Archive for June 1, 2011
Palestinian "Refugee Question"
“One myth is that the “creation” of the Palestinian refugee “problem” (a euphemism for ethnic cleansing) was a consequence of the Arab countries’ war with Israel. This claim was undermined – almost despite himself – by Israeli historian Benny M…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Grateful and warm to foreign occupation
“Americans and, for that matter, all Westerners are treated hereabouts with a warmth and gratitude rarely seen in any Muslim country — even those with 100,000 American troops — in probably half a century or more.” This is funny. That …
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Sudan and Southern Sudan
Jean-Baptiste sent me this: ”US rights groups (such as Clooney’s Sentinel Project) and the American government have been (justifiably) up in arms against the Sudanese government over looting commited during the recent invasion of Abyei, but the…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
For the first time since Camp David accords, US shows concern for fair trials in Egypt
“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that the United States hoped Egypt would ensure due process when former President Hosni Mubarak is put on trial in August. ”Obviously we want to see the rule of law,” Clinton told reporters,…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Facts about poverty in the US
Here are the charts. (thanks Shannon)
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
A Tunisian graduate student in the US responds to Fouad Ajami
“Let me conclude by stating that I am a Tunisian living in America and I watched every moment of my birth nation and its revolution in exhilarating and tearful excitement. Do not use the rising up of the Arab people as a fig leaf in your silly and i…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
You can’t say that on Egyptian TV
What Field Marshal (who earned his ranks by successive military defeats) won’t permit on Egyptian TV. (thanks Hossam)
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Gays and Christians in Egypt: rewriting history
It is clear. There is a pattern in the Western press. They are now orchestrating a campaign (in cahoots with US governments and pro-US dictatorships) to warn of the dangers of democracies in the Arab world. They warn that if Arab demo…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
A propagandist for House of Saud is angry
“I AM a proud and loyal Saudi citizen, but I am tired of hearing constant criticism from most Arabs of everything the United States does in its relations with other countries and how it responds to global crises. No nation is perfect, and certainly …
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Tantawi rules
“Egyptian television journalists “all pre-warned me not to do any ‘dirty tricks’ and say anything critical of the military,” he said. “They told me that if I am to bring up my torture case that the show can be cut short and the network can …
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Israel’s PR work
“”The propaganda battle over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached a new level of intensity. In 2004 the Glasgow University Media Group published a major study on TV coverage of the Second Intifada and its impact on public understan…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Aljazeera
Lately, I can’t watch a segment on Aljazeera (Arabic) and not squirm. Even brief reports. Yesterday, I heard a reference from the network about the Saudi military invasion of Bahrain. It was quite nauseating.
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Field Marshal Tantawi (who won the rank from successive defeats of his army) answers to Israel
“Egyptian authorities have reneged on some of the facilitations it had agreed upon and started providing at the Rafah border crossing last Saturday, according to the Palestinian director of the borders and crossings police in Gaza, Salama Baraka. &n…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
This is hilarious: Now Israel found evidence of Al-Qa`idah presence in Sinai
A day or two after the partial and restricted opening of Rafah crossing, Israeli propagandists (including the occupation’s prime minister) claim that Al-Qa`idah has suddenly made its way to Sinai.
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Threats to Israel
“”The spectrum of threats in light of the changes in the Middle East is growing,” Gantz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “These threats range from knife to nuclear – from the knife used in a single terror attack to a nuclear Ir…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
This is a regular feature: Hamid Karzai warns (yet again) NATO about civilian casualties
This can be funny if we are not talking about dead Afghani civilians. Karzai offers this warning on weekly basis. ”Angered by civilian casualties, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday he will no longer allow NATO airstrikes on houses…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Syrian Amnesty
So the Syrian regime has been saying for years that the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization that has links with the enemies of the Arabs. But yesterday the regime offered an amnesty for the organization. This is like the r…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Human Rights Watch
The problem I have with Human Rights Watch is that, much more than Amnesty International, it shares the political inclinations of every US administration. It is harsher on governments that are not aligned with US foreign policy, and less harsh wi…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Intellectual vapidness of Thomas Friedman
I know of no columnist with more lack of intellectual depth than Thomas Friedman (with the possible exception of Mr./Ms. Potato Head) . Read his last column before today’s: he has no insights of his own. All the insights–if they ever exist…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad
Pierre Sadiq fired: the further decline of An-Nahar
The long-time cartoonist for An-Nahar, Pierre Sadiq, has been fired. He has been suing the paper. He, of course, shares the right-wing, sectarian Christian, racist anti-Syrian (people), anti-Palestinian (people) stance of the paper so the c…
Posted on June 1, 2011 by As'ad