Archive for July 22, 2006
The poem Against by Palestinian poet Rashid Husayn (my translation):“Against the revolutionaries of mycountry injuring a spikeAgainst a child—any child—carryinga grenadeAgainst my sister studying the musclesof a rifleAgainst whatever you want….butwhat does even a prophet or a prophetess to dowhen their eyes drink the horsesof killersAgainst a child becoming a heroat tenAgainst the heart of [...]
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
Terrorist targets. So among the various “terrorist” targets that Israel successfully bombed in Lebanon are: schools, hospitals, factories, tents, TV stations, radio stations, radars, boats, ports, airports, apartment buildings, bridges, roads, alleys, mosques, husayniyyat, relief trucks, and telecommunications installations.
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
Finally. A major American newspaper finds somebody to speak on behalf of the Lebanese people. Oh, he just happens to be an Israeli who was part of the Israeli occupation army in Lebanon. But don’t armed colonizers know more about the colonized than the colonized themselves?
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
Do you notice that Israel is the only country that finds its withdrawal from occupied lands “painful”: “By the time I completed my mandatory service, Israel had begun a gradual and painful withdrawal into a security zone in southern Lebanon.””
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“The fight for Maroun al-Ras has killed seven Israeli soldiers, disabled several tanks… From a vantage point among the abandoned houses here, however, Israel’s army appeared to still be fighting for the town.”
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“”Just because many tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims may be living in tents does not mean that they are going to emerge from this war as a diminished political force in Lebanon. I expect the contrary to be true,” said Augustus R. Norton, a former member of the U.N. force in Lebanon who now [...]
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“Lebanon and the Arab world hold it responsible for the July 12 cross-border raid and kidnappings of two soldiers that sparked the punishing Israeli response and widespread destruction, officials say.” Notice in this section of Robin Wrigt’s article the “Arab world” refers to the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“The United States, Israel, the United Nations and the European Union have reluctantly concluded that despite punishing military attacks, Hezbollah is likely to survive as a political player in Lebanon, and Israel now says it is willing to accept the organization if it sheds its military wing and abandons extremism, according to several key officials.” [...]
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
These are the pangs of the new Middle East birth that Rice was talking about: “There was a guy wearing pyjamas who ran screaming into the road. He was desperate to get to Jounieh so he could find somewhere to shelter, because all the Beirut schools housing refugees were full. The guy was having a [...]
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
I heard `Azmi Bisharah on Aljazeera talk about the impact of this war on the stability of Arab regimes. Don’t bet on that. Arab regimes always prove more adept at tyranny and longevity than what their people wish.
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“President George W Bush intends to build an “umbrella of Arab allies” against Hezbollah while giving Israel a free hand in attacking the group’s strongholds, according to American officials.”
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
Bush’s Taliban Allies: ““In my opinion what we have in power under the mask of democracy are the brothers of Taliban — fundamentalists, warlords and drug lords,†she added. “Our country is under the shadow of their black hands. They are against women and re-creating the [department] is proof of this.—
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
Israeli military Orientalism: ““We were almost immediately ambushed. The Hezbollah know every rock and bush there,†said another of the soldiers. “We called in a chopper and it fired missiles. We used to fight the Palestinians, but these are a different breed of warriors, these Shi’ites.—
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
There is a major flaw in the popular (in Western, Israeli, and Saudi press) scenario of a Sunni front against Shi`ite fundamentalism. Sunni Arabs are more on the side of Shi`ite Hizbullah than on the side of their Sunni Arab leaders.
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“Israel says this operation will help the Lebanese people. But we were doing just fine.’”
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“In its next attack, the Israelis flattened a multi-storey apartment building in another part of Bourj. Again, no one died. Hizbollah had recommended that the area be evacuated days earlier. In Ashrafieh, in Christian east Beirut, Israeli planes attacked a piece of drilling equipment. Some thought that they mistook it for a launch ramp; others [...]
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“Scared to flee … even more scared to stay”
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“An adviser to Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz told The Observer: ‘We are finally going to fight Hizbollah on the ground. The Israeli people are ready for this, and the Sunni Muslim world also expects us to fight Shia fundamentalism. We are going to deliver.’”
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
Dick Norton on CNN’s “documentary.”
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad
“Britain dramatically broke ranks with George Bush last night over the Lebanon crisis, publicly criticising Israel’s military tactics and urging America to ‘understand’ the price being paid by ordinary Lebanese civilians. The remarks, made in Beirut by the Foreign Office minister, Kim Howells, were the first public criticism by this country of Israel’s military campaign, [...]
Posted on July 22, 2006 by As'ad