An Error of Translation in AUB’s Motto
I realized this yesterday when I entered the AUB campus. The AUB's motto "that they may have life, and have it more abundantly" is mistranslated on the wall of AUB. It should be:Posted by As'ad at 11:14 PM 07/28/10
arab affairs in the Zionist entity
"The former interrogator for Unit 504 of Military Intelligence known as "Captain George" has been appointed as adviser on Arab affairs for the commander of the Jerusalem District Police, sources have told Haaretz. As part of his duties, "George" will oversee the sensitive relationship between the police and the Arab community in the district. "George," who holds the rank of major, became famous when he was accused of torture by Mustafa Dirani - who was abducted by IDF commandos in 1994 from his home in Southern Lebanon, and brought to Israel for questioning. The Hezbollah man sued Israel for NIS 6 million in damages. In 2004, he testified in court about being raped with a baton by soldiers under "George's" command." (thanks Farah)Posted by As'ad at 11:11 PM 07/28/10
Lebanonese nationalism
Look at the "Afrocentrsm" section. (thanks Daniel)Posted by As'ad at 11:10 PM 07/28/10
What is a billion here and a billion there?
"A US federal watchdog has criticised the US military for failing to account properly for billions of dollars it received to help rebuild Iraq." (thanks Marc)Posted by As'ad at 10:42 PM 07/28/10
The disgrace unto the nations
"Immigrants applying for marriage licenses are being asked by local rabbinical courts to produce ritual wedding contracts from their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents or other often unattainable documents to prove their Jewishness." (thanks Sarah)Posted by As'ad at 10:38 PM 07/28/10
The dirty hands of Israel
"Israel is aiding an exiled Arab sheikh who is vying to seize control of a strategically important Gulf emirate only 40 miles from Iran.The Israeli ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, has met Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr al-Qasimi, the exiled crown prince of Ras al-Khaimeh (RAK), who asked him to help with his campaign to oust the leadership of the northernmost state in the United Arab Emirates. The meeting took place in London in March and has been followed by phone calls and wider assistance and advice, according to records of the relationship seen by the Guardian."Posted by As'ad at 10:22 PM 07/28/10
This is the real Israel: and not the New York Times’ version of Israel
"Thousands of women are being smuggled into Israel, creating a booming sex trade industry that rakes more than USD one billion a year, a parliamentary committee said on Wednesday."Posted by As'ad at 10:17 PM 07/28/10
Israeli Mossad story to deal with the embarrassing arrests of Israeli spies in Lebanon
You read the whole article but only to justify the last bogus theory as to why Lebanon arrested all those spies. I mean, Syrian and Egyptian intelligence agencies are much adept at torture than the Lebanese intelligence agencies and thus there should have been arrests of scores of Israeli spies in Syria or Egypt or Iran, if you are to believe the stupid theory of this German dumb spy: ""Most of the Arab intelligence services are completely different from what we in the West are familiar with when we think about intelligence services," he says now. "Most of the work of the BND, for example, is to collect information of strategic, political or military value, and to understand, evaluate and analyze trends; not killing people and not torturing them. The Arab agencies see their primary task as preserving the regime or the leader and therefore, they are cruel and without limits. They are above the law; they are the law itself. They see themselves as a divine entity. They torture suspects relentlessly, so it is not surprising that many suspects are willing to confess to every crime. This is therefore one of the reasons why I believe they were also able to expose the Israeli spy ring in Lebanon."His evaluation stands in contrast to the suggestions made in the international media that they were exposed because of modern monitoring equipment provided by the U.S. to the Lebanese army." (thanks Olivia)Posted by As'ad at 10:08 PM 07/28/10
Lebanese Republic
The president of the lousy Lebanese Republic orders the arrest of another person because he mocked him on Facebook. (thanks Farah)Posted by As'ad at 2:34 AM 07/28/10
racism
Comrade Raed writes on racist mass solidification in Lebanon.Posted by As'ad at 11:19 PM 07/27/10
reshaping the culture of the Islamic world, on the cheap
" A slightly less acerbic view was that of retired Col. Douglas Macgregor: “The idea that we are going to spend a trillion dollars to reshape the culture of the Islamic world is utter nonsense.”" (thanks Hassan)Posted by As'ad at 10:56 PM 07/27/10
They even count 54 from South Africa: so desperate. That would tip the demographic balance I am sure
"The immigration assistance group Nefesh B'Nefesh said it expects about 5,000 North American and British Jews to move to Israel in 2010, a new record for western immigration. This week alone, 1,000 newcomers on 23 flights from all over the world are scheduled to arrive, including 550 people from France, 101 from Britain, 54 from South Africa and eight from Australia." (thanks Sarah)Posted by As'ad at 10:51 PM 07/27/10
lost an eye protesting Israel
"At the end of this past May, on the other side of the globe, a tear-gas canister fired by theIsrael Defense Forces hit her in the face and blasted her left eye out of her head. The grandchild of Holocaust survivors and daughter of a man who was born in Israel and emigrated to the U.S., she had been protesting at a West Bank checkpoint the morning after the IDF had killed nine people aboard a Turkish aid flotilla bound for Gaza.As Henochowicz recently wrote of her blog icon, "I've had it since I made this blog, and it's proven oddly predictive. The older I get, the more ridiculous life seems." Back in the States and getting ready to resume school in the fall, she has referred to herself as "Cyclops" on the blog." (thanks Nasir)Posted by As'ad at 10:40 PM 07/27/10
How patronizing
Hariri Party: "Lebanese ruling party wants Muslims to protect Christians". (thanks Olivia)Posted by As'ad at 9:45 PM 07/27/10
This is Zionism
"Israel, in contrast, is gradually relinquishing the rule of law and becoming a tribe. The killing of an Arab is immediately associated with "the Middle Eastern reality." A demand for restraint becomes "living in a bubble." A shrugging off of all inhibitions is now typical of relations between the right, including Kadima, and the creators of the news as purveyors of cheap thrills. It's clear that the passion to protect private property by imposing the death penalty is not what played the primary role here, but rather contempt for the life of an Arab." (thanks Bob)Posted by As'ad at 9:41 PM 07/27/10
declaration of war
""This is a declaration of war on the Bedouin residents," extreme left-wing activist Ezra Nawi proclaimed. Naomi, an activist from Jerusalem said: "An historical injustice is being performed here. These are people who lived here prior to the establishment of the State, which is now denying them of the most basic right for a roof over their heads. Most of them will be forced to live in the sands."" Extreme left-wing in Israel means somebody who accepts equality of people. (thanks Lidia)Posted by As'ad at 9:37 PM 07/27/10
Mistakes happen, every day
"A Nato rocket attack on a village in Afghanistan last week killed 52 civilians, including women and children, the office of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has said in a statement."Posted by As'ad at 10:11 PM 07/26/10
Google translation of Arabic
Google translates Nuqud as Sheckels. (thanks Safia)Posted by As'ad at 10:09 PM 07/26/10
Facebook blocks the word Palestinian
"Are Palestinians the only group so blocked from making pages? Well, not really… after a little fiddling around, I discovered that al-Qaida Refugee ResearchNet and Nazi Refugee ResearchNet are filtered too." (thanks Olivia)Posted by As'ad at 10:08 PM 07/26/10
Making progress in Iraq
"“Fifteen kidnapped people released, 238 raids, 14,008 searches, 227 arrests (including 126 without warrants), 18 mortars found, 213 weapons found, eight explosive belts found, four terrorists killed, 167 IEDs dismantled, 18 sticky IEDs dismantled and one car bomb dismantled.” I was reading the achievements of an Iraqi army division in the four months leading up to June. I went on reading: “The enemy activities: 24 clashes, 46 IEDs, 38 sticky IEDs, nine car bombs, 10 bodies found, 15 assassinations, nine houses exploded, three grenade attacks, three explosive belts."We were spending our day with a general, who narrated his achievements before Western and Iraqi reporters. “We were honored by the killing of the heads of terrorism Abu Omar al Baghdadi and Abu Ayoub al Masri,” he said."Posted by As'ad at 10:06 PM 07/26/10
In the West: women compared to animals
If this ad had appeared in a Muslim country, the UN Security Council would have met in protest. (thanks Dalia)Posted by As'ad at 10:03 PM 07/26/10
In the lousy name of National Security
"The US has condemned as "irresponsible" the leak of 90,000 classified military records, saying their publication could threaten national security." This is from the administration that had promised transparency. (thanks Mohammad)Posted by As'ad at 9:58 PM 07/26/10
another Ethiopian suicide in Lebanon
""La police a rapporté hier le suicide d'une employée de maison éthiopienne. La malheureuse s'est jetée de l'appartement de son employeur, Moussa Fadallah Ramy, situé au 8e étage d'un immeuble de Tallet el-Khayat (Beyrouth), sous les yeux horrifiés de plusieurs témoins. Elle en est morte sur le coup."" (thanks "Ibn Rushd")Posted by As'ad at 9:54 PM 07/26/10
If he were a Muslim, this would have been a front page story in the New York Times
"Police released the head rabbi of a prominent yeshiva yesterday hours after arresting him for encouraging to kill non-Jews.Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, head of the Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva and author of "The King's Torah," was arrested early yesterday morning at his home in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. His book describes how it is possible to kill non-Jews according to halakha (Jewish religious law )." (thanks Bob)Posted by As'ad at 9:52 PM 07/26/10
The emulation of the dead
I need to write more about the subject of "the object of emulation" in Shi`ite thought and practice. But I need to be around my library in the US for that. The issue arose in my head because the son of Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah and his institutions are arguing that it is possible for followers of Fadlallah to continue emulating him. That requires a discussion.Posted by As'ad at 9:45 PM 07/26/10
Zionist suppression of facts
"A report quietly submitted by IDF Military Advocate General Avichai Mandelblit to the United Nations two weeks ago regarding Israel’s conduct during Operation Cast Lead confirms the key findings of the Goldstone Report. The report (full version here), which documents 150 ongoing investigations, has outraged the Israeli Army. “It looks as though they were frightened by Goldstone,” remarked an IDF officer. Another military official expressed anger that after a previous IDF report asserting the legality of shelling civilian areas with white phosphorous, a chemical weapon, the Mandelblit report has issued recommendations limiting the munition’s use. “It looks like tying your own hands behind your back. Why should a weapon with which there is no problem be limited?” the official asked." (thanks Lidia)Posted by As'ad at 9:43 PM 07/26/10
The US puppets in Iraq and history
The US puppets in Iraq are scrambling to save their reputation in history. Those who would push and shove to have their pictures taken with Bush or with any of his lowest assistants are now rewriting history and claiming that they had nothing to do with Bush or his occupation. I saw a segment of the TV memoirs of Adnan Pachachi and he insists that he did not allow himself to be used by the Americans: only the Shi`ite puppets were American puppets, he basically said. You also realize the sinister role that AlAkhdar Al-Ibrahimi played on behalf of the US, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. When Edward Said invited me to attend his honorary doctorate ceremony at AUB, I left when it was the turn to award one to Al-Akhdar Al-Ibrahimi. I had to explain to Said my reasoning.Posted by As'ad at 9:39 PM 07/26/10
The new security features of the Syrian currency
I swear I watched a show on Syrian TV on the new security features of the Syrian currency. It was riveting.Posted by As'ad at 3:58 AM 07/26/10
Heil Hariri
From the founding congress of the Hariri political party. The congress elected Sa`d Hariri as president, and his cousin Ahmad as secretary-general. Oh, posts are assigned purely on the basis of merit. Oh, yeah. Posted by As'ad at 10:46 PM 07/25/10
Palestinian capitalists
"Mr Sabbagh’s and Mr Khoury’s business practices were recently rebuked by British courts in a separate dispute over unpaid debts.Last night, Antoine Mattar, a director of CC Property, said the company donated to the Conservative Party “because we share the same values and philosophy.” He was unaware of links between the owners of the firm’s parent company and the PLO."Posted by As'ad at 10:43 PM 07/25/10
Oh,that must hurt the feelings of the PA puppets
"A report by a U.S. government watchdog has found that the Israeli government's conduct in recent years - including delaying the transfer to Palestinian security forces of AK-47 rifles, radios, vehicles and uniforms - hampers U.S. efforts to train those forces in the West Bank." (thanks Olivia)Posted by As'ad at 10:41 PM 07/25/10
Kamil Al-As`ad
The last face of Shi`ite feudal leadership died yesterday. He was one of the most personally and politically corrupt zu`ama' in South Lebanon. The official eulogy of him by the highest Shi`ite religious authority, `Abdul-Amir Qabalan, was a testament to the power of sectarianism in all sects. He hailed him as someone who opposed Israel when he cooperated with the Israeli invasion in 1982 which installed Bashir Gemayyel--the worst Lebanese ever--as head of the pro-Israeli entity in Lebanon at the time. There is more, much more, to say about him. I should mention that I wrote a long article against him in Al-Akhbar a year ago. He wrote a long angry letter to the paper (only excerpts of which were published in "letters to the editor").Posted by As'ad at 10:38 PM 07/25/10
Resistance Museum in Mlita
Those who enjoy Israel being humiliated, should go and visit the Museum of Resistance in Mlita, South Lebanon.Posted by As'ad at 10:18 PM 07/25/10
The Lebanese Army is ready
If the Lebanese Army is ready, it only means that the people of South Lebanon have to depend on themselves: "Head of the Lebanese Army Commando Unit Brigadier Shamel Roukoz said troops are ready to defend the country against Israel, as Israeli Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi reiterated warnings against sending aids ships from Lebanon to the besieged Gaza Strip.Speaking during a gathering in the Kesrouan town of Kfour Sunday, Roukoz said the army’s noblest mission was to defend the border in south Lebanon against any possible Israeli attack."Posted by As'ad at 10:16 PM 07/25/10
Obama’s surge
"A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency.The disclosures come from more than 90,000 records of incidents and intelligence reports about the conflict obtained by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks in one of the biggest leaks in US military history. The files, which were made available to the Guardian, the New York Timesand the German weekly Der Spiegel, give a blow-by-blow account of the fighting over the last six years, which has so far cost the lives of more than 320 British and more than 1,000 US troops. Their publication comes amid mounting concern that Barack Obama's "surge" strategy is failing and as coalition troops hunt for two US naval personnel captured by the Taliban south of Kabul on Friday." (thanks Dina)Posted by As'ad at 9:49 PM 07/25/10
Saudi-Israeli ties
The closeness of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel is such that, if asked, the Saudi royal family will place a portrait of Herzl on the cover of the Ka`bah.Posted by As'ad at 9:48 PM 07/25/10
Saudi-Israeli conspiracy? What conspiracy?
"Mossad chief Meir Dagan visited Saudi Arabia recently, if unofficial reports published over the weekend on the WorldNetDaily website are accurate. The Internet news site attributed the story to Arab sources." (thanks Bob)Posted by As'ad at 9:47 PM 07/25/10
He is hailed as a hero in the US
"A newly revealed tape of Netanyahu in 2001, being interviewed while he thinks the cameras are off, shows him in a radically different light. In it, Netanyahu dismisses American foreign policy as easy to maneuver, boasts of having derailed the Oslo accords with political trickery, and suggests that the only way to deal with the Palestinians is to “beat them up, not once but repeatedly, beat them up so it hurts so badly, until it’s unbearable”" (thanks Ali)Posted by As'ad at 11:06 PM 07/24/10
expelling shepherds
"Which is crueler? Expelling an urban family from its home in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, or bulldozing a meager tent encampment of shepherds living on private Jordan Valley land they leased, destroying their water tanks, their tents and their sheep pens, and expelling families with many children from the land on which they live? It's hard to say. But while the Sheikh Jarrah expulsions are attracting interest in Israel and elsewhere, hardly anyone notices or protests what's going on in the Jordan Valley." (thanks Sana)Posted by As'ad at 11:05 PM 07/24/10
Asma Tubasi from Rafah
"Gaza's top Tawjihi student felt like she broke the siege against her with determination and the light from her mobile phone, she told Ma'an the day she received the news of her success. Asma Amin Tubasi from Rafah remembers her father telling her to stop studying using the old oil lamp after a series of accidents in the Gaza Strip saw children injured and homes burned due to unsafe fuel smuggled in from Egypt."Posted by As'ad at 10:58 PM 07/24/10
This should be a front page story in every US newspaper. It is nowhere there. You read it in the Inter press
"Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study." (thanks Rasha)Posted by As'ad at 10:55 PM 07/24/10
Not in the US press
A child, Yusuf Zurayq, 9, was injured by an Israeli cluster bomb in Shaqra, South Lebanon. US Congress would not notice.Posted by As'ad at 10:51 PM 07/24/10
Now really, this is Zionism
"The country is in thrall to such anti-democratic sentiment and mob rule racism, manifesting at such breakneck speed that it is hard to keep up. In the last few months alone two Arab citizens of Israel were "disappeared" by the state's secret police; an Arab member of the Knesset was stripped of her parliamentary privileges for being on the Gaza aid flotilla; and now a Palestinian man from Jerusalem has just been convicted of rape after pretending to be Jewish and having consensual sex. This verdict, in effect turning the obfuscation of race into a criminal offence, also reveals the extent to which Israelis consider Palestinians to be abhorrent. Meanwhile, the Israeli children of migrant workers are threatened with expulsion, as a government campaign warns against hiring foreign workers. Zero tolerance for the "other" in Israel has widened to include anyone questioning a twisted concept of loyalty to the state. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Acri) lists 14 antidemocratic laws currently working their way through parliament, from the demand that Arab citizens pledge allegiance to a "Jewish democracy" to attempts to gag Israeli rights groups. Acri representatives are denounced as "Arab-lovers" and "traitors" when they attend parliamentary hearings. All this has widespread support – in fact, one of the few causes to bring thousands of Israelis on to the streets was a recent ultra-orthodox protest for the right to segregate Ashkenazi children, of European origin, from their Middle Eastern Jewish classmates. Israeli human rights campaigners, appalled by this escalation of intolerance and racism, point to the three-week pounding of Gaza in 2008-9 as the opener of floodgates. Yael Ben Yefet, a Tel Aviv council member and the subject of a hate-deluge for supporting migrant workers, says that "something snapped" after the Gaza assault, in which about 1,400 Palestinians were killed. "It released Israel from the last of its humanitarian constraints," she says. "Now everything is possible."" (thanks Abbas)Posted by As'ad at 10:46 PM 07/24/10
Israel’s honeymoon with Arab dictatorships
"How did you manage to create and develop relations with Arab and Muslim ambassadors, despite the diplomatic situation?"That is the secret of quiet diplomacy, and activity behind the scenes. One of my friends is Egyptian Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz, even though my first husband was killed on the Egyptian front during the Yom Kippur War. I have friendly relations with Oman Ambassador Fuad al-Hinai, whose wife is Oman's ambassador to the United States. I had good relations with Saudi Ambassador Khalid Alnafisee. Qatar's ambassador recently expressed regret at my departure. I am particularly proud of the genuine friendship and closeness that came about with the U.S. ambassador, Rice; that's a wonderful souvenir to bring back to Israel."" (thanks Hani)
Posted by As'ad at 10:39 PM 07/24/10
immediate protection of someone else’s property
"The case involved a group of activists who broke into and vandalised a Brighton factory run by engineering firm EDO MBM. The company was making parts for use in the bomb-aiming equipment on Israeli F16 warplanes. The invasion shut the factory for a week and caused £187,000 worth of damage. But five men and women who appeared in court claimed they had done nothing wrong under criminal damage law. The law says someone is not guilty of causing damage if they believed it was necessary for the immediate protection of someone else's property." (thanks Chris)Posted by As'ad at 10:36 PM 07/24/10
Can you imagine the international outcry if they were to burn the Torah, for example?
"The Dove World Outreach Center, a non-denominational church in Gainesville FL, is planning to mark this year's anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with a little bonfire of Korans, the holy book of Islam. They even have a Facebook page with a mission statement to justify their actions:" (thanks Olivia)Posted by As'ad at 10:35 PM 07/24/10
You may cry some more in the future: you will be losing your “soul” because it does not belong to you
""But after a visit to Israel, I would get on the plane and cry. I felt like part of my soul is here.""Posted by As'ad at 10:30 PM 07/24/10
Desperate Zionist propaganda
I mean, I dont remember that Zionist propaganda was that dumb. I mean, it has always been dumb but this dumb? They now remind me of Ba`thist propaganda of the 1960s: "A car bomb that exploded July 15 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, may indicate that Mexican drug cartels are being assisted by Hizbullah terrorists." To get American public sympathy, I expect Zionist propagandists to soon find links between JFK's assassin and Hizbullah.Posted by As'ad at 10:26 PM 07/24/10
American Injustice System
"Similar things have happened elsewhere. The incarceration rate in Britain has more than doubled, and that in Japan increased by half, over the period. But the trend has been sharper in America than in most of the rich world, and the disparity has grown. It is explained neither by a difference in criminality (the English are slightly more criminal than Americans, though less murderous), nor by the success of the policy: America’s violent-crime rate is higher than it was 40 years ago...Many states have mandatory minimum sentences, which remove judges’ discretion to show mercy, even when the circumstances of a case cry out for it. “Three strikes” laws, which were at first used to put away persistently violent criminals for life, have in several states been applied to lesser offenders. The war on drugs has led to harsh sentences not just for dealing illegal drugs, but also for selling prescription drugs illegally. Peddling a handful can lead to a 15-year sentence." (thanks Bassam)Posted by As'ad at 12:40 AM 07/24/10
Nahr Al-Barid
As I was responding to questions after my talk in Nahr Al-Barid, a Lebanese Army convoy passed outside and ordered the cars to be moved. The host was asked to deliver the message for owners of the cars to move them. I stole the microphone and said: the Lebanese Army is hopefully on its way to liberate Palestine. Please move your cars. My host begged me to stop.Posted by As'ad at 10:56 PM 07/23/10
Nahr Al-Barid
Before you enter Nahr Al-Barid, you pass through an office of Lebanese Army Intelligence. They write down your names and check your ID cards. As they were writing in old-fashioned notebooks, I observed to the officer: you badly need computers for your work here. He bristled at me: No, we are quite comfortable this way.Posted by As'ad at 10:54 PM 07/23/10
Nahr Al-Barid
The story of Nahr Al-Barid has not been told yet. I told the survivors that I hope to be able to tell their story one day.Posted by As'ad at 10:37 PM 07/23/10
Ben Wedemen is no Octavia Nasr
While the Zionists try to target Ben Wedemen, it is important to note that Wedemen is a serious journalist who is a rare person of justice in the US media regarding the Middle East. (thanks Olivia)Posted by As'ad at 10:35 PM 07/23/10
Zionism and mixing of the races
"On Monday, Sabbar Kashur, a young Palestinian man from East Jerusalem, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for something called “rape by deception.” Apparently, Mr. Kashur had consensual sex with a Jewish Israeli woman after assuring her that he was also Jewish. When she found out that he had lied to her, she went to the police.Imagine living in a society where you can say, “I wish I had never slept with you. I’m going to the cops.” Only it’s not funny because Sabbar Kashur will probably go to jail for a year and a half. Meanwhile, efforts to combat actual sexual violence are undermined by a cynical distortion of the term rape. The real crime here, of course, is miscegenation. Anyone from the US should recognize the Jerusalem District Court’s ruling for what it is: an anti-miscegenation measure on par with the now-defunct US laws against “race mixing” that were once used to uphold white supremacy. For most of us in the US, dating across race lines now seems about as edgy as wearing white after Labor Day. You can read Angela Davis’ Women, Race and Class for a reminder of how white Americans’ obsession with “racial purity” was codified to keep African Americans and white women in their place. That’s the paradigm in which we should understand this case." (thanks Dina)Posted by As'ad at 10:29 PM 07/23/10
Genius of Western Media: a German magazine talk about RADIK Hariri
"Anklage wegen Mordes an Radik Hariri?" (thanks Christoph)Posted by As'ad at 10:26 PM 07/23/10
Definition of Chutzpah
"Israel to UN: North Korea arms proliferation destabilizing the Middle East"Posted by As'ad at 10:23 PM 07/23/10
Israel and the US
"Meanwhile, it’s been decades since Israel’s air force faced another in the air. It has come to specialize in bombing civilian infrastructure and militias with no air defenses. There is not much for the U.S. Air Force to learn from that. Similarly, the Israeli navy confronts no real naval threat. Its experience in interdicting infiltrators, fishermen, and humanitarian aid flotillas is not a model for the U.S. Navy to study. Israel’s army, however, has had lessons to impart. Now in its fifth decade of occupation duty, it has developed techniques of pacification, interrogation, assassination, and drone attack that inspired U.S. operations in Fallujah, Abu Ghraib, Somalia, Yemen, and Waziristan. Recently, Israel has begun to deploy various forms of remote-controlled robotic guns. These enable operatives at far-away video screens summarily to execute anyone they view as suspicious. Such risk-free means of culling hostile populations could conceivably come in handy in some future American military operation, but I hope not. I have a lot of trouble squaring the philosophy they embody with the values Americans traditionally aspired to exemplify. It is sometimes said that, to its credit, Israel does not ask the United States to fight its battles for it; it just wants the money and weapons to fight them on its own. Leave aside the question of whether Israel’s battles are or should also be America’s. It is no longer true that Israel does not ask us to fight for it. The fact that prominent American apologists for Israel were the most energetic promoters of the U.S. invasion of Iraq doesnot, of course, prove thatPosted by As'ad at 10:15 PM 07/23/10
My talk in Nahr Al-Barid


Posted by As'ad at 10:10 PM 07/23/10
Ghassan Khatib: his shameful record expands
"Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian Authority spokesman, called on Israel "to be more careful with these types of incidents."" Ghassan Khatib wants Israel to be more careful as they kill Palestinians.Posted by As'ad at 11:08 PM 07/22/10
prisoners
solidarity with prisoners. (thanks Nimer)Posted by As'ad at 10:43 PM 07/22/10