Syrians to hold 'We won't kneel except to God' Friday rally [Future TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Female #1
According to Syrian activists, the number of victims who have been killed in military operations across various cities and towns since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan has reached 271, an average of one death per hour. Meanwhile, Syrian tanks resumed shelling across various residential neighborhoods, especially Bab Amer in Homs. In addition, Syrian security forces re-stormed the cities of Hama and Saraqeb. Syrian activists reported that 44 people, including 18 in Homs, have been killed over the past few hours. The Syrian opposition continues to rally its supporters, urging them to take part in protest rallies tomorrow under the slogan, "We won't kneel, except to God."

Guest Male #1, yelling
We can't evacuate the fallen martyrs from the area of Baba Amer!

Reporter, Male #2
It was expected that the level of violence against the civilians demanding freedom may level off in light of the recent messages from Turkey and the international community to the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad. However, the situation on the ground remains bloody, if not bloodier than before. Eighteen people have been killed since yesterday in random and heavy artillery shelling that targeted the Bab Amer neighborhood in Homs. The neighborhood was also heavily shelled today. The Syrian Revolution Coordination Union said that ambulances were deployed with shabeha militias onboard. The shabeha opened fire at the residents, turning the neighborhood into a war zone. Meanwhile, Syrian army and security forces have stormed the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border, killing 11 people. The army also carried out massive sweeps, targeting dozens of civilians. Witnesses reported that regime forces opened fire at a bus packed with civilians near the Qantra Bridge, killing or injuring all onboard. The Syrian Revolution Coordination Union said that the Syrian army has shelled the Noor Hospital in the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor. The army detained the head of the hospital and three physicians. Syrian troops also surrounded the Hamadiya, Ammal, and old Matar neighborhoods, amid heavy gunfire. The offensive comes a day after the targeting of mosques in the city, including the minaret of Uthman Bin Affan Mosque as well as the Khalid Bin Walid, the Tawba, and the Arfeen Mosques. Meanwhile, protests continued across Syria demanding the downfall of the regime. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that tanks and armored vehicles have stormed the city of Saraqeb in the northwest province of Idlib. In another development, Syrian tanks were redeployed in the city Hama, hours after their withdrawal from the city. This news comes after Syrian authorities organized a tour of the city for reporters and the Turkish ambassador. Syrian activists said that the tanks were redeployed to the streets of Hama as soon as the tour ended. In light of the unfolding developments on the ground, the Syrian opposition continues to rally its supporters, urging them to take part in protest rallies on Friday under the slogan, "We won't kneel, except to God."

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Libyan rebels at the gates of oil hub Brega [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Female #1
Violent clashes took place between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi's forces in the strategic oil town of Brega in eastern Libya. The town is one of the three major battlefronts of the Libyan conflict. The other two fronts are Misurata and Jabal Nafusa, in the western part of the country. Brega contains oil facilities including refineries and a port for oil transportation, in addition to residential areas.

Reporter, Male #1
Once again, the battlefront of Brega has come into the spotlight. The revolutionary forces assert that they are on the verge of taking control of the coastal oil town, while Libyan Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's forces are still trying to defend it. Opposition fighters infiltrated Brega for a brief time. They hope to enter the town soon after NATO warplanes launch air strikes on the strongholds of Gaddafi's loyalist forces. This region, which is strategic for both sides, witnessed fierce seesaw battles in the last several days. Neither side has achieved any gains. As the scene of fighting repeats itself, the battlefront is witnessing an exchange of artillery shelling, rockets, and mortar shells. Columns of smoke can be seen rising from the front. Revolutionaries described the military movements as very limited, which they attribute to the fact that most revolutionaries are fasting in extremely cruel weather conditions.

Guest, Male #2 (Commander, Revolutionary Forces)
Well, the conditions are very harsh. Many are trying to fast, but we try to persuade a majority of them that the fighting is too fierce and the heat is too harsh because this is a semi-desert region. Even though the supplies are available and continuously delivered to them, the natural conditions are too unforgiving.

Reporter, Male #1
The revolutionaries say another reason for the slow progress on the battlefront is that Gaddafi's forces are using abandoned tunnels, which they have turned into a very broad underground network, to hide their tanks and military vehicles. They added that Gaddafi's forces drive the tanks out of these tunnels for a short period to shell the revolutionaries' strongholds then drive back into the tunnels to avoid being shelled by NATO air strikes. Reports from the battlefield also say that Gaddafi's forces set up extremely strong defensive lines in Brega to prevent revolutionaries from advancing. They planted hundreds of anti-tank and anti-personnel landmines along these lines and dug many trenches and filled them with inflammable materials. Politically, the European Union took new measures to impose sanctions on the Libyan regime. The EU announced increases to its sanctions due to the severity of the situation in Libya. In between the battleground and the political field, the fate of this African country remains uncertain with numerous possibilities.

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Somalis flee to Ethiopia to escape recruitment of child soldiers [BBC Arabic, UK]

Presenter, Female #1
An official at the UN High Commission for Refugee Affairs told the BBC that a number of Somali families are fleeing to Ethiopia in fear that their children may be recruited by the Islamic Shabaab Movement. The refugee camps in Ethiopia are still receiving displaced Somalis escaping the famine and violence in Somalia. However, the number of refugees plummeted recently since most of the entrances to Ethiopia were shut down by Shabaab fighters.

Reporter, Male #1
This is Dolo Ado Refugee Camp in Ethiopia. There is nothing here that makes it a desired destination for refugees. However, not a day goes by without a new group of Somalis flocking here to escape the famine and violence. They wait in long lines hoping to receive food and care. This clinic is run by the charity organization, Doctors Without Borders. They have strong determination but the humble conditions only allow them to give medical attention to extremely severe cases, such as the children who have reached an advanced stage of emaciation due to malnutrition, if not complete lack of nutrition.
In addition to these miseries, the refugees have to walk for days in the barren desert to reach the camp. Many of them are pregnant women.

Guest, Male #2
I deliver at least one child every day. And we examine six or seven pregnant women daily as well.

Reporter, Male #1
However, the UN High Commission for Refugee Affairs believes that the natural environment is not the only factor responsible for the current humanitarian disaster. A number of mothers left their villages and came to Ethiopia to protect their children from being forcibly recruited by the Islamic Shebaab Movement to become fighters.

Guest, Female #2 (Allison Oman, UNHCR Spokesperson)
The fear was that if they didn't have animals and grains to redeem themselves with, Shabaab would take their children and recruit them. So after their last animals died, the family got up and left.

Reporter, Male #1
Politically, a UN representative warned that Somalia may fall into the hands of rival armed groups, which may take advantage of the vacuum left by the sudden withdrawal of the Islamic Shabaab Movement fighters from the capital.

Guest, Male #3 (Augustine Mahiga, UN Secretary-General Special Representative to Somalia)
Pockets of Al-Shabaab remain in Mogadishu and the security situation is critical. The rebels may resort to terrorist attacks and a gangster war against the interim government forces, and perhaps also against civilians and refugees.

Reporter, Male #1
Shabaab's militias still control one third of Somalia and most of its south, which is suffering from the famine.

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Yemen's Saleh clings to power as protestors denounce US-Saudi interference [Press TV, Iran]

The cabinet of Yemen's embattled rule Ali Abudllah Saleh has met with Saudi officials to discuss how to keep him in power. At the same time, protestors in Yemen took to the streets to call for the prosecution of the regime and to reject Saudi and US intervention in their country's affairs. In defiance of foreign intervention and the iron fist of the regime, Yemeni protestors rallied massively nationwide today to call for the prosecution of the remaining remnants of the regime and show their determination for the revolution. Protestors chanted slogans denouncing US and Saudi intervention, which they hold guilty of trying to hijack their seven-month ongoing revolution and praised their countrymen for their patients and steadfast support to their seven month struggle to put an end to Saleh's regime.

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Lebanon blast leaves two people dead [Press TV, Iran]

At least two people have been killed in a bomb explosion in a Christian suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Police say the handmade bomb went off near the St. Elias Church. One person has also been injured in the blast. Initial reports say a judge was the apparent target of the attack. The blast, however, failed to kill him.

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Report indicates Israel expropriating 90 per cent of Palestinian water [Al Jazeera, Qatar]

Presenter, Male # 1
A report submitted by Palestine's permanent observer to the United Nations accuses Israel of exploiting nearly 90 percent of the water sources available on Palestinian land.

Presenter, Female # 1
The report indicates that Israel exploits large quantities of the water for its settlements and the construction of the separation wall. The report adds that an Israeli individual uses at least four times more water than a Palestinian.

Presenter, Male # 1
Our al-Jazeera correspondent Sherine Abu Akhle has the details from the West Bank's region of al-Aghwar.

Reporter, Female # 2
Up until a few years ago, Abdallah Bitan's land in the village of al-Jiftlik in al-Aghwar was agricultural land that fed him and his family. However, today, it has turned into wasteland. Water scarcity led to a scarcity of the land's output and Abdallah went from being a farmer to a worker at the Israeli settlement of Miswat.

Guest, Male # 2
On this strip of land, we had planted zucchini. That one: beans and that plot there still has the hoses. You see them? We had planted cucumbers. None of us are planning to grow anything on this land really. It's over, there's no water to plant. We don't even have drinking water today. We don't have drinking water!

Reporter, Female # 2
Palestinians living in the Palestinian region of al-Aghwar are facing a great shortage of water, which they attribute to Israel's digging of wells along the Jordan Valley. Those wells provide water to over 30 settlements, which grow palms, grapes, and roses as Palestinian land dries up little by little. This scene repeats itself: wells serving settlers only, and a few meters away empty Palestinian water ducts.

Guest, Male # 3 (Fathi Khadirat, Campaign to Save al-Aghwar)
They took control of all ground water sources and the water level at the surface dropped. This caused Palestinian wells to be either polluted or have a high salinity level. Palestinians can hear water passing through the pipelines beneath them but can't drink that water.

Reporter, Female # 2
The report submitted by the Palestinian side to the United Nations says the 9,000 setters who live in al-Aghwar consume one third of the water allotted to Palestinians in the West Bank. Hebron is another example of the scarcity of water, where residents are forced to buy water or rely on rain water. In the village of el-Tweneh, south of Hebron, Israel refuses to grant the residents the permission to build a water network.

Guest, Female # 3
We get water once every two weeks and sometimes the Israelis shut down the water supply. We put the water in these containers and they might or might not last one month. Also the price of water is too high if we want to buy it from other areas.

Reporter, Female # 2
The Palestinians say Israel is currently exploiting 90 percent of the Palestinian land's water sources and controls the remaining ten percent. These are the water channels of the village of Ujah. Once considered a main source for water in al-Aghwar, today it no longer has a drop of water. In short, to block water is to block life and this is what Israel wants. It wants the land, what lies underneath it and on the surface. There is only side that Israel ignores and is bothered by, and that is the Palestinian human being. Sherine Abu Akhle, al-Jazeera, from al-Auja in the Palestinian al-Aghwar.

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Activists unhappy with new Lands Administration housing plan [IBA, Israel]

According to a new plan approved by the Israel Lands Administration, contractors will be charged less money to build cheaper housing for certain sectors of the public. The reform could go a long way towards solving the acute housing shortage but the plan is already under fire for being discriminatory. Protestors against soaring housing costs demonstrated outside the meeting of the Israel Lands Administration, demanding that the council change the criteria in determining who qualifies for affordable housing.

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Interior minister approves construction of 1,600 new Jerusalem apartments [IBA, Israel]

In other housing news, housing solutions are on the way, at least in Jerusalem. The interior minister Eli Yishai today gave his final stamp of approval to construct 1,600 apartments with thousands more on the pipeline. The new apartments became a diplomatic issue last year, causing a rift between Israel and Washington when the project was first announced during a visit to Israel by then US Vice President Joe Biden.

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President Peres meets with Trachtenberg Committee [IBA, Israel]

The social unrest in the nation may be bearing fruit, as the Trachtenberg Committee dealing with social concerns presses on with its work. But that hasn't stopped the protestors, who continue their tent camps and demonstrations. Professor Manuel Trachtenberg, the head of this so-called Trachtenberg Committee, and other members of his team met this morning with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem. Trachtenberg briefed the president on the committee's work plan and progress so far. He also said he understands that the protest leaders are skeptical about the commission but stressed that its members are eager to listen and affect change.

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Turkey's evolving relations with Syria [ANB, UK]

Presenter, Male #1
Joining us this evening in Sijalat to discuss the events in Syria is Mr. Ammar Waqqaf, member of the British Syrian Society. The Turkish position on the events in Syria altered its relationship from a friendly ally to a cautious neighbor and is heading toward becoming an adversary. Does this not make Syria fear that the whole world is turning against it? Are those who are pro-President Bashar al-Assad worried?

Guest, Male #2 (Ammar Waqqaf, British Syrian Society member)
Of course, and not just Bashar al-Assad's supporters are worried. Despite the fact that international positions on Syria are political, the problem is their economic repercussions, which will have an impact on Syria's internal affairs in one way or another. After the events of the 1970s and 1980s regarding the Muslim Brotherhood, the Syrian economy nearly collapsed and the exchange rate with the US dollar rose ten-fold. We hope we will not reach this situation. It's important to note that there are priorities; existential priorities precede economic concerns. Mr. Ban Ki-moon's statement... regional players and international players have different perspectives. Let's start with Turkey. At the beginning of the Arab Spring revolutions, Turkey had upcoming elections. At the beginning of the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, Mr. Erdogan would say in parliament: "I swear if they listened to us, if they did what we did, perhaps they might have been able to avoid this." This kind of talk was somewhat part of an electoral campaign. He wanted to tell Turkish voters: "Look, I am offering you the best political system currently in the region." But later, after Turkey's general elections were held, Syria responded on par with Turkey's position. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem politely told the Kurds: "There are about 800 kilometers between us; you have an influence on us, and so do we." Certainly there was an insinuation to the Turkish role on the events in Jisr Shughour. Some people say Turkey turned a blind eye to the arming of individuals in Syria while others add that these individuals were also being trained. Of course, once again Foreign Minister al-Muallem said he received information that the military camps had been built one week earlier.

Presenter, Male #1
Mr. Ammar, maybe you are entitled to say the Syrian regime is treated unjustly by the media. But at the same time, as a Syrian citizen, you have the right to demand that international and Arab media organizations freely enter the country, and not just use online sources. They will be able to directly document everything that is happening.

Guest, Male #2
I completely agree with you on this point but I understand the Syrian government's way of thinking when it comes to foreign media. The Syrian crisis has two facets when it comes to the media. When a news channel like al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, and other Arab channels, there's the issue of public incitement, sending the message of "we should revolt, we need freedom," and so on. The other aspect is the broadcast of half-truths and this is the problem of the international media.