A new low for the Economist: it celebrates democratic voting in Gulf regimes

Have I not been telling you that Gulf regimes have been buying influence in the Western press as of late?  Look at this opening sentence: "DECEMBER will witness a small step forward for both women and for democracy in Saudi Arabia."  The piece only talked to government supporters and even implied that those councils are anything but powerless regime PR vehicles.

Anne Barnard: her love affairs with Syrian rebel bombings continue

"while Syrian government warplanes continued indiscriminate barrel bombing, the Islamic State took over new areas, other insurgent groups battled government forces and one another, and Syria’s economy collapsed."  Notice that she does not refer to indiscriminate bombings by Syrian rebels and phrases the sentence in a way to maintain that Syrian rebels only fight against armed forces or armed men.  Just today, Syrian rebels indiscriminately shelled Damascus.

The fake ISIS terrorist

"A young Jewish American man has been charged with pretending to be an Australian-based Islamic State jihadist after a FBI joint investigation with the Australian Federal Police based on information provided by Fairfax Media. Joshua Ryne Goldberg, a 20-year old living at his parents' house in US state of Florida, is accused of posing online as "Australi Witness," an IS supporter who publicly called for a series of attacks against individuals and events in western countries." "The fake jihadi also claimed a friendship with anti-Islamophobia campaigner Mariam Veiszadeh, but only to smear her reputation."

Ha ha ha: Exclusive Reuters story about Russian troops in Syria

"Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in Syria in support of government troops, three Lebanese sources familiar with the political and military situation there said on Wednesday."  Three Lebanese sources? That must be credible. So one is from the Hariri camp and the other is from the Hariri camp and the third is from the Hariri camp. That is quite strong evidence.  Are those the same sources who said that Ali Mamluk was ousted?

States who send weapons & militants to Syria don't want Syria's refugees

"Despite withering criticism over their reluctance to host Syria's refugees, the rich Arab Gulf states are unlikely to end their practice of keeping out those who flee the world's trouble spots."

part of the plan was to “foster tensions between Shiites and Sunnis. In particular, to take rumors that are known to be false...or exaggerations and promote them – that Iran is trying to convert poor Sunnis

"Assange referred to the chapter on Syria, which goes back to 2006. In that chapter is a cable from US Ambassador William Roebuck - who was stationed in Damascus - which apparently discusses a plan for the overthrow of the Assad government in Syria." "He added that the most serious part of the plan was to “foster tensions between Shiites and Sunnis. In particular, to take rumors that are known to be false...or exaggerations and promote them – that Iran is trying to convert poor Sunnis, and to work with Saudi and Egypt to foster that perception in order to make it harder for Iran to have influence, and also harder for the government to have influence in the population”." (thanks Amir)

What the New York Times does not tell you about the re-opened Israeli occupation embassy in Cairo

"after a ceremony inaugurating the new embassy in what had been the ambassador’s residence."  What the paper does not tell you is that the new embassy is located inside the residence of the ambassador because after four years of searching, no Egyptian was willing to rent or sell property to the Israeli government.  That is why.

American exceptionalism

"The United States is one of four countries around the world with no national laws requiring paid parental leave for new mothers."

Joseph Massad's Islam in Liberalism

"Islam in Liberalism is required reading for anyone invested in Muslim Studies. This book reminds us that in order to move beyond scholarship revolving around a simplistic binarism between West and non-West, we must never forget how this opposition has shaped and continues to actively influence scholarship today. Furthermore, studying “Islam” requires unpacking this term, which has become a reified, catch-all signifier in much Western scholarship. More than that, though, it may suggest that some of what is called Muslim Studies is less about something called “Islam” than it is about liberalism. Thus, anyone who seeks to study Islam within a Western context must also undertake, as a necessary correlate to Muslim Studies, something that might be called Liberalism Studies."

Antoine Lahd dead

This Israeli puppet, and head of a terrorist gang formed by Israel, has died: he lived in disgrace, and he died in disgrace and will only be remembered as a disgraceful figure.  When I met Suha Bisharah, the brave communist woman who shot Lahd (but didn't kill him) my first words to her were: by which hand? 

A Lebanese woman claims (and Lebanon believes it) that she won the award for "Best PhD in the world"

This is the story in a Lebanese newspaper (the Hariri mouthpiece) and is spreading fast. Yesterday, her hometown in Lebanon honored her for the great achievement.   I posted it yesterday on FB and Twitter in Arabic. A diligent reader did the research and found this: 

"Regarding your post for the best PhD in the world winner, I could not let another achievement just pass by this time , so i took a few minutes to research this.

Here's the  quick findings

he went to Toledo, Spain and won the Student Speech Contest, at the 14th ECerS (European Ceramic Society) Conference . See here: 

This gets even sillier, MTV lebanon, airs a small footage about the 'achievement' they even show the award and still they claim in the narration that she won 'best PhD international' , who makes this crap up.

Finally, the problem is also with her and not just the silly media, look at her post on instagram, she doesnt even correct it..

And here she gloats about the achievements 

I will stop now coz this is making me sick

You can go to bed now and rest assured the future is so bright for humanity".

Hummus news

The secret to a good authentic Hummus.  In an hour, the Israeli occupation embassy in DC will claim that this recipe was found in a cave near Jerusalem and written in Hebrew.

When the US government speaks Arabic

Do they hire former Phalanges to translate into Arabic for them? Look at the quality of translation.

U.S. military training of human rights abusers

"Special operators, for example, carried out a JCET in Saudi Arabia in December 2011. The next month, Army Green Berets began a 60-day JCET while Saudi security forces clashed with demonstrators seeking an end to sectarian discrimination. The Saudi government said the demonstrators were armed but according to a State Department report, protesters claimed that “security forces responded to stone-throwing youths by firing indiscriminately” at them. In February 2012, elite U.S. troops kicked off a new JCET, practicing advanced marksmanship and close-quarter battle techniques while also focusing, according to the Pentagon documents, on “principles and procedures of human rights.” At the same time, however, Saudi security forces reportedly killed two activists and wounded as many as 50 people. Nevertheless, the JCETs continued. In 2013 the U.S. conducted four months of missions in the kingdom while the State Department held that there were, again, “some reports of human rights abuses by security forces,” including torture and violence directed at demonstrators."

France's secret service, DGSE bombed Greenpeace's ship then denied it

"The attack in Auckland on July 10, 1985 was aimed at preventing the Greenpeace ship from protesting French nuclear testing at Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia. Two bombs were detonated before midnight sinking the vessel, however they also caused the death of Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira." "At first the French Minister of Defence Charles Hernu denied French involvement in the actual bombing claiming Prieur and Mafart had simply been observing the Greenpeace ship."

"Australia plans bombing Syria as Liberals warn against too much refugee compassion"

"The Abbott government is expected on Wednesday morning to announce bombing runs against Islamic State targets in Syria, but the question of how many refugees Australia should take from the millions escaping the war-ravaged country has exposed ugly divisions in the Coalition party room. While most Coalition MPs want decisive action on the crisis, some counsel against it and pressure is mounting internally for priority selection of "persecuted minorities". Advocates of a non-discriminatory policy say this is code for helping Christians at the expense of others such as Muslims."

Woman rescued from Saudi diplomat's home

"A diplomat from Saudi Arabia is among those booked for gangrape and wrongful confinement after two women — a woman, 44, and her daughter, 20, from Nepal — were rescued from his residence in Gurgaon after a raid on Monday night, police said." (thanks Amir)

50 Spies Say ISIS Intelligence Was Cooked

""Some felt it was a product of commanders protecting their career advancement by putting the best spin on the war. Some reports crafted by the analysts that were too negative in their assessment of the war were sent back the chain of the command or not shared up the chain, several analysts said. Still others, feeling the climate around them, self-censored so their reports affirmed already-held beliefs."" (thanks Shayon)

"Partha Chatterjee: Why I Support the Boycott of Israeli Institutions"

"Yet judgments had to be made. On Palestine, my judgment was clear. Jews from Germany and Eastern Europe had found hospitality in the United States and Western Europe. Nevertheless, they insisted on a state of their own, moved into the British territory of Palestine and, after the British left, began to seize the lands where Palestinians had lived for centuries, driving them into refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries. I remember the war over Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal – a last desperate attempt by a pathetic British aristocracy to hold on to the vestiges of its colonial empire. From then on, the United States became the guardian angel of the Zionist state as the latter emerged as a major military power in the region, armed with a nuclear arsenal it refuses to acknowledge. More ominously, it became a security state singularly aimed at the protection of one section of its population – the Jews – and treating its Arab citizens as lowly barbarians threatening to swamp the Jewish nation with their fast-breeding families and actively assisting the hostile forces ranged across the border. Israel continues to build walls to fortify the Jewish population, imposes a ruthless regime of passes and security checks that every Arab-Israeli or Palestinian has to daily negotiate, and ignores every international norm to build Jewish settlements in Palestinian lands in order to permanently scuttle all chances of a sovereign Palestinian state coming into existence. I don’t need to mobilize any scholarly knowledge at all: my inherited common sense tells me what I need to know. This is colonial rule as well as apartheid, both based on the exercise of brute force." (thanks Robin)

And now a commercial oil break from David Ignatius, the faithful propagandist for House of Saud (and Hashemite kingdom)

"could come from having a young, dynamic Saudi king who, it’s said, wants to move in the modernizing direction of the United Arab Emirates."  Yes, because UAE is a democracy.

PS The meeting between Muhammad bin Salman and Ali Mamluk was in Jiddah and not in Riyadh.

Aljazeera broadcasters referring to West as "crusaders"

One Lebanese Aljazeera broadcaster was furious that her colleagues were referring to "crusaders".

scandal in Mauritania as a man is seen kissing the hand of the US ambassador

People are furious.

Israel tour

So the International Crisis Group is now officially on the record in favor of Western military sponsorship of rebels (they call them Thawri to make them fancy)

"For thawri rebels and their backers, the combination of stalled battlefield pro- gress and unsatisfied civil opportunity is dangerous. Success against the regime in the south is a primary part of their local appeal and credibility; if they cannot con- tinue to gain, or enable similar progress in improving quality of life in areas they control, an opening may quickly emerge for a Salafi-jihadi resurgence."  Wait: let me guess: those Thawri rebels (by the way, to say Thawri rebels is like saying rebels rebels or tomato tomato) are really moderate and feminist and liberal and secular and even drink whiskey at night?

So the US trained a Syrian mercenary force but it suffered from several problems among them:

"They had no local support from the population".  Other than that they were hugely popular.

Israelis who burned babies alive are walking around free

"Almost six weeks have passed since the murderous attack on the Dawabsheh family’s home in the West Bank village of Duma, yet as far as is known Israel’s security agencies still don’t have a clue about who perpetrated it." "It can be assumed, with a fairly high degree of certainty, that the murderers came from one of the wild outposts around the Shiloh Valley. And in any case, the population on which suspicion has fallen — the one from which previous arsonists and lawbreakers came — isn’t a group of infinite size or indeterminate character."

Habre's security forces were trained by key American allies, including Israel and Saudi Arabia

"Brought to power by covert CIA support under the Reagan administration, Habre's security forces were trained by key American allies, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. Habre used them generously and lethally: His secret police are accused of killing some 40,000 people in political prisons between 1982 and 1990, according to findings by a Chadian truth commission. An additional 200,000 had been unjustly imprisoned and tortured." (thanks Basim)

Tripping

Action on Twitter by various Lebanese groups involved in the protests

Source.

Promoted to the rank of Saudi

"Emirati and Bahraini soldiers who were “martyred” in Yemen will be treated as Saudis “materially and morally,” said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, SPA reported on Tuesday." (thanks Basim)

Paris thieves grab €180k watch from Saudi prince

"The grand-nephew of the Saudi king was making a call on the street outside the Hotel du Louvre Paris near the famous Gallery, when thieves snatched the watch from him. 

 

The three-man gang was loitering near the hotel looking for rich guests to prey upon when they spotted Prince Mohammad Bin Adulaziz Al Saud, a grand-nephew of the Saudi king, walking up and down on the footpath as he made a call around midnight on Saturday, Le Parisien reported."

I am not making this up: US complains that Russian interference in Syria may interfere with its interference in Syria

"pointed to the danger that Russian airstrikes might interfere with the air operations that the United States and its partners are carrying out in Syria".

Anne Barnard is at it again on Syria: she simply makes things up for pure propaganda purposes

"as Mr. Assad portrays himself as a protector of minorities like the Druse".  When did Bashshar Al-Asad ever portrays himself as "protector of minorities"?  Furthermore, I defy Ms. Barnard who can't read Arabic and has to rely on her Arabic speaking pro-Free Syrian Army staffers to find one reference to "minorities" in a speech by Bashshar.  But given the propaganda quality of coverage of Syria in the US (and Western) media, any attempt to bring accuracy and factualness to the coverage leads one to be accused of being pro-regime. So let the lies and fabrications predominate if it serves US foreign policy agenda.   Can you imagine the reaction of her editor if she were to make up stuff about Israeli leaders?

"Storm of Resolve" lunch boxes in Saudi Arabia: if this was done by Hamas and Hizbollah there would have been outcries: look what they teach children

Top 10 foreign governments paying for influence in the US in 2013

Top 10 foreign governments paying for influence in 2013

1. UAE 14.2 million

2. Germany $12 million

3. Canada $11.2 million

4. Saudi Arabia $11.1 million

5. Mexico $6.1 million

6. Morocco $4 million

7. South Korea $3.9 million

8. Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic) $2.4 million

9. Georgia $2.3 million

10.  Azerbaijan $2.3 million

Source: Sunlight Foundation

Take two: what does takfiri mean and what does Hizbollah mean when he refers to his fight against Takfiris?

From Alfred: "About 2 weeks, I signed on Fox news Online just interested how they are spinning the news. There was a headline about  HA's Nasralla's speech "threatening Israel". In the article, it mentioned that he threatened to kill the "Takfiris" and in parenthesis it describes Takfiris as persons who are "not Muslims". "

PS Takfiri (see below) mean those who declare others as infidels. So when Hizbollah refers to his fight against takfiris he is referring to his fight against ISIS and Al-Qa`idah, but they seem to have become allies of the US in the same front with the second closest Middle East ally for the US, i.e. Saudi regime.

You have to see the trash journalism quality of Huffington Post Arabi Qatari regime

Not to mention that explicit Rafiq Hariri propaganda in the article.

Muhammad bin Zayid explicitly promises "revenge" in Yemen: but what do you expect from those royal families who rule by medieval customs?

Israeli Orientalism: what does takfiri mean? And how deep is Zionist ignorance of the Middle East?

"conquered from the "takfiris" (the infidels, a combination of Arabic and English, as Hezbollah refers to the rebels in Syria)".  I don't know what he means by the combination of Arabic and English as the word Takfiri and takfiriyyin has no English in it. Secondly, takfiri means someone who engages in takfir (which means the declaration of the infidelity of others). So when Hizbollah refers to those as takfiri he is not calling them infidels, you bright one, but complaining about their practice of referring to others as infidels. Got it? Or do you need yet another course in Zionist Orientalism?

US-supported Saudi war crimes

"Two children were killed on Sunday in Al-Sab’een Childhood and Motherhood Hospital due the Saudi-led coalition air raids against Al-Sab’een district in the capital Sana’a."

 Photos

Western responsibility in Syria

"But in practice, Britain, the US, Gulf monarchies and Turkey have exacerbated the Syrian conflict by supporting an armed opposition that from an early stage was led by extreme jihadis. As early as August 2012 a Defense Intelligence Agency report states that “the Salafist, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI [Al- Qaeda in Iraq] are the major forces driving the insurgency in Syria.”

Western doctrine in Syria

"While millions of Syrians are fleeing, tens of thousands of jihadi volunteers are coming in. They are the shock troops of the self-styled Islamic State, which with Saudi and Turkish backing has taken control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq that it calls its caliphate. Its oppressive rule is reminiscent, albeit in religious garb, of the brutality of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Indeed, Ahmed S. Hashim wrote in Middle East Policy that Saddam’s former intelligence operatives were “maintaining special detachments for conducting assassinations, kidnappings and the collection of funds” for ISIS." "A friend of mine in Aleppo, who refuses to leave despite the battles in his once beautiful city, told me over the telephone, “You have sent hell to us.” That is, he blames me as a Westerner for putting the jihadis in his midst."

When Western media fall in love with Arab tyrants and their wives they fall head-over-heels

Leading visionary?  

The Invasion of the Tyrants

"According to the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat and the Emirati state news agency WAM, Saudi Arabia had sent elite units to Marib overnight. The Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper qualified that, saying Saudi Arabia had sent "huge reinforcements" of its elite forces to Marib. "Final preparations are being made for a decisive battle, before moving on to liberate (the Yemeni capital) Sana'a," al-Hayat said." (thanks Amir)

So blame Arabic for the racism of Israelis: the anti-Arab racism of the Nation magazine

"Sadly enough, some of the most aggressive bigotry against local Arabs comes from Israeli Jews whose grandparents spoke Arabic as their mother tongue."  Yes, because the European Zionists in Israel were most humane and pacifist toward the Arab. What a ridiculous notion: especially that the practical and gun racism of Israel has been lead championed by European Zionists in Israel and elsewhere.  Furthermore, how on earth this writer of the Nation was able to document this generalization?