Archive for August, 2009
Is this colonial Feminism or Trash Feminism?
“Why would a Western woman forgo the security and freedom of her home country and relocate with a Muslim husband to an Islamic nation? For an answer, I phoned the feminist author Phyllis Chesler, who has written on the subject. “There is a self-de…
Posted by As'ad at 11:24 AM 08/31/09
Enhanced civilization: neither a gun nor a drill
“said Mr. Cheney, who noted that neither a gun nor a drill had actually been used on detainees.” Is this not a sign of a humane culture?
Posted by As'ad at 11:22 AM 08/31/09
Saudi Fatwawawas
“Q- There is an employee who says he has slept more than once on the job and did not do his work. Has he invalidated his fast in doing so?A – His fast is not invalidated, because there is no relationship between not doing work and the fast. Howeve…
Posted by As'ad at 11:16 AM 08/31/09
Arab liberals
This article misses the most important point/factor: that Arab liberals are used by Arab regimes for their own purposes. In the 1970s, Arab regimes and Israel used Islamic fundamentalists against Arab leftists and Arab natinoalists, and Arab regimes (…
Posted by As'ad at 11:10 AM 08/31/09
Zionism-is-racism
“The Israeli Education Ministry announced Sunday that it would cut funding to three state-funded religious schools because they refused to enroll Ethiopian Jews simply because they were black.” (thanks Sana)
Posted by As'ad at 11:07 AM 08/31/09
Now Hariri defines itself
Now Hariri defines itself–I am not making this up: “Surely they are not intimidated by a news site that represents the aspirations of the freedom-loving bourgeoisie, the soft-handed people who took to the streets to end Syrian occupation and promot…
Posted by As'ad at 11:04 AM 08/31/09
NYT and “gay culture” in Beirut
“The article also denies other Arab countries their own gay cultures. Many western journalists sum up Arab gay realities with sentences like: “Saudi Arabia: homosexuality punishable by death”, “Iraq: gay men killed.” Full stop. But gay men are also …
Posted by As'ad at 10:46 AM 08/31/09
Racist and Sexist An-Nahar Newspaper
Of course, I never expect much from An-Nahar newspaper (a right-wing, sectarian Christian, anti-Syrian (people), anti-Palestinian (people) propaganda publication that never wavers in its loyalty to Prince Salman and his other brothers). The newspaper …
Posted by As'ad at 10:36 AM 08/31/09
Another Lebanese…braggart
Ibn Rushd sent me this (I cite with his permission although I removed some words for legal reasons): “This guy, Fadi Nahas, is a small time…& [allegedly] high-school dropout who became very rich importing bananas from Ecuador and selling them i…
Posted by As'ad at 10:30 AM 08/31/09
Palestinians and Shi`ites in the UAE
I have received many emails from Palestinians and Shi`ites in the UAE. People have been telling me stories of campaigns of expulsion and harassment against Palestinians (especially those from Gaza) and Lebanese Shi`ites. A Lebanese Shi`ite professor …
Posted by As'ad at 10:26 AM 08/31/09
De Tocqueville on America: the unknown views
“But in the 1840s and 1850s de Tocqueville’s views on America took a darker turn, as a new collection of his writings makes clear. (“Tocqueville on America After 1840: Letters and Other Writings”). Public life was dominated by people who lacked
Posted by As'ad at 10:23 AM 08/31/09
The Maronite Patriarch Hearts Sen. Kennedy
“Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir conveyed during Sunday’s sermon his condolences over the death of U.S. Senatro Edward Kennedy to his wife of Lebanese origins lawyer Victoria Reggie Kennedy and to U.S. President Barack Obama. Speaking from Deema…
Posted by As'ad at 10:19 AM 08/31/09
The missing Ottoman treasure
Comrade Khaled continues his coverage of the search for the Ottoman treasure and the adventures of Lebanon’s Minister of Finance.
Posted by As'ad at 10:18 AM 08/31/09
Enough about the Kennedy family
If George Washington had agreed to be crowned king (as many Americans at the time wanted), there would be less obsession with the Kennedy family. I would rather read about the Kardashian family.
Posted by As'ad at 10:17 AM 08/31/09
Who is your enemy? The Lebanese people give the answer
Ad-Duwaliyyah li-l-Ma`lumat asked the Lebanese about their perceptions of the enemy. (The firm is one of the most reliable, in my opinion). Israel won hands down. 93.9% of all Lebanese consider Israel to be the enemy. The US came in second: 64.8% o…
Posted by As'ad at 10:00 AM 08/31/09
the real `Abdul-`Aziz Al-Hakim
The real record of the commander of the Badr sectarian Shi`ite militia (which terrorized the Palestinians in Iraq): “CNN and other news organizations reported that Hakim was a behind-the-scenes operator who never held a political position in Iraq. Th…
Posted by As'ad at 12:12 PM 08/30/09
lauding snipers
“Small teams of snipers are finding reasons to venture into the constantly shifting environment that exists in a place simply referred to as “outside the wire.”” (thanks anonymous)
Posted by As'ad at 12:00 PM 08/30/09
Canned tins
“”In previous years we could still somehow enjoy the food, the army would allow bringing in certain types of food we could cook but since the IPS took charge it has stopped and most of our meals are based on canned tins from the canteen,” one inmate…
Posted by As'ad at 11:52 AM 08/30/09
This guy hearts Zionist crimes
“”But also,” the governor continued, “when I was here for the first time some 18 years ago and I was touring the country, the comparison between Masada and the Alamo was not lost on me. I mean, we’re talking about two groups of people who were willi…
Posted by As'ad at 11:50 AM 08/30/09
The Lion of wealth
“But oh, he was so much more. He was a man who after a party drove home with Mary Jo Kopechne and off the Chappaquiddick bridge. He was a man who left her there while he waited 10 hours to report the accident. He was a man who used the time to consu…
Posted by As'ad at 11:48 AM 08/30/09
This Arab-American-Muslim dude
I watched a report on AlJazeera about Sen. Kennedy. They interviewed this guy (I don’t know who he is): a certain Khalid Saffuri. He told AlJazeera that Sen. Kennedy started as very pro-Israeli but that he became even handed (he used the word “centri…
Posted by As'ad at 11:45 AM 08/30/09
All that you have done to our peoples, is registered in notebooks
“Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar briefed the cabinet on plans for the start of the school year, and announced that the word “nakba” will be taken out of lesson plans.” (thanks Marcy)
Posted by As'ad at 11:44 AM 08/30/09
The collaborationist regime of the PA
“Despite the global financial crisis, commerce between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has been steadily increasing, amounting to NIS 19 billion (roughly $5 billion) in 2008, a report reviewing Israel and the PA’s financial trade revealed Wednes…
Posted by As'ad at 11:19 AM 08/30/09
Saudi justice
“A court here has sentenced two young Saudis to 240 lashes each after they were found guilty of directing a laser beam at a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane landing at King Abdul Aziz International Airport recently.” (thanks Sana)
Posted by As'ad at 11:17 AM 08/30/09
Nahr Al-Barid: don’t forget, don’t forgive
Reconstruction of the Nahr Al-Barid camp has been delayed, yet again. This time because the Hariri camp and the Awn camp claim that there are important Roman ruins that need to be protected. If it were in my hands, I would demolish all ruins in Leban…
Posted by As'ad at 11:08 AM 08/30/09
From Walid Jumblat to Saudi King: I love you, man (and love your cash)
Walid Jumblat sent a telegram to the Saudi king to express his sadness regarding the assassination attempt on the life of Prince Muhammad Bin Nayif. He said: “The great tolerance that was expressed by his excellency Prince Nayif only expresses the su…
Posted by As'ad at 11:05 AM 08/30/09
He loved Saudi members of Al-Qa`idah
The tributes to Prince Muhammad Bin Nayif have not stopped in pathetic oil-soaked Arabic press. This tributes talk about the love that this prince extended to Saudi members of Al-Qa`idah. He is the one who engineered the policy of rewards and love fo…
Posted by As'ad at 11:03 AM 08/30/09
Shakhbutian politics
“Sheikh Mohammed smiled. That smile was all I needed to know about our host.” All you needed to know was a smile for the oil Shaykh? Is that the ultimate happiness for you? Also, he said: “Last week he also hosted Al Allamah al Sayed Ali al Amin, a…
Posted by As'ad at 10:51 AM 08/30/09
Lebnanon’s glory
Some countries brag about their achievements and accomplishments and Lebanon? It brags about a large size Kibbi dish. (thanks As`ad–not me)
Posted by As'ad at 10:49 AM 08/30/09
Bombing-for-Feminism: American wars to liberate the women of Iraq (and Afghanistan)
“The Defense Department reserves about 4 percent of all contracts for businesses owned by Iraqi women.” Oh, how nice and how feminist. How could feminists oppose US wars and invasions and bombing campaigns after reading this? Really. (thanks Sinan)
Posted by As'ad at 12:08 PM 08/29/09
A native tells you about the Pakistani mind
“The term “probably” is an unusual qualifier in the second sentence of the passage above, showing rare hedging and modesty. But for the most part there is little subtlety in Pakistan. Look at the country’s ostentatiously decorated buses (see b…
Posted by As'ad at 12:03 PM 08/29/09
NowHariri
Almost every Western student I know who passes through Lebanon is offered a job at Now Hariri. NowHariri hearts White Westerners.
Posted by As'ad at 11:58 AM 08/29/09
The Biggest Kibbih Dish: the smallest Lebanese mind
I have written before about Lebanese obsession with ranking. Part of that, is the Lebanese obsession with Guinness World Records. When I came to the US, I had assumed that this was a big deal in the US only to discover that no one talks about it. In…
Posted by As'ad at 11:53 AM 08/29/09
Wahhabi medicine
“Women do not need to wear medical face masks to guard against swine flu if they instead wear a suitable veil, doctors say. “Women who wear the veil or cover their faces don’t need to wear protective masks as long as the veil is sterilized,” …
Posted by As'ad at 11:51 AM 08/29/09
An Afghan civilian and a cow go for the same price, according to the US military
“A slain civilian translates to $2,500 in compensation to a family. A dead cow goes for nearly the same amount, because they are so hard to raise in southern Afghanistan’s barren countryside and are crucial to a family’s well-being. A broken window: ab…
Posted by As'ad at 11:43 AM 08/29/09
The many benefits of American torture
According to the Washington Post, the water boarding of Khalid Shaykh Muhammad was so effective that he joined the neo-conservative movement and volunteered to lead seminars at AEI.
Posted by As'ad at 11:36 AM 08/29/09
Massive Human Rights Violations…that the West does not notice
“The Interior Ministry responded with a crackdown that is estimated to have resulted in thousands of arrests. Amnesty International reported last month that “massive human rights violations” and acts of torture had been committed by the Saudi secur…
Posted by As'ad at 11:33 AM 08/29/09
Sen. Kennedy and ethnic cleansing
“Deval Patrick, the governor of Massachusetts, told a little-known story about Mr. Kennedy’s attendance at the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated in 1995. With the service concluded and camera crews gone, Mr. Pa…
Posted by As'ad at 10:53 AM 08/29/09
Let me make a prediction
This guy (after his release from jail for the crime of throwing a shoe at Bush–and you know the insult of shoes in Arab culture) will be so famous this year, and he will be touring several Arab countries and hailed.
Posted by As'ad at 10:50 AM 08/29/09
The conspiracy thickens
“The Dutch national museum said Thursday that one of its prized possessions, a rock supposedly brought back from the moon by U.S. astronauts, is just a piece of petrified wood.” (thanks Dina)
Posted by As'ad at 10:44 AM 08/29/09
The Petty Lebanonese Mind
The widow of Sen. Kennedy (who–truth be told–spent a lifetime endorsing every Israeli war, aggression, torture, invasion, occupation, and assassinations) os of Lebanese extraction. But like most Lebanese in the US, she never ever mention her ethnic …
Posted by As'ad at 10:37 AM 08/29/09
Eric Hobsbawm’s On Empire: when Hobsbawm writes, Angry Arab reads carefully
There are books that should be read repeatedly. I must have read Plato’s Republic 10 times and I discover new things about it in every reading. Eric Hobsbawm’s On Empire is one such book. How can anybody but Hobsbawm combine such wisdom and thoughtf…
Posted by As'ad at 10:27 AM 08/29/09
Eric Alterman is considered a leftist in the US
I friend of mine from Sweden once told me that she was a conservative. But she hastened to add: but a conservative in Sweden is to the left of an American leftist. Eric Alterman is considered a leftist in the US, and his love affair with Israel is a …
Posted by As'ad at 10:23 AM 08/29/09
Israeli restrictions
The usurping Zionist entity restricts worship by Muslims in Jerusalem. (Reuters)
Posted by As'ad at 10:21 AM 08/29/09
Indiana Shath and the Missing Treasure: the very dumb Lebanese government
This should be a regular feature: about the very dumb Lebanese government. Kudos to Al-Akhbar for making a big deal of this story. This should be a big scandal. I am not making this up. A Jordanian man-kook comes to Lebanon with an old map claiming…
Posted by As'ad at 10:15 AM 08/29/09
“Dirty way”: Conflicting accounts of the Saudi assassination attempt
There are so many conflicting accounts of the assassination attempt on Prince Muhammad Bin Layif (seen above with his daddy, the Minister of Interior–is that not cute?). Some say that he was injured in the eyes, and some say that he was injured in th…
Posted by As'ad at 10:08 AM 08/29/09
Saudi role in Yemeni war?
The opposition Hawthi rebels in Yemen claimed that Saudi fighter jets were involved in bombing in Sa`dah. The Yemeni government denied the claim. But let me translate. Do you know what the Yemeni denial mean? Two things really: 1) that Saudi jets w…
Posted by As'ad at 10:06 AM 08/29/09
A brave Saudi leftist lawyer talks about repression (and beatings) by the Saudi Ministry of Interior
The assassination attempt on the life of Prince Muhammad bin Nayif (and the son and father team run the horrific temple of torture and repression in Saudi Arabia) produced an avalanche of praise for the Saudi Ministry of Interior and the royal family. …
Posted by As'ad at 8:47 AM 08/29/09
Arab Rulers
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: “Arab Rulers: the Second Generation.”
Posted by As'ad at 11:53 AM 08/28/09
Wasn’t he your favorite Iraqi?
“The U.S. military authorized the arrest and interrogation last year of a top aide to Ahmed Chalabi on suspicion that the aide served as a liaison to a Shi’ite group thought responsible for the 2007 execution-style slayings of five U.S. Marines and …
Posted by As'ad at 11:50 AM 08/28/09
The dumb Lebanese government
So the dumb Lebanese government (aided by dumb Lebanese opposition) decided to return the Israeli man who snuck into Lebanon and pretended that he was mentally disturbed. The dumb Lebanese government could not consider the possibility that the was act…
Posted by As'ad at 11:32 AM 08/28/09
Dahlan will replace them
“Palestinian authorities in the West Bank have begun replacing Israeli-installed road signs bearing Hebrew script with new signs in just Arabic and English, according to a U.S. international aid agency.” Don’t worry. Dahlan would reinstall Israeli …
Posted by As'ad at 11:30 AM 08/28/09
Sex tourism in Lebanon
“It’s a place where Arab tourists can watch beautiful women from Belarus, Ukraine, and Romania performing naked on stage. A night out with one of the dancers can cost $1,000. One pimp in Maameltein, who asked to be identified as Carlos, told said…
Posted by As'ad at 11:28 AM 08/28/09
Priorities
“When it comes to health, drinking the recommended daily amount of water is more important to women than having enough sex, according to a national survey conducted by our magazine. When asked to prioritize behaviors related to their overall health …
Posted by As'ad at 11:26 AM 08/28/09
UAE’s censors
“First it was Dubai, now it’s Abu Dhabi. British academic Christopher Davidson’s latest book on the flagship member of the United Arab Emirates, “Abu Dhabi: Oil And Beyond,” seems to have met the same fate as his previous book, “Dubai: The Vulnerab…
Posted by As'ad at 11:21 AM 08/28/09
Sign language
“Khamaisi’s own research for the case indicated that for decades, police officers who had questioned hundreds of thousands of Palestinian suspects and witnesses in spoken Arabic (after their initial questioning by the Shin Bet security services) wer…
Posted by As'ad at 11:15 AM 08/28/09
The three Americans missing in Iran: a new twist
I have written before about the three Americans who were missing on the Iran-Iraq border and are now held in Iran. I have mocked claims by the US government and media that they were mere hikers. Of course, I was mocking the media and government and n…
Posted by As'ad at 10:57 AM 08/28/09
A smart US military official
Finally some one got it. ““To put it simply, we need to worry a lot less about how to communicate our actions and much more about what our actions communicate,” Admiral Mullen wrote in the critique”.
Posted by As'ad at 10:56 AM 08/28/09
The occupiers are sensitive
This is the headline: “Afghan civilian deaths decline under new U.S. tactics”. This is the text: “However, the data cover a relatively short period of eight weeks, and make it clear that civilians are still dying in large numbers…” (thanks Dina)
Posted by As'ad at 10:50 AM 08/28/09
Reading List of Thomas Friedman
“Among Friedman’s 17 most-favoured publications and blogs, there isn’t a single Arab source, not even one published in English. Google’s compilation, which includes reading lists from other prominent US media figures, is throughly depressing. …
Posted by As'ad at 10:47 AM 08/28/09
