Archive for September 28, 2008
This is a sample of the Lebanese press (by the dean of Lebanese journalists): “Le roi Abdallah Ben Abdel-Aziz, “Serviteur des deux saintes mosquéesâ€, n’a pas besoin d’être comparé à Bismarck qui a présidé l’Union prussienne en 1863, unifié le territoire de l’Autriche et du Danemark et vaincu la France. Puis, il s’est hissé à [...]
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday upheld a guilty verdict against a newspaper editor who wrote stories questioning the president’s health and sentenced him to two months imprisonment.”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
This is the Cuban song from which Asmahan’s song was taken. (thanks Brenda)
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“Can you see the differences between the above two pictures of Queen Rania? The same picture has been taken while she was receiving the david rockefeller prize in New York. The first one is posted on Slate Magazine website on the page of the Queen’s diary while the other one is posted at our government [...]
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“But as the Lebanese political scientist Amer Mohsen told me, it would be more accurate to talk of a general resurgence of sectarian identities across the Middle East: “There is a Shiite revival, a Sunni revival, a Druze revival, an Alawite revival and a Kurdish revival – all happening simultaneously.—…and not spontaneously. When will we [...]
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“Europe’s ‘last dictator’ set to reap rewards for courting the West”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“In the eight years since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifadah Israel has destroyed Palestine’s infrastructure and killed 5,389 Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“The Israeli High Court of Justice is slated to convene on Sunday in order to discuss an urgent appeal filed by Ashraf Abu Rahma, a Palestinian resident o Na’lin village near Ramallah, who was kidnapped by the soldiers, cuffed and blindfolded before a soldier shot him in the leg.”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
A reliable Palestinian source sent me this: “The PA illegally confiscated 8 dunums to use for the burial of Mahmoud Darwish. The 8 dunums are owned by three families, including the ‘Uways family. Darwish’s posters are everywhere on government buildings etc. The PA insisted that his funeral march comes out of the Muqata’ah which meant [...]
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“A Palestinian shepherd has been shot dead by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian security and government officials.”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“Iraqis don’t share an American concept of “personal space”. True. Feel free to sit on their laps. (thanks Edgar)
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“Bearded and in traditional dress, he has unsurprisingly needed the help of the Saudi Arabian and British intelligence services – among others – to pass unhindered between capitals. He has always travelled in great secrecy, his movements known only to a few individuals at the highest levels of the Afghan government, in Riyadh and among [...]
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
When Now Hariri website says “Well-informed Syrian sources” it is referring to Saudi intelligence sources.
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“A leader from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement on Sunday admitted that Washington vetoes talks between Fatah and its rival Hamas movement.” (thanks Olivia)
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
I worry about the plight of the Kurds when US troops leave Iraq. “The effects of Saddam’s “Arabisation” have been rapidly undone by the Kurds. But this has sparked new tensions with Baghdad, particularly over peshmerga influence in the region.”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
People often say that one can’t dispute the translations of MEMRI but that one can dispute their selections. No, I have often said: you can–I certainly can–dispute their lousy translations too. Somebody send me a link of a recent Saudi video clip (no, I don’t provide links to Israeli propaganda outlets), and the translations were [...]
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
Also, what Robert Worth’s article did not say yesterday was that the Saudi kooky fatwawawas as of late have been resoundingly mocked and ridiculed in Arab media, and even in some Saudi media. Without House of Saud’s support, Saudi clerics would be spat on in every street of the Arab world.
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“Eleven Israeli backpackers were stranded in a snowstorm in northwestern India during the weekend, and rescued in a complex mission launched by the country’s air force. But two other Israeli backpackers were left behind – refusing to be rescued as it would constitute desecration of Shabbat.”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
Joseph tells me that “Asmahan’s song is copied from Cuban singer Antonio Machin’s 1938 song El Huerfantito (The Little Orphan)!” If only Joseph learns how to send me a song as an email attachment.
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad
“And who cares what Henry Kissinger thinks? He was wrong 35 years ago, and it’s only gotten worse since then.”
Posted on September 28, 2008 by As'ad