Archive for November 5, 2009
Walk out of the room
“The Israelis have been difficult, as always: whenever Mitchell raises East Jerusalem in talks with the Israeli Foreign Minister, the Israeli stands up and walks out of the room. Despite Netanyahu’s momentary, tactical enthusiasm for peace talks, hi…
Posted by As'ad at 12:15 PM 11/5/09
Fearing Weber
“The regime’s hostility toward social scientists stretches back to the origins of the Islamic Republic. Soon after it came to power Iran’s revolutionary government shut down universities and purged the faculty of scholars who were deemed insufficien…
Posted by As'ad at 12:03 PM 11/5/09
Don’t send this robot to Lebanon
“”We’re very close to being able to get him to work as a receptionist or a helper in a mall,” he told Agence France Presse.” If they send the robot to Lebanon, they will manage to beat him and sexually assault him, and he may wind up hanging himself…
Posted by As'ad at 12:00 PM 11/5/09
Flash: Abu Mazen not running for re-election as chief puppet
Al-Arabiyya TV (the private station of King Fahd), has aired a live speech by Abu Mazen. He was categorical that he won’t be running for re-election as chief PA puppet. But if you have been reading this blog, you should not be surprised. The decisio…
Posted by As'ad at 11:54 AM 11/5/09
Public perceptions of colonial settlers
“Political realities and options are shaped to no small degree by public perception, which is in turn shaped by media coverage. Perhaps if Native Americans had been portrayed in media accounts as sympathetic individuals instead of a generally undiff…
Posted by As'ad at 11:15 AM 11/5/09
The lousy PFLP
The second worst Palestinian, Yasir `Abd-Rabbu, announced that all members of the Executive Committee wanted Abu Mazen to run for re-election, and placed its confidence in him. The PFLP that was founded by the great struggler, George Habash, is now a …
Posted by As'ad at 11:13 AM 11/5/09
The pioneers of terrorism in the Middle East
“The new book cites an intelligence report from Palestine made on August 23, 1946 – just a month after the King David Hotel bombing. The communique states: “Irgun and Stern have decided to send five cells to London to operate in a manner similar to…
Posted by As'ad at 11:09 AM 11/5/09
Saudi air force has only been used against Saudi striking workers and Yemenis
“Saudi Arabia has launched heavy air strikes on Yemeni rebels and is moving troops nearer the border after a raid into its territory by the Shi’ite insurgents, a Saudi government adviser said on Thursday.”
Posted by As'ad at 11:07 AM 11/5/09
If these were Muslim organizations, Congress would have acted
“Despite notable gains for women in the past year, a Forward survey of 75 major American Jewish communal organizations found that fewer than one in six are run by women, and those women are paid 61 cents to every dollar earned by male leaders.”
Posted by As'ad at 11:05 AM 11/5/09
Israel is pleased
“The Middle East’s two main satellite operators have dropped an Arabic-speaking Iranian television station, a decision described by the broadcaster on Wednesday as an attempt to stifle Iran’s voice in the region. The Arabic-speaking al-Alam, based in…
Posted by As'ad at 11:02 AM 11/5/09
Dictatorships that you find exemplary
“Amnesty International has called for the release of a human rights activist who went on trial this week for making a video about pollution in Tunisia and posting it on Facebook.”
Posted by As'ad at 10:59 AM 11/5/09
This is Zionism
Notice that this “liberal” Zionist paper makes this horrific plan seem humane: “The government is considering establishing work camps in the south of the country, where illegal migrant workers will receive shelter, food and medical care, Army Radio …
Posted by As'ad at 10:56 AM 11/5/09
Anis Mansur: on meeting King Fahd
This anti-Semitic, right-wing Egyptian columnist, Anis Mansur, was a confidante and emissary of Sadat. His column is published daily in the mouthpiece of Prince Salman (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat). He describes meeting King Fahd: “I saw his majesty among th…
Posted by As'ad at 10:47 AM 11/5/09
La fin du « tout est permis » ?
“Cet Etat a amassé un énorme arsenal d’armes de destruction massive et a construit un appareil militaire impressionnant (en grande partie grâce à des soutiens extérieurs venus d’abord de France puis des États-Unis). Il a aussi remporté de…
Posted by As'ad at 10:45 AM 11/5/09
audacity
What is the deal about the ship of (alleged) arms pirated by the Zionist usurping entity? Israel has a massive arsenal of WMDs and want us to be disarmed? Arabs have every reason, nay duty, to obtain all kinds of weapons, and to smuggle whatever they…
Posted by As'ad at 10:42 AM 11/5/09
Saudi reform: Wahhabi justice
“A man who kidnapped and raped five children, one of whom was left in the desert to die, has been sentenced to be beheaded and his body publicly crucified. Muhammed Basheer al-Ramaly, 22, from the northern city of Hail, in Saudi Arabia, will …
Posted by As'ad at 10:41 AM 11/5/09
Swiss Democracy (a democracy that did not give women the right to vote until 1971)
“Zurich city council said yesterday that a poster showing missile-like minarets on a Swiss flag can be displayed ahead of a national referendum on whether to ban the building of minarets at mosques in Switzerland.” (The poster says: “Vote yes to a la…
Posted by As'ad at 10:33 AM 11/5/09
Who rules Saudi Arabia: the foreign policies of Saudi Arabia
This is a key question now. It is very clear that King `Abdullah is not running the country, certainly not in foreign policy. There is a the foreign policy of the King: and then there is the foreign policies of the Sudayri princes headquartered in Mo…
Posted by As'ad at 10:00 AM 11/5/09
Al-Akhbar and its controversies
Al-Akhbar has been breaking waves. It is quickly becoming a major media source in Lebanon and beyond. While there are no clear data on sales, it is emerging as the number one newspaper in Lebanon, and you can check Alexa ranking in Lebanon for that. …
Posted by As'ad at 9:46 AM 11/5/09
Your poor PA puppet
“Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whom the administration once would have been happy to see undermined, has been strengthened — while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whom the administration had hoped to bolster, has been weake…
Posted by As'ad at 9:43 AM 11/5/09
The Washington Post Identifies the errors in the Middle East policies of the Obama administration
“The administration’s key error, many analysts say, was to insist that Israel immediately freeze all settlement growth in Palestinian-occupied territories.” Don’t you like “many analysts say”? Let me guess: how many of the “many analysts were unabash…
Posted by As'ad at 9:41 AM 11/5/09
Effi Eitam at Buffalo
Professor Jim Holston of SUNY, Buffalo, sent me this (and he allowed me to cite it and insisted that I cite him by name): The Jewish National Fund and Buffalo Hillel brought Brigadier General Effi Eitam to speak on campus at the University of Buffalo…
Posted by As'ad at 9:37 AM 11/5/09
Dahlan Task Force for Israel
“Ghaith al-Omari, a former Abbas aide who is advocacy director for the American Task Force on Palestine, said, “The situation is so complicated that no matter what approach the administration would have taken would have led to difficulties.” He said th…
Posted by As'ad at 9:32 AM 11/5/09
