Archive for August 4, 2006

I miss the columns of Joseph Samahah during this crisis. But I was faxed a column of Joseph from the trial issues of Al-Akhbar which will be launched soon. I also saw some of the trial pages. I liked what I saw. Joseph’s voice is needed in this war.

Posted by As'ad at 11:44 PM 08/4/06

During the Lebanese civil war, Israeli propaganda relied on Voice of Lebanon radio station. In this war, LBC-TV does the job.

Posted by As'ad at 11:18 PM 08/4/06

“Three weeks into Israel’s war with Hezbollah, its forces are still fighting along a wrinkled strip of territory that stretches 50 yards to more than three miles inside Lebanon, far short of a zone Israeli forces said would soon expand deeper inside the country all along the border.”

Posted by As'ad at 10:47 PM 08/4/06

This was in Bush’s “new” Iraq: “Estimates of the crowd by organizers ranged from 250,000 to 1 million, which would make it the biggest protest in the Middle East in support of Hezbollah since Israel launched attacks last month…”

Posted by As'ad at 10:45 PM 08/4/06

“In a speech Tuesday, Olmert said of Hezbollah’s capability to fire rockets at Israel: “Twenty-one days later, that threat is not what it was.”The next day, Hezbollah pummeled Israel with 230 rockets — the most of any day of the conflict.”

Posted by As'ad at 10:43 PM 08/4/06

“Protests erupt across the Muslim world”

Posted by As'ad at 10:10 PM 08/4/06

“Hizbollah now uses Israel’s language of an eye for an eye. Every Israeli taunt is met by a Hizbollah taunt.… In fact, one of the most profound changes in the region these past three decades has been the growing unwillingness of Arabs to be afraid. Their leaders – our “moderate” pro-Western Arab leaders such as [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:08 PM 08/4/06

“Robert Fisk: A terrible thought occurs to me – that there will be another 9/11″ (A terrible thought occurred to me–that Israeli inflicted a 9/11 on Lebanon)

Posted by As'ad at 10:04 PM 08/4/06

“The anger in Egypt ranges across the spectrum from the Muslim Brotherhood – which has offered to “send immediately 10,000 mujahideen to fight the Zionists alongside Hizbullah” – to business associations. Chambers of commerce and trade unions have organised gala dinners to raise money for war victims and the two mobile operators, MobiNil and Vodafone, [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:00 PM 08/4/06

For the last several decades, over and over again, I would hear Israeli propagandists say: How could this be a massacre when only 40 or 50 Palestinians (or Lebanese) were killed by our troops?

Posted by As'ad at 9:56 PM 08/4/06

“Israeli aircraft struck deep into Lebanon yesterday, killing at least 33 Syrian Kurdish farm workers and destroying four bridges on a key aid route leading north from Beirut. The attack on the farm workers, who were loading peaches and plums on to trucks at Qaa in the north of the Beka’a valley, was one [...]

Posted by As'ad at 9:55 PM 08/4/06

A sign in a demonstration in Cairo reads: “The shoes of the strugglers are more pure than the conscience of Arab rulers.”

Posted by As'ad at 9:52 PM 08/4/06

The woman represents Lebanon: she is saying to the child: “My son. These are not wounds…These are medals that they will later recognize.” (By Egyptian artist Hilmi At-Tuni).

Posted by As'ad at 7:33 PM 08/4/06

“Today, an indulgent North Atlantic appeasement policy has facilitated Israel’s destruction of its northern neighbour, the ethnic cleansing of Shia populations from southern Lebanon and the wanton killing of civilians.”

Posted by As'ad at 7:28 PM 08/4/06

The farm workers who were killed by Israeli bombing in Lebanon today were Syrian kurds. So today alone, the Israeli state managed to kill innocent Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians.

Posted by As'ad at 7:02 PM 08/4/06

Saudi Feminist Wajihah Al-Huwaydir was arrested in Saudi Arabia for holding a sign demanding women’s rights. But given the alliance between House of Saud and Zionism, expect Wajihah to be dismissed as a “terrorist” sympathizer.

Posted by As'ad at 6:19 PM 08/4/06

I have bad news for the House of Saud who really were counting (and agitating for) Sunni-Shi`ite conflict. Here, the Sunni Al-Jama`ah Al-Islamiyyah demonstrates in support of Shi`ite Hizbullah.

Posted by As'ad at 6:15 PM 08/4/06

“”It’s always that way,” said Molcho Saadron. “But, as we’re not very loved by the rest of the world, it doesn’t matter what we do. If it’s going to make Israel a safe place, go ahead and do it. It’s worth it.”

Posted by As'ad at 5:36 PM 08/4/06

Just War.

Posted by As'ad at 5:12 PM 08/4/06

Can you believe that AlJazeera is still airing Haykal’s monologues?

Posted by As'ad at 5:09 PM 08/4/06

“”The objective of the government now is to create an impression of victory, not failure,” he said. “Yet Israel has failed. It will not succeed in ejecting Hezbollah as an armed military force.”

Posted by As'ad at 5:09 PM 08/4/06

For Israeli Orienatalits, all Arab enemies are related by marriage. Here, it is claimed that Hasan Nasrallah is related to Bashshar Al-Asad who is related to Chavez who is related to Iranian president who is related to Yasir `Arafat.

Posted by As'ad at 5:07 PM 08/4/06

Pierre Laval of Lebanon, Fu’ad Sanyurah, said that Iran “has overstepped its boundaries.” As for Israel and the US: Laval denied that they have “overstepped their boundaries in Lebanon.”

Posted by As'ad at 5:05 PM 08/4/06

From a poem by Lebanese poet Khalil Hawi (my tanslation):“I wonder. Have my senses gonemad, and horror has foldedI wonder, has the echoreturned, and dizziness?Who has moved the nightof prison off my chest?And the nightmare of the wall?The blind loophole is coveredwith damp blackness,and old mudThe loophole, what iswith the loopholerevealing a deep dawnand an [...]

Posted by As'ad at 4:52 PM 08/4/06

I was just notified that the Jordanian government has arrested professor Ibrahim `Allush for protesting against the Israeli war.

Posted by As'ad at 4:40 PM 08/4/06

Michael Husayn Young who, as of late seems to speak on behalf of Lebanese Shi`ites, here presents his credentials to readers of the New York Times: “My late father was an American, my mother is a Maronite Christian.” OK. That makes him credible, ruled the New York Times Magazine editor. And would the New [...]

Posted by As'ad at 4:17 PM 08/4/06

“Dan Halutz is in the LeMay tradition, a brutish lout. He raised a storm when he was asked what feelings, what moral tremors he might have had about the dropping of a one-ton bomb in a house [...]

Posted by As'ad at 3:43 PM 08/4/06

“Adjusting the Heroic Commando Raid Story”

Posted by As'ad at 3:40 PM 08/4/06

“Syria’s Christians rally behind Hizbollah”

Posted by As'ad at 1:43 PM 08/4/06

“Ambassador claims shortly before invasion, Bush didn’t know there were two sects of Islam“

Posted by As'ad at 1:07 PM 08/4/06

“That lost week, as the rain of Katyusha rockets continued to fall from on high, undermined the army’s self-confidence and thrust it into a posture of public self-defense. It shifted into recovery mode only because of the time it was granted by Washington.”

Posted by As'ad at 11:56 AM 08/4/06

This is hilarious. So this New York Times’ article operates on the assumption that the King of Saudi Arabia, the Guardian of the Two Things, represents all Sunni Muslims of the Arab world. But as if that assumption is not dumb enough, the article interviews Walid Jumblat to represent Sunni Arab public [...]

Posted by As'ad at 11:28 AM 08/4/06

“But Israeli troops have run into stiff resistance from Hezbollah fighters. One Israeli military official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that it had taught Israeli forces a “lesson” about the resolve, skill and discipline of the guerrillas.”

Posted by As'ad at 11:20 AM 08/4/06

Today, the headline of the print edition of the New York Times reads: “12 Israelis die.” First, notice that in mentioning Israeli casualties, the New York Times does not distinguish between military and civilian casualties because even those who attack Israeli military targets are considered terrorists. Also, there is no mention of Lebanese [...]

Posted by As'ad at 11:15 AM 08/4/06

Today, the New York Times, with the glee of somebody playing video games, printed pictures of Harak Hurayk (a huge suburb) under the caption: “Pummeling the Heart of Hezbollah.”

Posted by As'ad at 11:11 AM 08/4/06

Hanady Salman (editor at As-Safir in Beirut) sent this:Last night , at two am or so, Sahar , my friend and colleague , called me. I jumped to the phone ( didn’t want the ringing sound to wake Kinda) and my first question to her was “what’s happening? ( shou fi?) “, and [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:08 AM 08/4/06

From a poem by Egyptian poet Amal Dunqul (my translation):“I die in bed…the way donkeys dieI die, and the horn..is blown in Damascus..I die in the street: in the prefumes and fashionI die, and the enemiestrample on the face of righteousness.Not a spot on my body does not have a spear’s wound..without a spear’s wound..” [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:00 AM 08/4/06

From Egyptian poet’s Amal Dunqul’s Ending (my translation):“Oh…who will stop the windmills in my head?Who will remove the knives from my heart?Who will kill my poor children…?In order that they do not…grow up in the redfurnished apartments..servants..catamites..pimps…who will kill my poor children?”

Posted by As'ad at 9:59 AM 08/4/06

Another day in Lebanon.

Posted by As'ad at 9:36 AM 08/4/06

This cat was also injured by Israeli bombs.

Posted by As'ad at 9:32 AM 08/4/06

Hanady sent this:“Here. The 30 something workers killed today in qaa, in the bekaa, on the border with Homs Syria. They had just finished collecting apples, packing them to be put on board of a truck , and they were having lunch. The israeli wasted 2 air strikes on them. [...]

Posted by As'ad at 9:29 AM 08/4/06

“Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan immediately came out against Hezbollah and privately urged the United States to let Israel take down that organization.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:53 AM 08/4/06

“America’s green light for Israel to defend itself is seen as a favor to Israel. But that is a tendentious, misleadingly partial analysis. The green light — indeed, the encouragement — is also an act of clear self-interest. America wants, America needs, a decisive Hezbollah defeat.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:52 AM 08/4/06

“Residents are quick to argue that the American presence incites those attacks, and they blame the U.S. military rather than insurgents for turning their town into a combat zone. The Americans should pull out, they say, and let them solve their own problems.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:46 AM 08/4/06

Humanizing Killers of Children. “But despite their tough and somewhat callous image, Israeli fighter pilots face mental challenges, moral dilemmas and complex decisions.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:41 AM 08/4/06

“In the West Bank and Gaza, Israel has been regularly criticised for demolishing the houses of suicide bombers to punish their families. In south Lebanon it has been conducting house demolition and collective punishment on a gargantuan scale.”“Israel’s Lebanese adventure, and the Bush/Blair folly in supporting it, have done the west damage that will last [...]

Posted by As'ad at 1:33 AM 08/4/06

“Hizbullah’s resistance to the region’s military superpower will cause tremors in Egypt and Jordan – and even Syria”

Posted by As'ad at 1:32 AM 08/4/06

Here. The New Middle East. “”A couple of days ago I returned from the Middle East. I’ve rarely seen it so unsettled or volatile,” the [US] general said.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:16 AM 08/4/06

“As many as 900 Lebanese have been killed by Israel’s three-week onslaught, and one million, a quarter of the population, have been forced to flee their homes, said prime minister Fouad Siniora yesterday; a third of the dead are children under 12. Three thousand people had been injured, he added.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:14 AM 08/4/06

“Amnesty International described the [Israeli] investigation as “clearly inadequate” and a “whitewash”. In a report into Israeli air strikes on Lebanon, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said the Israelis had “systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians”.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:13 AM 08/4/06

“The notion that the US is complicit in Israel’s war crimes against the Lebanese people is evinced by 89.5 per cent of the sample who reject any suggestion that it is an “honest broker” in the current conflict. An identical number did not regard America’s stand vis-à-vis Lebanon as being “positive”. The [...]

Posted by As'ad at 1:09 AM 08/4/06

“An examination of the [Israeli] ground forces’ achievements to date shows that they have hit no more than 10 launchers.”

Posted by As'ad at 1:06 AM 08/4/06

The lies (or mental frailty) of Walid Jumblat. This is in one week only. In English (WSJ), Jumblat says: “We need a force that can cover all of Lebanon, like in Kosovo.“ In Arabic (ANB TV), he says: “Whoever says that we want to make in Lebanon another Kosovo is ignorant.” [...]

Posted by As'ad at 12:58 AM 08/4/06