Syria Video and Analysis: The Free Syria Army Counter-Attacks in Homs

UPDATED

Update: 1842 GMT: Another massively important video from Syria. Reportedly taken today in Tafas, Daraa (MAP), the video starts with a familiar scene. People, hiding in side streets, chant protest slogans as the army deploys down the street towards the peaceful protests. This is where the scene develops, as the army advances too close, or as it opens fire (unclear who fires first), the cameraman scans down to reveal a defected soldier taking position. The defectors then open fire on the army, literally "protecting the protesters" as they have pledged:

Is this the future of "peaceful" protests in Syria? Protests that start peaceful but, when attacked, fight back?

The original article is below:

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests Across the Country

Protesters in Inkhel in Daraa Province chant for the execution of the President:

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: What Will Happen With Today's Protests?

2123 GMT: According to the LCCS, 22 people have been killed today in Syria, including 4 children, 7 civilians in Daraa, 6 in Homs, 5 in Hama, 4 in people in the Damascus Suburbs (2 in Irbee, and 1 in Yabroud and Daraya.)

2110 GMT: According to Now Lebanon,

A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Homs shows protestors during an evening march with one demonstrator carrying a paper saying: “The people want support [to be offered to] the Free Syrian Army and Arab protection.”

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The Latest from Iran (18 November): Smoke and Politics

See also Iran Video and Analysis: 4-Point Guide to a Train-Wreck Discussion with Top Official Mohammad Javad Larijani
Iran Interview: UN's Special Rapporter on Human Rights to Tehran "Co-Operate With Me"
The Latest from Iran (17 November): The Regime Mobilises...for Occupy Wall Street

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1628 GMT: The House Arrests. Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, the son of detained opposition figures Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi, has hit back at the claim of Mohammad Javad Larijani, a senior official in Iran's judiciary, that the strict house arrests were imposed after a judicial process.

The younger Karroubi said no legal documents were presented and that officials of the Ministry of Intelligence said the judiciary "has no say in this case".

1621 GMT: Bad Behaviour Watch. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has said that the Internet, mobile phones, and girl-boy relations are "general plagues" affecting Iran.

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Kuwait Feature: Explaining This Week's Occupation of Parliament (Diwan)

The world awoke to a new front in the Arab Spring as thousands of protestors fought through guards to occupy Kuwait's Parliament on Wednesday night. Chanting "this is our house" and "the people want the removal of the Prime Minister" the youthful crowd, accompanied by opposition parliamentarians, certainly looked the part of Arab revolutionaries. Yet Kuwait has been working toward this climax since before Tunisians took to the streets of Sidi Bouzeid. And while drawing momentum from Arab brethren in Egypt and elsewhere, Kuwait activists are not seeking regime overthrow but rather something even more rare -- a genuine constitutional monarchy in the Gulf.

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Bahrain Interview: Former MP Matar Ibrahim Matar on His Detention and The Country's Future

If we show tangible results through reform, then the youth will move towards reform rather than revolution. But without progression and with the government’s denial of the existence of a political problem, the people will go for a violent revolution.

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Iran Video and Analysis: 4-Point Guide to a Train-Wreck Discussion with Top Official Mohammad Javad Larijani

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This interview is a perfect display of the problem with dialogue between the US --- the government, the media, and the "experts" --- and the Iranian regime. The representatives of the regime constantly use disinformation, hyperbole, and insults against their critics. Larijani accuses the US of being the single largest state-sponsor of terrorism in the world, and denies not only the existence of a militarised nuclear program but all other arguments made by the rest of the panel. A "mockery of the situation," as the host Mika Brzezinski,far from a neutral moderator, puts it.

The "experts" --- Richard Haass is an ideal example --- see that as a sure sign that the regime is not serious about dialogue and is a non-rational actor that is a dangerous enemy to the US and the region.

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Iran Interview: UN's Special Rapporter on Human Rights to Tehran "Co-Operate With Me"

My work will continue. I will be able to produce a report, because many among the Iranian diaspora and the Iranian NGO network are actually very active in documenting issues and cases, and presenting the material that are addressed in the mandate with very sound evidence. So, I am not basing my work on hearsay, I am basing my work on first-hand testimonies, established evidence, and things that can be scientifically proven to be logical research on the subject.

What would be missing from my report would be my representation of the perspective from the Iranian government in its own words as to why things are the way they are. In the absence of this cooperation, the pressure on Iran will mount to respond to this, and it would perhaps become far more difficult to come back later and try to explain it. It is far easier and more productive for them to explain this as we go along, and to work with me to try and find the confidence that things in Iran will start to improve.

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Occupy Wall Street Follow-Up: 1000s March, New York Times Shrugs Shoulders

A journalist for Agence France Presse films her own arrest by New York police

See also Occupy Wall Street LiveStream: The March on the Stock Exchange

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Thursday brought new life to the Occupy movement, at least for activists and many protesters, as thousands of people marched on Wall Street in the morning and later gathered at Union Square and Foley Square. Two days after the eviction from Zuccotti/Liberty Square, and amidst police clearances of protest sites in other cities, the marches --- which took up many New York avenues and intersections --- were a sign of persistence, even if aims and outcomes are far from clear.

You would be hard-pressed to know this from the website of The New York Times, however.

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Occupy Wall Street LiveStream: The March on the Stock Exchange

Two days after the battle to stay in Zuccotti/Liberty Square in New York, protesters of Occupy Wall Street are marching towards the Stock Exchange today, promising to shut it down:

Watch live streaming video from occupynyc at livestream.com

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2220 GMT: Foley Square tonight:

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