With the Quartet (the US, Russia, European Union and United Nations) declaring that the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is a threat to region's whole security and condemning Israel for its inaction following the end of 10-month freeze on settlement expansion in the West Bank; the circle around West Jerusalem is tightening.
On 1 February, Al Jazeera Turk placed a $21 million bid to take over a national TV station, Cine-5, known primarily for showing football matches to paying customers. The bid was put to the side as the Saving Deposit Insurance Fund set a minimum of $40 million for tenders, but on Thursday, Al Jazeera Turk's revised offer of $40.5 million was accepted.
Turkey has also CNN Turk, which was founded in 1999. For some, the entry of Al Jazeera Turk into the national arena is welcomed for increased competition and the quality; for others, it is a sign of Ankara's rising importance and autonomy in the region.
Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera Turk, CNN Turk, Turkey The Irish band The Waterboys take the words from poetry by W.B. Yeats and set it to music with images from Iran since June 2009.
The band's Mike Scott explains, "[We were] inspired by the amazing scenes of hundreds of thousands of Iranian people standing up for their rights and freedom. I took the words from two old Yeats poems, in which he was writing about Irish freedom fighters. But his words apply to any freedom fighters, anytime, anywhere in the world."
They shall be remembered for ever
They shall be alive for ever
They shall be speaking for ever
The people shall hear them for ever
Let the sea bear witness
Let the wind bear witness
Let the earth bear witness
Let the stars bear witness!
(hat tip to Ms EA)
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 7:59 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Nina, age 5, learned about the situation in Egypt after she saw a picture in a Japanese newspaper and asked her mother about the protests. Now, having seen a photo in an English newspaper, she tells her father what is happening.
Egypt Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 7:31 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran, Music and Culture I had the pleasure of getting to know Omar Offendum, musician and political activist, on two visits to Beirut. This week I learned of this song and video, "#Jan25", in which Omar, The Narcicyst, Freeway, Ayan, and Amir Sulaiman celebrate the hope, sacrifice, and defiance of the Egyptian protesters. The title comes from the Day of Rage that kicked off the current demonstrations, and how news of it was spread on social media.
1900 GMT: Another Khamenei Journey to Qom. The Supreme Leader has made another trip --- his fifth since October --- to Qom, visiting several Ayatollahs. He prayed for Ayatolalh Ansari Shirazi, who is ill, and spent an hour with Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi.
Most important seems to be Khamenei's discussion with Ayatollah Ostadi about the religious seminaries (Howzeh). Senior clerics have expressed concern that the regime might move against the "independence" of the seminaries.
1845 GMT: Iranian authorities have arrested Fariba Ebtehaj, the office manager of Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President in the Khatami Administration.
1700 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Saleh Noghrekar, the head of Mir Hossein Mousavi's Justice Committee, has been arrested in a raid on his home. Journalists Maysam Mohamadi and Omid Mohades were also arrested last night.
Iran's Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani summarises the situation in the Middle East for Al Jazeera in 70 seconds. Some of this is Political Rhetoric 101: "Egypt is a military dictatorship", supported by the US and Israel, who prevent the Egyptian Revolution from becoming a success.
But you gotta hand it to the guy: he has a nice line about suppression of dissent by "camels and horses" --- rather than, say, by Basij militia --- and he can keep a straight face as he declares:
In Iran, democracy is a serious matter....People vote, and politicians change according to their will."
Fun Fact: Ali Larijani reportedly called opposition figure Mir Hossein Mousavi on 12 June 2009, to congratulate Mousavi on his victory over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Presidential election.
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 6:10 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
0255 GMT: The Iranian government has jammed BBC Persian's broadcast into Iran in anticipation of protests on the 14th of this month.
0250 GMT: Blogger and activist Kareem Amer has been released.
0200 GMT: President Barack Obama released a statement on Egypt this evening. We are publishing it in full:
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 22:48 | Mike Dunn in Africa, EA Middle East and Turkey, Journalism and Media, Middle East and Iran 
Twitter is just another communication tool, there to be leveraged by anyone with the will and the ambition. Yet just as Al Jazeera’s coverage of Egypt would sound ridiculous if described as "Television Revolution", so do straw=man notions of a "Twitter Revolution" in Iran, or indeed anywhere else. The Twitter of 2011 looks like it will become a mature, integrated part of the media landscape: if protesters in Tahrir Square did not have access, it still had a role to play in bringing the story to the outside world.
The jury’s still out on what Al Jazeera’s rise in prominence meant for the people of Egypt. As with Iran in 2009, we may never know just how many people inside the country were getting their information from these sources. But the jury is definitely in on how the channel has benefited greatly from positioning itself as the source of information from Egypt among mainstream news outlets, and it can thank social media for a pivotal influence in this rise.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 9:58 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Amr Adib, Wael Ghonim 
