Archive for July 3, 2007

At the risk of generalizing, I can safely say that the people of Pakistan are most friendly. I notice it most when they extend their hand for a hand shake: it really feels sincere and genuine. It is hard to explain. I like it when I see men jogging in traditional Pakistani clothes; but I [...]

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

Al-Quds Al-`Arabi has been providing the best coverage of Palestinian affairs as of late. And its editor has been critical of both, Hamas and Fath. (It is clear that dissident Fath leaders and members leak to the newspaper.)

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

“Private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Iraq”

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

“A new report on the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan has identified rape as a systematic weapon of ethnic cleansing being used by government-backed Janjaweed militiamen, and said Sudanese laws discriminate against female victims, who face harassment and intimidation at local police stations if they try to report the crime.”

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

“Eyeing Jordanian involvement, U.S. now rethinking the two-state solution” (thanks Laleh)

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

“Israel Defense Forces troops Tuesday shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian who was holding a toy gun in the West Bank city of Hebron.”

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

Freed BBC correspondent, Alan Johnston, reports seeing this man (above) among his captors.

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

There is such sympathy for the Palestinians in this country. There is also interest in Arabic and in Arab affairs. I was told that there are some 900 students at the Department of Arabic at the International Islamic University here, and they use the same curricula used in Arab universities. I gave an Arabic lecture [...]

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

Nir Rosen recommended that I eat at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad. So Junaid took me there yesterday. It was splendid. The food was great: a combination of Western and Pakistani food (I only ate Pakistani: I never eat Western food when I travel in the Middle East). And it is so much less expensive [...]

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

HRW: “Iraq: Kurdistan Security Forces Torture Detainees.”

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

Sign of progress for the Bush Doctrine.

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

Only weeks after Muhammad Dahlan had to flee Gaza, the BBC reporters was freed. Am I suggesting that there is a link between The Islamic Army gang and Dahlan gangs? Would I?

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

Don’t you like it when the mouthpiece of Prince Salman, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, prints a story and attributes the information to “security sources”?

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

Watching the clashes at Lal Mosque in Islamabad unfold on live Pakistani TV stations is rather bizarre. The phenomenon of 24-hour news cycle is now a world reality. I think the government here became aware of the political impact of carrying out the “operation” on live TV: today it was reported that the army removed [...]

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

“Jerusalem is “not holy to Muslims at all,” the president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Morton Klein, told a Quebec synagogue congregation, the Canadian Jewish News (CJN) reported on Friday. Klein said Jerusalem had never been important to Muslims, and that the Islamic claim on Jerusalem was designed “to take away our heart [...]

Posted on July 3, 2007 by As'ad

من ينقذ الشيعة (غير سعد الحريري)؟‎

تعاني حركة 14 آذار من مشكلة شيعية، وتحاول ما استطاعت أن تستنبط «تياراً» شيعياً حريرياً ‏يحظى ببعض «الصدقية» الطائفية. فرفيق الحريري استطاع في سنوات حكمه أن يحقق كسباً كبيراً ‏في اجتذاب الرأي العام السنّي نحوه، وإن كان هذا الاستقطاب المذهبي قد تفاقم بعد اغتياله. ونجح ‏في استمالة الزعيم الدرزي الأبرز، بالإضافة إلى حصوله على تأييد [...]

Posted on July 3, 2007 by admin