Several hundred protested on March 4 in the Shi'ite-majority east of Saudi Arabia, calling for the release of an arrested cleric and other detainees—a first in the authoritarian kingdom. An appeal was made on Facebook for a "Day of Rage" on Friday to demand release of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Aamer, a Shi'ite cleric arrested on Feb. 27. Protests were reported in the towns of al-Houfouf and al-Qatif, both in al-Ihsaa governorate of Eastern Province. The march in al-Qatif was dispersed by security forces. Amer was arrested after calling for a "constitutional monarchy" in the Sunni-dominated kingdom. Some 10,000 security personnel are being mobilized to the northeastern provinces, clogging the highways with busloads of troops to put down what is being called the "Hunayn Revolution"—after a 630 CE battle in which the Prophet Mohammed defeated a Bedouin army. (The Independent, March 5; AFP, March 4; Middle East Online, March 3)

As thousands marched in Yemen's capital Sanaa in a massive anti-regime rally March 1, President Ali Abdullah Saleh blamed the US and Israel for the wave of popular revolution now sweeping the Arab world. "The events from Tunisia to Oman are a storm orchestrated from Tel Aviv and and under Washington's supervision," said Saleh, whose supporters staged their own counter-demonstration at the central Tahrir Square. "Every day we hear a statement by Obama... Egypt don't do this, Tunisia don’t do that... What does Obama have to do with Oman, what does he have to do with Egypt? You are the US president." He added that the protesters are "led from outside" and are in the pay of "Zionists." (AFP, March 2)

Although the regime has effectively suppressed press accounts, dissident websites in Syria say security forces have dispersed three demonstrations in the past weeks. The last, on Feb. 29, reportedly involved hundreds of women protesting against price hikes. Authorities also arrested a number of people for supposedly organizing demonstrations, while others were beaten while protesting outside the Libyan embassy. The government has imposed a curfew to prevent protesters from gathering, and ordered closed the websites that have reported on them. (YNet, March 1)

Tunisia's Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned Feb. 27, as security forces again clashed with protesters. "I am not ready to be the person who takes decisions that would end up causing casualties," Ghannouchi said. "This resignation will serve Tunisia, and the revolution and the future of Tunisia." (Middle East Online, Feb. 27) Three protesters were killed in street clashes with security forces in Tunis the previous day. (Middle East Online, Feb. 27)

Tens of thousands took to the streets Feb. 25 in Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain to demand political reforms. In Yemen's capital, Sana'a, and the southern port of Aden, thousands marched to demand that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. Daily clashes have killed 15 people and wounded scores in Yemen this month. In Tunis, protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi's transitional government in the biggest march since last month's ouster of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. In Bahrain's capital, Manama, the anti-regime campaign entered its 12th day with a rally to honor seven victims of a deadly police crackdown last week. Thousands also rallied in Jordan's capital, Amman, urging greater political freedoms, and to denounce violence in which eight were injured at a rally last week. (RFE/RL, Feb. 25)

As we've pointed out, the right is divided on the Egyptian and Arab revolutions—between neocons who have deluded themselves into thinking the Egyptians are following their "regime change" playbook, and more hardcore Islamophobes who can see only a fundamentalist threat in Arab masses rising to shake off their oppressors. Falling into the latter category is Phyllis Chesler—once, long ago, a feminist of basically progressive inclination but today a monomaniacal Muslim-basher who has defected to the right. She writes on David Horowitz's Front Page Mag Feb. 21 of "A War Crime in Cairo"—making hay of CBS reporter Lara Logan's sexual abuse at the hands of Tahrir Square protesters. She uses the incident to sneer at "mainstream American media" portrayals of the protesters as "brave pro-democracy freedom fighters."

From MichaelMoore.com, Feb. 20:

'We Stand With You as You Stood With Us':
Statement to Workers of Wisconsin by Kamal Abbas of Egypt's Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services

About Kamal Abbas and the Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services:
Kamal Abbas is General Coordinator of the CTUWS, an umbrella advocacy organization for independent unions in Egypt. The CTUWS, which was awarded the 1999 French Republic's Human Rights Prize, suffered repeated harassment and attack by the Mubarak regime, and played a leading role in its overthrow. Abbas, who witnessed friends killed by the regime during the 1989 Helwan steel strike and was himself arrested and threatened numerous times, has received extensive international recognition for his union and civil society leadership.

Workers at the Suez Canal went on strike Feb. 19, part of a spreading wave of labor unrest that kept most of Egypt's economy shut down this week. About 1,500 workers in the Suez Canal Authority demonstrated in three cities along the canal, joining tens of thousands of other public-sector workers in a strike to demand higher wages. The stoppages continued despite public warnings from Egypt's new military rulers urging the strikers to return to work "at this delicate time."