Archive for June 24, 2011
Flotillas to Gaza
How dare Hillary Clinton tell the Palestinians about which methods are good for Gaza and which methods are not? Her advice to Palestinians about what is in the best interest of the Palestinian people is akin to Himmler offering advice on Jewish m…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Colonial times
The scene is unprecedented if you think about it. Jeffrey Feltman goes to Yemen to arrange for the transfer of power and to offer instructions to government and opposition alike. It reminds me of the 4th of February (1942) in Egypt, which u…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Sensible assessment of Syrian stiuation
Thus spoke comrade Bassam: ”“The more deaths and killing, the more the labyrinth of sectarian and social divisions is mended, and the more likely we are to see broader collective action against the regime,” said Bassam Haddad, director of the…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
US and Syrian Muslim Brotherhood
I can report to you that the US government has been in contact with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. In a recent conference held in London, US and British official representatives met with the former (and still actual) leader of the Syrian Muslim B…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Saudi op ed pieces
You may ask me: do Saudi mouthpieces of the various princes allow op ed pieces and political analysis? The answer is yes, but of course. Here is a sample from yesterday’s paper (the title gives it away, I am afraid): ”Sa`d Hariri and …
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Prince Nayif Speaks his mind
The actual ruler of Saudi Arabia, Prince Nayif bin Sultan, spoke his mind yesterday. As Al-Hayat (the mouthpiece of his nephew, Prince Khalid bin Sultan) quotes him in a headline, he said: ”Our Faith is in God that the Arab events are extin…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Che
Do you know that the most common and visible picture carried by protesters all over Yemen is the portrait of Che Guevera. That is quite interesting.
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
So Netanyahu is a racist, and his father is a racist, and his son is a racist
So where is the story? Father and son and grandson are unabashed Zionist racists. Is that not the history of Zionism? (thanks “Ibn Rushd”)
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Prince Muqrin and Saudi media
Prince Muqrin’s orders to editors of Saudi media are clear: intense coverage of Syria to the exclusion of all other stories. All columnists (and letters to the editor which are arranged of course) have to focus on the Syrian regime. Severa…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
The Arrogance of Bashshar Al-Asad
What bothers me most about the personality of Bashshar Al-Asad is his arrogance in the face of a real popular protest–notwithstanding the Saudi/Hariri-led conspiracy represented by the sinister Muslim Brotherhood. He refuses to believe that ther…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
My twin enemies
Every amount of energy I have, I will devote for the rest of my life against the twin enemies, of Zionism and House of Saud. The Arab world can’t prosper and can’t democratize with those two evil forces.
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Alienation of the Arab writer
There is a new book by Halim Barakat titled “Alienation of the Arab Writer.” I was reading in it, and this is a theme that Halim was first to address back in the late 60s. I was pleasantly surprised that he wrote about that dinner at his ho…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Jalal Amin
This great Egyptian economist is a fine writer. Like very few academics, he writes like a novelist. I have been reading his book “Egypt and the Egyptian in the Era of Mubarak” (in Arabic). I recommend the introduction for it gives a s…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Saudi House: out of order
Forgot to mention that Prince Nayif is also sick: some rare blood disease apparently. So the top people in the House of Saud may drop dead at any second. Now I know what Prince Talal meant when he talked about “dark days” ahead for the Hous…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Saudi money and Western academe
I was discussing this with the courageous Saudi scholar, Madawi Rasheed. We were discussing the extent to which Saudi money is going around US and European universities. She shared with me information about various Saudi funding in European…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
BBC News and the new Egypt
BBC News had a long report from Egypt. It included a segment on the rise of pro-Palestinian expressions in the new Egypt. I would never see such a report in the US media.
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
AUB: as a colonial racist instituion
I strongly believe that AUB is a colonial racist institution. I believe that the curriculum, especially in the social sciences and the humanities, reflect the racist and colonial inclinations of founders (and present-day funders in US Congress). …
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Ban Kee-Moon
This most boring public official–I really really doubt that there could be a more boring person in public life, a person who can’t inspire a tomato–the secretary-general of the UN who was picked by the US for that job due to his utter subservience, s…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
My interview with Tom MacMaster
I mentioned that I was not going to post the interview with MacMaster but then a reader convinced me otherwise. He said that I am rather obligated because I asked him to respond to questions. So my questions are on top followed by his answe…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad
Arab oil
“”Dependence on Arab oil has frustrated the progress of Arab history and allowed oil-rich countries to fund conservative, nay reactionary, religious ideologies around the world,” said As’ad AbuKhalil, Arab-American political commentator who has written…
Posted on June 24, 2011 by As'ad