Archive for March 2, 2009
This is the UK
“One in seven people believe it is acceptable in some circumstances for a man to hit his wife or girlfriend if she is dressed in “sexy or revealing clothes in public”, according to the findings of a survey released today. A similar number believed that it was all right for a man to slap [...]
Posted by As'ad at 1:13 PM 03/2/09
Meet a new expert on Lebanon: Meet Hariri Money
“NOW: Tell me about this trip to Lebanon. Totten: Well it was really interesting and different than any other trip I’ve made here. All my other trips I paid for myself and stayed in cheap hotels. And I set up all my own appointments. But this time I got a business-class ticket, all my hotel [...]
Posted by As'ad at 12:59 PM 03/2/09
Laughing
“Also on this press junket was the by now utterly alzheimer-stricken Christopher Hitchens, who gave a lecture at the AUB last week where he managed to call feudal landlord and predictable weathervane Walid Jumblatt a ‘true revolutionary’ – the collective Lebanese audience nearly died laughing…”
Posted by As'ad at 12:45 PM 03/2/09
My article on Barenboim
This is a translation of my Al-Akhbar article (and my post here) on Barenboim letter in French.
Posted by As'ad at 12:30 PM 03/2/09
An-Nahar’s racism: hate journalism
All of An-Nahar’s coverage is tinged–at least–with high dosages of racism against the Palestinian and Syrian peoples. Look at this report on “a clash” between Lebanese goons and Syrian workers. All the injured are Syrians. And they even justify the attack on the Syrian workers. This is hate journalism. (thanks Mark)
Posted by As'ad at 12:27 PM 03/2/09
Saudi war option
Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faysal, today threatened that his peace offer to Israel may not last “forever.” Wow. That is worrisome. He threatened to unleash the Saudi religious police, with their stones, whips, and swords against Israel. That (plus the Lebanese Air Force of two planes) may alter the Middle [...]
Posted by As'ad at 10:59 AM 03/2/09
Turkish sweets
Oh, forgot to mention that I also dreamt of that traditional Turkish sweet shop in Taksim in Istanbul. What is it called? I love that place.
Posted by As'ad at 8:19 AM 03/2/09
…off to UK
…off to UK. I will speak at Oxford on Wednesday, at Manchester on Thursday, and at SOAS on Friday. Back on Sunday. I have posted earlier my schedule and info at Oxford and SOAS but don’t have the info on Manchester.
Posted by As'ad at 8:18 AM 03/2/09
Obama surge
“Afghan civilians will bear the brunt of an escalation in the Afghan war this year as thousands more U.S. troops deploy unless more is done by NATO forces and Taliban militants to protect them, a top Red Cross official said Monday. Civilian casualties in Afghanistan are “significantly higher” today than a [...]
Posted by As'ad at 8:15 AM 03/2/09
Lebanon’s slow food trail
Comrade Rami sent me a copy of From `Akkar to `Amel: Lebanon’s Slow Food Trail by Rami Zurayk, Sami Abdul Rahman, and photographed by Tanya Traboulsi. It is a tribute to small producers in Lebanon and the food that they make. It is delicious but made me hungry and eager for food that [...]
Posted by As'ad at 8:06 AM 03/2/09
Hariri Tribunal
I promised my readers that I will be supplying you with fresh, up-to-date coverage of the Hariri tribunal. I will even continue these updates while on the road in UK this week. Today’s update: blah, blah, blah, and blah. And more blah. Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow and I may [...]
Posted by As'ad at 8:04 AM 03/2/09
Kidnappings
“The Palestinian Political detainees Society issued a report on Monday stating that the Israeli military have kidnapped 292 Palestinians during the month of February.”
Posted by As'ad at 8:02 AM 03/2/09
Compensation
“Kuwait said on Monday it has received a total of 13.3bn in compensation from Iraq for the 1990 invasion and occupation of the emirate by Saddam Hussein’s forces.” I am calculating how much we need to charge Israel for its historic occupation of Palestine but I don’t mind postponing the accounting until [...]
Posted by As'ad at 7:59 AM 03/2/09
Angry Arabs
““The play is called Twelve Angry Lebanese, but in fact we are five to six million angry Lebanese, or maybe 350 million angry Arabs,” says Yousuf Chankar, who has already served 18 years of a life sentence for murder.” (thanks Nessrine)
Posted by As'ad at 7:56 AM 03/2/09
Hitchens’ theory on Israeli racism
So according to the Bush AND Obama supporter, Christopher Hitchens, the reason for the rise of Israeli racism is that many of the immigrants are Russians and not “authentically” Jewish. (thanks Sarah)
Posted by As'ad at 7:52 AM 03/2/09
Registered in Notebooks
“According to the most recent figures from the International Committee for the Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the conflict destroyed more than 2,800 homes completely, and 1,900 partially, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. In addition to that, many symbols of government were damaged, from the parliament [...]
Posted by As'ad at 7:51 AM 03/2/09
Tariq Aziz
I had a dream about Tariq Aziz. I hate it how his family asserts his innocence when this guy has been an enthusiastic propagandist and polemicist of the Ba`th since the 1960s. Of course, An-Nahar and other Lebanonese newspaper take up his case for sectarian reasons.
Posted by As'ad at 7:47 AM 03/2/09
Terrorist lentils
“”When have lentil bombs been going off lately? Is someone going to kill you with a piece of macaroni?” asked Congressman Brian Laird. It was only after Senator John Kerry, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised the issue with Defence Minister Ehud Barak after their trip last month that [...]
Posted by As'ad at 7:45 AM 03/2/09
Proud to Serve
“IDF Human Resources Chief Maj. Gen. Avi Zamir estimates that close to one quarter of those who claim to lead a religious lifestyle in order to obtain exemption from serving in the IDF do not indeed lead a religious lifestyle, making their use of such a declaration illegal.”
Posted by As'ad at 7:42 AM 03/2/09
AIPAC
“Since the agreement was signed in 1985, US trade with Israel shifted from surplus to a cumulative $71 billion deficit (adjusted for inflation). The 2008 $7.8 billion deficit with Israel was equivalent to 126,000 US manufacturing related jobs. It is the only bilateral FTA producing multi-billion dollar losses to the US [...]
Posted by As'ad at 7:40 AM 03/2/09
Fears
Many Americans who study the Middle East often complain about Arab suspicions of Americans who study the region. Those stories merely add to those suspicions. “Turbi’s fears were echoed by other Muslims throughout Southern California last week. Some say a climate of suspicion toward them, fueled by 9/11 and underscored by [...]
Posted by As'ad at 7:38 AM 03/2/09
Mubarak rule
“For many Egyptians, the sinking of the overcrowded and unseaworthy ferry has come to symbolize the corruption and cronyism that mingles between the government of President Hosni Mubarak and well-connected businessmen.”
Posted by As'ad at 7:36 AM 03/2/09
Faith-based
Neda Bolourchi sent me this comment about the article yesterday about faith-based initiatives (I cite with her permission): “As’ad, I just wanted to write to you regarding the above link you included from the NYTimes. I don’t know how much you know about the funding of faith based groups but [...]
Posted by As'ad at 6:28 AM 03/2/09
King Khkhkhusayn
“Peres left him so frustrated that in the end, “he worked behind his back in favor of Netanyahu” during the 1996 elections, was delighted at his victory, and “pressed other Arab leaders to give him the benefit of the doubt,” as Ashton writes.”
Posted by As'ad at 6:19 AM 03/2/09
Obama Iraq Strategy
“This strategy is grounded in a clear and achievable goal shared by the Iraqi people and the American people: an Iraq that is sovereign, stable, and self-reliant.” So basically the strategy is to take Iraq back to Saddam’s era. So North Korea (sovereign, stable and self-reliant) is the ideal model for Iraq now.
Posted by As'ad at 6:17 AM 03/2/09
