Archive for February 8, 2008
My article in Al-Akhbar (website is not working properly): “Cultural hegemony and freedom of expression.”
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
Iraq’s Islamic republic: the other face of Bush’s “liberation”. “The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion — some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture. The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf [...]
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
Rami writes about Frik (pronounced “freak”). I like it.
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
Neither March 14th, nor March 8th. Silent force: Lebanese accuse the government and the opposition in Lebanon of taking them to…“hell”.
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“Afghan officials said Mr. Ashdown had been rejected because of negative press and public reaction to his appointment, but diplomats said it had more to do with Mr. Karzai’s desire, one year before Afghan elections, to improve his image by standing up to Western powers. During a news conference at Mr. Karzai’s heavily fortified palace [...]
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“In Turkey, starting with the head-scarf amendment — a case study of religious freedom against coercive secularism — is perfectly fine.” It is fine with you? Please, just tell Arabs and Muslims what is fine with you, so that they can always heed your advice, OK? And please, let Muslims and Arabs know if you [...]
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
For people who follow Lebanese politics closely. It is amazing how important speeches and events don’t get reported in the Western press. The willingness, nay desire, of the Hariri family to take the country to the brink of civil war, if not to civil war itself, has not diminished. Yesterday, mini-Hariri read a statement which [...]
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
The other side of Dubai: “Britons heading to the United Arab Emirates have been warned that carrying some food stuffs and common over-the-counter medications could warrant a four-year prison sentence. Among the banned substances are foods containing poppy seeds; melatonine, which is taken to ease the effects of jet lag; codeine, a common ingredient in [...]
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
Did the former French chief of counter-intelligence join Hizbullah? (thanks As`ad–not me)
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“About a quarter of U.S. women suffer domestic violence, U.S. health officials reported on Thursday, with ongoing health problems that one activist likened to the effects of living in a war zone.”
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“Terry Eagleton, Britain’s leading Marxist literary critic, faces the axe at Manchester University where he has been involved in one of the most ferocious literary spats of recent years with the novelist Martin Amis.” (thanks Mouin)
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“Egyptian officials also showed their determination to seal the fence with an information campaign meant to lessen public sympathy with the Palestinians, alleging, among other things, that Gazans had flooded Egypt with counterfeit dollars, that Palestinian terrorist teams had infiltrated the country, and that Egyptian Islamists had flocked into Gaza.” (thanks Khelil)
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
I forgot to mention that Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat–or Muhammad Anwar Sadat as he referred to himself only in Egyptian media–also referred to himself as “Ar-Ra’is Al-Mu’min” (the pious president.)
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“A recent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, for instance, has produced a marked toning down of news about the kingdom on al-Jazeera, which is based in Qatar.” (thanks Mohamed)
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“A ship’s anchor severed one undersea Internet cable damaged last week, it was revealed on Thursday amid ongoing outages in the Middle East and South Asia, but mystery shrouds what caused another four reported cuts.” (thanks Tareq)
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
This is big: I don’t like the demagogic tele-Islamist, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, but he is widely liked and respected among mainstream Muslims: “To ban or not to ban? Qaradawi finally refused a visa.”
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
“Racism, what racism?”
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
Hicham analyzes the political economy of the Mubarak regime.
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
Saudi and Egyptian Information ministers present a plan to put more restrictions on Arab satellite stations. (In other news, Rice is prepared to praise those “reforms.”). (thanks Hedayat)
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad
Don’t you like the thuggish language of the Israeli supreme court? “Israeli human rights groups and the UN have condemned the power cut strategy which last month caused widespread blackouts, describing it as collective punishment which harms innocent civilians and is illegal under international law.The Israeli supreme court has upheld the blockade, saying Gaza was [...]
Posted on February 8, 2008 by As'ad