ISRAEL: Google Street View coming to Jerusalem and elsewhere

Israel is the next country to allow Google Street View to map its roadways, although not without concerns. Even before the funny-looking vehicles hit the streets of Israel, they've been in for a bumpy ride. Since being approached about a year ago, Israeli authorities mulled over the various defense, legal and privacy issues, and even opened the topic to public discussion on an open government platform.

Since launching the service in 2007, Google Street View has stirred controversy, mostly over privacy concerns, as the service recorded people's faces, license plates and captured them in compromising situations. After the service was found to collect personal data while mapping out wireless networks, Google was forced to apologize, saying it was a mistake. A number of countries have imposed conditions for continuing running the project, and last year Israel was among 10 governments that sent Google a letter demanding better enforcement of privacy regulations.

Even without being caught with their pants down, many resent the potential invasion of their privacy, although they probably enjoy the many practical aspects of the service that has put the world at everyone's fingertips. When the subject came up, a blog titled "The big invasion of your privacy has begun" offered Israelis tips on how to handle the "threat," including mooning cameras (as done in Germany) and harpooning a vehicle (as in Norway).

Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem -- reportedly the first city to be photographed and mapped -- are likely to do neither, of course, although the sometimes-insular community that often protects itself fiercely from prying eyes is not going to like going global and might put up a fight, according to local media.

In the past, Israel has voiced security concerns as secret bases and other sensitive installations were brought out of the shadows, thanks to Google Earth. A few years ago, military experts complained that the service compromised top-secret sites with images that were a boon to terrorists. Other experts dismissed this, saying the images were neither real-time, not otherwise unobtainable, or posed no genuine threat.

Being "outed" by technology is a two-way street. Last year, reports claimed Google Earth revealed a denied Scud missile cache, the subject of potentially dangerous regional tensions. Satellite imgaery of Israel is restricted and intentionally downgraded in resolution by American-based commercial satellite companies, in compliance with the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act from the late 1990s. Russia, too, degrades its imagery of Israel.

Israel's approval comes with conditions. The Justice Ministry's Law, Information and Technology authority gave its consent on a number of terms, including advance publishing of the route the cameras will take when photographing public places and providing a mechanism for people to ask their faces, license plates and homes to be blurred after uploading if this isn't done automatically. There are also legal conditions obliging adherence to Israeli law in case of legal proceedings.

While apprehension continues regarding risks to security and privacy, some see this as an opportunity. Political activists plan to use the service to promote demonstrations against the occupation, according to a news report that says a Facebook group will work on coordinating the demonstrations with the vehicles' routes, which Google promised to make known in advance.

-- Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem.

Photo: Google Maps camera car in California in 2010. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

SYRIA: Troops caught on camera behaving very badly [Video]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disturbing new footage showing uniformed soldiers beating, kicking, and humilitating what appear to be detainees have emerged on the Internet and gone viral on pan-Arab TV stations in the last few days.

One of the clips, posted below, shows a group of handcuffed, shirtless men being punched and kicked by men in camouflage uniforms -- some of whom are seen recording video of the abuse with their own mobile phones (warning: violent images).

The men are sitting in the middle of a dusty road in what looks like a makeshift military camp. Tanks and a fluttering Syrian flag can be seen at a distance away.

SYRIA: Spirits (and shoes) high among protesters [Video]

The demonstrators hold their shoes aloft amid loud shouts of "Bye, bye, Bashar!" taunting embattled Syrian ruler Bashar Assad with their footwear in what is considered a grave insult in the Arab world.

Protesters in the Inshaat neighborhood in Syria's central city of Homs were in high spirits during Friday's nationwide "Promise of victory" rallies despite the regime's continued violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, according to the video below purportedly captured on Friday.

 

SYRIA: Activist killed about every hour over 11 days in crackdown

At least one person has been killed by security forces in Syria about every hour during the first 11 days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, according to new statistics by an activist group, the Local Coordinating Committees. 

The Syrian regime appears to be sticking to its guns and tanks, hammering away at its opponents across the country during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a continued bloody crackdown of anti-government protesters, despite a torrent of regional and international criticism.

On Thursday, Syrian activist reports said Syrian army units along with pro-government enforcers stormed two opposition hot spots in the country ahead of anticipated nationwide anti-government rallies Friday.

They reportedly killed several people. Ramadan has been a bloody month in Syria so far with 257 Syrians killed by the army and security forces across the country, according to the Local Coordinating Committees.

SYRIA: Videos show Assad regime's bloody pre-Ramadan offensive

Huge clouds of thick, black smoke filled the sky over the central Syrian city of Hama early Sunday, in video posted below, as troops and armed enforcers loyal to President Bashar Assad launched a  military assault on the opposition stronghold, reportedly killing dozens and injuring scores.

Activists and eyewitnesses also say troops and security forces have attacked the eastern city of Dair Alzour, the town of Boukamal near the Iraqi border, an area in the province of Dara, and a suburb of Damascus, among other locales.

 

Below, a clip purportedly showing live rounds being fired on people in the streets of Hama early Sunday.

SYRIA: Video shows armed pro-regime enforcers attacking demonstrators

Dramatic and disturbing video footage from Friday's anti-government protests in Syria against President Bashar Assad, in which Syrian activists say at least 22 people were killed, has emerged on the Internet.

In the clip below, purportedly filmed at a small protest in the southern town of Dara on Friday, a group of people is standing on a road as loud sounds of crackling gunfire are audible in the background.

As the sound of the gunfire intensifies, one young man suddenly falls to ground, apparently hit by a bullet from Assad troops. "He's injured," the cameraman screams as the men in the street hurry to move the wounded person on the ground, apparently bleeding from his head, into safety behind a wall. Then they put him on a motorcycle parked nearby and drive him away.

 

LEBANON, ISRAEL: Belly dancer and metal band rock the boat

Seeing a gorgeous dancer on stage with a heavy-metal band is nothing unusual.

But when the dancer is Lebanese and the singer Israeli and they hold the flags of their respective countries -- which remain in a state of war -- alongside each other, you have a recipe for potential trouble.

The controversial joint appearance and performance by Lebanese belly dancer Johanna Fakhry (reportedly based in France) and the Israeli heavy-metal band Orphaned Land last month at the Hellfest music festival in Clisson, France only recently emerged in the news and is now stirring the pot.

Amateur video footage purportedly showing the performance depicts a member of Orphaned Land singing in what appears to be Hebrew while Fakhry dances around him wearing traditional belly dancer's grab and holding a Lebanese flag.

She then approaches the singer and helps him hold a large Israeli flag before taking her own Lebanese flag and brandishing it alongside the Israeli before the audience.

SYRIA: Videos said to show violent clashes in Damascus suburbs

Protesters quickly run for cover behind a wall in the Damascus suburb of Qabon on Friday as gunfire starts ringing out around them. The most daring stay put and throw stones in the direction of the shots.

 

Syria witnessed another day of violence and bloodshed Friday as mass protests erupted across the country with at least 27 people reported killed by security forces and pro-regime elements. Most of the deaths were reported in the suburbs of Damascus, where large crowds took to the streets to call for the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and his regime, according to amateur video footage posted to the Internet.

The large demonstrations and the high death toll in the suburbs of Damascus could signal that anti-Assad sentiment is gaining strength in the capital.

Before the outbreak of violence in Qabon, a large number of protesters carrying colorful balloons and banners scorning the Syrian leader marched down a narrow street in the neighborhood following Friday prayers, according to the clip posted below. "Go out Bashar," read one sign. "Game over Bashar" read another. Meanwhile, a narrator can be heard mocking Syrian state media in the background.

SYRIA: Glimpses of violence give a taste of the tension and peril on the streets [Video]

Gunfire, screams, house raids and people running for their lives away from hails of bullets.

Amateur video footage purportedly filmed Friday during protests in Syria offers glimpses of the horror and chaos on the streets as gunmen loyal to the authoritarian regime of President Bashar Assad attempt to quell a pro-democracy uprising.

In the clip below, purportedly filmed in the Damascus suburb of Dariya, security forces fire tear gas and gunshots at stone-hurling young men shouting "Freedom!" 

 

SYRIA: Hama governor sacked amid eruption of mass protests [Video]

 

For once, it was the protesters who had the pro-regime forces on the run.

Video footage uploaded to the Internet from Friday's day of massive protests shows what appears to be anti-regime protesters in the northwestern city of Idleb chasing out bands of security agents and pro-regime shabiha militiamen.

A day after tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Syria's key central city of Hama demanding that President Bashar Assad leave office, the regime sacked the city's governor, Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz Saturday, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency, or SANA.

No official reason was given for the governor's removal and theories behind the move vary. Some view it as an attempt by the authorities to appease protesters while others believe it's a trick by the Syrian authorities to find people to lay blame as protests appear to be gaining momentum.

One protest-organizer in Damascus told Babylon & Beyond that the move signaled that the Syrian ruler is on the move to find "scapegoats" and that more officials and public faces are likely to be dropped.

"Assad will sacrifice a few more of his regime in the coming days ... in an attempt to hijack the revolution," said the activist who asked to speak on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

MIDDLE EAST: An online 'Arab Spring' for region's gays and lesbians

"Joon" is unhappily in love and needs advice.

"For the past few years I have been in love with a straight girl, my best friend," she writes.

"Apart from her being straight, I suspect she is homophobic, because bringing up this subject in any form disgusts her. What happens when we fall in love with a straight person, or worse, a homophobe?"

A person writing under the profile "Reem" responds:

"I can relate to this, as it happens to pretty much every lesbian. In my situation I realized that I simply needed to get over her. Maybe you can come out to her at some point, if she is really your best friend then her homophobia should not interfere in how much she cares for you."

The thread above was published on Ahwaa.org, a new user-generated online community and forum run by a group of volunteers where members of the LGBT community in the Arabian Peninsula and beyond can vent their feelings and discuss and debate just about any issue on their minds in what administrators say is a safe and secure environment.

SYRIA: Many deaths reported as thousands march in 'Friday of the children of freedom' protests

Syrian activist accounts say dozens of people were killed in the central city of Hama on Friday when Syrian military forces and pro-regime loyalists opened fire at a large protest rally against the rule of President Bashar Assad and the Syrian regime's continued crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

A member of the Syrian activist group the Local Coordination Committees in Syria (LCCSyria) told Babylon & Beyond that the group had names of 24 people killed in Friday's protests in Hama. The Associated Press reported that 34 people were  killed in the city on Friday. Snipers were positioned on the rooftops of buildings in various Hama neighborhoods and the death toll was expected to rise, according to activist reports.

LCCSyria also said three people were killed in Rastan on Friday, a town near the central city of Homs, where Syrian military forces have been conducting a military operation during which scores of people reportedly have died since Tuesday.