The Free Syrian Army denies arms shipment amid renewed clashes

An estimated 23 people died in renewed violence in Syria just hours after head of the U.N. Security Council Ban Ki-Moon issued another call for the Syrian army and opposition forces to commit to a truce. According to the British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 11 people were killed in a mortar attack on a village in the northern province of Idlib. Nine of those killed were reportedly members of the same family. Government and opposition forces clashed in the eastern Deir al-Zor province resulting in the deaths of 12 Syrian troops, at least one villager, and the destruction of a school. Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) denied links to an illegal arms cargo ship intercepted by the Lebanese Army on Friday night. According to an FSA official, the association is a fabrication by Syrian intelligence aimed to convince the international community that both sides of the conflict have equal resources. The United Nations Security Council is continuing to ramp up its observer mission with 30 monitors on the ground and 20 more set to be deployed by the end of the week.

Headlines  

• Former head of Israel’s Kadima party, Tzipi Livni, resigned from the Knesset Tuesday accusing leaders of putting the country at risk by ignoring the international community.
• Vienna police reported that Libya’s former prime minister and oil minister drowned. While there were no indications of foul play, Libyan security officials believe he may have been murdered.
• Independent Palestinian television station, Wattan TV, is being sued over an investigation into alleged university corruption amid accused growing media crackdown.

Arguments and Analysis 

‘Egypt is taking U.S. money and running’ (The Washington Post)

"It’s been five weeks since the Obama administration granted Egypt its full $1.3 billion in annual military aid despite its government’s failure to meet conditions set by Congress for advancing democracy. In granting a waiver on national security grounds, administration officials argued that continuing the funding was more likely to encourage cooperation with the United States and progress on human rights than a cutoff would. As it turns out, the administration was wrong. In a number of tangible ways, U.S.-Egyptian relations and the military’s treatment of civil society have deteriorated since the waiver was issued March 23. The threat to nongovernmental organizations, whose prosecution triggered the threat of an aid suspension, has worsened. Conditions for U.S.-backed pro-democracy groups elsewhere in the Middle East have deteriorated as other governments have observed Egypt’s ability to crack down with impunity."

‘What happened to the dove?’ (Uri Misgav, Haaretz) 

"The truth is that peace is off most Israelis’ radar screens, which is why there is nothing said about it during our national holidays. When I was a child, on Independence Day we would wave little blue-and-white flags to the sounds of "I was born for peace, may it only come," and Memorial Day was marked with the stubborn hope that in the future there were would be no more casualties of war. Today, no one would dare express such hopes at these ceremonies; the remarks would ring hollow in a country that has officially taken peace off its agenda. This is a dramatic, historic development that for some reason is being accepted with equanimity. The aspiration for peace, even on a declarative level, had always been a foundation stone of the Zionist enterprise. Peace as a value, as a basic and existential idea. Peace as a reason for living, as a comfort, as a promise. Not the kind of peace chewed up over the years by sterile, technical expressions like "diplomatic process," "road map," "Clinton initiative" or "Annapolis."" 

‘Arab revolutions have ushered in protracted change’ (Joseph Bahout, The Daily Star)

"From a macro-historical point of view, the Arab revolutions represent among the most tremendous changes in the structures of the contemporary Middle East. So far, the transformations have touched three levels at least: that of society and social forces; that of the state and political forces; and that of the regional system, its place in the international system, and the implications for the latter. In societies perceived as crippled by political passivity, a sudden and unexpected fever has seized the "street" and seemingly will not waiver. What some would call "Tahrirocracy" – rule through the squares – is a phenomenon all new governments must reckon with from now on. In parallel to a growing lack of absolute power and control by the state and security apparatuses, individuals and social movements have acquired increased initiative and leverage, inventing original mobilization tactics and techniques."

–By Jennifer Parker and Mary Casey