Archive for May 13, 2012
Pakistan: IIUI rector on leave: Personal decision or Saudi pressure?
““I have received the notification from the presidency about my ex-Pakistan leave and the Quaid-e-Azam University vice chancellor will perform additional duties as rector in my absence,” Professor Malik told The Express Tribune. Malik said that he …
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
Poor `Alawites
By the way, the notion that the Syrian regime made all `Alawite rich is a stereotype and is not true. Syrians who travel widely in Syria told me the other day that there are very poor `Alawite villages and in almost every village you see a fancy …
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
Syrian elections
People have been wondering about the results of the Syrian parliamentary elections–under the rules of Asad family. There has been delays as the votes from Baba Amr have not come in yet.
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
Criticisms of Haytham Al-Manna`
A Syrian reader sent me this: ”There are a few characters who really annoy me by a combination of:shear ignorance which includes the fact that they are ignorant of the fact that they are ignorant.This is a disaster! Heitham Mann’a is one s…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
British sponsorship of Bahraini royal repression
But what is hardly ever mentioned in the press and TV reports is that this very system of oppression, the rock against which the dreams of democracy are being dashed, was largely created by the British. That, throughout most of the twentieth century, B…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
Abu Mazen wants weapons to kill Palestinians: he seeks help from US Zionists
“President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said Saturday that his security forces were struggling because Israel had refused to allow them to import a shipment of weapons, and that he was “very, very, very afr…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
how dare they: aggressive assertion of sovereignty
“and it reflects a costly miscalculation on the part of American officials, who did not count on the Iraqi government to assert its sovereignty so aggressively.”
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
The cleric of oil and gas
“Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based preacher often described as the de facto spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, has recently kept up a barrage of verbal attacks on the Shias. He is president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, a loose…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
In how many ways have Arabs have to express their opposition to any peace with Israel before the White Man gets it?
“Six in ten Egyptians want to cancel the peace treaty with Israel, a new poll has found, up from just over half of respondents since last year’s survey. The poll, released last week by the Washington-based Pew Research Center, showed 61 percent…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
This is a Lebanese statesman
“”Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called for calm in Tripoli through several statements on his Twitter account … “” (thanks Basim)
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
So what is Israel implying? That they may use nuclear weapons if Arab uprisings continue?
“The Jewish state is believed to have a nuclear-weapons arsenal consisting of hundreds of warheads, but has neither confirmed nor denied their existence under a policy known as “nuclear ambiguity.” The U.S. and the European Union charge Iran with cland…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
US "holistic" approach in Yemen
“Brennan will meet with Hadi “to reiterate holistic U.S. support to Yemen not only in the field of counter-terrorism but also by providing assistance to help Yemen overcome its many other economic and security challenges,” Mohammed al-Basha, a Wash…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
external defense capabilities
“The decision to lift the restrictions, which had frozen tens of millions of dollars worth of planned arms sales last fall, was based on “our desire to help the Bahrainis maintain their external defense capabilities, and a determination that it is in…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
Bahrain versus Syria
“Opposition to the monarchy has become increasingly violent in response to continuing arrests and police crackdowns.” Unlike in Syria, where the widely supported opposition remains strictly peaceful.
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
Is Human Rights Watch now getting funds from Bahrain royal family? It is a legitimate question given their recent record
“Tom Malinowski, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, gave the administration “credit for pushing very hard” for the Bahraini government to implement its commitments to open the political process. “I don’t think there’s any question ab…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
This is what Israeli newspapers are busy with
“American Muslims grew in number over the past decade, outnumbering Jews for the first time in most of the Midwest and part of the South, while most mainline churches lost adherents, according to a census of American religions released on Tue…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
Camels, not people
The last Mission Impossible movie had scenes in Dubai. Yet, you don’t see a single Arab in Dubai: they only showed camels, literally.
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad
The lies of Jubran
“Later, Gibran told journalists many lies about his childhood, and, according to the Gibrans’ biography, he seems to have tried these out first on Haskell. He was of noble birth, he said. His father’s family had a palace in Bsharri, where they kept…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by As'ad