[laughter] [applause] we have four arab countries in the entire arab world where people are finally speaking up. for many of us in the san francisco bay community, we've known far too long what's been going on in the arab world. the reason there is a thriving arab-american community in the area is because many of us had to leave our homeland due to political persecution or the fact there's no respect for our dignity. in the san francisco bay area, we came together from all over the arab world to live. thank you, again, for coming. i hope you have enjoyed the program to a lot of people have worked very hard. i want to make a few announcements. we could not have done any of this without our sponsors. before we start, a big thank you to the presenting sponsor, the law firm. a round of applause for them. thank you. [applause] also, burgermeister franchise. [applause] and we have ike's place and [inaudible] [applause] we could not have done it without their support. they were very generous. i urge all of you to please support these businesses. without them, we would not have put on this event. >>

is an arab muslim state. not in our actual laws comes from from islamic jurisprudence but the laws as they are we said we want to maintain laws. as they are we do not want to. return to his yard what we propose is a state where all citizens are equal and the state gets its feet in the sea from from the will of the people to see that you know there is a food is on you know extreme interpretations of islam and that there are extremist currents within these so tight societies that me take over and me also you know exploring the democratic process yes there are. extremist elements in all societies and we believe to expand and grow under repression and however we believe what's clear from from these elections and from the results is that. society is very moderate by any church and they have voted for that represents. the middle ground let me jump in here we're almost out of. time i'd like to go to you a year from now do you think islamic democracy would be a term that a western western audiences will be able to co

now it's happening for your generations of arab americans.brate our diversity. we do our best to understand, to dialogue, and to create more understanding. we celebrate that. that is our strength in san francisco. that's why we have these wonderful celebrations. thank you to the ensemble for sharing your music here and creating a cultural connections. [applause] thank you. we have a wonderful city of san francisco. i know that we pride ourselves in being an international city. begins with celebrating all the diverse cultures and making sure everyone is recognized, that we have our education institutions reflect that, our cities, official events, reflected that but i know i have benefited greatly, not only as an attorney, but as someone who has worked in the city to have worked with so many leaders of the arab-american community. the business leaders have done very well here. knowing, also, the challenges that you face -- i also know there are so many examples of arab-american leadership in the technology world. just look at silicon valley and

. >> the arab league's decision is illegal. it has not been issued by unanimous votes. it doesn't rely on the legality . we said in the past, and i'll say it again, that syria has reforms and titles and for halting the cities. syria is aware of the magnitude of the conspiracy that threatens the unity of its people of all walks of life. the syrian leadership sees that its reforms are debated for a dignified life, as syria has openness with any friendly effort to get dialogue. >> syrian foreign minister there. the bbc's reporter is in damascus on the line now. a robust statement from the arab league over the weekend, and a robust response today from damascus. >> yes, indeed. there was a huge criticism in the last couple of days in state media and in the streets of damascus, refusing this statement coming out from the arab league, and indeed, ministers say -- was criticizing this decision, saying it was unfair and it was planned even before it was announced. and he was giving ed that it was against the rules of the arab league. ye

he's known as a coordinator or, in arabic, tansiqiyat. he showed me what had happened to his friend. >> navai: his name was mohammed bashir al shami. he had been arrested just days before and interrogated for the names of fellow coordinators. >> navai: abu hazem has been collecting evidence of atrocities in the area. he had buried dvds of the violence in his garden. >> navai: he hopes this evidence will one day be used to prosecute president assad for war crimes. he wanted to show me video of an earlier incident that had provoked the revolt in douma. >> navai: hundreds had gathered outside the mosque to mourn the death of men killed at a protest. they were met with gunfire. so, we've just seen the funeral procession taking place, and they're carrying two bodies, and the activists are pointing to the top of a building they say is the department for military security. they say the shooting's coming from there, the snipers on top of this building. abu hazem keeps meticulous records of those killed, tortured, and injured in douma. abu hazem s

[speaking arabic] [speaking arabic] >> host: that was from january 2011 in cairo. what are we watching here? >> guest: well, this is a broadcast from alhurra's studio in cairo from al youm, a similar far mat to the today show in this country, and it was demonstrations taking place in cairo that night, and there were clashes within the vicinity of the studio between government forces, security police, and the demonstrators. they became violent, and there were, i think, 26 or 27 deaths and a few policemen. in the midst of the demonstration, the police, security apparatus, stormed into our building, came into our studio while we were on the air while our anchor was broadcasting and interview, and they came in and they were searching, apparently, for protesters, demonstrators, and then they pulled the plug as they left and took us off the air. >> guest: as we saw from the clip, there were risks that alhurra were facing in the spring, and what happened when the uprisings were happening on the ground in these locations? >> guest: in cairo, we had a robust presence for ti

league arab league is basically digging its own coffin here and it is publicly declaring that it has no more legitimacy in the our world it is no longer speaking for the arab people are representing our ventures and any way whatsoever. as you say it's not president it movements or it doesn't doesn't seem to care what it says at the moment what's the what's the broader picture here about the arab league's future and the future for syria now and how it would work with the league in the future. well the catch is when we look at who is really pushing for these decisions within the arab league we see it's primarily being led by the g.c.c. the gulf countries particularly qatar and saudi arabia and when we look at the credibility of these countries i mean that if you want to take one example when we had mass protest and by hurricane protests that the government of the day and responded with brutality against a protest in which the people were asking for democracy and reform as is their legitimate right the g.c.c. countries did not ask for sanctions against the government for these for press

it is very important to realize that these countries do not represent the arab people and those arab countries have been following the dictates of the us government for decades now these are not really and dependent states their political decision making as this is dictated from abroad and we have seen that in libya before and we have seen that and iraq during the period of sanctions so this is not the first time that the arab league has a hope of decisions or implement the decisions made outside the arab world the league is calling for member states to sanction syria but won't sanctions actually hurt the people there more than the regime itself actually even the united states policymakers and many papers and declarations have said that the purpose of the sanctions is to turn the business community against the assad regime this is just like what happened then at the point is to starve the people and to make the people poorer and poorer so they would come to embrace a nato friendly regime this is a city a scenario we have seen and love than america a lot more people and the people alr

the arab league has decided recently an illegal decision trying to first spend syria out of the arab league which is illegal because it's against of arab league charter and convention today we don't know what will happen in the evening there are holding a meeting and are about in but here what we would like to say as a result of of the whole situation there is clearly no it is not a demand of free phones it is targeting syria which is very dangerous and very risky to the whole region nobody can shake the major pull in the region this is totally unpredictable the results how badly and negatively it will be on that region mainly we in lebanon we are seriously. seriously afraid and fear is getting too old delhi benny's of the situation and the way the approach from the arab league is. getting there and in fact this is something i could bring a disaster and be catastrophic to the region. that probably prefers god but what is purchased in future with questions only got a little. white as the arab league carries specially comes of talking about democracy it's trying to isolate present a si

meanwhile arab problem ministers in cairo egypt and north on the agenda more in just a few moments. so break away kosovo face clouds of tear gas so if they refuse demands by nato soldiers to dismantle barricades on the region's northern border. it's not about to stop the reset of ties with the u.s. it will hold nuclear disarmament and deploy rockets to its borders if washington establishes its missile defense shield in europe. global use twenty four seven this is the lie from moscow with me. egypt's military has apologized for the deaths of nearly forty protesters over several days of clashes with police but it's a risk when i was actually quiet this morning for the first time since the fresh surge of agression began on saturday both sides since then declaring a break in the fighting meanwhile the arab league meets in cairo but the delegates focus is on syria and the imposition of new sanctions. is standing by in the egyptian capital. at this stage we have no indication that discussing what is happening in egypt is on the agenda for the arab league the foreign ministers are currentl

surry fenty because it the beating heart of arabism. -- syria claims it is the beating heart of arabism. and new disturbing video of torture. "we're going to show everyone what is happening to you." "for god's sake, i have done nothing. then someone says "go easy on him." >> the violence there clearly continuing in syria, the prime minister of the tar -- qatar said the arab states had reached the end of the in-line with syria. just how much clout does the arab league have over bashar al- assad? >> we thought of the arab league as a useless organization that talks and does nothing, but they have been doing this very quickly and decisively. the mood to suspend syria on saturday, -- the move to suspend syria on saturday, that has set the timetable running. it has increased pressure on president assad. clearly, they are deeply stung by eds. -- by it. those hoping to change things in syria are hoping it will lead to act from the rest of the world, for example in new u.n. security council resolution in the coming days and weeks. we have also seen the turks are getting very tough on syria. it

or were not familiar with arabic media. alhurra has a difficult path. how do you find your talent and make sure they do not fall on either side of that tricky path? >> recruitment is a difficult issue. we do not pay the kind of salaries our competitors can pay out there. they probably know some of the channels that will be started in the next year. they have already come and pay us the greatest compliment. they have hired away some of our employees. they are paying more money. you are right. in the early going, there were some editorial lapses. the station and was rushed on the air in the middle of the iraq war. in hindsight, it was that the best time to launch in terms of dealing with some of these issues. since those lapses, we have worked hard to hire the right people, trained them. we brought in the university of missouri school of journalism to help explain our journalism. we have written our code of ethics. we have come up with new editorial procedures and controls so that some of those problems will not occur again.

and what about the arab league clearly pressure not just from france now but also the arab league with these warnings of sanctions new sanctions against syria would that have any impact at all where it really has been a laughing failure throughout its history it filled to protect the palestinian people from israel it's failed to protect the bahraini protesters from saudi arabia and saudi arabia and bahraini government attacks failed protect the protesters in yemen it failed to prevent the attacks nato and some arab countries on libya. i can't think of anything that the league is done successfully representing europe interest since its creation. at the end of world war two and when you agree that it saps actually representing us interests rather than our of interests absolutely i think they should change their name. interesting to see that they're actually meeting now in cairo where of course we're seeing this latest violent crackdown on protests is there just how conspicuous cries absence is the fact that they're not discussing syria and they're not discussing egypt and indeed discussi

more legitimacy in the arab world so it is no longer speaking for the arab people are representing are of interest in any way whatsoever when we look at who is really pushing for these decisions within the arab league we see it's primarily being led by the g.c.c. the gulf countries particularly of qatar and saudi arabia and when we look at the credibility of these countries i mean that if you want to take one example when we had mass protest and beheading protests that the government of the day and responded we threw toilet tea against a protest in which the people were asking for democracy and reform as is their legitimate right the g.c.c. countries did not ask for sanctions against the bahamian government for the suppression rather they introduced their own armed forces into a hurricane and supported the repression so when you have these very calm trees hear themselves condemning repression committed by another arab country they like any credibility to call for that so again what is this arab league it's not it's another farce it's another joke about that was imposed upon the arab wo

people of all of his guests discuss the controversial role the west played in the arab spring crosstalk on air next. wealthy british science. because. markets weiner scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy in the kinds of reports on r.t. . can. still. a low in welcome across talk i'm peter lavelle to forgotten spring a state appointed investigation claims bahrain used excessive force as it halted protests led by the shia majority in february and march this report is seen as a final attempt to bring bahrain's increasingly polarized sides together there is little indication of this happening any time soon. and you can. start. to cross out brains quagmire i'm joined by kate hudson in london she is the general secretary of the campaign for nuclear disarmament and birmingham we have peter ere he is a middle east consultant and in prague we cross to mitchell belfort he is the editor of the essential european journal of international and security studies at metropolitan university prague cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want kate i'd lik