Archive for June 5, 2007

A what unto the nations? “The source told Reuters that soldiers came to a house in Hebron before dawn and shot a man who answered the door, killing him, then shot his wife, wounding her. Medics said the man was 67. Three other men in the home were also wounded by gunfire, the [...]

Posted by As'ad at 11:02 PM 06/5/07

Genetic Superiority of the Lebanese People Update. Apparently, on the last final episode of Superstar(an Arab version of American Idol which runs on Hariri TV), the Hariri musician, Ilyas Rahbani, out of the blue took a piece of paper and started paying tributes to the Lebanese Army. Among the things he said [...]

Posted by As'ad at 10:54 PM 06/5/07

“Allawi’s Mysterious Front. New Political Coalition: Hub for Saddamists and “Mules” or a “Salvation Front”?”

Posted by As'ad at 9:53 PM 06/5/07

Larry King versus Anderson Cooper

Posted by As'ad at 9:35 PM 06/5/07

Anthony Shadid interviewed three “analysts” in this article: not one of them is opposed to March 14th Movement (Na`um, Barud, and Salem). Yet, the article is about fears of a civil war. Usually, you need more than one side to go into a civil war.

Posted by As'ad at 9:29 PM 06/5/07

News from another “liberated” land: “Bloodshed is spreading to previously stable provinces of Afghanistan, threatening aid efforts as humanitarian workers contend with growing numbers of attacks from insurgents and criminals.”

Posted by As'ad at 8:59 PM 06/5/07

“The affair began over three months ago, when foreign television crews filmed IDF soldiers forcing Palestinians to search their neighbors’ homes for militants, in case the wanted gunmen should open fire. Some two years ago, upon completing a long and drawn out legal debate, the High Court of Justice decided to outlaw the use of [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:57 PM 06/5/07

So MEMRI and (House of Saud’s) Elaph have now found two Palestinians who find Israeli occupation quite pleasurable, and the New York Times find that worthy of an article. “”One journalist quoted by MEMRI, Majed Azzam, wrote in the Hamas-affiliated weekly Al Risala in Gaza that Palestinians “should have the courage to [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:45 PM 06/5/07

Thus Spoke Mr. Bush. “The United States is also using our influence to urge valued partners like Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to move toward freedom. These nations have taken brave stands and strong action to confront extremists, along with some steps to expand liberty and transparency.” Who can disagree that [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:35 PM 06/5/07

“…Although I am Lebanese since Birth” by Jihad Bazzi

Posted by As'ad at 8:13 PM 06/5/07

Genetic Superiority of the Lebanese People Update. This is now a regular feature of this lousy blog. My source of this feature is from An-Nahar and LBC-TV (both are right-wing, sectarian Christian, anti-Syrian (people), anti-Palestinian (people) media). Here, we learn about yet another genius Lebanese. According to this news item, this [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:00 PM 06/5/07

Madawi Al-Rashid on the “other side of Saudi Arabia”

Posted by As'ad at 7:46 PM 06/5/07

The native versus the occupier. (AP)

Posted by As'ad at 6:52 PM 06/5/07

I detest suicide. I like the poetry of Khalil Hawi very much. It frustrated him a great deal in his life that Nizar Qabbani was more appreciated as a poet than he was. And I agreed and still agree with Hawi. He is a very original poet. But I don’t [...]

Posted by As'ad at 6:26 PM 06/5/07

“The Right-winger who is ashamed of his Right-wingness” by my dear friend Joseph.

Posted by As'ad at 6:13 PM 06/5/07

Karl Bostic, NBC news Baghdad bureau chief, evaluates one good Arab: “He was a study of grace under pressure, with a good sense of humor to throw in. He is a tireless worker, reliable, and trustworthy – qualities that are not always apparent in a lot of people here.”

Posted by As'ad at 2:07 PM 06/5/07

A reader (an American writer) sent me this:“I am sure you will enjoy knowing that back in the early 1990s, when I worked for the lawyers of the New York Times, I used to go up to the Times board room to set up the board meetings. Old Punch Sulzberger was [...]

Posted by As'ad at 12:49 PM 06/5/07

The Missing God by Lebanese poet, Musa Shu`ayb (who was assassinated by agents of the Syrian regime in 1980). My translation:“O, comradeMy heart is fatiguedand my dreams are darkMy night is coldand there are onlyashes in my fireplaceDo I sing?I was singing yesterdayI had a house, and chatsand foodMy fields were islandsof goodness, and [...]

Posted by As'ad at 12:14 PM 06/5/07

US ambassador in Lebanon just announced that his government will make a donation of $3.5 million to rebuild the Nahr Al-Barid refugee camp. So the US has thus far donated $300 million to destroy Nahr Al-Barid, and $3.5 million to rebuild it. That is nice, no?

Posted by As'ad at 11:59 AM 06/5/07

Nur Ash-Sharif (probably the most famous Egyptian actor today) was on Rabi`ah Az-Zayat’s Sijal program on NBN (she is a rare thoughtful and analytical journalist). He told the story of how he had a movie to make that was against privatization. He said that he went to a producer (with whom he had [...]

Posted by As'ad at 11:50 AM 06/5/07

Al-Arabiya TV was hailing the arrest by the Saudi government of three Saudis who were accused (you are convicted if you are accused in Saudi Arabia) of spreading “Al-Qa`idah activities on the internet.” (For all we know, they could be spreading feminist thought on the internet, but now every dissident is Al-Qa`idah). So Al-Arabiya [...]

Posted by As'ad at 11:28 AM 06/5/07

Make no mistake about it: the extensive coverage by Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya TV of the anniversary of the June 1967 war is intended (and produced) as an affirmation of Sadatism.

Posted by As'ad at 10:59 AM 06/5/07

“Asked what he now thinks of CNN, Shaw told WTTW-Channel 11’s John Callaway: “I try not to. I’m very, very disappointed with the way the news management at my favorite network has gone. CNN has fine women and men working there. Lou Dobbs, one of the leaders there. “Unfortunately, Fox News is the ratings [...]

Posted by As'ad at 9:47 AM 06/5/07

The Arab media’s extensive coverage of the anniversary of the June 1967 war is not innocent: not on AlJazeera and not on Al-Arabiya. It is intended to spread defeatism and a sense of Israel’s invincibility. Call me conspiratorial–I mean it, please do.

Posted by As'ad at 9:34 AM 06/5/07

A Saudi citizen sent me this: “My father sent my one brother and 4 sisters to Jerusalem for their studies in the 1960’s ( Saudi Arabia had no schools for girls then) My sisters were studying at Anciennes De Notre Dame De Sion Jerusalem, in via delrosa in the old city. As’ad, [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:52 AM 06/5/07

The Bahiyyah Al-Hariri saga continues. Here, she claims that yes she paid fanatical Salafi groups and gangs, but that she did that “to protect the back” of the Lebanese Army.

Posted by As'ad at 8:34 AM 06/5/07

“UNHCR estimates there are some 1.9 million Iraqis displaced internally, and up to 2 million in neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan. Many were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now. Egypt hosts an estimated Iraqi population of more than 100,000, and in 2006 Iraqis had become the leading nationality seeking [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:24 AM 06/5/07

“Forced Labor Building Baghdad Embassy? “Investigation Reveals Unreported Incidents of Abuse” (thanks Keval)

Posted by As'ad at 8:22 AM 06/5/07

I am not making this up, but Mr. Bush in his speech in Prague today offered praise for the march of liberty in…Egypt and Saudi Arabia (although he timidly asked for more of the same (oppression and tyranny, I guess): “Among recent cases is that of a man who was allegedly beaten to death [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:13 AM 06/5/07

“A new map of the West Bank (see below), 40 years after its conquest by Israel in the Six Day War, gives the most definitive picture so far of a territory in which 2.5m Palestinians are confined to dozens of enclaves separated by Israeli roads, settlements, fences and military zones. [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:10 AM 06/5/07

Was the Lebanese Army command not embarrassed? No, were they not ashamed? Yesterday, while the Lebanese Army was shelling the Nahr Al-Barid refugee camp, its command issued a statement to the effect that Israeli planes violated Lebanese airspace and flew over Lebanon. The Lebanese Army did what it does in those [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:05 AM 06/5/07

“Over the preceding 15 years, the number of Palestinians who had left the West Bank for the east had reached 200,000. Moreover, approximately 100,000 Palestinians had left Jordan altogether. Hussein’s effort to integrate Palestinians was “a positive phenomenon from Israel’s point of view,” concluded the final position paper that emerged from that winter’s discussions. Hussein [...]

Posted by As'ad at 8:03 AM 06/5/07