"“I’ll look for ... well, it’s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can’t speak American,” he said. “I’m going to go right up behind them. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.”" (thanks Basim)
Saturday, November 05, 2016
Muhammad Dahlan profile in New York Times
It just happened that the glowing profile of Muhammad Dahlan in the New York Times just missed to mention the name of his benefactor, Muhammad bin Zayid of UAE.
Look how US media treat governments which are not aligned with the US government:
"In many ways, politics in Venezuela increasingly resembles politics in North Korea. " Are you for real? Is this a joke? You compare Venezuela to North Korea abut you don't compare Saudi Arabia or Bahrain to North Korea?
U.S. airstrike kills 30 Afghan civilians
"As many as 30 civilians were killed in an airstrike on Thursday morning called in to protect US and Afghan troops involved in heavy fighting with the Taliban near Kunduz." "A US airstrike on a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz in October 2015 killed 42 people."
US-UK-Saudi destruction of Yemen
"The destruction is extensive. In just the first weeks of the airstrikes in early 2015, around 1,170 structures were damaged or destroyed in Saada, according to the United Nations. As bombardment continued for more than a year, an estimated 40 percent of Saada’s 50,000 residents fled. Many of those who remained literally dug holes in the ground to hide in and moved schools and hospitals into caves for protection." "In and around Saada, 178 bridges, 13 power stations, 17,193 houses, 173 schools, 118 markets and 696 farms have been destroyed or damaged, according to the Houthi-affiliated Legal Center for Rights and Developments. The center says it has documented 2,262 civilians killed in Saada from March 2015 to March 2016, including 397 children, though the figures could not be independently confirmed."
French Revolution
They still talk about the violence of the French Revolution but no one talks about the violence which was directed against it from inside France and from outside.
U.S. military members could be prosecuted for war crimes in Yemen
"Members of the US armed services could be prosecuted for war crimes for providing midair refueling and other military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the Obama administration has been warned."
14 U.S. lobby firms working for Saudi Arabia
"Two additional firms are now working on Saudi Arabia’s behalf — Hohlt Group Global and Flywheel Government Solutions, which is operating through PR giant MSLGroup. There are now 14 shops working for the country overall, including heavyweights like Podesta Group, BGR Group, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, King & Spalding and Squire Patton Boggs."
Group targets BDS activities on Canadian campuses
"An umbrella body representing 97 Canadian universities made it much tougher for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to be promoted on campuses. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, known as Universities Canada, on Thursday added “places of origin” to its list of discrimination criteria on campuses, which was widely seen as a way to stifle anti-Israel BDS activities there." (thanks Amir)
Wow. How supporters of the Syrian "revolution" can easily and effectively intimidate a Western correspondent in Beirut: Anne Barnard in Beirut
So Anne Barnard mocked Bashshar Al-Asad in a tweet and posted a picture in which his portrait appeared on a wall. So supporters of the Syrian "revolution" (in the East and West) misunderstood the tweet, and were outraged and thought that she was saluting the Syrian dictator. She went on to explain and be extremely defensive and wrote repeatedly that her intention was in no way to salute the Syrian ruler, to no avail. Eventually, she wrote this:
| Anne Barnard (@ABarnardNYT) | |
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1. My "good morning Damascus" tweet was widely misunderstood so I deleted it because my meaning obviously was unclear.
| |
American role in the Mosul battle
While I don't agree with comrade Amer about his assessment of the role of Shi`ite Hashd in Iraq (or in Syria for that matter), he makes the damning argument that the US military role in Mosul battle has been an utter failure and quite insignificant for the total outcome of the battle.
The Arabic propaganda of US Central Command about their role in Mosul is very funny--if you know Arabic
| U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOMArabic) | |
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القوة الجوية الأمريكية مستمرة بنقل الذخيرة لمساعدة القوات العراقية على إدامة زخم المعركة في #الموصل #العراق
#كلنا_القوة_الجوية pic.twitter.com/1eXiKk42ld | |
A Lebanon expert is born and she has the research and documentation skills that you expect from the Rafiq Hariri Center for Saudi propaganda
"According to Foreign Affairs, quoting Saudi Arabia-owned Al-Arabiya news network, a video was posted in February of Hezbollah commander Abu Saleh meeting the previous summer with Houthi forces in Yemen".
I know that you like the Tunisian model of political transformation but
A Minister in Tunisia was dismissed merely because he faulted the Saudi regime for the spread of fanaticism and extremism. I know, I know. You love the Tunisian model.
Washington Post romanticizes the story of an Israeli war criminal
Look at the accompanying pictures. When you read in a US article on Israeli words like "soul" or "anguish" you know that yet another American journalists is trying to whitewash yet another Israeli war crime or massacre: "One of the most divisive trials in Israeli history is taking place in a cramped military courtroom in a peeling mansion in the poor Arab section of Jaffa. It is the trial of a teenage Israeli sergeant, but in many ways it is about the soul of the Israeli army and the young men and women the Jewish state sends to protect its citizens and enforce its almost 50-year military occupation. On trial for manslaughter before a military tribunal is a pint-size recruit who sits in the courtroom beside his mother, who wraps her arms around his shoulders and sometimes cries. Such a public trial of a soldier charged in the killing of a Palestinian is almost unprecedented here. The last witnesses appeared this week. The central fact of the case is not in dispute. In March, Sgt. Elor Azaria fired a single bullet at close range into the skull of a Palestinian assailant as he lay wounded, sprawled on his back, on a street in Hebron in the West Bank minutes after lunging at soldiers with a knife."
The Washington Post published a long article about a public opinion survey of North Koreans: here are the details
"The NGO surveyed 20 men and 16 women between the ages of 28 and 80." I am not making this up. This is at the level of Thomas Friedman when he generalizes about public opinion on the basis of his conversations (from hotel to airport or vice versa) with cab drivers in various cities he visits.
US and NATO may have killed "up to 100 civilians" in Afghanistan the other day: but details AS ALWAYS are "murky"
"Details of the incidents were murky, with conflicting reports on the number of casualties and no official account of the airstrikes. Some local officials claimed that up to 100 civilians were killed or wounded in a series of airstrikes around Kunduz city."
My message to activists on Palestine in the US
Why can't we disagree on Syria and agree on Palestine? Unless some don't care about Palestine, of course.
The best lobbying that Saudi money can buy
"The government of Saudi Arabia has deepened its bench of lobbyists as it ramps up pressure on Congress to revise a controversial law that allows family members of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government over the 2001 attacks. The Saudis have tapped Rick Hohlt, a longtime GOP strategist and lobbyist, according to documents filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The documents, which were signed Oct. 26, do not explicitly mention the law, Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), and describe Hohlt’s work in generic terms: “provide communications and government relations counsel to support the government of Saudi Arabia in connection with general foreign policy . . . as well as legislative, public policy and media-related activities of interest.” It does not specify a fee or duration of the contract."
Cornel West on Hillary
"But like her predecessor, Barack Obama, she promotes the same neoliberal policies that increase inequality and racial polarization that will produce the next Trump. More important, she embraces Trump-like figures abroad, be they in Saudi Arabia, Honduras, Israel, or Syria — figures of ugly xenophobia and militaristic policies." (thanks Lincoln)
This is how US Ignited the Lebanese Civil War (10)
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "This is how the US Ignited the Lebanese Civil War (10): A Preliminary Tally of Israeli arming of the Isolationist Militias".
The war on Syria option
"The debate in New York was an exception to what Blumenthal called a “McCarthyite” environment, in which anyone who challenges the calls for escalation in Syria is smeared, blacklisted or labeled an “Assadist.”"
Reuters has a story about 25,000 Shi`ite fighters in Syria
Here is the source: "the former head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency has told a visiting Swiss delegation." My favorite part is that he was head of the domestic intelligence agency, and not even the foreign intelligence agency.
A Saudi student working in Hillary's campaign
Saudi regime media are bragging that a Saudi student is working with the Hillary campaign. But this violates the rules and agreements under which Saudi students are sent to US to study? In fact, during the last Israeli assault on Gaza, all Saudi students in the US received an official email memo from the Saudi embassy in DC reading them that all manners of political expression are prohibited and warning them against participating in any event in solidarity with Gaza.
Tawakkol Karman at Harvard
What is hilarious about this case of this Ikhwan propagandist, is that Western universities and media don't care that she is a fierce defender of Gulf regimes, especially in Arabic.
Hummus restaurant
I arrived at SFO yesterday and yelped for some restaurants close by in San Mateo. I encountered one named "Hummus Village". I got excited. I drove there and looked at the menu. They have very specialized Hummus dishes. I asked the man and woman behind the counter: do you have whole wheat bread? The man answered: no, we get our food form Israel. I said with utter revulsion: this is an Israeli restaurant? He said: yes, we offer Israeli food. I said: Israeli food. Let us read the menu: falafel is an Arabic word. Hummus is an Arabic word. Musabbahah is an Arabic word. How come those Israeli dishes all have Arabic names? Those are Arabic dishes. I naturally stormed out mumbling obscene Arabic--not Israeli--words.
PS Shawirma is from a turkish Anatolian word çevirme, which means rotation.
PS Shawirma is from a turkish Anatolian word çevirme, which means rotation.
Saudi ambassador in US answers questions about Yemen
FBI infiltration of US mosques
I was in San Bernardino and a Muslim student picked me up from my hotel to take me to the university campus. He is active in the local Muslim community--he told me--and even know the San Bernardino shooter (unsurprisingly he told me that he was a very nice guy and he does not believe the official government story about what happened). So I asked him: how obvious are FBI infiltrators in the mosques in the US? He said: way too obvious. He explains that the community of the mosque all know one another and they know each other's families. And then suddenly, this white dude (or a Lebanese Christian dude) shows up in the mosque and makes an effort to know the members. He said that it is so stupid that the informant would invariably ask members: so, tell me what do you think of Jihad?
Illegal immigrants
Some of the most wonderful people I have met in this country have been illegal immigrants and--contrary to stereotypes--not all of them have been Mexicans.
Thursday, November 03, 2016
Who is this moderator Of the Syria panel in NYC?
This is by far the worst moderator of any panel I have seen. Her authoritarian and repressive style would have qualified her to run Stalin's show trials. As for the substance I will be writing something soon.
On the road
Speaking this evening on Syria and the US role at California State University, San Bernardino.
Wednesday, November 02, 2016
Director of Human Rights Watch blames Russia for bombing of East AND West Aleppo: apologist for US imperialism
| Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) | |
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Russia's obstructionism at UN Security Council is making it hard to stop attacks on civilians in east or west Aleppo bit.ly/2ff0Ipbpic.twitter.com/GnlBHqbU4J
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This is how the New York Times refers to Saudi war crimes in Yemen and elsewhere
"Under Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia is going through a period of muscular nationalism".
U.S. bombings kills 8 civilians, 3 of them children: Western journalists won't be tweeting their (fake) sadness on this one
Saudi ambassador vows to keep hitting Yemen
" “Will you continue to use cluster weapons in Yemen?” we asked Prince Abdullah Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States. “This is like the question, ‘Will you stop beating your wife?’” Al-Saud responded, letting loose a bellowing laugh." "At last week’s Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference — bankrolled by oil companies Chevron, ExxonMobile, and ConocoPhillips, and weapons contractors Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing — the Saudi ambassador was the keynote speaker."
A professor is arrested in Jordan for a comment on Facebook: NOT IN US MEDIA FOR SURE
Western journalists in Beirut won't be tweeting on this: Palestinian professor, Ibrahim Alloush, was arrested by the Jordanian government for writing a comment on his Facebook page against the king's relations with Israel.
PS: Yes, I am aware that this professor holds repugnant anti-Semitic views. I and others severed ties with him over this. But this is an issue about the manners of authoritarian rule of the King of Jordan which gets a pass from Western media--just because he serves Israeli interests.
PS: Yes, I am aware that this professor holds repugnant anti-Semitic views. I and others severed ties with him over this. But this is an issue about the manners of authoritarian rule of the King of Jordan which gets a pass from Western media--just because he serves Israeli interests.
Aided by Israel, US-backed tyrants are imprisoning activists for social media posts
"The UAE government, however, has already purchased equipment like Internet monitoring tools from BAE Systems, and been linked to using hacking exploits from Israeli company NSO Group. These types of tools have also been discovered in Saudi Arabia — including software that hacks into mobile phones giving total access, including control of the camera and microphone."
US as "an honest broker"
"Ross himself told a private synagogue audience this spring that American Jews “need to be advocates for Israel”– not for Palestinians. And Ross is the guy who was mediating supposed peace agreements!" (thanks Amir)
Marwan Muasher: in Arabic and in English
Like the kings he served obediently in Jordan, Marwan Muasher says one thing in Arabic and another thing in English to Western audiences. In Arabic, he says that the gas treaty with Israel should be abolished and that it threatens the national security of Jordan. He would not dare say this in English, of course.
Tuesday, November 01, 2016
"A shadowy website targets student protesters with 'Classic McCarthyism'"
"The website, which was launched in May 2015, now contains profiles of over 600 individuals, most of them people of color. The site targets students and professors at universities across the U.S., in addition to a small number of people employed by Jewish Voice for Peace and other Palestine advocacy groups." "According to advocates, the "blacklisting" of activists on Canary Mission is part of a broader crackdown on pro-Palestine speech, a phenomenon that they say has become particularly acute in New York. In June, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the nation’s first executive order mandating a withdrawal of public funds from any group or individual that promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The BDS movement, which is said to be inspired by the South African anti-apartheid struggle, calls for the economic, political, and cultural isolation of Israel in order to achieve three aims: ending the occupation of Palestine, ensuring the full equality of Arab-Palestinian citizens in Israel, and promoting respect for the Palestinian right of return."
The demolition of Palestinian homes for illegal Israeli settlements
"The demolition of Palestinian homes for Israeli settlements reached a ten-year high in 2016. While this activity led by the fanatical settler movement is illegal under international law, it is completely aided and abetted by the Israeli government. With hundreds on notice to be evicted and their homes destroyed, Abby Martin goes on-the-ground throughout the West Bank investigating this dire human rights situation. She speaks to residents living under regular settler attacks from encroaching settlements and outposts illegal even under Israeli law, and sees first-hand how this crisis is worsening."
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