Palestine Papers Video: Discussing the Significance of the Documents (Al Jazeera)

Last night, in a special broadcast, Al Jazeera English unveiled more than 1600 documents on Israel-Palestine discussions from 1999 to 2010. We have posted links to both Al Jazeera and to The Guardian, which is also publishing the documents and anlaysis, in our initial entry.

We are awaiting the full copy of the special broadcast, including a dramatic interview with Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authoriyt. In the meantime, this is Al Jazeera's discussion during the programme with former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, Daud Abdullah of Middle East Monitor UK, and Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada. The video is in three parts:

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Al Jazeera Unveils Explosive Revelations in "Palestine Papers"

Tonight, in one of the most extensive and potentially most significant leaks in recent history, Al Jazeera is releasing more than 1600 internal documents on the Israel-Palestine conflict from 1999 to 2010>.

The Guardian of London is also publishing the documents, summarising some of the revelations:

• The scale of confidential concessions offered by Palestinian negotiators, including on the highly sensitive issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

• How Israeli leaders privately asked for some Arab citizens to be transferred to a new Palestinian state.

• The intimate level of covert co-operation between Israeli security forces and the Palestinian Authority.

• The central role of British intelligence in drawing up a secret plan to crush Hamas in the Palestinian territories.

• How Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders were privately tipped off about Israel's 2008-9 war in Gaza.

Tunisia (and Beyond) Video Discussion: Social Media and Reform in the Arab World

A discussion on Al Jazeera English considering the impact of Tunisia's popular uprising on neighbouring countries, including the role of social media: participants are Sami Ben Gharbia (@ifikra on Twitter), the co-founder of the Tunisian website Nawaat.org, Nasser Weddady (@weddady), the outreach director at the American Islamic Congress, and Wael Abbas (@waelabbas), an Egyptian blogger and activist.

Tunisia Latest: Universities Closed as President Says Protests Are "Terrorist Act"

2255 GMT: Police have dispersed protesters in Ettadamen, 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the centre of Tunis.

Youths, chanting "We are not afraid, we are not afraid, we are afraid only of God," threw stones at police and vandalised shops, cars, and a government office. Security forces responded by firing tear gas canisters and shots into the air.

2120 GMT: Minister of Information Samir Abidi has said this evening that 19 demonstrators were killed (other reports say 21) on Saturday and Sunday in Thala and Kasserine. Abidi claimed more than 30 police were injured.

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Tunisia and Algeria Video: The Protests and the Response by the "West"

On Monday, Al Jazeera's Inside Story considered the response --- or lack of response --- of the US and the European Union to the unrest in Tunisia and Algeria, speaking with analyst Hugh Roberts, Algerian lawyer Saad Djebbar, and Samuel Laufer of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement.

Tunisia Analysis: Mis-Reporting the Story (Whitaker)

The Tunisian uprising is beginning to get more coverage in the English-language media, so this may be a suitable moment to look at the sort of coverage it is getting. 

Considering the horrific violence meted out by the police over the weekend, the Ben Ali regime is being given an extraordinarily easy ride.

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Sudan Update: Voting on Secession Referendum Continues; 6 Die in Violence (Al Jazeera)

Al Jazeera reports:

Polls have opened for the second day of voting in southern Sudan's historic referendum to determine whether the region will become an independent nation or continue to be part of Sudan.

On Sunday, the first day of voting passed off largely peacefully but more clashes in the disputed border region of Abyei left at least six dead.

Sudan Special: The Referendum for Secession by the South

In the southern capital Juba, the atmosphere was festive with voters queueing for hours outside polling stations.

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Iraq Update: Al-Sadr Calls for Peaceful "Resistance" Against US "Occupiers" (Al Jazeera)

UPDATE 1200 GMT: Clarifying the use of "peaceful" in the headline, this is Reuters' report on the speech:

Sadr said occupiers should be resisted "by all means" but added that arms were for "people of weapons only," a comment that seemed to endorse the authority of the army and the police and could calm fears of a return of the [Sadrist militia] Mehdi Army.

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Thousands of Iraqis have turned out in the central Iraqi city of Najaf to hear Muqtada al-Sadr's first speech since his return from four years of self-imposed exile.

The Shia Muslim religious leader called the US, Israel and the UK "common enemies" against Iraq in his speech on Saturday , and urged his followers to resist what he called "the occupiers" by all means.

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Algeria Latest: Second Night of Protests Over Economy (Al Jazeera)

2150 GMT: An 18-year-old, named as Lebza Azzedine by activists, has been killed by police fire in clashes in Msila in northern Algeria.

2033 GMT: The State Department summoned the Tunisian Ambassador today to raise concerns about the handling of political unrest and "interference" with the Internet (more on that in the morning); however, on Algeria, an official cautiously said, "It's frankly too soon to tell exactly what is happening there. We're also looking there about what's the most effective and immediate thing to say and do."

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Two Tunisia Analyses: What Has Caused the Current Protests? (Khreeji and Alexander)

Over the last five years, the fabric of President Ben Ali's authoritarianism has frayed. Once it became clear that the Islamists no longer posed a serious threat, many Tunisians became less willing to accept the government's heavy-handedness. The regime also lost some of its earlier deftness. Its methods became less creative and more transparently brutal. The government seemed less willing to at least play at any dialogue with critics or opposition parties. Arbitrary arrests, control of the print media and Internet access, and physical attacks on journalists, human rights and opposition party activists became more common. So, too, did stories of corruption -- not the usual kickbacks and favoritism that one might expect, but truly Mafia-grade criminality that lined the pockets of Ben Ali's wife and her family. The growth of Facebook, Twitter, and a Tunisian blogosphere -- much of it based outside the country -- made it increasingly easy for Tunisians to learn about the latest arrest, beating, or illicit business deal involving the president's family.

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