Archive for November 7, 2009

No acting

The local government of Basrah threw out actors who were performing in a play. They said that acting clashes with Islam.

Posted by As'ad at 10:21 AM 11/7/09

You can’t stop those Palestinians

“Wall banger: A Palestinian demonstrator climbs Israel’s separation barrier moments after knocking down a segment of the concrete wall during a protest in the West Bank village of Nilin. Photo: Bernat Armangue / AP”

Posted by As'ad at 10:19 AM 11/7/09

On-line activities

“A Tunisian blogger and drama teacher, Fatma Riahi, known online as Arabicca, has been arrested by the country’s police, Al Jazeera has learned. Riahi was summoned to appear before the Criminal Brigade of Gorjani in Tunis on Monday, where she was qu…

Posted by As'ad at 10:13 AM 11/7/09

Hawthi resilience

I asked comrade Fawwaz Trabulsi on how the Yemeni army does not seem to be able to defeat the Hawthi rebels after more than four years of bombing and fighting. He wrote me this (I cite with his permission): “i myself am more than amazed, as`ad. cant …

Posted by As'ad at 10:10 AM 11/7/09

What is deeply insulting in the East but not in the West?

“Hamas took to hanging posters of Abbas throughout Gaza calling him a traitor and allowing people to throw their shoes at his image, a deep insult in the Arab world.” (thanks Jean-Baptiste)

Posted by As'ad at 10:07 AM 11/7/09

The least and smallest demonstration EVER

“On Friday, modest groups of Fatah members and others marched in Ramallah and elsewhere in the West Bank to voice support for continued leadership by Abbas. Local Palestinian media continued running news headlines about various organizations or politic…

Posted by As'ad at 10:01 AM 11/7/09

Wahhabi rules in the Hajj

An account of a woman during the Hajj. (thanks Mariam)

Posted by As'ad at 9:56 AM 11/7/09

The dictator with the coiffed hairdo

“The assault of two independent journalists in Tunisia and the arrest of a third in the wake of last week’s elections must be punished, Amnesty International said on Friday. »It appears that these three journalists were targeted because they ha…

Posted by As'ad at 9:50 AM 11/7/09

Tunisian dictatorship

Are you aware that the Tunisian dictatorship–which is an exemplary dictatorship for Western governments–has blocked the website of Aljazeera net?

Posted by As'ad at 9:47 AM 11/7/09

“Interesting question”

Why? (thanks Marcy)

Posted by As'ad at 9:46 AM 11/7/09

From the Managing Editor of Now Hariri

A Western source in Beirut (who does not want to be identified) shared with me a message from the Managing Editor of NowHariri showing their preference for non-natives: “NOW Lebanon is currently looking for an editor to work on some brochures (corpor…

Posted by As'ad at 9:42 AM 11/7/09

McChrystal

“Jon Krakauer sharply criticized Gen. Stanley McChrystal for his handling of former NFL player-turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman’s death, in an interview with CNN scheduled to air Saturday. Tillman was killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan….

Posted by As'ad at 9:41 AM 11/7/09

Why?

““When a white guy shoots up a post office, they call that going postal,” said Victor Benjamin II, 30, a former member of the Army. “But when a Muslim does it, they call it jihad.” (thanks Sarah)

Posted by As'ad at 9:07 AM 11/7/09

The so-called resignation of PA chief puppet

“Never an appealing or charismatic figure, Abbas has been losing popular support since his first day in office five years ago (his term technically expired in January 2009). Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, in which he played a prominent role, the offic…

Posted by As'ad at 9:04 AM 11/7/09

Hawithi rebels

What is going on in Yemen is very interesting and potentially explosive for the entire region. Remember the proxy war in Yemen in the 1960s that pitted Saudi Arabia against Nasser’s Egypt. Gregory Gause has a good book on that early phase of Saudi-Ye…

Posted by As'ad at 8:49 AM 11/7/09

Claude Lévi-Strauss

Readers have asked me whether I will write something about Clause Levi-Strauss. I may but not casually. There are people, or thinkers, that you can’t write about casually or off-handedly I can’t speak about Plato’s Republic, without re-reading it fo…

Posted by As'ad at 8:48 AM 11/7/09