Jeremy Scahill, author of Dirty Wars, interviewed by Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman & Juan González

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Rolling Rebellions Topics

The revolution in Tunisia inspired people in Egypt to brave a popular uprising of their own. And now pro-democracy protests are spreading throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Democracy Now! follows the political unrest closely.

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  • Play_syria

    Syria Crackdown: Syrian Dissident Haitham al-Maleh Speaks from Hiding as Al Jazeera Journalist Dorothy Parvaz Remains Locked Up

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sent tanks into the country’s third city, Homs, escalating a military campaign to crush a seven-week-old popular uprising against his autocratic rule. According to the Syrian human rights organization Sawasiah, as many as 800 civilians have been killed since the uprising began. More than 10,000 people have been arrested. Today, we look at two cases. One of Syria’s most prominent human rights defenders,...
    May 09, 2011 | Story
  • Play_sharif

    Sharif Abdel Kouddous Reports from Cairo on Rising Sectarian Tension in Egypt After Deadly Attack on Coptic Christian Church

    In Egypt over the weekend, 12 people died and more than 180 were wounded during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo. Egypt’s army has said that 190 people were detained after the fatal clashes and that they will face military trials. Saturday’s violence started after several hundred conservative Salafist Muslims gathered outside the Coptic Saint Mena Church in Cairo’s Imbaba district. They were reportedly protesting over...
    May 09, 2011 | Story
  • Saudi

    Oil Wealth, U.S. Backing Enables Saudi Arabia to Crush Dissent in Bahrain and at Home

    Saudi Arabia, the oil rich kingdom that is the birthplace and former home of Osama bin Laden, has staved off the widespread popular protests that have swept across the region since January. The country’s oil-rich Eastern Province, bordering Bahrain, has witnessed protests from the minority Shia Muslim population. In March, Saudi Arabia sent troops to Bahrain to support its royal family after a month of protests. We speak with Toby Jones,...
    May 06, 2011 | Story
  • Play-bahrain

    Physicians Urge Obama Admin to Pressure Mideast Ally Bahrain to End Repression of Doctors, Patients

    The Gulf nation of Bahrain has announced that 47 medical workers who treated pro-democracy protesters during the nation’s popular uprising will be tried before a military court on charges of acting against the state. Some could face the death penalty for providing medical assistance to protesters. Human rights groups say the arrests are part of a campaign of intimidation that runs directly counter to the Geneva Convention, which guarantees medical...
    May 05, 2011 | Story
  • Rula_button

    Arab Spring: A Discussion on Libya, Egypt and the Mideast with Palestinian Writer Rula Jebreal, Author of “Miral" & Journalist Issandr El Amrani

    With former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in detention and Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, under attack, we discuss the state of the region with two leading Middle Eastern writers. Rula Jebreal, a former broadcast journalist in Italy, reflects on Italy’s decision to join the NATO bombing of Libya. Issandr El Amrani of Arabist.net talks about Libya and post-revolution Egypt. [includes rush transcript]
    Apr 27, 2011 | Story
  • Syria_funeral

    Syrian Crackdown Intensifies: Over 150 Killed Since Friday as Assad Regime Attempts to Crush Protest Movement

    Syria has intensified its massive crackdown on demonstrators, despite the lifting of emergency rule last week that banned demonstrations. Al Jazeera reports thousands of troops backed with tanks have swept into the southern city of Daraa, where a curfew is in place, setting up snipers on rooftops and killing at least 20 people. Government security forces have also stormed the large Damascus suburb of Douma. These latest developments follow protests...
    Apr 25, 2011 | Story
  • Yemen

    First Tunisia, Then Egypt, Now Yemen? Yemeni President Saleh Agrees to Resign Within 30 Days; Protests Continue

    Yemen’s longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reportedly accepted a plan designed by neighboring Arab nations to hand over power within weeks, following three months of street protests. If he actually resigns, Saleh would become the third leader in the region to resign in the last three months. But demonstrations are continuing in Yemen because many people do not believe Saleh will keep his promise. Earlier today, at least 10 people were...
    Apr 25, 2011 | Story
  • Slainjournalists

    Oscar-Nominated Director Tim Hetherington and Pulitzer Finalist Photojournalist Chris Hondros Killed on Front Lines of Libyan Conflict

    Award-winning photojournalists Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington, director and producer of the documentary film Restrepo, were killed Wednesday when they came under fire in Libya. Hetherington and Hondros, who had covered conflict zones around the world, were part of a group of six photographers reporting on the Libyan conflict in a particularly dangerous part of the besieged city of Misurata. We speak with Carroll Bogert of Human Rights Watch,...
    Apr 21, 2011 | Story
  • Play_syria

    Syria Lifts Emergency Law as Protesters Come Under Fire in Syrian City of Homs

    Syrian police reportedly opened fire and used tear gas today on thousands of anti-government protesters who occupied a key square in the Syrian city of Homs. More than 10,000 protesters gathered there Monday after funerals for an estimated 25 activists killed over the weekend. They demanded the immediate lifting of Syria’s longstanding emergency laws, the release of political prisoners, and the immediate resignation of President Bashar al-Assad....
    Apr 19, 2011 | Story
  • Libya_ambassador

    Former Libyan Diplomat on His Defection and Call for Intensification of NATO Operations

    NATO intervention in Libya has been ongoing for four weeks, and the country appears locked in a military stalemate. We are joined by Ibrahim Dabbashi, the Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations who defected after Gaddafi’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and now represents the Transitional National Council of Libya. “[Gaddafi] is leaving,” says Dabbashi, “but how long he will stay in power, this is the question... If...
    Apr 19, 2011 | Story