Archive for October 28, 2011
The dictator is dead, long live NATO
My weekly article Al-Akhbar: “The dictator is dead. Long live NATO.”
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
Meet Libya’s NATO rebels
“If anyone is surprised by the apparent killing of Moammar Gadhafi while in the custody of militia members from the town of Misrata, they shouldn’t be.More than 100 militia brigades from Misrata have been operating outside of any official military an…
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
Anis Mansur
Saqr Abu Fakhr writes an excellent critical piece about the Egyptian writer, Anis Mansur. He writes about a history of plagiarism.
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
Prince Sultan in Yemen
Prince Sultan has been the key Saudi official handling the Yemeni file. He dispatched his incompetent son, Khalid, to help the regime fight the Hawthis and we saw the results. The people who are now raising portraits of Prince Sultan in Yem…
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
Deconstructing Thomas Friedman
“I was of course already familiar with the general characteristics of Friedman’s writing—hubris, clichéd jingoism, Orientalism, favoritism of Israel, self-contradiction, a severe handicap in the realm of metaphor construction, reduction of complex…
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
The Syrian regime and the Western press
Yes, the Syrian regime has banned the Western press from Syria, but this is not the whole picture. Why are the Western media not acknowledging that most have smuggled in reporters into Syria? It is a fact, and I know about it, and I have done my …
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
I am on the edge of my seat: waiting for the outcome of this really competitive election
“Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt will be re-elected to the post during the organization’s general assembly meeting Sunday, after nominations closed with him as the only candidate.” (thanks “Ibn Rushd”)
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
It is not news when Israeli terrorist soldiers kill Palestinian children
“Head of the neurological department at the Al Maqassed Hospital, in East Jerusalem, Prof. Sami Hussein, stated that surgeons operated on Aseel Ara’ra, 4, following a gunshot injury to the neck, and that she is currently at the Intensive Care Unit. He …
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
Social Injustice in the US
“After-tax household income rose 275 percent for the top 1 percent of U.S. households from 1979 to 2007, far above any other segment, a report showed Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office said the inflation-adjusted, after-tax household inco…
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
The dangers of the Arabic language
“Appearing on Fox News two months after the attacks, Phares warned of the danger posed by Arabic-language news network Al Jazeera, telling Bill O’Reilly that “linguistically, the Arabic language is a very powerful one. It has a lot of codes. It coul…
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
Comatose Ariel Sharon
A comatose Ariel Sharon receives more attention than the living Palestinian people. Look at this long article in the New York Times. What do we learn? That Sharon sometimes looks at his son.
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
US and Kenyan invasion of Somalia
“Kenyan military officials also publicly said the United States and France were helping them, but both countries quickly distanced themselves from the operation, insisting that they were not taking part in the combat…Despite their close relationship …
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif hits a female fan in Doha, Qatar. (thanks Zainab)
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
civil society my…potato
Various Egyptian “civic” organizations have received more than 1 billion Egyptian pounds in six months from Arab and international sources.
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
He inhabits our hearts forever
Sometimes I wish Western readers know Arabic to get the real texture of what is referred to, astonishingly, as Saudi media. This is an actual headline in the mouthpiece of Prince Salman, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat: ”Schools of Saudi Arabia: Prince …
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad
An-Nahda’s neo-liberal policies
So An-Nahd moved quickly to reassure Western governments. It said that it will retain the Finance Minister and the Governor of the Central Bank, both of whom are products of the World Bank and its policies. We know how highly the World Bank…
Posted on October 28, 2011 by As'ad