Archive for April 12, 2008
“The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel has accused the Shin Bet security service of using relatives of individuals under interrogation to extract confessions. In a report to be submitted Sunday to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the organization says the Shin Bet makes unjustified arrests of family members, or creates the pretense [...]
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
Look at the language that is used by the New York Times to justify the injury of this Palestinian boy: “A wounded Palestinian boy lay on the floor of a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Friday after Israeli forces clashed with gunman near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.”Further you read: “At least [...]
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
Saudi Arabia as a Lebanese sect by Madawi Al-Rasheed.
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
This is a fascinating article by the talented Lebanese reporter, Jihad Bazzi, on the career of a small-scale, warlord, Shakir Barjawi. (His relationship with Arafat was more extensive than he admits).
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
“The archive also includes footage of Hillary Clinton, who served on Wal-Mart’s board from 1986 to 1992, praising the company to the skies – a position she has since sought to mute. “I’m so proud of this company and everything it represents,” Mrs Clinton said at a store opening in Arkansas in 1991. “It makes [...]
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
“A half-dozen such terminals are operated by private companies – from Al-Jalama near Jenin, to Sha’ar Ephraim near Tul Karm, from Reihan to Tarqumiya. According to a recent Channel 10 news report, the Israel Defense Forces is planning to privatize all the checkpoints in the seam area.” (thanks Karim)
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
“In practice, there are no confining laws and regulations or procedures that substantially distress private firms or foreign investors in Lebanon. Both local and foreign investors are given a free hand to do business or participate in or control over domestic enterprises.” (thanks Talal)
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
“What is new, however, is that censorship is no longer the exclusive preserve of the state. Society has taken to supporting the state in muzzling creative voices. Today, culture in the Arab world struggles under the burden placed on it by two authorities: the authority of the ruling, mostly unelected political elites, and the authority [...]
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
“The Pentagon has sent U.S. military intelligence agents on domestic fishing expeditions. In 2004, two U.S. Army intelligence agents descended on the University of Texas’s law school in Austin. They entered the office of the Journal of Women and the Law and demanded that the editors turn over a roster of the people who attended [...]
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
Shoes and Arab Culture: an update. “ “We hit the face of the statue with our shoes,” he said, referring to an action considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture.” (thanks Regan)
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
“A Turkish barber accused of swearing at God is sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, with his family back in Turkey calling on authorities to intervene. Sabri BoÄŸday from the southern Hatay province went to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia 11 years ago and opened a barbershop. According to reports, BoÄŸday argued with his neighbor, an [...]
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad
How the Lebanese government’s downtown plans are posing a threat to the historic synagogue in Wadi Abu Jamil in Beirut.
Posted on April 12, 2008 by As'ad