Sa'ib `Uraykat

It it is not true that my disrespect for `Uraykat is such that I would assign him no role whatsoever in liberated Palestine. I do see a role for him. I would feature him on a weekly TV shows where he would be seated on a chair (strapped) and kids can throw water balloons and shoes at him. Imagine the joy that it would bring to little kids (and me).

Saudi King: Gaurdian of the IKEA store in the kingdom

There is a conference in Janadiriyyah hosted by the Saudi king. It features (comical) panels and workshops about his vision and leadership. Some of the "papers" are being published in Saudi newspapers. They make for great readings for their comical value. This guy is a former member of the Shura council (members are appointed and have no power whatsoever--would you not like to join?) in the kingdom. He said: "The visions and initiatives of the wise and just leader, `Abdullah bin `Abdul-`Aziz House of Saud, have achieved in two decades for Arabism and Islam [not to mention for potato cultivation] what many leaders could not achieve in two centuries." The article later said that he brought Muslim closer together: did he mean that he brought them close to the brink of sectarian civil wars?

Why Israel's years are numbered

""The results show a decline in the Palestinians support for the two-state solution," Waleed Ladadweh, a researcher with the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research told The Media Line. "From 64 percent in December 2009 to 57 percent in this poll." Dr Nabil Kukali, Director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, agreed that Palestinian public opinion is trending towards a bi-national state."

Pew Polls

There are a lot of problems with Western polls that are conducted in the Middle East. I find that the ones that are conducted by Zogby to be more accurate: much more than Gallup or Pew. I was looking at the latest Pew poll conducted in Lebanon. It just does not make sense. I mean, in the last parliamentary elections, we clearly see that Hariri gets some 80 % of support among Sunnis in Beirut, and some 70 to 75 % of support among Sunnis in Sidon or Tripoli (and even in some areas of Biqa`). But in the Pew Poll, it shows Hariri goals capturing support of more than 95 % of Sunnis. What happens with those polls is this (among other problems I have discussed here before): the big Western polling firms, contract the polls to local firms, and most are pro-Hariri.

AIPAC, J Street, what is the difference anway

"Even the competition with the new Israel lobby group on the left, J Street, did not succeed in shaking the standing of AIPAC, at least in terms of the numbers of participants, with 7,500 people signing up, a record high for the group." The lousy J Street? Who would want them to succeed anyway? They are a branch of AIPAC, no more. Today, they took up an ad in the New York Times. They called on Palestinians to desist from inciting violence but did not call on Israelis to desist from inflict violence.

New York Times foreign coverage rules

It is best to cover Iran from Toronto. It is best to cover Lebanon from Dublin. It is best to cover Egypt from Memphis. It is best to cover Israel, from Israel.

Adonis (Part II)

Can Adonis ever have anything to say about another poet or writer? Ever? Here, he accuses Muhammad Al-Maghut of beating his wife.

Israel: as a "secular democracy"

"Alionel Ltd., owner of the McDonald's franchise in Israel, was fined NIS 30,000 (about $8,000) for illegally having a youth work during Shabbat, the Tel Aviv Labor Court announced Thursday. This would not be the first time that the franchise has committed the offense. In 2003, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor filed a complaint against Alionel after finding out that a McDonald's chain owned by the company employed a Jewish youth on a Saturday. Under the Youth Employment Law, it is forbidden to have Jewish youth employees during Sabbath." (thanks Sarah)

Iyad `Allawi: and Shi`ite sectarianism in the Middle East

The reason why the sectarian conflict in the Middle East grew and expanded is that no one was qualified to combat the Saudi Wahhabi plan. I mean, Hizbullah is the logical rival of Saudi Arabia but Hizbullah itself is burned by its sectarian agenda and composition, and its relations with Iran which prevent it from going all out against Saudi Arabia. So Hizbullah is supporting the electoral list of `Ammar Al-Hakim and Muqtada As-Sadr, while the Amal Movement was supporting `Allawi, who is close to Nabih Birri, although Ahmad Chalabi (who aligned himself with Hakim and As-Sadr) used to allegedly fund Amal in the 1980s. `Allawi (former puppet prime minister/car bomber/embezzler in Yemen/Saddam henchman and possible fabricator of an assassination plot on his life in London) was on Aljazeera yesterday. He praised the resistance to US occupation troops and said that he serves as "the bridge" between the Iraqi resistance in the political process in Iraq. Allawi basically ran his campaign as Ba`th light, with the support of Prince Muqrin. For this I now have a theory: that Prince Muqrin can win any election in the Middle East. He won in Lebanon, Iraq, and will soon win in Palestine. This is why, I dont call for elections or democracy in the Middle East--until further notice.

Moussavi groupies for Israel

"The fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed during protests in Teheran following the Iranian elections last year, visited Israel as guest of Channel 2, the station reported Friday evening." (thanks Shaheen)

Holy sex segregation

"A hardline Saudi cleric called for demolishing the Holy Mosque in Mecca and rebuilding it in a way that would insure Sex segregation." I like it when they say "hardline Saudi cleric" as if the government allows for the appointment of any cleric who is not hardline. (thanks Safia)

Fascists for Israel

Look at the fifth picture below. (thanks Asa)

harsh treatment

"UK's military intelligence ran a secret torture unit in Iraq which "reported directly to London" and authorised harsh treatment of detainees, a media report said on Sunday."

It is all for you, Jamal Mubarak

""I had very good relations with the director of Israeli military intelligence." (thanks Olivia)

Sterilizing poor Egyptian women

The Egyptian government now wants to sterilize poor Egyptian women. (thanks Basma)

Nicole Kidman in Iraq

"Speaking after the surgery, bandages and swelling gone, 23-year-old Sarah Saad Abdul-Hameed was ecstatic. Friends who visited "were surprised with the change in my face," she said. "They compared my nose to Nicole Kidman's!""

Prostraters before he House of Saud

Al-Janadiriyyah conferences basically is a gathering to all those Arab writers/intellectuals who wish to prostrate themselves before the princes of the House of Saud. (thanks Hikmat)

The lousy Muslim Brotherhood

"The Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie said he is praying for Mubarak's health and wishing him a safe return after his surgery in Germany." (thanks Laleh)

Walid Jumblat calls me "crazy"

I mean, what better honor, really. So Walid Jumblat in an interview with Rami Al-Amin calls me "majnun." (crazy) To be called Majnun by Walid jumblat is like being called unprincipled by.... Walid Jumblat. My enemies don't know this: I relish being hated by them.

Iraqi elections

I mean, I have never ever heard of a longer voting count than that of the Iraqi election. If takes a day longer, I am going to start thinking that maybe there is political and financial corruption in Iraq. But there are US troops there and the US is a guarantee against corruption, no?

Butrus Harb

This Lebanese politician really bothers me. He feigns seriousness and statepersonship for some reason. He thinks he is something that he is not.

From Megan Stack's forthcoming book

Look at this passage by Megan Stack from her forthcoming book: why can't mainstream journalists write like that? ""The bombings were huge and awful [yes, Megan, but Israeli bombings were more huge and more awful], but the sufferings of the Palestinians was chronic, dripping through the days like acide. All the small horrors that get washed away from a distance, that never make the news but are the grains of earth in that place--the Palestinian cancer patients who are not allowed to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment; the Palestinians mothers who gave birth at checkpoints; the people who hadn't seen their families for years; the shepherds who led their flocks accidentally into the wrong spot and got blow away; the Palestinian-American woman who came to visit her family one summer and got stuck because the Israeli wouldn't give her a permit to drive back to the airport, because even Palestinians with American passports are treated like plain old Palestinians once the yset foot inside Israel; the settlers who ransacked the olive groves; the market stalls and greenhouses torn down. The occupation was a cloud of punishment that raged in times of suicide bombings and in times of quiet, a few miles away, invisible." (p. 49 from the pre-publication copy of the book).

Israeli killings

""The IDF confirmed that soldiers used rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse rock-throwers near the village of Burin, 7 km. southwest of Nablus, and that a preliminary investigation had ruled out the possibility that soldiers used regular bullets. But Pollak contended that Qadus was indeed killed by live ammunition." one side confirmed, the other merely contended." (thanks Yasmine)

Megan Stack

I like Megan Stack, LA Times' foreign correspondent. I never met her but she was stationed in Beirut during the Potato Revolution and she was by far the most reasonable (and accurate) among the foreign correspondents in the city. Her dispatches from there were always rightly critical and cynical, unlike the pro-Hariri, pro-Bush propaganda that filled US newspapers during those times. I have received a pre-publication version of her new book--thanks Megan--(to come out soon from Random House), titled Every Man in this Village is a Liar. I am reading the book with great interest and she is a very interesting writer and has a sharp section on Israel (read about Miri on page 45). I will say more but for now: what is with the offensive title. It was not her line, I know (just as the Angry Arab is an ironic title) but come on. It does not reflect well on the people she is writing about.

Hamas: in the footsteps of Fath

I am sure that Hamas will soon produce its own version of Muhammad Dahlan: Mahmoud al-Zahar: Qassams helping Israel."

Anthony Shadid: in the footsteps of Thomas Friedman?

"A friend once called it the culture of the “kundara,” the word here for shoe. “When anyone is against you, when anyone has differences with me, I will put a kundara in his mouth, I will shove a kundara down his throat, I will hit him with a kundara,” he said in 2006, long before the spectacle of President Bush’s visit to Baghdad. “We live in a kundara culture,” he said. The roots of political violence run deep in Iraq, long a turbulent frontier between Romans and Persians, Ottomans and Safavids and, now, Americans and Iranians." Such simplistic cliches and wild generalizations about Iraqi people and their history. I mean, when I see a reference to the speech of Al-Hajjaj, I really squirm and I know what is coming. Colin Powell's presentation on his plan for the invasion of Iraq in 1990 was more violent and wild than the speech of Al-Hajjaj, by far. And the silly reference to "kundarah" what does that mean? I can speak about a gun culture here in the US, where crime is far more frequent than in Iraq? And did European history have less violence than Iraqi history? I mean, we speak of the 100 years war, for potato's sake. And the worst part about the whole article, it draws an offensive and insulting portrait of the Iraqi people and attributes violent impulses to them and yet, there is not a single word about the violence that has been imposed on Iraq by the US since 1991. I mean, Bush has caused inflicted more violence and harm on Iraq than Hajjaj. (thanks Sinan)

This will not be a headline in the New York Times

"Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank today amid a new descent into violence. The two, who Palestinians claimed were detained while ploughing a field of olive trees near Nablus, were shot several times. Palestinian officials said both were 17. The Israeli military said they had tried to stab a soldier." (thanks Suha)

Hizbullah and UAE

When I was in Lebanon last January, I learned so many things that I forgot to report on so many things. I will be there in late May, so I will learn more. Here is another one that I forgot about. I was talking to a friend the other day, and he reminded me of the story that I had told him in Beirut in January (in light of the Dubai assassination and the high-profile role of the Dubai chief of police.) Months ago (in 2009), the UAE sent a very high envoy to Beirut on a secret mission to meet with Hasan Nasrallah. The man met with Hasan Nasrallah for several hours. His message from UAE rulers was that they want Hizbullah to use its influence among the Shi`ites of the Gulf to prevent disturbances in the event of an Israeli/US war on Iran. I am told, that what the man heard from Nasrallah left him terrified and he told aides that he is not comfortable in relaying the message to UAE rulers. I am told that the message said in effect that those countries would suffer if they host an attack on Iran, and a reference was made to the high rises in Dubai. The man was shaking when he left to the airport to leave on his private jet.

Shooting homosexuals in Lebanese army barracks?

A most reliable source tells me that the two were (according to rumors but nothing is verifiable at this point) shot dead when caught in a homosexual act. I mean, why would they commit suicide at the same time in their separate rooms? "LBCI reported on Saturday that two members of the Lebanese army, Tanios Yammine and Chahine Elia, committed suicide at the Lebanese Armed Forces’ military barracks in Smar Jbeil in Batroun, quoting an unidentified military source. Earlier in the day, the National News Agency reported that Yammine and Elia had died in an ‘accident’."

Another Lebanese genius-crook

Lebanese are proud of the contributions of Lebanese around the world, especially in the areas of rape, theft, corruption, murder, prostitution, and embezzlement. Meet this crook now. The whole nation "shook up in pride" as the lyrics of one song has it. (Thanks Nader)

Look at this Palestinian boy

He will grow up. He will fight back. He was arrested for fighting against Israeli occupation with pebbles. (AFP)

Lebanon's runaway maids

"“When a maid runs away from her employer's house, the police station is unable to act because there's no law criminalizing runaway maids. So the police station officer tells the Lebanese employee to say that she stole money,” writes Ethiopian Suicides." (thanks "Ibn Rushd")

Kissinger and population control

"On Dec. 10, 1974, the U.S. National Security Council under Henry Kissinger completed a classified 200-page study, “National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests.” The study falsely claimed that population growth in the so-called Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs) was a grave threat to U.S. national security. Adopted as official policy in November 1975 by President Gerald Ford, NSSM 200 outlined a covert plan to reduce population growth in those countries through birth control, and also, implicitly, war and famine. Brent Scowcroft, who had by then replaced Kissinger as national security adviser (the same post Scowcroft was to hold in the Bush administration), was put in charge of implementing the plan. CIA Director George Bush was ordered to assist Scowcroft, as were the secretaries of state, treasury, defense, and agriculture."

Biden in Israel

"US Vice President Joe Biden was the first visiting foreign dignitary to lay a wreath at the tomb of Theodor Herzl on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem within the framework of activities to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Herzl. Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, visited Mt. Herzl on Tuesday March 9, 2010. They were accompanied by World Zionist Organization Executive member Adv. Hagai Meirom and Director of the Mount Herzl site Jacob Gispan. The World Zionist Organization is responsible for the maintenance and development of Mt. Herzl and operates the adjacent Herzl Museum and educational center. Merom gave Biden a copy of Herzl's book, Altneuland, a novel devoted to Zionism. In response Biden said: "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. I also see myself as a Zionist."" (thanks Olivia)

Facebook does not like Dalal Al-Mughrabi

Apparently, Facebook is very hostile to Fath commander, Dalal Al-Mughrabi (whose dead body was mutilated by Ehud Barak after her murder). (thanks Laure)

Adonis

Long interviews with Adonis in Al-Hayat. Notice that he is allowed to speak about (and against) Arab nationalism, leftism, and SSNP but not about Wahhabi salafism. Also notice that he accuses the great poet, Khalil Hawi (one of my favorites) of being jealous of him. But Adonis did not say if Hawi continued to be jealous of him when he died. Notice that he also said that Mahmud Darwish's poem about his mother is "laughable." (thanks Zainab)

Ethan Bronner's sources in one article

Sarah collected the sources in one article by Ethan Bronner:

1. "said a former official who remains a consultant to the Israeli government and would speak only on condition of anonymity to guard his official relationship."

2. "Another government adviser, however, said neither of the promises had been made, nor would they be."

3. "A senior official agreed. Speaking on the condition that he not be named, he said that Israel considered itself sovereign in Jerusalem and that even though the world disagreed, Israel would do nothing to foster, even tacitly, the de facto division of the city."

4. "Yaron Dekel, a morning radio host and former Washington correspondent of Israel Radio, said in a telephone interview."

5. "Meir Sheetrit, a member of Kadima, said the tension between Washington and Jerusalem was not really about building in Jerusalem but about Mr. Netanyahu’s failure to move peace talks forward in the past year."

6. "Mr. Netanyahu and his top aides disagree." When asked about such bias in coverage (can you find one article about the Palestinians in the New York Times, even if it is about Palestinian poetry, that does not quote and cite Israelis?), he said that the Palestinians are not allowed to speak but that they are allowed to wash dishes in the kitchen of his house.

Look how the New York Times make it a purely legal matter

"“I cannot sign this,” Commander Zazai said, thumping his crutch again. “I don’t know what that intelligence said; we did not see that intelligence. It is right that we are illiterate, but we are not blind.

“Who proved that these men were guilty?” No one answered because Commander Zazai had just touched on the crux of the legal debate that has raged for nearly a decade in the United States: Does the United States have the legal right to hold, indefinitely without charge or trial, people captured on the battlefield? His question also exposed a fundamental disagreement between the Afghans and the American military about whether people had been fairly detained. This is the latest chapter in America’s tortuous effort to repair the damage done over the last nine years by a troubled, overcrowded detention system that often produced more insurgents rather than reforming them. The problems were similar in the huge sweeps of suspected insurgents in Iraq."

Norman Finkelstein's Best Revenge

Norman Finkelstein's enemies will suffer series of heart attacks when they read his latest book, which is not published yet. "This Time We Went Too Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion" (which will be out soon, but I read a pre-publication copy last night) is a powerful and devastating dissection of the Israeli war crime festival in Gaza. Norman is at his best, and he marshals all the facts and use them in a most effective way. It is a succinct summary of the Israeli methods of war and propaganda. The polemical skills of the authors are as sharp as ever. Now, Norman had warned me that I will not like the conclusions and he was right: I cant stand for the Gandhian methods of struggle: in fact, my reaction to the Gandhian methods of resistance as a recipe for Palestinian struggle is probably not different from Mrs. Gandhi's reaction to Mahatma's explanation to her regarding his methods of "testing" his chastity. I also bitterly oppose the two-state solution. But Norman is a special case: I am not normally tolerant of disagreements regarding Palestine, but the man has paid his dues and his services to the anti-Zionst, anti-Israeli cause have won him a special place in the struggle for Palestine.

American plans for Iraq: the Israel factor

I mean, one of the neo-conservative plans for Iraq was to guarantee the normalization of relations between Israel and the post-Saddam Iraq. That was a joke. I mean, aside from the joke by the name of Mithal Allusi, only the Kurdish tribal confederate parties has established relations with Israel, while the rest of the country remained opposed. To speak in the sectarian terms that the US war imposed on Iraq, the Shi`ite are largely supportive of Hizbullah, while the Sunnis are largely either Arab nationalists or Islamist-oriented. Leftists are also opposed to Israel. Basically, the neo-conservatives can celebrate the fact that the unknown, Mithal Allusi (who survives two assassination plots on his life per day), has visited Israel. And comrade Amer tells me that Allusi's showing in the election was abysmal (between 500 and 2000 votes in most provinces, not a 10th of a deputy, in Baghdad, his list got 16242 votes so far out of millions of votes, he will not get a single seat. If you wanna gloat some more, Mouaffaq al-Rubai`i got 1557 votes.")

Lebanese police beats the Mossad, again and again and again

I mean, this is the Lebanese police, for potato's sake. (thanks Dina)

Fania Oz

Comrade Rami sent me this (I cite with his permission): "had an encounter with Fania oz his daughter in Oxford in 1986 or 87. She came to my lab looking to establish "dialogue" with me as I was very involved in the Palestine society. She told me I am amoz oz's daughter and I believe in peace. I refused to talk to her and she kept insisting that we should organize round tables to discuss peace. I told her we will do this when all Palestine is free and Zionism elliminated. She came back a few day later and this time accused me of lying by claiming that I was Palestinian when I was Lebanese. I told her we are all Palestinian. She didn't invite me to any meeting after that: I guess they had enough Lebanese."

Protest at AUB

Ahmed (a radical comrade from AUB) sent me this (I cite with his permission): "In reference to the small protest staged at AUB against Carlos Slim, in which I took part, LA Times got it wrong, we were not dispersed within minutes. We stayed for almost an hour. Once we put on our masks and unfolded our banners, they closed the curtains so that the people inside the hall could not see us, then the security came and tried to unmask us, but we 'held to our masks'. The organizers of the event came and tried to give us lessons on how we are uncivilized, how this is not the right time or place for protest, how people are there to listen to Slim and not see masked people, and how masked people are scary, but we held to our position. Then AUB bourgeoisie, mostly business students, came to make fun of us, one person but a paper mask and held a paper saying in Arabic "I am hungry" (because you know, the only reason for us to "hate rich people" is that we are poor), another person threw coins at us, a third person put a free drink coupon on the floor in front of us (and I yelled at him "thanks, we need it"). Many people approached us, some were aggressive, some were sarcastic, and some discussed the matter with us, a few were convinced (one person even asked for a mask and joined us), and many told us that they will google up the Zapatistas once they get home. All in all I guess it was a success, beside it was fun pissing those people off, and I think the best thing the security did was trying to disperse us; this way they made a scene and brought us more attention. I believe one of the comrades is planning on writing a correction to LA Times. Please feel free to use this information as you wish."

Poets not allowed

"A Saudi woman received a death threat last week after she appeared on “Poet of Millions,” Abu Dhabi’s version of the game show “American Idol” — which features aspiring poets instead of singers — and recited a poem attacking clerics for “terrorizing people and preying on everyone seeking peace.”" (thanks Safia)

plots and bombs

"The highland population there is irritated by Wahhabi encroachments and, getting no help from the Sana’a government, decided to defend themselves. Tribal militias captured a few Saudi soldiers with the result that on 5 November last year the world caught its first glimpse of the Saudi Air Force in action (it should be the most powerful air force in the region after the US and Israel, but its planes usually rust away in desert warehouses). Ali Saleh obligingly describes the revolt as a Shia rebellion backed by Tehran, which had to be put down with force. But few believe this. The Yemeni army had embarked last August on Operation Scorched Earth, which destroyed villages and drove 150,000 villagers from their homes. Because of the news blackout and banning of relief organisations, the scale of government atrocities is unclear. Muhammad al-Maqaleh, a leader of the Yemeni Socialist Party and editor of the party’s paper, the Socialist, managed to get some eyewitness reports and put them up on the web last September. He described a military air strike that killed 87 refugees in Sa’ada, and accompanied the reports with photographs. He was held without trial for four months, tortured and threatened with execution. Finally brought to court, he revealed what had been done to him. Sana’a is certainly not Kabul, but if the regime continues to use force on this scale new civil wars seem probable." (thanks Laleh)

FBI schemes

"Four men accused of trying to bomb synagogues and shoot down planes in New York last spring did little more than go along with a fake plot proposed, directed and funded by the federal government, defense lawyers claim in asking the court to dismiss the case." (thanks Sarah)

This will not be a headline in the New York Times

"A Palestinian youth was killed by Israel troops and another was seriously wounded on Saturday during a clash in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian hospital officials said." (thanks Olivia)

PA chief collaborator

Abu Mazen is falling and he can't get up. (thanks Farah)

Saudi-Israeli conspiracy? What Saudi-Israeli conspiracy?

You have to see this Saudi cover up on Israeli policies. The mouthpiece of Prince Salman (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat) has a big headline that Israel ended Jewish settlements in Jerusalem. I mean, not even the New York Times would print that lie. Really.

Sri lankan maids in Lebanon

A Sri Lankan maid was found dead after she jumped from a balcony in Lebanon. And Syrian workers were robbed.