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Islamic Awekening Magazine
Islamic Awekening Magazine
Islamic Awekening Magazine
20
Islamic
awakening
Necmettin
Erbakans Political
Career
22
Assessing Sanctions
against the Metropolis of
Islamic Awakening
26
Bahrain and
Irans Stance
30
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
Necmettin Erbakans
Biography
N
No 8, July 2013
use little fuel oil for Germany
Economy Minister. After his thesis
was published in some of the
important magazines, Prof. Dr.
Flats who was the director of the
greatest engine factory at that
time, DEUTZ, invited him to make
research about the Leopard Tanks.
He married with Nermin
Erbakan, a graduate of economics,
in 1967.
They have two daughters,
Zeynep born in 1968, Elif born in
1974 and a son Muhammed Fatih
born in 1979.
He lived and worked in West
Germany for several years,
specializing in diesel engine
design. His German remained
fluent and lyrical. He was
elected to the legislature as an
independent in 1969 and formed
an Islamic party the following
year, but it was banned by the
military government in 1971. He
re-formed the party in 1972 and
twice during the 1970s served as a
deputy prime minister. In 1980 the
military again banned the party
and briefly imprisoned Erbakan.
He was prohibited from engaging
in politics from 1980 to 1987.
When he returned to politics,
Erbakan became a leader of
the pro-Islamic Welfare (Refah)
Party, which was well organized
on the local level and opposed
what many saw as the arrogant
corruption of the leaders of the
established parties. In the runup to the 1995 parliamentary
elections, Erbakan advocated
withdrawing from the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization,
abrogating agreements with Israel,
and developing closer ties with
such Middle Eastern countries as
Syria and Iran. His proposals were
particularly unsettling to Western
leaders, who had long depended
on a friendly secular government
in Turkey as a basis for their
policy in the Middle East. A large
segment of voters, however,
Islamic
awakening
seemed to support his views, as
the Welfare Party won the largest
number of seats, capturing 158
of the 550 seats in the legislature
and thereby becoming the first
Islamic party ever to win a general
election in Turkey.
Early in 1996 Erbakan tried
but failed to form a coalition
government. A centre-right
coalition of the True Path (Doru
Yol) and Motherland (Anavatan)
parties then held power until
internal disagreements brought it
down in June. Erbakan was again
asked to try to form a coalition,
and this time, when Tansu iller,
head of the True Path Party,
agreed to join him, he succeeded.
On July 8, 1996, the national
legislature of Turkey confirmed
a coalition government headed
by Erbakan. He and iller would
alternate as prime minister,
and the various other ministries
were divided between the
Welfare Party and the True
Path Party. Erbakans tenure as
prime minister marked the first
time an Islamist had held the
position, but it was short-lived.
Fears that the Welfare Party
was attempting to Islamicize
the country led the military to
force Erbakan to resign. He left
office on June 18, 1997, and
early in 1998 the Welfare Party
was banned entirely. Erbakan
was prohibited from political
action for five years, and in 2000
he was convicted of provoking
hatred for a speech he made
in 1994 that attacked Turkeys
secular government. Though he
avoided prison time, Erbakan
was convicted in 2002 of having
embezzled Welfare Party funds
during its dissolution, and he
was sentenced to more than two
years of house arrest. He became
politically active once again in
2003, after the end of his fiveyear ban, and worked with the
pro-Islamic Felicity (Saadet) Party.
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
Necmettin Erbakans
Political Career
D
In the 1995
election, with
the political
scene atomized,
Mr. Erbakans
party, then called
Welfare, finished
first with 21
percent of the
vote. After striking
a coalition deal
with another
party leader who
was eager to
control corruption
investigations, Mr.
Erbakan became
prime minister.
He immediately
began challenging
the secular,
pro-Western
foundations of
modern Turkey.
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
memoranda
listing his sins.
He resigned on
Feb. 28, 1997, ousted
by what is widely
described as Turkeys only
postmodern coup.
These events split the
religious political movement
in Turkey. A group of insurgents,
accusing Erbakan of losing touch
with a rapidly changing country,
tried to wrest control of the party
from him. When they failed, they
quit the party; founded their own,
calling it Justice and Development and
rocketed to national power.
Erbakan later became the target
of corruption charges. In 2002 he
was sentenced to two years and four
months in prison on charges of forgery
of personal documents. President
Abdullah Gul, who was his foreign
policy adviser during his ill-fated year
in power, pardoned him.
Mr. Erbakans party withered into
insignificance. His onetime follower,
Prime Minister Erdogan, devised a
more inclusive political formula
a refined version of the
one Mr. Erbakan developed
nearly half a century ago
propelled Mr. Erdogan
to power and has
kept him there
for nearly a
decade.
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
By Sadrodin Musawi
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
to it.
Do you know what the safety of
Israel means? It means that they will
rule the 28 countries from Morocco
to Indonesia. Since all the Crusades
were organized by the Zionists, and
since it was our forefathers the
Seljuks who stopped them, according
to the Kabbala there should be no
sovereign state in Anatolia. This is
these peoples [i.e. the Zionists]
religion, their faith. You cant argue
or negotiate with them. This is their
religion, and it comes from the
Kabbala.
Lets say that you, as a Muslim,
want to send money to another
Muslim country. Say you want to
send money to Pakistan. You cannot
send it, because you dont have the
infrastructure to do that. You are
living in their [i.e. the Zionists]
world. To send the money, you
Islamic
awakening
Compield by Mohammad Reza Mazlumi
No 8, July 2013
Erbakans
Most Popular
Speeches
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
exploitation monster that
oppresses the world is Zionism.
Its heart is Crusader Europe, its
right arm is America and its left
arm is Russia.
9
1972, the former cadres of the
MNP founded the Milli Selamet
(National Salvation) Party. That
party also was disbanded, by
the military coup de tat in
1980. These parties were both
accused of being anti-secular.
When its party was disbanded,
the movement founded a new
one, rather than protesting
radically against the state. The
movement has also had links
with sociocultural institutions
(for example, the National Youth
Foundation) and media outlets
(for example, Milli Gazete).
In 1983, the Milli Gorus
movement founded the Refah
(Welfare) Party (RP). The RP
gained influence in the 1990s
in Turkish politics and was
simultaneously strengthened
by the nationwide rise of
Islamic movements. It became
increasingly successful in
national elections with the
support of the new Anatolian
bourgeoisie and pro-Islamic
media networks. It won the
mayors seats in Turkeys two
largest cities, Istanbul and
Ankara, in 1994. In the national
parliamentary elections, the RP
increased its share of the votes
from 7.2 percent in 1987 to 21.4
percent in 1995 and became the
leading party. Erbakan became
prime minister in 1996 in the RPTrue Path Party (DYP) coalition.
Until the end of the 1990s,
the Milli Gorus movement did
not benefit from international
opportunities. It was a national
movement that sought a topdown transformation of society
via politics, unlike the Gulen
movement, which focused on
a bottom-up transformation
via education. The Milli Gorus
movement was restricted by
Turkey and did not attempt to
spread out to other countries
by benefiting from international
10
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
to as the D-8 (Developing
Eight). This became a
topic of debate between
the Gulen and the Milli
Gorus movements.
Gulen described D-8
as a vain project and a
very cheap message to
Erbakans constituency.
Because of these types of
disagreements, the Gulen
movement did not support
the RP. It continued to
pursue the principle of
political neutrality and to
establish good relations
with all political parties,
including the leftist ones.
The February 28 soft
coup in 1997 ended the
RP-DYP coalition and
substantially impacted
the Milli Gorus movement.
Erbakan was forced to
resign in June 1997. The RP
was dissolved, and Erbakan
was banned from politics
in 1998 by the Turkish
Supreme Court. Shortly
after that, the RPs mayor
of Istanbul, Tayyip Erdogan,
was imprisoned for reciting
a poem, and consequently
banished from political life.
Following the February
28 coup, the Milli Gorus
gradually divided into two
groupsthe elders, led by
Erbakan, and the younger
generation, led by Erdogan.
Because of state repression,
both of these groups
tended to see international
institutions and norms as
opportunities for protection
of their rights. Erbakan,
for example, appealed
to the European Court of
Human Rights to overturn
the dissolution of the RP
and his ban from politics by
the Turkish Constitutional
Court.
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
11
12
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
On the other
hand, according to
Levent Basturk, the most
important accomplishment
of the movement was its ability to
become a mechanism that carried
demands of religious segments into
the public realm in a country where religion and
religious segments were suppressed since 1920s.
According to the National View, the Muslim
World has experienced a moral and material
decline for several centuries although it used to be
more advanced than the West in administrative,
military, scientific, and technical fields. The basic
source of this greatness was the moral and spiritual
strength derived from the nations faith. The
present backwardness of Turkey in every realm was
caused by the blind imitation of Western values and
inappropriate Western technology by the Western
oriented elite who made the country a satellite to
the West. Levent Basturk says.
In order to create a glorious future again,
Turkey must realize the right and consistent
blending and synthesis of moral-spiritual and
material development. In order to realize that, the
Turks must embrace moral and spiritual (Islamic)
consciousness with a distinguished historical mission
in order to be a great power again like what the
Ottoman Empire used to be. In other words, the
National View, which represents truthfulness
(haqq), provided an outline in order to return to
origins of the nation and to build a new civilization
as an alternative to materialistic Western
worldviews, which have always represented
falsehood (batil).
Then he arranges the principles of National Vision
Movement in the following order:
-
Brotherhood of all citizens of the country;
-
The fusion of the nation and the state;
-
Freedom of thought and belief to
provide supremacy of the morality and
spirituality;
- Planned process
of moral and material
13
progress;
-
Establishment of the Just Order (Adil
Duzen) as an economic and political model;
-
Fast and steady national development;
-
Prosperity for everyone and abolition of
usury;
-
Realization of heavy industrialization;
-
Development with internal sources rather
than with foreign borrowing;
-
National Defense Industry and foreign
policy with honor;
-
Cooperation among Muslim nations;
-
Not a satellite Turkey, but a morally and
materially developed greater Turkey again.
Relationship with Muslim nations occupies
an important part of the National View. Erbakan
emphasized on five great steps toward realizing
cooperation between Muslim countries:
-
Establishment of the Organization
of Muslim United Nations to end the Zionist
conspiracy against the Muslims;
-
Establishment of a Muslim Defense
Organization;
-
Formation of a Muslim Common
Market;
-
Common currency among
Muslim nations;
-
Establishment of
Muslim countries
Organization
of Cultural
Cooperation.
14
Islamic
awakening
Divisions in
Erbakans
Movement
No 8, July 2013
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
15
Islamic
awakening
By Masoud Darrudi
16
No 8, July 2013
Erbakan in
the Course
of Turkish
History
Who is Erbakan?
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
17
18
success in municipality elections,
which is soon named as
REVOLUTION
Islamic
awakening
movement of Milli Gr has
continued with Fazilet (Virtue)
Party. This party was also closed
after an elected parliament
member refused to undress her
head scarf. And lastly; Felicity
(Saadet) Party...(gencsaadet.
com)
Comments on Erbakan
When we look at the comments
in the Western media, we come
across emphasis not only
on his anti-Western
and anti-Zionist
identity, but also
on moderating
function of
his ideas for
the marginal
Islamic
movements through
his struggle in the
legal limits.
Cast by his secular
enemies as a
dangerous
No 8, July 2013
religious reactionary, Mr. Erbakan
is now acknowledged as a
moderating force on Turkeys
Islamists... He was fiercely antiWestern, decrying the European
Union as a Zionist Christian club
and railing against usury and the
free market. Yet unlike some
Islamists (but like Turkeys Tarikat
Sufi Islamic fraternities), he
disavowed all forms of violence.
He sported a suit and tie (usually
Versace). When the army pushed
him out in 1997, Mr. Erbakan
did not call on his followers to
take to the streets. says The
Economist. On the other hand,
according to Thomas Faulkner,
from the Guardian, A shrewd
politician, with a folksy turn of
phrase, Necmettin Erbakan led
Turkish Islamism for more than
four decades during which the
movement grew from a marginal
group to become the mainstream
in Turkish politics, effectively
supplanting the old centre-right
and the centre-left.
Despite political bans and
No 8, July 2013
party closures, he always reemerged and never wavered
from his belief in an Islamic
Turkey. says Martin Childs, from
the Independent; Definitely, he
was a mujahid. He would never
ever accept defeat. He would
never ever accept to compromise
his national view political
doctrine. Even at the worse
times when he was banished from
politics, the parties he headed
were closed down by the court
or his students betrayed and
parted ways with him, Erbakan
managed to appear in front of
the media with a smiling face
and determination not to give
up comments Yusuf Kanl, from
Hurriyet Daily news.
As Fatma Dili Zbak writes,
Yeni afaks Ali Bayramolu says
the first thing that can be said
about Erbakan following his death
is that he was a charismatic
leader and a great mobilizer who
had the ability to spur the masses
he addressed, and mobilize them
to act. According to Bayramolu,
Erbakan was also a Cold War
Islamic
awakening
politician who preferred policies
of crisis and moves involving
tension in the hope of expanding
his influence this way rather
than engaging in an open fight of
principles.
In addition to this, although
Mustafa Akyol criticizes
some ideas of Erbakan, he
also acknowledges Erbakans
contributions: Unlike more
radical forms of Islamism that
emerged in the Middle East,
Erbakan never renounced
democracy. He rather became
a willing and active partner of
the democratic system, giving
the latter a religious legitimacy.
Besides, Erbakan never promoted
or even tolerated political
violence. Hence, in the 1970s,
when Turkeys youth was divided
between a violent Marxist
left and a militant nationalist
right, Erbakans pious followers
remained resolutely peaceful.
Terrorism was a very secular
concept at the time, and
Islamism looked all too docile.
Let us also quote the sentences
19
of Todays Zamans Emre Uslu on
Erbakan:
His main contribution to
Turkish politics can be listed
as follows: First, Erbakan
successfully opened a new
political avenue that produced
many politicians who are now
leading the country and for that
he should receive credit. More
importantly, he created this
political avenue out of the blue.
Second, without his tireless
efforts it would be very difficult
to bring the conservative rural
masses into everyday politics...
For those who supported
Erbakan, they supported him
every day, not just from election
to election. His main contribution
to politics was finding devoted
supporters. For his supporters,
Erbakan was not just a leader,
but a leader that was larger than
life a latest savior of the Muslim
world.
Third, Erbakan was the only
political leader who normalized
Islamic activities in the public
domain.
20
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
Muslim Brotherhood?
T
he Muslim Brotherhood
is the best-organized
political movement in the
most populous, most influential
country in the Arab world.
What it does and what happens
to it matters, both in Egypt
and across the Middle East. The
Brotherhood tasted power for
just a year before its leader,
Mohammed Morsi, was toppled by
the countrys powerful military.
Now, all the patience and
discipline it is known for is being
tested to the limit.
The decisions it makes in the
coming weeks could mold the
future of Egypt and of the region
itself.
No 8, July 2013
Lessons learned
Islamic
awakening
Short-term Challenges
21
22
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
Syrias Friends
Iraq
Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran - a regional power is a staunch ally of the Syrian.
Defense think tank Royal United Services
Institute (RUSI) sees the Syria conflict as part of a
regional power struggle in which the Zionist regime
and the United States are trying to destabilize the
independent government of Bashar Assad.
It is increasingly clear that the world is
confronting a crisis that extends far beyond Syria,
threatening to deteriorate into a regional conflict,
a recent briefing paper outlined. Now part civil,
part proxy, it has also become a great power
struggle between
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
23
Russia
SyriaS foes
United States
Israel
24
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
Turkey
Saudi Arabia
France
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
25
Qatar
Lebanon
Conclusion
26
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
Assessing Sanctions
Islamic Awakening
With a reasonable compromise within reach on Irans nuclear program, the Obama administration
pulled back, apparently fearing domestic political fallout. The result means a likely painful stalemate
for the foreseeable future. It seems that the sanctions aim to suffocate the metropolis of Islamic
Awakening because of its impact on the entire region. In the following article, Flynt and Hillary Mann
Leverett describe the US intentions behind the sanctions. (Editors note).
he Obama administration
and other sanctions
advocates claim that USinstigated sanctions against the
Islamic Republic are meant to
achieve a range of objectives
(changing Irans nuclear
calculus, getting Iran back
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
27
We have long
criticized
NIACs position
on sanctions
favoring
targeted
sanctions
against
the Iranian
government
while claiming
to oppose
broad-based
sanctions that
impact ordinary
Iranians as an
intellectually
incoherent
and politically
hypocritical
posture that
enables
the Obama
administrations
illegal, morally
offensive, and
strategically
counterproductive
sanctions policy.
28
to come in, dismantle every
centrifuge in Iran, cart them
back to [the US nuclear
laboratory at] Oak Ridge (like
Qadhafi in Libya did), and there
would still not be a legal basis for
lifting the sanctions.
[The Iranians would also]
have to stop talking to, dealing
with groups like Hizballah
and HAMAS, that we want to
call terrorist groups, and they
basically have to turn themselves
into a secular liberal democracy
in order to meet our standards
on human rights. The President
cant lift them, even if the
Iranians surrender to him on
the nuclear issue. So the idea
that this is somehow meant to
encourage a diplomatic outcome
thats just not real.
With regard to the impact of
sanctions, another HuffPost Live
panelist Sune Engel Rasmussen,
a Danish journalist who has
reported from Tehran points
out that, in living standards,
Iran is not a developing
country, and its a lot more
affluent than many of the
neighboring countries.
If you were in Tehran
for a week, for example,
except when you
Islamic
awakening
changed your money you might
not get a sense of this insane
inflation. Because you still have
big billboards advertising clothes
stores, you still have a lot of cars
in the streets, people are still
shopping, you still have people
drinking three- or four-dollar
cappuccinos in north Tehran.
That doesnt mean the average
Iranian is not suffering
But then when you talk
about whether that leads to civil
unrest, for example, then we
also have to remember that many
Iranians still remember an eightyear war with Iraq, when they
were living on food stamps. So
theyve seen a lot more suffering
than theyre seeing now.
Picking up on Sunes
observations, Flynt elaborated
on the impact of sanctions
including their indirect
contribution to Iranian economic
reform: Anyone who has been
in Tehran recently, you can
talk to people
No 8, July 2013
and definitely get a sense of
how sanctions are making daily
life harder for more and more
people. But the idea that the
economy is collapsing is just
not borne out by on-the-ground
reality.
Its also worth pointing out
and Ive had any number of
Iranians, official and otherwise,
say this to me that sanctions,
in some ways, actually help Iran,
in that they give the government
a kind of political cover to take
some steps toward what you
might call economic reform,
that would be politically difficult
otherwise.
Iran has done more to expand
non-oil exports, it is
less dependent on oil
revenues for both its
government budget and
to cover its
No 8, July 2013
imports, than any other major
oil-exporting country in the
Middle East. It has done far more
in that kind of diversification
than Saudi Arabia or any of the
states on the other side of the
Persian Gulf
[Take] the issue of the
devaluation of the currency: the
Iranian riyal has been overvalued
for at least a decade, but no
Iranian government has been able
or willing actually to let the riyal
come
back to something
like its natural
value. Now,
because of
sanctions,
Islamic
awakening
this has happened. And as a
result, Irans non-oil exports have
become much more competitive,
and are growing. In percentage
terms, they can now cover 50-60
percent of their imports with
non-oil exports.
Finally, on the question of
whether sanctions amount to
economic war against Iran, Flynt
says, Were at war, and its not
just an economic war. Were
engaged in cyber-attacks against
high-value Iranian targets, were
sponsoring covert operations by
groups inside Iran that, in any
other country in the world, we
29
would call terrorist operations.
We are definitely waging war
against the Islamic Republic.
Flynt Leverett served as a
Middle East expert on George W.
Bushs National Security Council
staff until the Iraq War and
worked previously at the State
Department and at the Central
Intelligence Agency. Hillary Mann
Leverett was the NSC expert on
Iran and from 2001 to 2003 was
one of only a few US diplomats
authorized to negotiate with the
Iranians over Afghanistan, alQaeda and Iraq. They are authors
of the new book, Going to Tehran.
30
Islamic
awakening
Bahrain and
No 8, July 2013
Irans Stance
No 8, July 2013
he present article is an
attempt to shed light on
Irans stance on Bahrain,
to suggest some peaceful
solutions to the problem and the
current situation in the island.
Attempts have been made to
deal with certain questions about
the reaction of regional and
extra-regional countries to the
developments in Bahrain, the
stance of the Islamic Republic
of Iran and some suggestions
for peaceful settlement of the
problem. Finally the current
situation in Bahrain is explained
shorly.
Serious Questions:
Islamic
awakening
Can those, who send military
forces to Bahrain (from outside),
crush the peaceful prodemocracy movement of the
Bahraini people?
Will the suppression and
oppression of the people,
who peacefully demand their
natural rights, by machine guns,
poisonous teargas, helicopters
and cannons, have any outcome
for foreign forces and Bahraini
government?
Will not such measures cause
hatred of the men and women
of Bahrain of the culprits and
perpetrators of such heinous
acts?
Will the fate of those, who
send their expeditions to Bahrain,
not be like Saddam Hussain who
attacked his neighbors in the
past?
Isnt the US support of the
suppression of Bahrain people,
who peacefully demand their
citizenal and human rights, an
example of double-standard in
the field of human rights?
Arent the Bahraini
government and its foreign
supporters responsible for
attacking peaceful civilians
by military forces (isnt it an
instance of war crime)?
Can the rulers and their
foreign supporters continue
systematic violation of peoples
rights and suppress them with
military force with full impunity
for ever?
Will not the continuation of
this trend and violation of human
rights and basic rights of the
Bahraini people threaten the
regional peace and stability?
Irans Stance
31
We believe that the best
solution to the problem of
Bahrain is free democratic
elections in which every Bahraini
citizen should have one equal
vote.
The Bahraini people should
be allowed to enjoy the right to
self-determination. They should
decide their fate free from any
foreign interference in their
internal affairs.
The majority of Bahraini
people have been deprived of
equal rights and opportunities
with the minority since the
establishment of Bahrain state.
This majority is entitled to and
must be granted equal rights with
the minority.
All Bahraini citizens are equal
regardless of their religious
affiliations.
Any sectarian approach to the
problem of Bahrain by any group
or country is condemned.
The Islamic Republic of Iran
cannot remain indifferent
towards oppression and
suppression of the people.
Therefore, we openly announce
our stance on condemnation of
suppression and oppression. It is
our religious obligation to do so.
Irans suggestions
32
Islamic
awakening
No 8, July 2013
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
33
34
Islamic
awakening
wounds when their heads and
limbs were hit by metal canisters
fired at close range, the authors
found.
Routine violations
Physicians for
Human Rights
called on Bahrains
government to
immediately end all
attacks on civilians
and suspend its
use of tear gas
while it conducted
an impartial
investigation into
its misuse and held
accountable those
who had used the
gas in excessive or
improper ways.
The group
also urged the
government to
disclose information
about which toxic
chemicals, its
tear gas canisters
contained and
permit scientists
and health
professionals to
study the effects of
prolonged tear gas
exposure in the Gulf
state.
No 8, July 2013
hearing on the implementation
of the Bahrain Independent
Commission of Inquiry (BICI)
report was held in late July at
the US Congress, according to
the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission (TLHRC).
According to a report,
authorities in Bahrain weaponize
tear gas in order to suppress the
pro-democracy movement.
Even amid US Congress
hearings on Bahrain, protesters
face more violence as they
peacefully protest against social
discrimination.
The TLHRC is a committee in
US Congress that advocates for
human rights and the BICI report
at the centre of hearing was
issued last November.
BICI was formerly chaired by
Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, an
Egyptian international criminal,
human rights and humanitarian
law professor.
The report, almost 500
pages long, investigates events
from the start of the Bahraini
uprising on 14 February 2011
until November 2011 including
conditions of arrests and torture.
The hearing was held as
tensions in Bahrain mount over
demonstrations demanding
reforms are violently dispersed
nearly daily.
Protesters clash almost on
daily basis with security forces in
Sitra, according to a local online
media service called Sitra Media.
There were reports of live
ammunition being fired at
people, who were not protesting
at the time in Salmabad,
according to Al-Wefaq National
Islamic Society, the largest
opposition group in Bahrain.
ANIS also said 14 areas
witnessed crackdowns on in what
it described as the policy of
collective punishment.
According to PHR Deputy
Director Richard Sollom the use
No 8, July 2013
Islamic
awakening
Bahrain Watch: UK
Company Helps Bahrain
Government Spy on
Activists
Bahrains government is
spying on Bahraini activists with
a malicious computer program
apparently supplied by a UK firm.
Bahrain Watch founding
member Bill Marczak, and
Citizen Lab security researcher
Morgan Marquis-Boire analyzed a
string of suspicious e-mails sent
to activists over the past two
35
months.
The e-mails promised
exclusive images or documents
about the political situation in
Bahrain.
Upon closer examination, the
e-mails were found to contain
attachments that installed a
malicious program on a victims
computer. Some of these e-mails
impersonated Al Jazeera English
reporter Melissa Chan.
The malicious program was
found to record keystrokes, take
screenshots, record Skype calls,
and steal passwords saved in web
browsers, e-mail programs, and
36
Islamic
awakening
captured by FinSpy.
No 8, July 2013