"Obama Isn't The First U.S. President Accused Of Being Secretly Muslim"

"One Federalist called Jefferson the “great arch priest of Jacobinism and infidelity.” The Connecticut Courant suggested he might be a secret Jew or Muslim. It complained that no one seemed to know “whether Mr. Jefferson believes in the heathen mythology or in the alcoran (Quran); whether he is a Jew or a Christian; whether he believes in one God, or in many; or in none at all.”

There was talk at the founding of turning the United States into an officially Protestant nation, and during debates over the Constitution, some in the states raised the specter of a Catholic, “infidel,” or “Turk” (an epithet for “Muslim”) holding office. But the founders wisely decided on a godless Constitution with no religious tests for national office."

The US government is officially in favor of beheading and crucifixion in Saudi Arabia

"QUESTION: Change topic? Saudi Arabia.

MR TONER: Saudi Arabia.

QUESTION: Yesterday, Saudi Arabia was named to head the Human Rights Council, and today I think they announced they are about to behead a 21-year-old Shia activist named Muhammed al-Nimr. Are you aware of that?

MR TONER: I’m not aware of the trial that you – or the verdict – death sentence.

QUESTION: Well, apparently, he was arrested when was 17-years-old and kept in juvenile detention, then moved on. And now, he’s been scheduled to be executed.

MR TONER: Right. I mean, we’ve talked about our concerns about some of the capital punishment cases in Saudi Arabia in our Human Rights Report, but I don’t have any more to add to it.

QUESTION: So you --

QUESTION: Well, how about a reaction to them heading the council?

MR TONER: Again, I don’t have any comment, don’t have any reaction to it. I mean, frankly, it’s – we would welcome it. We’re close allies. If we --

QUESTION: Do you think that they’re an appropriate choice given – I mean, how many pages is – does Saudi Arabia get in the Human Rights Report annually?

MR TONER: I can’t give that off the top of my head, Matt.

QUESTION: I can’t either, but let’s just say that there’s a lot to write about Saudi Arabia and human rights in that report. I’m just wondering if you that it’s appropriate for them to have a leadership position.

MR TONER: We have a strong dialogue, obviously a partnership with Saudi Arabia that spans, obviously, many issues. We talk about human rights concerns with them. As to this leadership role, we hope that it’s an occasion for them to look at human rights around the world but also within their own borders.

QUESTION: But you said that you welcome them in this position. Is it based on improved record? I mean, can you show or point to anything where there is a sort of stark improvement in their human rights record?

MR TONER: I mean, we have an ongoing discussion with them about all these human rights issues, like we do with every country. We make our concerns clear when we do have concerns, but that dialogue continues. But I don’t have anything to point to in terms of progress.

QUESTION: Would you welcome as a – would you welcome a decision to commute the sentence of this young man?

MR TONER: Again, I’m not aware of the case, so it’s hard for me to comment on it other than that we believe that any kind of verdict like that should come at the end of a legal process that is just and in accordance with international legal standards."

This is how this Zionist publication refers to Muslims

"Update 5:17 PM: Mecca Stampede Kills 717 Stone-Throwing Muslims".  Can you imagine the justifiable uproar if some Muslim publication were to refer to Jewish worshippers as "wailing Jews"?  

What is new? Saudi regime blames the blacks

Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, had blamed the stampede on "some pilgrims with African nationalities". (thanks Basim)

War crimes in Yemen

Make no mistake about it: GCC war crimes in Yemen and US and EU war crimes.

The Economist owes its readers an apology

Just this last issue of the Economist, there is a propaganda piece praising the great efforts by House of Saudi to protect pilgrims.  

Hajj tragedy: another crime by House of Saud

Here is what my colleague, Gwenn Okruhlik, wrote on Facebook this morning (I cite with her permission):  "The hajj tragedy is not about excessive heat or excessive emotions or the logistical challenges of managing so many pilgrims. It is about the unbridled capitalist expansion of the mosque beyond its capacity and the destruction of historical Mecca. In its essence, hajj is about equality across class, gender, nationality, color. We are all equal before God. Two thin white towels and cheap flip flops. No make up, no jewelry, no briefcase. Just equality before God. Now, it is five star hotels vis a vis tents. Hajj was homogenized in 1979. And the birthplace of the prophet, his first school, his mosque - all turned into parking lots...Some of my richest interviews are from old men in the Hejaz. Who weep openly when remembering Mecca in the day. When the Grand Mosque was a home for curiosity, questions, tolerance among mathabs and sects. They used to used to share lunch in Mecca and argue about life and beliefs and then break bread."

Arab regimes and Syrian refugees

Insult festival against the Saudi King in Tyre, Lebanon

This was held tonight in Tyre, Lebanon. The protesters shared those pictures and permitted me to post.

Israelis shot teen, left her to bleed

"Instead of being given immediate medical treatment, the video shows her being pulled roughly out of the frame of the camera, her scarf coming off as her head drags on the ground. Israeli settlers and soldiers can be seen standing around, and in some cases smiling and laughing in the background. Wattan TV reported that the young woman was left to bleed for more than 30 minutes."

Pedophile priests from U.S. & E.U. relocated to poor countries

"The Catholic Church has allowed priests accused of sexually abusing children in the United States and Europe to relocate to poor parishes in South America, a yearlong GlobalPost investigation has found."

Don't be scared: it is a clock and NOT a bomb

"A conservative think tank (those exist?) is now saying that what Mohamed built was half of a bomb. By half, they mean the clock portion—which basically means that all clocks, according to their logic, are halfway to being bombs." (thanks Amir)

President of the US

Personally, I am against any person of any faith holding the post of president of the US.  Of course, I don't mind atheists--but not Bernie Sanders.

Hate and Jordanian regime

This is what they teach at Jordan University.  

Clarification

I should have paid attention.  From Leila: "I don’t know if you know this, but on Monday the website that you linked to that decried Saudi Arabia’s appointment to the head of the UN Human Rights Council is a pro-Israel “rights organization” called UN Watch, and one of its main purposes is to monitor the UN for “anti-Israel bias.” UN Watch was active against the Goldstone report, they regularly criticize the UN for supporting — even “encouraging” — Hamas, and they have even criticized the ever-compliant Ken Roth of HRW for being too soft in his criticism of the Palestinians. Of course, UN Watch's condemnation is right on Saudi Arabia, but the organization has a deeper agenda."

The poem by Dubai ruler

Yesterday, the paper that published the poem by Dubai ruler denied that he had written it. OK.

Did I not tell you that obituaries of Ali Salem would fill Western newspapers?

"Salem's book "A Drive to Israel" sold more than 60,000 copies, a best-seller by Egyptian standards. But he was shunned in Egypt for the visit and fellow writers labeled him a sellout or collaborator."  Wait a minute. Who told you the book sold 60,000 copies? That was a mere figure claimed by Salem himself. And like most of the things he said, it was a fabrication. No one has exact figures of sales in the Arab world like that.  He must have made that claim at a talk at WINEP.  2) You forgot to add that he was a huge supporter of Saudi princes and wrote their praises in the mouthpiece of King Salman, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat. 3) and most importantly, you needed to add that he insulted Jews (to his last days) in Arabic while he insulted Arabs when he spoke at WINEP.  But then again: it won't be the first time that American Zionists would welcome an anti-Semite to their midst.

Saudi Arabia and UN human rights council

Sectarian cover story hides US-Israeli-Saudi hegemony

"Even when Israel attacked Gaza a year ago, seeking to destroy Hamas, a Sunni Islamic version of the Brotherhood, Saudi Arabia made no secret of the startling fact that it gave Tel Aviv a green light. What emerges, then, is not a regional politics based on sectarian priorities, but rather a pathological preoccupation with regime stability in the Saudi monarchy, with anxieties arising whenever political tendencies emerge in the region that elude its control, and are perceived as threatening. The people of Yemen are paying a huge price for this brand of Saudi paranoid security politics. Yet much of the world is lulled to sleep, not taking the trouble to peer below this sectarian cover story." (thanks Amir)

The four or five Syrian rebels trained by the US

Any news about the 4 or 5 Syrian rebels who were trained by the Pentagon? I hear that they are making advances on all fronts.  Is that true? Is it possible that after they reclaim Syria they may make their way toward Iraq?  Is it possible that they can dominate the whole Arab world?

Pope and atheists

The Pope said that it is possible for atheists to enter heaven. The question: could they expel all believers from heaven?

When the mouthpiece of Saudi prince covers the Pope's visit to Cuba

On the front page of Al-Hayat, the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Bribes, the correspondent in Havana laments that the Pope did not speak about repression in Cuba. I am not making this up.

Tomorrow in my home city of Tyre

At 6:30PM in Tyre in Abu Dib roundabout young Lebanese are gathering to stone and burn portraits of the Saudi King.  (Dress: casual).

Mark my words

The New York Times will publish in the next few days an obituary of `Ali Salem just because he visited Israel, and as rare as the Times publishes obituaries of Arabs.

Ruler of Dubai's poem about his son

In it he says: (verbatim): "Do you know who your father is?
A man whose very steps shake the earth vigorously".  I kid you not.

"أتدري من هو والدك . .
رجلٌ تهزّها الأرض هزاً وطأة قدميه . "

US ambassador in Lebanon makes a speech in praise of the most hated and most mocked man in Lebanon these days

I always tell youth in the Arab world that there is no life to any Arab youth movement that avoids foreign policy. There is no domestic policy in our lands: it is all intertwined with foreign policy.  Nickel Shammas (the head of the merchants society of Beirut) has been mercilessly mocked for his anti-poor and anti-communist diatribe last week and he is loved by the US ambassador in Lebanon who gave this speech in his praise.

Assassination attempt on Amb. Godley in Lebanon in 1974

In an interview on OTV, Anis Naqqash (who basically infiltrated Wadi` Haddad group on behalf of Abu Jihad--as he told me years ago) talked about the assassination attempt on Godley in 1974.  He said that Fath upon learning saved the ambassador, as it often did toward Western diplomats in Lebanon.  Many Lebanese at the time were convinced that Godley was sent by the US to launch the Lebanese civil war.  His brief tenure witnessed the heavy arming of the right-wing fascist militias in Lebanon.

American "humanitarian interventions"

"According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, there are more than three million Syrian refugees in the Middle East. Inside Syria itself, over 17 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, including those internally displaced. Only 350,000 Syrians are estimated to have travelled to Europe. They are the ones you see on television. In Iraq, some 1.8 million people were displaced between January and September 2014, a declared United Nations emergency, and Iraqis are currently the second-largest refugee group in the world." "The situation in Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia and elsewhere is much the same. There is a common denominator behind all of these refugee flows: they are, in whole or in part, the product of American "humanitarian interventions"."

UK and the war on Yemen

From a reader: ""While generously giving aid on the one hand, the UK is fuelling this bitter conflict by selling arms and giving technical support to a Saudi Arabia-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen in full knowledge of the risk of potential war crimes. Since the conflict escalated in March the UK has issued 37 arms export licences for arms transfers to Saudi Arabia."

Photos of war crimes

Queen of England

"Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is worth £17 billion. Her investments in the arms trade include firms that produce the uranium used in depleted uranium shells."

It is not only Afghan soldiers who rape boys

"The October 12 memorandum, reported in the Washington Post…came to light as more details emerged of the extent of detainee abuse. Formal statements by inmates published yesterday describe horrific treatment at the hands of guards, including the rape of a teenage Iraqi boy by an army translator…

According to the leaked memorandum … it also called for military intelligence officials to work more closely with the military police guards at the prison to “manipulate an internee’s emotions and weaknesses”…

In the Washington Post report, one detainee, Kasim Hilas, describes the rape of an Iraqi boy by a man in uniform, whose name has been blacked out of the statement, but who appears to be a translator working for the army. 

[efoods]

“I saw [name blacked out] fucking a kid, his age would be about 15-18 years. The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets. Then when I heard the screaming I climbed the door because on top it wasn’t covered and I saw [blacked out], who was wearing the military uniform putting his dick in the little kid’s ass,” Mr Hilas told military investigators. “I couldn’t see the face of the kid because his face wasn’t in front of the door. And the female soldier was taking pictures.” 

It is not clear from the testimony whether the rapist described by Mr Hilas was working for a private contractor or was a US soldier…

Another inmate, Thaar Dawod, describes more abuse of teenage Iraqis. “They came with two boys naked and they were cuffed together face to face and Grainer [Corporal Charles Graner, one of the military policemen facing court martial] was beating them and a group of guards were watching and taking pictures from top and bottom and there was three female soldiers laughing at the prisoners,” he said."

Full protections for LGBT people in its national constitution in Nepal

"Incredibly, while many western countries have legalised same sex marriage, none have provided for explicit and full anti-discrimination legislation in their constitutions. Thus, Nepal joins South Africa and Ecuador as the third country to provide full protections for LGBT people in its national constitution." (thanks Nikolai)

Reporters without Borders: the ranking

This is way out of whack.  UAE and Jordan and Qatar are ahead of Turkey in freedom of the press? Are you for real?

Why US media don't report when Syrian rebels kill children?

"At least 14 civilians, including seven children, were killed Sunday when rebels in Syria shelled a government-controlled neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo, the government and an activist group said." "The rebel coalition, known as the Army of Conquest alliance, includes Syria's al-Qaida branch, the Nusra Front, and the extremist Jund al-Aqsa group, and is backed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia."

US-supported war crimes in Yemen

"Air raids by Saudi-led coalition warplanes killed 15 people in Yemen's capital in one of the heaviest nights of bombardment in months, aid workers and witnesses said Saturday. One rescuer told AFP at least 10 civilians were among the dead. "Ten members of the same family were killed in the Al-Falihi neighbourhood, in Sanaa's old town," he said."

Photos

Again: Saudi Arabia "wins" bid to behead of UN Human Rights Council panel

" “It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer. “Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights.” “We cannot forget that the U.S. and the EU refused to utter a word of protest when we urged them, together with Saudi dissidents, to oppose the monarchy’s election in 2013. It’s a sad comment on our world that oil continues to trump basic human rights principles.” "

UK has sold arms to 19 countries that the UN lists for grave violations against children

"In the last five years the UK has sold arms to 19 of the 23 countries that the UN lists for grave violations against children, or where child soldiers are used in conflict, despite the fact that the UN has told governments to “expressly prohibit” such sales. In Somalia the UN has documented the recruitment of 1293 child soldiers. Yet the country has received £6.7m of arms from the UK since 2010." "Many parts of the world still haemorrhage wealth to Europe, even as we believe we’re "helping" them through our aid programmes. For example, it was recently calculated that governments and multinational companies are extorting $50 billion annually out of Africa, through schemes avoiding tax payments to some of the poorest companies of the world." (thanks Amir)

How Shi`its and `Alawite villages and towns in Syria have no civilians in them

"Al-Foua and Kefraya are being defended by pro-government militia supported by the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The border town included in the ceasefire -- Zabadani -- has meanwhile been targeted in a weeks-long offensive by the Syrian army and Hezbollah. 

Rebels said the rebel-held town of Madaya, next to Zabadani which is also included in the ceasefire and where thousands of civilians have taken shelter, had witnessed heavy shelling overnight by the army ..." (thanks Basim)  No word on the thousands of civilians trapped in Fu`a and Kefrayya.

Saudi gift to Yale Law school

"The Yale gift makes a mockery of this rich history. Saudi money should not be funding any more programs in the United States or elsewhere because the money is stained with both blood and oil. It was extracted from the ground, but the extractors got to where they are by stomping upon the bones of their fellow Muslims. Let justice be done, though the heavens fall, goes the ancient quote, but justice will never be done if this organized crime family continued to buy our loyalty. Mr. Kamel's check should be returned to him and his Saudi patrons with clear instructions that they spend the money making amends for The Family's many crimes against humanity, their genocide of Islamic civilization."

PS Damn. Husayn is not a nephew of the Prophet; he is his grandson.

The New York Times explains who Jihadi groups emerged in Syria

"Some Syrian rebels who asked for American arms in 2011 and 2012 eventually gave up and allied themselves with more radical groups".  (Of course, the person cited in this theory is a Zionist expert at WINEP).  Let us see: so basically, the rebels were secular and liberal and feminist and waited for US arms in 2011 and 2012, but when the arms did not come, they grew beards and became Jihadis. Do the editors notice the stupidity of those theories or all is allowed for purpose of propaganda? 

Ultimate insult: Barbar sandwich shops in the Washington Post

1) who but a Western correspondent in Beirut would refer to barber as "kabab house"?  It is so much more than that.
2) Who but a Western correspondent in Beirut would write an article about food and not invoke Hizbollah? "After violently taking over Barbar’s neighborhood in 2008, fighters linked to the country’s Shiite Hezbollah movement even dropped by for scrumptious treats, employees say."  Notice that he makes it sound that Shi`ites of Hizbollah don't belong to Beirut. As if they came from another land to eat there. Secondly, he talks about May 7, 2008: it is a MERE ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE CITY, damn it but in Western reportage it is made as if it was as long as the Israeli occupation of Palestine.  Thirdly, on that day, it was NOT Hizbollah which took that part of the city, but their secular allies, the SSNP, who are residents of that quarter of Beirut.  
3) Look at this sentence: who but a Western correspondent in Beirut would consider CNN the world expert on Kabab: "Two years ago, CNN ranked Barbar first in a list of the world’s best kebab places, coming ahead of restaurants in Israel, Iran and Greece."  Coming ahead of Israel?  Are you sure? That is impossible.  Israeli kababs are world famous, as you know.  Simon Peres brought the best Kabab recipes from Poland with him.

Why Rashid was dismissed by Muhammad bin Rashid as crown prince

"It’s perhaps his love of maintaining an athletic physique, and the rumored steroid addiction that’s resulted from it, that was the root cause of the most damning allegation yet made against His Highness, which supposedly resulted in his father finally deciding once and for all to settle the succession on Prince Hamdan, and ban Rashid from ever playing a role in Dubai’s government. According to a confidential 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable authored by David Williams, the acting U.S. consul general in Dubai at the time, entitled Dubai Designates Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler, and subsequently published on Wikileaks, it was widely rumored at the time that Hamdan was designated Crown Prince that Rashid, perhaps in a steroid induced rage, murdered an assistant in his father’s “office.” Which of the many offices of the King the assistant was done away with in, or whether or not the assistant worked for Rashid or his father, or even the gender of the assistant, and the circumstances of the alleged crime, are all unspecified in the report. While an Arab prince murdering a servant is hardly a novel crime, either in the Middle East or elsewhere, the public nature of this rumored incident, and the fact that it would’ve been impossible to hide from Sheikh Mohammed’s gossipy subjects, whose image of him as their ultimate benefactor he definitely values, certainly would’ve been enough to force the King’s hand and prevent him from leaving his throne to his unstable oldest son." (thanks Yusuf)

How come the US edition is different, I wonder

"ISIS leader fought under U.S. umbrella"

Former ambassador to Syria Robert Ford has since admitted that the rebels funded by the State Department included ISIS and other Al-Qaeda fighters in their ranks. He recently told McClatchy reporter Hannah Allam that he had called Okaidi to tell him that his public cooperation with Abu Omar Shishani and associates was “extremely unhelpful, extra unhelpful”:

Ford was referring to Col. Abdel-Jabbar al Oqaidi [or alternately Okaidi], then-commander of the Aleppo branch of the Free Syrian Army. The problem was that the American-backed colonel had been filmed celebrating his men’s joint victory with al Qaida-affiliated fighters, creating a public relations nightmare for the Obama administration, which was trying to show Congress and the American public that it was boosting moderates and isolating extremists on the battlefield."

(thanks Amir)

This is an actual headline in Al-Arabiyya (news station of King Fahd's brother-in-law) about heroism of Syrian rebels loyal to GCC

"Insurgents attack two Syrian Shiite villages with 5 car bombs, 370 rockets".  Huffington Post published an article this week by a Hariri center fellow at AC in which the 40,000 civilians were rendered as Hizbollah and Syrian regime fighters.