Author Archive
Amos Oz
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: “Amos Oz: Arab Liberal Love for Israel.”PS I really really didn’t enjoy going back and reading and re-reading the writings of Amos Oz.
Posted by As'ad at 11:15 AM 03/19/10
Denied entry
“I arrived at the bridge, went through the routinized luggage and security screenings and headed for the passport window. The woman in the occupying army at the window asked me questions when it was my turn. She asked me what I was planning to do in…
Posted by As'ad at 7:14 AM 03/19/10
Jordanian shopkeepers display posters barring dogs and Israelis
“Some Jordanian shopkeepers place posters at the doors of their shops reading “Sorry, we do not receive dogs & Israelis”, according to an Israeli army radio broadcast on Thursday.” (thanks Natalie)
Posted by As'ad at 6:50 AM 03/19/10
Jerusalem
I hate when the Palestinian problem is reduced to Jerusalem. Don’t get me wrong: the Israeli behavior in Jerusalem since 1929 has been nothing short of racist, religious supermacist, colonialist, and savagely insensitive to other faiths, and to secula…
Posted by As'ad at 6:47 AM 03/19/10
Wolf Blitzer: not happy
Blitzer not happy with the state of US-Israeli relations. (thanks Olivia)
Posted by As'ad at 5:48 AM 03/19/10
Zionism: arresting little children
Israeli occupation terrorists arresting little children in Hebron. (AFP)
Posted by As'ad at 5:46 AM 03/19/10
“usual routine task”
Balázs in Hungary sent me this (I cite with his permission): “you might be interested in this piece. I’m pretty sure it’s not covered outside of Hungary. Two israeli planes (or drones) were spotted on the 17th of march in the vicinity of the interna…
Posted by As'ad at 5:37 AM 03/19/10
Dubai justice
“Two Emirates Airline cabin crew have been jailed for three months for exchanging lewd text messages. RS, 42, a flight attendant, and EB, 47, a cabin services supervisor, were convicted of “coercion to commit sin” after sending each other sexua…
Posted by As'ad at 5:33 AM 03/19/10
Saudi help
“By early 2008, top U.S. military officials had become convinced that extremists planning attacks on American forces in Iraq were making use of a Web site set up by the Saudi government and the CIA to uncover terrorist plots in the kingdom. “We kne…
Posted by As'ad at 5:31 AM 03/19/10
Zionist fur
“But Israel “should be the last to proceed with this kind of legislation,” Herscovici said, because Israel “is being demonized and delegitimized in the West in the same way that the fur industry is being demonized – and often by the same people and …
Posted by As'ad at 5:30 AM 03/19/10
Really?
“Michael D. Furlong, the senior Defense Department employee under investigation for allegedly running an unauthorized intelligence-gathering operation in Afghanistan, says his now-suspended program was fully authorized by top U.S. military commanders…
Posted by As'ad at 5:28 AM 03/19/10
Don’t get too excited
“Right after Biden’s remarks were reported by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Mark Perry, a Middle East expert with excellent contacts in the US military, described a briefing that senior officers working directly for General David Petraeus…
Posted by As'ad at 5:26 AM 03/19/10
Mubarak goons
“Egyptian State Security Intelligence (SSI) in Fayoum City summoned Taha Abdel Tawab Mohammed, a physician from Fayoum governorate in Egypt who had been organising support for Dr. Mohammad Al Baradei, a potential presidential candidate in Egypt’s 20…
Posted by As'ad at 5:19 AM 03/19/10
arms purchasers
“The five largest arms purchasers during 2005-2009 were China, India, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Greece, according to the latest figures released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The exten…
Posted by As'ad at 4:35 AM 03/19/10
Live from Madame Tussauds’ museum
I wondered where I have seen this picture of Mubarak until I remembered that it is from the collection of Madame Tussauds’ museum in London.
Posted by As'ad at 4:31 AM 03/19/10
You can’t say he is wrong
Algerian Islamist, `Ali Behlhaj, accuses House of Saud of deliberately preventing support for the Palestinians. But this has been the case for years. Not an earth shattering revelation.
Posted by As'ad at 4:28 AM 03/19/10
maquis
Comrade Rami writes on nature and resistance to Israel.
Posted by As'ad at 4:25 AM 03/19/10
House of Saud responds to the revolt of the Palestinians
King `Abdullah personally expressed his outrage at the Israeli repression of Palestinians. Seen dancing above in the Janadiriyyah conference. Picture taken by his nephew, Prince Bandar bin Salman.
Posted by As'ad at 4:25 AM 03/19/10
Arab Wahhabi “liberals” wound not utter a word
“Amnesty International has called on the King of Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of a Lebanese national, whose death sentence for charges relating to “sorcery” was upheld by a court last week. If the higher courts reject his appeal, ‘Ali Hussain …
Posted by As'ad at 11:00 AM 03/18/10
Robert Fisk: time for his retirement, again
Fisk here is supposedly offering a reading list on the Middle East. Notice that he identifies the Syrian Social National Party as “pan-Arab.” I mean, come on. I will pay for the watch to officiate on his retirement. (thanks Mahmoud)
Posted by As'ad at 10:53 AM 03/18/10
Fanatacism on line
““If you want to found a conservative website, go and found one. Don’t take over Islam Online and try to change it,” one unnamed striker said on the video feed on Monday.”
Posted by As'ad at 10:48 AM 03/18/10
Flash from Lebanon
Lebanon has officially cancelled Mother’s Day. It will now be celebrated as Bahiyyah Hariri Day.
Posted by As'ad at 10:47 AM 03/18/10
Torrent of puke
“The idea behind human terrain teams, or HTTs, is to put a small army of civilian social scientists (ideally anthropologists) and intel-savvy military officers into the field to give brigade commanders a better understanding of local dynamics. The t…
Posted by As'ad at 10:45 AM 03/18/10
Ground truth
“Under the heading of “information operations” or “force protection,” the military has launched intelligence activities that, were they conducted by the CIA, might require a presidential finding and notification of Congress. And by using contractors…
Posted by As'ad at 10:42 AM 03/18/10
UC Berkeley student senate passes divestment resolution
“For the first time in the University of California history, the UC Berkeley Student Senate has approved a bill to divest from two US companies in response to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and to Israel’s siege and bombardment …
Posted by As'ad at 10:40 AM 03/18/10
This is Zionism
A reader who should not be identified sent me this: “This is in regards to the Jerusalem demonstrations and Israeli censorship. I received a frantic call from my sister notifying me that my cousin was captured by the Israelis and severely beaten. The…
Posted by As'ad at 10:22 AM 03/18/10
Covert troops made mistakes
“Covert troops who killed two pregnant women and a teenage girl in eastern Afghanistan went on to inflict “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” on the survivors of a botched night raid, a report by the UN said. The family of the victims in Pa…
Posted by As'ad at 10:19 AM 03/18/10
Sawsan Salim Sentenced to 300 Lashes For Complaining
“Sawsan Salim was being harassed by local officials, so she went to the government offices in Rass to complain. As a result, she was sentenced to 300 lashes and 18 months in jail for the “crime” of visiting government offices without a male relat…
Posted by As'ad at 10:14 AM 03/18/10
Carlos Slim in Lebanon
“A small group of masked protesters momentarily interrupted Helu’s speech by unfurling a large banner with a slogan in broken Spanish reading: “por todos todo, por nosotros nada,” an apparent reference to the Mexican Leftist Zapatista slogan “para t…
Posted by As'ad at 10:12 AM 03/18/10
Musa As-Sadr
I mean, I should write something some time. But the crimes of the Libyan regime are legion, and the kidnapping of Musa As-Sadr is least among them, damn it. Musa As-Sadr was not a great man and he played a sinister role during the Lebanese civil war….
Posted by As'ad at 10:09 AM 03/18/10
Boycott
“Many artists come under pressure to leave Israel off their tours. Some resist, like Paul McCartney. Others, such as Leonard Cohen, gave a significant part of the proceeds to the Parents Circle, a peace group of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli par…
Posted by As'ad at 10:06 AM 03/18/10
Kershner and the token Arab at the New York Times
Israeli has been killing and injuring Palestinians non-stop, since the Israeli war crime festival in Gaza last year, but when one firecracker lands in Israel, the New York Times publishes a story. And notice that there is a name of a new token Arab at…
Posted by As'ad at 10:03 AM 03/18/10
No one can stop the Palestinians
“Israeli soldiers prevent students and others from crossing a checkpoint between their homes and schools on the edge of the West Bank city of Qalqiliya on 17 March 2010. Some teachers used the checkpoint as a makeshift classroom and held studies des…
Posted by As'ad at 9:59 AM 03/18/10
Saudi student on the Lebanese-Palestinian border
“Lebanese security forces nabbed Mohammed Jawad al-Fahad al-Issa, 26, at the border town of Kfar Kila as he apparently tried to draw the attention of nearby Israeli troops, said one official, on condition of anonymity. “He told police that he thoug…
Posted by As'ad at 9:57 AM 03/18/10
Capitalist terrorism
“Lebanese leftist activists carry a banner with slogans in Spanish denouncing capitalism during a protest outside the auditorium where Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim was giving a lecture at the American University of Beirut on March 17, 2010. Slim, who…
Posted by As'ad at 9:55 AM 03/18/10
596 mistake per year: now that is liberation
“although there were 596 civilian deaths attributed to coalition forces, according to United Nations figures. Afghan and United Nations officials blame Special Operations troops for most of those deaths.”
Posted by As'ad at 9:53 AM 03/18/10
The blog of the British ambassador in Lebanon
I have mentioned before that for some reason, I like the British ambassador in Lebanon, politics aside. Her personality seems different. I liked her more when I heard about her private views of Lebanese politics. But, eh, her blog is very lame. It …
Posted by As'ad at 9:50 AM 03/18/10
Kanan Makiyyah: he really deserves an award for pettiness and self-praise
You need to read this boring interview with Kanan Makiyyah in the mouthpiece of Prince Salman and his sons. Notice that he compares himself to Nelson Mandela. Notice that he calls himself an “academic” (I mean, would he teach Middle East politics in …
Posted by As'ad at 8:17 AM 03/18/10
Barenboim: take your piano away from here
Samer Abboud sent me this (I cite with his permission): “I hope that you are well. I just noticed your post on Miriam Said’s comments, I hope you do not mind me writing you about this. A few years ago I attended a conference in memory of Edward Said…
Posted by As'ad at 11:34 AM 03/17/10
Mubarak and Bernie
I know that this picture was supposed to show that Husni Mubarak is alive and well, but it seems to me that it only proved that he reminds us of Bernie from that movie.
Posted by As'ad at 9:48 AM 03/17/10
Mariam Said: I beg to differ
“Edward’s thinking about the conflict evolved over the years. In the end, no matter what the solution is, both peoples will have to live together. To do so we need to talk to the enemy and to break the wall that separates us. To him the WEDO was an exp…
Posted by As'ad at 9:39 AM 03/17/10
Israeli war on Palestinian children
“”The Israeli forces are threatening the families through the children,” Shafaa continues. “In the cases when the police come in and arrest the children, they will only release them on an expensive bail, and every day, the community continues to fea…
Posted by As'ad at 7:58 AM 03/17/10
Lexus and Lexus coupe
““I owe my Lexus to Khomeini and my Lexus Coupe to Bin Laden,” John Esposito of Georgetown University joked.” (thanks Dina)
Posted by As'ad at 7:56 AM 03/17/10
Juan Cole on Goldberg (Goldberg as is widely known, is the worst writer on the Middle East in the whole world)
“More recently I have provoked the ire of a burly former Israeli military prison guard at the notorious Ketziot detention camp during the first Intifada, who is among our foremost journalists of the Middle East and given a prominent perch at The Atl…
Posted by As'ad at 7:46 AM 03/17/10
Camel method
“The Times story is about an outreach technique that some Baptist missionaries use with Muslims. It involves stressing commonalities between the Koran and the Bible and affirming that the Allah of the Koran and the God of the Bible are one and the s…
Posted by As'ad at 7:27 AM 03/17/10
Australian Zionism
“There was almost no precedent for navigating these choppy waters. Australia’s cast-iron backing for Israel in the United Nations began to falter, with the country abstaining from a resolution about the Goldstone Report that demanded Israel and the …
Posted by As'ad at 7:17 AM 03/17/10
Syrian workers in Lebanon
“A Syrian worker committed suicide in a restaurant in Barouk in the Chouf region on Tuesday, according to security sources.”
Posted by As'ad at 7:16 AM 03/17/10
4 million cluster bombs
“A man working on a mine clearing team was injured on Tuesday when a cluster bomb exploded in Deir Qanoun near Tyre in South Lebanon. Hussein Yassin Mrad, 37, was injured while working with the Norwegian People’s Aid mine clearing team. He was tra…
Posted by As'ad at 7:15 AM 03/17/10
Lebanese police beats the Mossad, again
“The Internal Security Forces (ISF) Information Department arrested Maher Abu Jreish on suspicion of membership to an Israeli espionage network, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Tuesday.”
Posted by As'ad at 7:13 AM 03/17/10
Does anyone else find it odd that Israel is the most visited foreign country by US politicians?
“I’m not talking about Biden going there as VP, which is clearly part of US foreign policy. I’m talking about trips that are not part of policy, more like meet-and-greet/networking affairs. And it’s not just congressmen. It’s also various lo…
Posted by As'ad at 7:12 AM 03/17/10
They may bomb your cities and villages, but they really enjoy your food
“It turned out to be an appetizing idea. Marines returning from Iraq and the Persian Gulf were pining for pita, according to focus-group surveys conducted on the base. Last month, Ms. Hazime and her husband, a Marine veteran, opened “Dede Med’s Sha…
Posted by As'ad at 7:05 AM 03/17/10
worst than South Africa
“”In Boston, on March 5, 1770, a crowd of Americans threw rocks at British soldiers and were answered by disorderly gunfire. Five Americans were killed, and we call it the Boston Massacre. What was Gaza? Look again at the numbers. [...] Many witnes…
Posted by As'ad at 7:03 AM 03/17/10
Tarif Khalidi translates Sayyab
Comrade Tarif Khalidi is right that I have not been posting poetry. The 2400 words every week for AlAkhbar, I explained to him, is taking a lot of my time. Tarif kindly shared with me his translation of Badr Shakir As-Sayyab’s poem: Christ After the Cr…
Posted by As'ad at 6:57 AM 03/17/10
Against normalization with Israel
Muhammad `Ali Al-Khalidi writes against normalization with Israel. (thanks Laleh)
Posted by As'ad at 6:53 AM 03/17/10
An Israeli academic with a plan
Or how to trick the Palestinians to abandon the right of return: “(b) “Atomization” of the implementation by making the offer of compensation and relocation directly to the heads of families and not through any Palestinian organizational entity that…
Posted by As'ad at 6:50 AM 03/17/10
Simpsons in Israel
“The episode, titled “The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed,” includes scenes of Homer and Bart at the Western Wall with their Israeli tour guide, who will be voiced by British comedian Sascha Baron Cohen, of Borat and Bruno fame.” (thanks Farah)
Posted by As'ad at 6:46 AM 03/17/10
Herzl
“US Vice President Joe Biden did lay a wreath at Herzl’s grave, initiating the new policy that was in effect until 1994, but then lapsed when many visiting leaders preferred to pay their respects at the nearby grave of slain prime minister Yitzhak…
Posted by As'ad at 6:43 AM 03/17/10
Ethan Bronner gives a label
This is how Ethan Bronner labels the Israeli illegal settlement plan: “An ill-timed municipal housing announcement…” So it is just ill-timed. Also, notice that the Western press and the Saudi Arab press now talk about pressures on Netanyahu from his…
Posted by As'ad at 6:40 AM 03/17/10
Serving Israeli wars, proudly
Look at this headline of the New York Times: “Israel Seals Off West Bank to Prevent Unrest.” So the New York Times does not even wait to provide justification for Israeli actions. It does so in the headlines now.
Posted by As'ad at 6:33 AM 03/17/10
Walid Jumblat and anti-Semitism
I have pointed out at the height of Jumblat’s alliance with the neo-cons in DC during the Bush administration that the man had a history of anti-Semitic pronouncements. But all that was ignored because he was then serving Israeli interests. There was…
Posted by As'ad at 6:30 AM 03/17/10
