Archive for May 30, 2007

“…the Israeli trio had failed to appreciate that, on any day of the week, the average Lebanese is rather more sophisticated, clever, descent, and patriotic than many Israeli or American politicians give them credit for.” That is excluding the Gemayyels, of course, and the entire political class. (thanks Yasmine)

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

“Some of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps, now run as museums, could soon demand an entrance fee from visitors to help to finance educational facilities. The prospect of paying to enter Dachau, where SS guards used to issue threats to inmates that they would leave only through the chimneys of the crematorium, has created [...]

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

“Those fatalities and two others announced Tuesday brought the U.S. troop death toll in May to 117, making it the deadliest month for American forces this year, and the bloodiest since the battles for Fallouja in April and November 2004, according to icasualties.org, a website that tracks casualties in Iraq. Violence in Diyala has been [...]

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

US deaths in Iraq.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

Let me say this to Tariq Mitri: this will prove to be a dumb prediction. “”This is the path of the salvation of Lebanon,” Culture Minister Tarek Mitri told the council.” And what is this language? What does salvation mean in international relations? This is common among sectarian leaders in Lebanon (of all sects) they [...]

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

“The Security Council “cannot be seen to be taking sides in internal Lebanese politics,” Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa’s U.N. ambassador, told the council. He said there is a danger that the council’s “imposition” of the court on Lebanon’s divided political leadership will undercut “the political stability of an already fragile Lebanese state.””

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

When will Arab unions show such courage? “South Africa’s largest trade union federation will launch a campaign against “the Israeli occupation of Arab lands” this week, demanding that Pretoria impose a boycott on all Israeli goods and break diplomatic relations. South African Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, who is Jewish, told Haaretz that he actively supported [...]

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

“The Pakistani military’s private business empire could be worth as much as £10bn, according to a ground-breaking study. Retired and serving officers run secretive industrial conglomerates, manufacture everything from cement to cornflakes, and own 12m acres [4.8m hectares] of public land, says Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, author of Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy.” Reminds me [...]

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

It is not true that the White Man does not care about Africa. Not true at all.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

Samah Idris: on Kurdistan, the model.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

I am not making this up. The Internal Security Forces in Lebanon (the fancy name for the Hariri militia) issued an official statement in which it said that all the rumors that are sweeping Lebanon are “false and have no relationship to the truth.” It added that those who seek the “truth” should turn to [...]

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

A reader fulfilled my wish (see post below). Here is a painting by George Corm from the Sursuq Museum exhibit in Beirut. (thanks Ziyad)

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

This week I learned that the son of Rif`at Al-Asad (read what I have written about him in the archives including about his gift to my father (of an AK 47), and the thuggery and brutality of his forces in Lebanon during the civil war years), Ribal, has set up shop in Tripoli, ostensibly with [...]

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

These are part of the unmourned deaths in Lebanon. An Ethiopian domestic worker, Piza Fashu (born in 1985) hung herself with an electric cable in the house of her employer in Kusba (in Kurah). As usual, the Lebanese police will not investigate because the maids are classified by the Lebanese state as non-persons.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

Our statement against the war on the Nahr Al-Barid camp today appeared in Al-Akhbar.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

“An evolutionary biologist from Rutgers University said he was told that a talk he was scheduled to give at Harvard University Friday was canceled because he compared Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz to a Nazi last week in a letter to the editor published in the Wall Street Journal.” (thanks Sobhi)

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

I have always said this. It seems that Americans overall are more tolerant of my criticisms of the US, than the Lebanese are of my criticisms of Lebanon.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

I have been grading, so I don’t know that answer to this. Is Mr. Bush still making progress in Iraq?

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

It was ironic to watch the quasi-debate at the United Nations Security Council today. Was it amusing to watch the delegate of South Africa defend the Lebanese constitution and sovereignty while the Lebanese delegate was pleading for the UN to violate the sovereignty of Lebanon? Lebanon today has the equivalent of Babrak Karmal government.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad

My car insurance was supposed to call me today. I am warning you. If they don’t call me back before the end of the day, I will have the United Security Council pass another resolution for another Lebanese. You may consider it another “gift from the UN to the Lebanese people.” Thanks, UN, again.

Posted on May 30, 2007 by As'ad