Archive for November 12, 2009
Fabrications
This Zionist fanatic is with the club of Zionist fanatics, called the Washington Institute for Near Policy. Here, he peddles Israeli propaganda claims–surprise, surprise. But I like the byline: “Magnus Norell is an adjunct scholar with the Washingt…
Posted by As'ad at 12:18 PM 11/12/09
Saudi intervention
Madawi Rasheed comments on Saudi intervention in Yemen. (thanks Luai)
Posted by As'ad at 12:15 PM 11/12/09
Abu Mazen’s accomplishments
“Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] has been playing completely by the book. The PA has been killing Palestinians to prove that he is prepared to serve Israel’s security interests. What did he get in return? Only a continuation of setttlements, home demol…
Posted by As'ad at 12:15 PM 11/12/09
I am not making this up
So Saudi Arabia’s propaganda media outlets are rather festive and bragging about Saudi bombing of Yemen. On Al-Arabiyya TV (the private station of King Fahd’s brother-in-law), they aired graphic animation (cartoons really) to illustrate the bombing ra…
Posted by As'ad at 12:01 PM 11/12/09
Yemeni government
So the Iranian foreign minister called on states to not interfere in Yemen. Yemeni officials quickly responded: they said that this was awful interference by Iran in Yemeni affairs, and that Saudi Arabia needs support (as it bombs and interferes in Ye…
Posted by As'ad at 11:53 AM 11/12/09
Israeli (in)justice
Mark my words. He will be convicted but only for attacks on Israelis. (thanks Tanweer)
Posted by As'ad at 11:51 AM 11/12/09
Divide and occupy
“Restricting Palestinian students’ freedom of movement has been just one element of Israeli measures that deepen the separation between the Gaza and the West Bank. While the bitter split between Fatah and Hamas has led some to talk about two differe…
Posted by As'ad at 11:48 AM 11/12/09
Salvaging the reputation of the Saudi regime
Look at this headline in the LA Times. You need to read the fine print to see this: “Saudi Arabia and Egypt still hover near the bottom of the list, but have improved steadily since 2006. ” This is like a country freeing the slaves and then being…
Posted by As'ad at 11:46 AM 11/12/09
Darwish: an analysis
“Darwish’s last period begins, most critics would agree, with Mural, a long poem published in 2000, two years after the poet underwent open heart surgery that nearly killed him (and eight years before another heart operation finally did take his l…
Posted by As'ad at 11:44 AM 11/12/09
Free speech in Germany
“Anti-Zionist historian Prof. Ilan Pappe, one of the most important “New Historians”, was scheduled to speak last weekend at the Pedagogical Institute of Munich. But a letter received from the “Israeli-German association of Munich”, claiming that Pa…
Posted by As'ad at 11:41 AM 11/12/09
Strategic consulting
“Two top Bush administration officials whose reputations for strategic acumen were badly damaged by the disasters of the Bush years may be about to market their expertise to private-sector clients. In September, the RiceHadley Group LLC was register…
Posted by As'ad at 11:38 AM 11/12/09
All that you have done to our sick and elderly is registered in notebooks
“According to data collected by PHR, from January to August 2008, of 3,760 patients who submitted requests for exit permits from the Gaza Strip, 325 were questioned by the ISA and 1,310 had to cancel the medical appointments set for them and re-subm…
Posted by As'ad at 11:37 AM 11/12/09
Peter Galbraith: friend of the Kurds or the oil?
I never liked him or respected him. He suffers from being the son of a brilliant man with great charm: he has neither the brilliance nor the charm of his father. When he was acting heroic about the Afghan election fiasco, I ignored articles that put …
Posted by As'ad at 11:33 AM 11/12/09
The Decline of Saudi Arabia
This article on the decline of Saudi Arabia by Michael Slackman in the NYT received wide coverage in the Arabic press (TV and print media). People took notice.
Posted by As'ad at 11:29 AM 11/12/09
Ben-Gurion Airport: renamed
This has been bothering me this week. I have always believed that Israel is doomed: that Zionism will be eliminated from Palestine sooner or later. I still believe in the goal of the original (not the lousy amended by lousy Arafat to please Clinton) …
Posted by As'ad at 11:22 AM 11/12/09
Fawwaz Trabulso on the Yemeni conflict
Diab kindly translated the article by comrade Fawwaz Trabulso on Yemen (from As-Safir):”With the Saudi army initiating its military operations against the Huthi movement across the border with Yemen, it is fair to say that president Ali Abdallah Sale…
Posted by As'ad at 11:20 AM 11/12/09
Tuffar Rappers from Ba`albak
There is a movement that needs to be covered more in the press. It is the Tuffar movement in the Ba`albak region. Some overage of the movement suffers from prejudices and from stereotypes about them as criminals and drug dealers. Even an article in …
Posted by As'ad at 11:09 AM 11/12/09
Dahlan Task Force for Israel: here it begs for Zionist respect
This is quite something. A person associated with the DC-based, Dahlan Task Force for Israel, is trying so hard to impress Zionists with the Zionist orientations of his organization: “The Task Force has built strong working relationships with both th…
Posted by As'ad at 11:06 AM 11/12/09
Andrew Lee Butters of Time magazine: he hearts the Bush Doctrine
I don’t read Time and Newsweek, except forced to do so at the Dentist’s office, although between People magazine and Time and Newsweek I prefer the former. I tell my students of you start reading the Economist magazine you won’t be able to read Time o…
Posted by As'ad at 10:57 AM 11/12/09
Angry Revelation: البوح الغاضب
For those who care, Al-Adab publishing house in Beirut is publishing a book of my articles in Al-Akhbar over the two years (and a bit more). It will be titled: “Angry Revelation”, or in Arabic:البوح الغاضبIt is expected that the book will b…
Posted by As'ad at 10:55 AM 11/12/09
Ghassan Shribil on Saudi policy
This is the Lebanese editor-in-chief of the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan, Al-Hayat. He is describing Saudi policy. He said that it is characterized by: “patience, openness, and wisdom.”
Posted by As'ad at 10:54 AM 11/12/09
Not in the US press: the US role in the Yemen war
The US press has been largely ignoring the war in Yemen. The NYT and other newspapers have published articles here and there. But none mentioned anything about the American role in Iraq. Make no mistake about it: this is an Obama war, not a Bush war…
Posted by As'ad at 10:48 AM 11/12/09
Syrian killed in Lebanon?
Of course, news of Syrian workers who are killed in Lebanon pass casually, and neither the lousy Lebanese government nor the lousy Syrian government cares about the plight of persecuted Syrian workers in Lebanon. So a young Syrian was found dead in We…
Posted by As'ad at 10:46 AM 11/12/09
A new Middle East appointment in the Obama administration: Tamara Cofman Wittes
Tamara Cofman Wittes was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. As I have mentioned before, Middle East experts are no more appointed to the top Middle East positions in the State Department or The White House’s Nation…
Posted by As'ad at 10:24 AM 11/12/09
QueenTube has still not talked about the regime’s beating of Jordanian dissident, Layth Shubaylat
Queentube now speaks on behalf of the people of the region: “The people of my region yearn as well for justice and reconciliation.” The people of your region? Your region is across the Jordan river: that is where your husband’s family has been recei…
Posted by As'ad at 10:20 AM 11/12/09
