN news agency reports.

Despite the administration being guarded by police in riot gear, a group of protesters have managed to penetrate the building.

The storm began after the organizers of the protests urged participants “to support Donetsk and Lugansk where government buildings were seized earlier in the day.”

According to anti-Maidan activists, around 10,000 people participated in the protest in Kharkov on Sunday.

Pro-Russian rallies are taking place almost every weekend in major cities in the Russian-speaking part of Ukraine since the nationalist coup ousted Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, in late February.

One of the first laws the new government revoked was the regional status of the Russian language, which sent a clear message to the people in the country’s east.

The Republic of Crimea refused to recognize the change of power in Kiev and declared its independence from Ukraine, following the March-16 referendum, in which 96.77 percent of the voters chose to rejoin Russia.

Derek Monroe from Foreign Policy in Focus described the situation in Ukraine as politically chaotic.

“There are a lot of political plays taking place in Kiev itself, specifically when it comes to positioning certain groups within the government itself,” Monroe said.

He added that the oligarchs that were places as governors in eastern Ukraine are not very popular with the people. “They have little following in popularity among the people, so the issue is simply to maintain some type of degree of nominal control, where in fact there is very limited control whatsoever.”

“The situation is very fluid, so it is very hard to say where the government itself has particular strong control in the region or not. All the evidence looks like they don’t have much control unfortunately.”

Monroe described the Maidan movement as an “absolute disaster.” He argued that it was the provisional government which was selected, not elected, that made the schisms within Ukrainian society very visible.

“This resulted not only in the loss for Ukraine, but loss of credibility among the people of the East,” he stated.

Occupy Miami raided by SWAT teams (VIDEO)
(While the DOJ chief sleeps)

Dozens of cops equipped with shotguns and assault rifles stormed a Miami, Florida apartment building on Tuesday, drawing weapons at peaceful protesters and children with the local Occupy Wall Street campaign that were lawfully residing inside.

Members of Occupy Miami moved into an Overtown safehouse last month after their previous encampment outside of the city’s Government Center was shut down by authorities earlier this year. Now for the second time in only six weeks, cops donned in SWAT-team style gear and brandishing weapons swarmed the residence of several occupiers again, allegedly acting on reports that the residents inside were stockpiling weapons to use in an upcoming demonstration.

“They said that they had gotten a tip that we had ‘long guns’ and were going to use them at our protest,” Occupy member Thomas Parisi tells the Miami New Times. “But we are a peaceful movement and told them that we had no intention of doing anything like that.”

Following the shut-down of the outdoor Occupy Miami encampment on January 31, some members of the group began living in an apartment building owned by a fellow protester. Rodrigo Duque, who now calls himself Señor Paz — or “Mister Peace” — told the Miami New Times last month that he opened the doors of his building to those who were evicted from the outdoor demonstration and told the paper, “Basically, all peaceful people are welcome.”

Dozens of occupiers residing inside were not expecting to welcome in members of local law enforcement on Tuesday, however, who are reported to have busted into the building with guns brandished without warning.

“They were pointing guns at children!” Ramy Mahmoud, a member of Occupy Miami, adds to the paper.

Other Occupy Miami members that gave quotes to the paper without attribution say at least six cop cars stopped outside of their building on Tuesday before one officer took out a gun and aimed it at an occupier. “I thought it was either a joke or he was robbing us,” one protester tells the paper. “Then an ice-cream truck full of SWAT officers pulled up.”

Parisi, who believes the raid came over false reports of a terrorist threat, says the cops took unnecessary action during this week’s events. “They forced a 57-year-old diabetic woman onto the ground. And they pointed their guns at my wife,” he says.

“They are calling us terrorists, but what I saw today was demons pointing guns at us,” Ramy Mahmoud adds to the account. “They terrified us.”

Mahmoud also says cops questioned him with inquiries which included “Are you a Muslim?” and “Do you love this country?”

“I said hell no, I don’t love this country, and it’s because of shit like this,” Mahmoud tells the paper.

Several people were handcuffed and brought in for questioning but no arrests were made. Author Naomi Wolf was quick to comment on the story, writing on her Facebook page that “This is some of the scarier footage I have ever seen.”

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