For weeks all eyes have been on the Libyan rebels who have seized the coastal city of Benghazi in the east of the country from which they have repeatedly advanced on Tripoli—and repeatedly been driven back. Now a new advance has been launched on Tripoli from the interior Nafusa Mountains to the southwest, and reached the Gualish plains that flank the capital on the south. The army of Berber rebels has received air-drops of arms from France, and is apparently coordinating its advance with NATO air-strikes. "We waited before launching this assault and finally got the green light from NATO this morning and the offensive began," an unnamed rebel leader from the hilltown of Zintan told AFP. The rebels have gained strength and legitimacy from the recent defection to their ranks of Gen. Mohammed Ali Dhech, a key figure from Qaddafi's army. (Middle East Online, July 7; FT, July 1)

Thousands of protesters again took to the streets of Morocco on July 3 to push for democratic reforms despite voter approval two days earlier of a constitutional reform that curbs the near-absolute powers of King Mohammed VI. More than 5,000 protesters rallied in Morocco's main economic hub Casablanca, chanting "For Dignity and Freedom!" The February 20 Movement, which has organized weeks of demonstrations calling for reforms in the Arab world's oldest reigning monarchy, denounced the reform as inadequate and called its reported 98% approval a sham.

French officials announced June 29 that they have armed rebels in Libya, in an attempt to break the stalemate in a conflict that has stretched longer than many policy-makers anticipated. France dropped guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other munitions in Libya's western Nafusa Mountains (heartland of the Berber insurgency) in early June to help rebel forces who were at the time under threat from Qaddafi's military, a French military spokesman told reporters. (WP, June 29)

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on June 28 urged personal aides of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi to implement the ICC arrest warrants issued the previous day. Moreno-Ocampo called on the aides to arrest Qaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the "de facto Prime Minister," and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi, the head of intelligence, for alleged crimes against the people of Libya, saying the aides could be "part of the solution."

Our last issue featured the story "The Two Wars in Libya: Revolutionary Struggle and NATO Intervention" by Art Young of Green Left Weekly, arguing that progressives in the West can support the first while opposing the second. We also ran the story "Libya and the Left" by Seth Weiss, special to World War 4 Report, who asks whether it is possible to support the rebels without supporting their call for military assistance. Our May Exit Poll was: "Is NATO's Libya war a necessary humanitarian intervention or bloody imperialist aggression?" We received the following responses:

The House of Representatives on June 24 voted 295-123 against a resolution authorizing US participation in the NATO campaign in Libya, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's decision to wage war without congressional approval. In the face of opposition from conservative Republicans and anti-war Democrats alike, the White House has maintained the Orwellian position that the bombing campaign does not constitute "hostilities" and therefore does not fall under the purview of the War Powers Resolution.

Received from the progressive Arab blog Yansoon, June 21:

Open Letter to Gaddafi Supporter Cynthia McKinney from Disappointed Palestinians

Dearest Cynthia McKinney,

Two years ago, you spoke out against Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine. You were even put in an Israeli prison after your attempts to help deliver medical supplies and humanitarian aid on a ship to Gaza in 2009. For your sacrifices, you gained respect from many Palestinians all over the world.

A report on Feb 17th, website of the Libyan Youth Movement, states:

On June 16th, The ANSWER Coalition in LA held an event titled "Eyewitness Libya" with Cynthia McKinney, part of Cynthia's nation-wide tour to continue to propagate Gaddafi's lies. Members of the Libyan community in LA were prevented from entering the room in which the event was being held, on the basis of "seeming like they may cause trouble". They stood outside as others were allowed in, although many of them were invited to the public event. It was ironic that an event discussing the situation in Libya did not host any Libyans to speak in the panel or even allow Libyans to enter the room to participate in the discussion.