Archive for June 20, 2012
Wind of the East
Egyptian political thinker, Anwar `Abdul-Malak, died with barely a reference in the Western press (in Arabic, AsSafir and Al-Akhbar mentioned). This is a deep and real thinker with important contributions. The critique of Orientalism should…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
the wives of King `Abdul-`Aziz
I am not kidding: this is an actual headline in a Saudi newspaper: providing a whole list of wives and sons of Saudi founding king. (thanks Muhammad)
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
New York Times covers "vandalism"
James sent me this: ”Don’t know if you’ve seen the reporting the NYT about the zionist colonialists’ attack on the Grand Mosque at Jabaa yet, but there’s some real (ugly) gems in the reporting (as usual for the NYT on Occupied Palestine). In p…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
America’s image in the Arab world is just rosy
Of course, McCain is sincere in his worries about the Russian image in the Middle East: ”But McCain said that Russia’s support of Assad was “doing enormous damage to their image in the Arab world.””
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
House of Saud analyzes foreign policy
“For Saudi Arabia, the Shi’a in Bahrain and other Persian Gulf countries represent an Iranian-directed fifth column ready to act at Tehran’s behest. Saudi Arabia often relies on inflammatory sectarian rhetoric to paint Iran and Arab Shi’a in …
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Peres identifies the problem
“The Middle East is ailing. The malady stems from” Israel.
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Marx bless the Scots
“A seriously uncomfortable afternoon” for Israel’s sporting ambassadors in ScotlandAccording to the Herald on Sunday, “It wasn’t much fun being an Israeli footballer at Tynecastle yesterday. Lashed by the rain, barracked by pro-Palestinian demonstrator…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Qatari Youth Against normalization with Israel
The comrades of Qatari Youth Against Normalization with the Zionist entity have prepared this petition. Support NOW.
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Barry Obama cheers the behading in Saudi Arabia
“A Saudi man has been beheaded on charges of sorcery and witchcraft, the state news agency SPA says.” (thanks Ali)
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
A Lebanese in the Saudi media: nausea
“From his office at the Interior Ministry, and over four decades, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz monitored the successive quakes that hit the region, watchful of their reverberations and quickly moving to avert their storms. From Prince of Riyadh, to Minis…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
AUB honorary doctorates
Look there is no mystery. The AUB board of trustees in NYC decides who gets to be awarded honorary doctorates. This explains the lousy choices, year after year. There is a big outcry in Lebanon about awarding the doctorate this year t…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
US Democracy Promotion Delegation to Saudi Arabia
“President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to offer condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, on the passing of HRH Nayif bin…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Saudi princes in the Western press
Notice I said: in the Western press. We are not talking about Saudi press. But whenever a prince dies or is elevated to a higher positions, analysts and officials in the West start to compete in showering praise on the prince. And not…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Bahrain update
From Angry Arab’s chief Bahrain correspondent: ”Something strange is happening. Bahrain rearrested Mohammad AlBuflasa. He was the uprising’s first political prisoner. They kidnapped him and he went missing for a while until the government anno…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Reform in Saudi Arabia means…younger princes
“The kings of Saudi Arabia are graying, and look to become even grayer in the years ahead. The logical way to resolve this problem is to allow the succession system to jump down to the next generation. It arguably should happen but almost certainly …
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Arab American public opinion
I wrote about Syrian American public opinion and said that they are overwhelmingly opposed to the regime. Many Syrians wrote to me in disagreement: some argued that my comment ignored non-Muslim Syrians in the US and maintained that most Syrian C…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Total war
I am convinced of this: if the Syrian regime falls the ruling family will pursue the scenario of Gobbels’ “total war” in Syria.
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Downfall of `Abdul-`Aziz bin Fahd?
This anonymous person, Mujtahid, with clear close access to sources inside the higher echelons of the Saudi royal family, keeps going. He has been focusing on the corruption of `Abdul-`Aziz bin Fahd. But I disagree with him: the uncles of `Abdul-`Aziz …
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Signs of an early return of the Saudi-Qatari conflict
There are signs already. The Saudi-Qatari relations are not as good as they were months ago. Knowing how much those two ruling families hate each other, I knew it could not last. Just compare the coverage of Egypt on Aljazeera (the Ho…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad
Prince Talal
Prince Talal opens his mouth once every two years and then goes to sleep. Today, he spoke to Al-Quds Al-`Arabi and expressed strong opposition to the appointments in Saudi Arabia. He compares the situation to the last days of the Soviet Union and…
Posted on June 20, 2012 by As'ad