Notations From the Grid: On Human Rights in #Iran & #RaiseYourVoice

Our team has been hitting the "Virtual Ground" running.     We have been assessing the "U-Turn" in Afghanistan as we have also been assessing the situation in Iran as well.

Our Founder has been on the prowl lending his name to the case of the Washington Post' Jason Rezayian.  He has been sentenced and he finished an update in his corner on the situation earlier.    There is also the continued problems with Justice in Iran generally epitomized by this "from the Grid" as well which our team is pursuing: 

“These sentences show that repression in Iran is intensifying,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the...
Posted by International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran on Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Notations on Our World: On the "Virtual Ground" with #Israel & #Palestine

As our team has "hit the ground" running on Daily Outsider 2.x, the journey continues.    One of our current projects is the on-going challenging times in Israel right now.     The Israeli Prime Minister has been spreaheading new tough security measures to stem the violence--although he did come out earlier and said he is willing to meet with Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas to try and calm the situation.   Our assessment is that such moves at best will be temporary as the broad challenges facing both societies continues.

Our team released a report on +i24news EN with a very disturbing poll noting that over 50% of Israeli's have no faith in the Two State Solution.    As the "iron fist" in Israel continues to be ever so evident, it is of interest to note that there is yet to be a arrest in the fire bombing of the home of the Palestinian Family as the Defense Minister said recently, "....we know who they are..." as one sense of the reality was released by @Peace Now:   

The Failure of Bibi's "Conflict Management"

No Israeli can stay indifferent to the tragedy and pain caused by the terror attacks of the last few weeks. But especially during these difficult days we must remember the roots of the deterioration we are experiencing today. For over 6 years the Netanyahu governments have been doing everything in their power to prevent the possibility for compromise and reconciliation - going up to the Temple Mount, continuing settlement expansion, retroactively legalizing illegal outposts, ignoring hilltop youth who take the law into their own hands, and turning their back to moderate Palestinians - and now all of this explode in our faces. The only way to prevent further deterioration is through separating into two states. Only a political process that will lead to the end of our control over millions of Palestinians will end the bloody conflict between the two peoples and allow Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and quiet. There is simply no other solution.  This Saturday Peace Now will be holding a demonstration in Tel Aviv to protest the government policies and call for a different way - that of compromise, end of occupation and two states. 19:30, Kaplan Street, Tel Aviv. Click here to see the event on Facebook.

At the Heart of the Conflict

Over the past months Peace Now led several tours to East Jerusalem in order to help stakeholders, activists and the general public understand the reasons behind the current deterioration. The tours focused on the main points of contention, with a particular emphasis on the situation in Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and settlers' takeover in Batan Al-Hawa in Silwan. Click here for an article in The Independent based on a tour with Peace Now's Settlement Watch to learn more about the current situation in Silwan. Peace Now continues to work in order to prevent a drastic change in the area by bringing the issue to stakeholders' attention and creating public pressure around it. The Opposition leader, MK Herzog, underscored that the intifadah has begun and also called for an "iron hand".     What was perceptive was this on @Al-Monitor  that underscored how times have changed: DAOUD KUTTAB for Al-Monitor Social media is playing a vital role in the current Palestinian protests.

Notations From the Grid: On the aftermath of the CNN #DemDebate

As our team has launched the transformation of #outsiders,  our work to reflect upon the challenges of our World continues.    The CNN #DemDebate is now history.

The opening statements were quite interesting.   Anderson Cooper was quite tough on all five candidates calling them to task on issues on trust and their records as he began.      There has been a wide array of reporting and some of them we released earlier in our Twitter Feed (@DailyOutsider).  What we felt was quite poignant was the leading Nevada Political Analyst Jon Ralston that our founder released to his personal twitter feed: 

On the evening prowl w/@DailyOutsider as Jon Ralston Reports 4rom Las Vegas: #Clinton cleans up in Vegas debate http://t.co/Jf6le5UHY5

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) October 14, 2015 

The +National Rifle Association was also "on the job" with its' view as Senator Sanders was taken to task on his vote on Guns by Hillary Clinton:  

Only in a #demdebate for president does fighting for the #Constitution make you an "enemy" #2A

— NRA (@NRA) October 14, 2015 

This was as Donald Trump was also "Tweeting" and one of his comments was classic Trump: 

Sorry, there is no STAR on the stage tonight!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015

Interesting times....