Iran Feature: The Political Prisoners Challenge the Regime

This is far from a new story. For months, political detainees in Iran have been getting messages, letters, and even manifestos out of their prisons. Reformist politicians such as Mostafa Tajzadeh have put out the word that their resistance has not ended; this week the latest declaration from student activist Majid Tavakoli, written in mid-September as candidates returned to universities, spread across the Internet. The flow of information has been so great that pro-Government media have turned their fire upon Iran's judiciary for failing to stop the messages.

This weekend, two more significant examples emerged. 

Fourteen journalists and activists in Evin Prison, including Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, Abdollah Momeni, Majid Dorri, Kouhyar Goudarzi, and Mohsen Mirdamadi, have demanded a national truth-finding commission to investigate the intervention of military and security forces in the 2009 Presidential elections.

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Iran's Economy and Politics: Tensions Rise over Subsidy Cuts

This is unlikely to be a headline story in non-Iranian press --- where is the drama in subsidy cuts? --- but it should be.

The Ahmadinejad Government's high-profile plan to reduce subsidies on food, energy, and other goods, softening the blow for those on lower incomes by handing out Government cheques, was supposed to be implemented in September. Then it was supposed to begin in October. Now it is scheduled for November.

Each week, however, features more rumblings on the economic and political fronts. This is a round-up of what only a day brings....

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"Welcome to the Jewish Republic of Israel" (Levy)

Remember this day. It's the day Israel changes its character. As a result, it can also change its name to the Jewish Republic of Israel, like the Islamic Republic of Iran. Granted, the loyalty oath bill that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to have passed purportedly only deals with new citizens who are not Jewish, but it affects the fate of all of us.

For decades, we have futilely dealt with the question of who is a Jew. Now the question of what is Jewish will not go away. What is the "state of the Jewish nation"? Does it belong more to Jews in the Diaspora than to its Arab citizens? Will they decide its fate and will this be called a democracy? Will the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta sect, which opposes the state's existence, along with hundreds of thousands of Jews who have avoided coming do whatever they want with it? What is Jewish? Jewish holidays? Kosher dietary laws? The increased grip of the religious establishment, as if there is not enough of it now to distort democracy? Swearing an oath to a Jewish state will decide its fate. It is liable to turn the country into a theocracy like Saudi Arabia.

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Israel: Non-Jews Seeking Citizenship Must Sign Loyalty Oath (Lis)

EA's Ali Yenidunya predicted earlier this week that the domestic dynamic over direct Israel-Palestine talks would see Cabinet approval of a loyalty oath for non-Jews, a key demand of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party and Minister of Internal Affairs Eli Yishai's Shas.

So it has come to pass. Jonathan Lis of Haaretz reports:

Cabinet ministers on Sunday approved by a majority vote a controversial proposal which would require every non-Jew wishing to become a citizen of Israel would have to vow loyalty to "the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

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Pakistan and US: Border Opened to NATO Tankers But Tensions Continue (Cole)

The Pakistani government has decided to reopen the Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the route whereby 70 percent of US/NATO supplies and 40 percent of fuel are brought by truck into Afghanistan. The Pakistani Frontier Corps and the Afghanistan National Army began work Sunday to coordinate the clearing of the huge backlog of trucks that have been stuck at the crossing for a week and a half. Some reports say that the opening is expected to occur on Monday.

Pakistan closed the crossing to trucks transporting goods for NATO & the US after a September 30 incident in which US helicopter gunships made incursions into Pakistani territory and then fired missiles at a Frontiers Corps checkpoint, apparently mistaking the scouts for Taliban. Two scouts were killed and four wounded. Pakistani nerves were already raw because of unmanned drone strikes on Pakistani territory.

US President Barack Obama and Gen. David Petraeus appear to have decided to push for more hot pursuit missions into Pakistan from Afghanistan, and this decision was absolutely unacceptable to the Pakistani military, as well as to the public.

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US Politics: The Saga of the Arizona Immigration Law Continues (Haddigan)

EA's US Politics correspondent Lee Haddigan writes:

Last week saw the latest twist in the controversial saga of SB 1070, Arizona’s law to combat illegal immigration. Parts of the law were temporarily blocked by a judge in June. The Discourt Court of Appeal's ruling that the law is constitutional is due to be heard in San Francisco on 1 November, a day before the Congressional elections.

On Monday, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals announced that it will allow eleven Latin American countries, including Mexico, to submit friend-of-the-court briefs backing the US Justice Department’s challenge to the law.  

The Court of Appeals will also consider legal briefs filed this week by five cities in Arizona. The cities contend that the injunction barring implementation of certain parts of the law should be permanently adopted, citing the cost of those new measures and claiming resources to fight serious crimes like armed robberies would be diverted to checking the legal status of detainees.

Another hurdle looms for SB 1070 on 8 December, when the Supreme Court is due to begin hearings on an earlier attempt by Arizona to deter illegal immigration. At issue is the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act, which attempted to stop the employment of illegal aliens in the state by punishing the employer. Like the far more notorious SB 1070, the 2007 Act is being challenged as a pre-emption on federal immigration law. Legal analysts expect the 2007 legislation to be overturned, providing a reliable indicator as to how the Supreme Court will rule if and when SB 1070 is debated before them.

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The Latest from Iran (10 October): The Threat of Foreign Mice

1925 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Azeri activist Hossein Nasiri has been sentenced to one year in prison.

1830 GMT: Currency Watch. Iran's problems with foreign exchange appear to be affecting production. Paint producers have been crippled by problems with imports, leading to lack of stock for retailers. Steel producers, who import 40% of their raw material, are having problems with lines of credit and must pay a cash premium for shipping insurance. A similar situation is reported with importers of car parts. Reports continue of lines at foreign exchange markets.

1810 GMT: Academic Corner: Parliament is expressing strong objections to Government moves, in its 5th Budget Plan, to partly privatise Iran's universities.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: Obama Has Failed --- It's Back to Indirect Talks

On Friday, Arab League ministers endorsed the call of Palestinian Authority leader Mamoud Abbas' call to end direct talks unless Israel agrees to another freeze on West Bank settlements. 

The Arab ministers said they would meet again in a month to study alternatives and decide on next steps, giving the Obama Administration more time to broker a compromise on renewal of the talks. The Arab delegates want to see a clear path forward after the November Congressional elections in the US.

The Palestinian Authority has still not made a commitment, despite Mahmoud Abbas' declaration that he is ready to leave the negotiating table; given the Arab League outcome, the PA may not do so until November. However, the position seems clear. Unless Israel agrees to a two-month extension on the settlement freeze, we are back to indirect talks.

For the moment, the Arab representatives have saved Barack Obama's face. But Washington, rather than just sending out another set of envoys, needs to spend some time in serious consideration of major steps. Abbas told Arab leaders that he may seek US recognition for a Palestinian state if Israel does not offer a response on settlements. Alternatively, according to sources close to the PA leadership, Abbas told U.S. envoy George Mitchell that he will resign if there is no movement.

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Is the FBI Shutting Down Progressive Dissent? (Howell)

Is free speech worth the constitutional paper it’s written on?

After the September 26 FBI raids on peace activists’ homes in Minneapolis, Chicago and North Carolina, it appears to depend on who’s speaking and what they’re saying.

The pretext for the raids was investigating “material aide to terrorists”, resulting in grand jury subpoenas and confiscation of computers, books, music CDs and from one home, a Martin Luther King poster. The targeted Minneapolis activists have openly protested US military policy since the 1980s. The FBI certainly knows they have nothing to do with terrorism. These activists simply have the audacity to challenge bi-partisan US invasions, occupations and support for dictatorships and human rights abusers. Dissent on the left has long been seen as ‘criminal behavior’. Where once “the communist threat" was the argument for such repression, now, “terrorism” is.

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Israel-Palestine: Arab League Gives Talks One More Month (Sanders)

Looks like EA's Ali Yenidunya was spot-on in his prediction. Arab League ministers did not set down an immediate ultimatum on Friday over the Israel-Palestine talks, even though West Jerusalem has not agreed to extend the moratorium on settlement expansion in the West Bank, but delayed a decision for a month.

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