Archive for August 3, 2006

An informed source sent me this (following the post of the resignation of two Fox News producers in Amman):“Jane Arraf, and Rula Amin were chief CNN correspondents from Baghdad and Jerusalem. I cannot speak for Arraf, but she ‘left the scene’ without saying a thing. M. met Rula Amin in person [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:50 PM 08/3/06

Hariri rag, AlMustaqbal, was bragging: Billionaire Nazik Hariri pledged to pay for the medical cost of…ONE INJURED Lebanese.

Posted by As'ad at 10:41 PM 08/3/06

A story on burn injuries from Israeli bombings.

Posted by As'ad at 10:25 PM 08/3/06

On top is written: Steadfastness of Lebanon. The Israeli soldier is saying: “They deceived us. They said that you are going to the land of video clips, and it turned out to be the land of Katyushas.” (By Egyptian artist, Hilmi At-Tuni).

Posted by As'ad at 10:20 PM 08/3/06

Today, Muslim leaders met in an emergency summit. They expressed outrage over…Danish cartoons.

Posted by As'ad at 10:18 PM 08/3/06

The woman is supposed to represent Lebanon and she is saying: “I wonder. Will Arab ladies also emulate this [fashion] trend too?” (By Egyptian artist, Hilmi At-Tuni).

Posted by As'ad at 10:12 PM 08/3/06

Husam `Itani: on Walid Jumblat’s silly question.

Posted by As'ad at 10:06 PM 08/3/06

Is this what they call theatre of the Absurd? “Secretary of state, Rumsfeld approve plan to train, outfit Lebanese army”

Posted by As'ad at 9:49 PM 08/3/06

On Hate. I was thinking about us Arabs who are watching a savage Israeli war on Lebanon on live TV. I have been thinking about hate. Just yesterday, I read a column by the confidante of Rafiq Hariri (that corrupt politician who put the foundations of the construction not of Lebanon but [...]

Posted by As'ad at 9:39 PM 08/3/06

Nasrallah’s Latest Speech. From the standpoint of Hizbullah’s political interest, this is by far the best speech by Nasrallah since this war started. The first radio speech was strong, and it contained that powerful reference to the hitting of the ship in the sea, but this one was more comprehensive, and his [...]

Posted by As'ad at 9:26 PM 08/3/06

For those who care: Tho Commonweath Club.

MIDDLE EAST 101 PART II | TUESDAY AUGUST 22AS’AD ABUKAHLIL, Professor of Political Science, California State University, Stanislaus: Visiting Professor, U.C. Berkeley; Creator, Angry Arab News Service Web SiteDAVID BIALE, Professor of Jewish History, U.C. DavisTHOMAS DINE, Executive Director, Jewish Community FoundationFRED LAWSON, Professor of Government and Political Science, [...]

Posted by As'ad at 7:04 PM 08/3/06

Now I am confused. The Hasan Nasrallah who was speaking on TV: is he Hasan Nasrallah of Hizbullah or is he Hasan Dib Nasrallah, the grocer from Ba`albak who was kidnapped in a “daring Israeli commando raid”?

Posted by As'ad at 11:36 AM 08/3/06

I have been writing about this war as of late. I have not been writing about the sinister roles (Sfayr, Jumblat, Sanyurah, mini-Hariri (where is he now?), etc) of Lebanese politicians during this war of aggression. More on them later.

Posted by As'ad at 11:03 AM 08/3/06

I am watching Hasan Nasrallah’s speech. I will write a commentary later tonight.

Posted by As'ad at 10:54 AM 08/3/06

Despite the war of aggression, it is rather gratifying to live to a time when Israeli propaganda is more dumb than the Arab regimes’ propaganda in 67. Look at this one.

Posted by As'ad at 10:18 AM 08/3/06

This has been confirmed: only the planes from the Arab countries that are part of the American/Israeli/Arab conspiracy in Lebanon have been allowed to land in Beirut airport by the Israeli occupation forces. Today, supplies from Yemen were prevented from reaching Beirut. You see: according to Israel, only those countries that support its [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:16 AM 08/3/06

““How could you stay silent when you see your land burn and your children get killed?” said Mr. Yahia, who said he was a platoon commander with the local defense force. “The whole population here is resisting.” Israel aims to drive the Islamic resistance, Hezbollah in particular, out of south Lebanon. But its past occupations [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:14 AM 08/3/06

“In an event that would have been unthinkable a few months ago, in this country where politics is locked into religious lines, the Maronite Catholic patriarch — the spiritual leader of the most pro-Western populace — convened a meeting this week of religious leaders of other communities, Shiite and Sunni Muslims and several varieties of [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:10 AM 08/3/06

“Mr. Olmert said in several interviews that the offensive was severely degrading Hezbollah’s military capacity. But in Lebanon, an expert on the militia said Mr. Olmert’s description of a traditional, formal military structure did not fit with the way Hezbollah was organized. “The command structure of Hezbollah — show me one,” said Timor Goksul, [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:07 AM 08/3/06

“Seven people, including two children, were killed when Israeli planes bombed a house in Jamaliye, a few miles outside Baalbek. In the house were about 50 members of an extended family who had fled the house when the jets were flying over. After the family returned, a rocket landed in the garden, one relative said.” [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:04 AM 08/3/06

“Capt. Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, said soldiers had searched five houses and taken specific suspects into custody. But Mr. Jammal said the soldiers had taken only civilians, including a 15-year-old boy who was released when soldiers detained his grandfather instead.”

Posted by As'ad at 10:02 AM 08/3/06

Israeli war crimes are a mere “dilemma” according to the New York Times.

Posted by As'ad at 9:55 AM 08/3/06

Did UN or Human Rights organizations condemn Israel for kidnapping Lebanese civilians and trasporting them across the border?

Posted by As'ad at 9:54 AM 08/3/06

For the last few days, there is always a picture of Israeli soldiers in the New York Times, and they are always in non-combatant roles. I mean, there are plenty of pictures of Israeli soldiers bombing the hell out of Lebanon. But the New York Times selects those pictures: one where the soldiers [...]

Posted by As'ad at 9:51 AM 08/3/06

Riad wrote this:“Finally, while visiting north Israel, Olmert declared that “Today, the threat posed by Hezbollah is not what it was. It can no longer threaten this people, as this people have stood up to it and have come out victorious”. Unfortunately, the speech had to be cut short and the [...]

Posted by As'ad at 9:50 AM 08/3/06

HRW: “Israeli forces have systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said in report released today. The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:49 AM 08/3/06

“But Israel must take the initiative. Unless it calls off the offensive and accepts a genuine cease-fire, there are likely to be many, many dead Israelis in the coming weeks–and a much stronger Hezbollah.” WHAT ABOUT DEAD LEBANESE? Do they count at all? Also, Robert Pape has a good book [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:44 AM 08/3/06

“The US-backed Israeli assault on Lebanon has left the country numb, smouldering and angry. The massacre in Qana and the loss of life is not simply “disproportionate”. It is, according to existing international laws, a war crime. The deliberate and systematic destruction of Lebanon’s social infrastructure by the Israeli air [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:41 AM 08/3/06

Those poor Israeli pilots. For those around the world wondering what the US press is writing about, here it is. The coverage is less sympathetic to the victims of Qana. It is busy being sympathetic to the killers of Qana. “Agonizing Choices for an Israeli Fighter Pilot: Exclusive: After the [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:35 AM 08/3/06

Apparently, Hasan Dib Nasrallah is not a brick layer, but a grocer. Another relative of his who was also kidnapped was a brick layer. There are rumors that those kidnapped are in fact communist. Which reminds me: Lebanese Communist Leader, Khalid Hdadah, was really good on LBC-TV’s Kalam An-Nas. He was [...]

Posted by As'ad at 1:49 AM 08/3/06

“The Total Destruction of Srifa: Mangled Bodies in the Wake of Israeli Bombs and Missiles“

Posted by As'ad at 1:46 AM 08/3/06

“He blasted his Democratic opponent, Bob Casey Jr., for failing to speak out forcefully enough in defense of Israel. “At a critical time in the America-Israel relationship, when you are a candidate for one of the hottest Senate races in the country, you have an obligation to step up and speak into this moment,” Santorum [...]

Posted by As'ad at 1:39 AM 08/3/06

“Another man nodded. “Every civilian killed, his children, when they get older, will join the resistance,” he said.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:32 AM 08/3/06

Clerical kook: ” The chief of Iran’s judiciary is to decide whether to have a woman stoned to death for adultery.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:20 AM 08/3/06

Robert Fisk (yes, I use him selectively): “The obscene score-card for death in this latest war now stands as follows: 508 Lebanese civilians, 46 Hizbollah guerrillas, 26 Lebanese soldiers, 36 Israeli soldiers and 19 Israeli civilians.In other words, Hizbollah is killing more Israeli soldiers than civilians and the Israelis are killing far more Lebanese civilians [...]

Posted by As'ad at 1:18 AM 08/3/06

I just by mistake had a minute from CNN. They were referring to the “daring commando raid” by Israeli occupation troops. American viewers did not know that this “daring commando raid is the same one that readers of this blog know because it led to the capture of Hasan Dib Nasrallah.

Posted by As'ad at 12:08 AM 08/3/06

“An attack on a hospital, the killing of an entire Lebanese family, the seizure of five men in Baalbek and a new civilian death toll – 468 men, women and children – marked the 22nd day of Israel’s latest war on Lebanon. The Israelis claimed that helicopter-borne soldiers had seized senior Hizbollah leaders although [...]

Posted by As'ad at 12:07 AM 08/3/06

“Help save the children, victims of war”

Posted by As'ad at 12:06 AM 08/3/06