Netanyahu is so angry at the US for its abstention at the UN that he just issued an order: he said to protect Israel's pride and dignity (of which it has none), Israel will reject all aid from the US until further notice.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Kuwaiti politician sentenced 10 years in prison over insulting Saudi Arabia
"Kuwaiti court of appeals canceled an “innocence judgement” that was handed to parliament"
Don't you like bipartisanship in support of Israeli occupation and aggression?
"A range of senators and congressmen from both parties also denounced the resolution, a reflection of the deep loyalty to Israel shared by Democrats and Republicans. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said, “It is extremely frustrating, disappointing and confounding that the administration has failed to veto this resolution.”"
Western correspondents in Beirut don't tweet their sympathy with the victims of Syrian rebel indiscriminate shelling
"Syrian Rebels Shell Aleppo After Withdrawal: They’re still seeking to inflict damage on government-controlled areas.": Look how Reuters justifies the shelling and downplays the war crime: "The destruction in those parts of the city has been far less than in the eastern districts that rebels held until this month."
Jim Clancy used to be CNN correspondent in Beirut--when CNN was a serious news network
| Jim Clancy (@ClancyReports) | |
|
No, Don't be confused. Terrorist land thieves were condemned, #Apartheid was confronted and Newt Gingrich exposed as pro-war crimes. twitter.com/newtgingrich/s…
| |
Anti-Arab Bigotry of Kenneth Roth: Last week he insulted Egyptian Copts; yesterday he insulted Egyptian Muslims
| Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) | |
|
Egypt's Copts: Gov't pays lip service to protecting them as armed Islamists attack and public mainly ignores them. bit.ly/2ijYHO9pic.twitter.com/ZQ0ZKMQMi4
| |
Kenneth Roth says that a Muslim registry is not bad in itself but that it is not useful
| Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) | |
|
Prior effort to register Muslims accomplished "nothing." Total waste. Obama rightly abandoned it. Trump should too. bit.ly/2hfJ34kpic.twitter.com/lu76lxI0Zi
| |
Israel's dirty hands: Israeli drug firm fined for bribing officials in Russia, Ukraine & Mexico
"The Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva must pay over $520 million following corruption charges made by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The company breached the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bribing officials in Russia, Ukraine and Mexico."
Read the damn text of the UN resolution
Read the full text. There is much more in it than simply condemning settlements. There is a whole sale of the Arab cultural condemnation of Zionism and Israeli occupation and nullification of ARab right to resistance against Zionist occupation and aggression. Stop celebrating the damn vote. Remember what the Israeli ambassador at UN did with the UNGA resolution "Zionism-is-Racism"?
Do people remember when Kenneth Roth praised Saudi regime for its secular and democratic policies in Syria?
| Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) | |
|
Good to see Saudis pressing for secular government, free and fair elections.
In Syria. bit.ly/1RFkB5K pic.twitter.com/2NPI6uueRl | |
American manufacturing of Enmity to Russia
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "American Manufacturing of Enmity toward Russia: Intersection of Academia and and Politics".
A Sample of the Arabic Qatari regime, Huffington Post
This is an actual headline: "the underwear of the anchor woman appeared on the screen".
Saeb Erekat threatens to resign
Chief PA's negotiating buffon, Saeb Erekat threatened to resign if the US moves the embassy to Jerusalem. If that does not deter the US, nothing will.
Being a research fellow in DC think tanks
If you support Gulf regimes, it is suffices to have a BA to become a research fellow.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Malcolm Kerr and the Camp David accords: A correction of the record
Professor Edmond Burke III sent me this correction about my post (below) about Malcolm Kerr's stance on the Camp David accords. My response was based on the recollection by Steve Kerr of his father's joyous reaction to Camp David accords. Professor Burke wrote: "Recent postings about Malcolm Kerr and Camp David have prompted the resurfacing of this memory which may be of interest:
Following the announcement of the Camp David Accords Malcolm Kerr wrote a letter to the LA Times in which he stated (more or less) that anything that was not agreed to by the PLO was not worth the paper it was written on. He was the only senior figure in the U.S. Middle East field to take this position. At the time Kerr was Professor of Middle East Politics at UCLA. Soon thereafter the garage of his home was fire-bombed by the Jewish Armed Resistance (an armed-struggle off-shoot of Meir Kahane’s group). The assailants were never caught. In the early 1980s the same group attacked the office of Congressman Darrell Issa."
Flash: Trump responds to US abstention at UN
Trump said that Obama's name will be added to the registry of banned Muslims in the US.
US abstains at the UN: Obama found some political courage...in the last few days of his presidency. So don't get too excited
I am not a fan of the UN resolution (as it tries to achieve "balance" by condemning the right of the Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation and aggression under the banner of rejecting "terrorism" and by creating a fake moral and political distinction between Israeli occupation of West Bank and Jerusalem and Israeli occupation of 1948), but the Obama administration abstained. So let it be noted: Obama did find some political courage vis-a-vis Israel...in the last days of his presidency. He does not deserve a blender for his political cowardice.
Rabih Alemaddine on X-mass in Beirut
He wrote: "We don’t have a food orgy at the end of Ramadan, we don’t flagellate ourselves during Ashura, and for Christmas, we certainly don’t shower our children in gold, frankincense, and Dolce & Gabbana." No, Rabih. You are proving here that you know about other sects as much as average Lebanese. Not all Shi`ites "celebrate" their religious holidays (and it is Ashura only as you reduced it to that). And not all Muslims gorge in the month of Ramadan: most are too poor to gorge. And not all Christians can afford to buy from Docle & Gabbana.
PS Why do we blame Westerners about stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims when some Arabs themselves promote such stereotypes?
PS Why do we blame Westerners about stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims when some Arabs themselves promote such stereotypes?
Syrian regime and Tal Az-Za`tar
It is now proven beyond a doubt that Syrian regime forces shelled Tal Az-Za`tar to assist the right-wing Phalanges assault. The unpublished memoirs of a key Lebanese player in the Lebanese civil war (and whose family kept the memoirs and has not published it but it will soon appear--and I have read it) also proves that the Syrian regime was actually much more involved in the assault on Tal Az-Za`tar than previously thought. Supporters of the Syrian regime and of the mumana`ah camp often accuse me of holding a grudge against the Syrian regime because of 1976. And my answer has consistently been: you bet. It was not a small thing.
New York Times and the article about Steve Kerr
The article (with contribution from Anne Barnard) got this so blatantly wrong: "Yasir Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization, expelled from Syria, had its headquarters in Beirut. " By the time Malcolm Kerr arrived into Beirut, the PLO was expelled from Beirut. You just had to insert the Palestinians into this, instead of talking a bit about the horrors of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon? Also, the article does not mention a common theory about the assassination at the time: Malcolm Kerr stood against Phalanges plan to create a branch of the AUB in East Beirut. This had been the plan by Bashir Gemayyel for several years and Kerr resisted that strongly. The theory goes that the Lebanese Forces thugs (who were the dominant force when Kerr served in Beirut) were the one who killed him.
PS I met Ann at UCLA a couple of times and liked her very much.
PPS I was not happy to read in this article that Malcolm Kerr was happy about Camp David and Sadat's role. While Kerr was hated by Zionists and considered an "Arabist" who was sympathetic with the Arabs, his actual writings were in fact too accommodating of the Israeli occupation state.
Look at the courage of this LA Times correspondent
PS I am told that I am in error that he was talking about some other post on East Aleppo and not about the pictures of X-mass in East Aleppo.
look at the cautious and qualified language that Kenneth Roth uses about war crimes by US and allies
| Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) | |
|
US weapons are known to have been used in 23 apparently unlawful Saudi-led coalition bombing attacks in Yemen: @hrw. bit.ly/2hevTozpic.twitter.com/4c19P5MijU
| |
Notice that when it comes to Syrian regime and Russian bombing he talks daily about "slaughter" and "war crimes" but when it comes to war crimes by US and its allies it is merely "apparently unlawful". Apparently unlawful? I will tell you what: you are certainly non-credible on human rights. You are a gift to Israeli war crime propaganda.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Both Russia and US are lying and both don't count the civilians that they kill
"Russian military: 71,000 strikes in 1 year, 35,000 terrorists killed.
US military: 16,806 strikes in 2 years, 50,000 terrorists killed".
US military: 16,806 strikes in 2 years, 50,000 terrorists killed".
Shame on the Guardian: stop participating in the exploitation of a little Syrian child
I understand that you want to promote the cause of the Syrian rebels. But why can't you do it by talking to adult Syrians? Just leave this innocent child alone and don't contribute to her exploitation by her lousy parents and by Syrian rebels.
Liberal Democrats on Trump and Israel
Liberal Democrats are acting as if Obama has been such a friend of the Palestinian people and that Trump is going to erase all that.
Muhammad bin Salman away from protocols
He invited Saudi regime journalists to take pictures with him. How humane.
Nabih Bolous of the LATimes was the only correspondent in Beirut who
He was the only one who covered the X-mass celebrations in West Aleppo.
This liberal Zinoist argument for ethnic cleaning was endorsed on Twitter yesterday by Kenneth Roth
"Opposition to the Palestinians’ “right of return” is a matter of consensus among left and right Zionists because also liberal Zionists insist that Israel has the right to ensure that Jews constitute the ethnic majority in their country." Here is Roth's endorsement for this call for ethnic cleansing.
Regarding Western justifications for their bigotry against Muslims
My friend Maysa sent me this yesterday (I cite with her permission): "I feel like if Palestinians can manage not to have animosity toward Jewish people at large, others should be able to do the same with Muslims (especially when they live in America unscathed). But it's an entirely different dynamic apparently."
Merkel issues a hypothetical condemnation against Syrians
"I know it would be especially hard to bear for all of us if it should be confirmed that the person who committed this act sought protection and asylum in Germany," she said. "This would be especially despicable ... " (thanks Basim)
From Jadaliyya: "US and European Arms Sales to the Middle East 2011-2014"
"In this brief study, we aim to assess the value of official weapons sales between arms producing countries and the Middle East between 2011 and 2014. The focus will be on trade with Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Turkey (JUQKKT)—countries that have close links with the Syrian armed opposition. We then compare arms sales revenues with the cost of hosting Syrian refugees seeking protection in arms-exporting countries[1]—while taking note that comparing earnings from the arms trade with hosting refugees does not address or assume away the immorality of weapons sales. We grouped weapons manufacturers and transfer countries under the “Friends of Syria” banner—in reference to the group formed in 2012 by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy composed of France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Italy, Turkey, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt—and the rest under Eastern Europe.[2] The focus on Western countries does not imply they are solely to blame for the weapons trade. However, reliable data on arms exports from China, Russia, and Iran are not readily available. Though we do try to provide some plausible estimates based on available data. While this prevents us from including these in our calculations, it does not affect our main premise of the indirect but foreseeable link between Western arms transfer to the Middle East and the wave of refugees."
Damage to old Aleppo
There is no question that the most severe damage caused to old Aleppo was caused by the massive underground explosions by Syrian rebels. I read that one of those massive explosions (for digging of tunnels) registered over 5 on the Richter scale.
Have you noticed?
When Palestinians dig tunnels, they are called "terror tunnels", and when Syrian rebels dig tunnels, they are called "rebel tunnels".
Aron Lund's terminology
"Assad’s Syrian Arab Army and its Shia Islamist allies have seized ground from Sunni Arab rebel factions". Notice that Shi`ites are Islamist while Sunnis are rebels. People are becoming way too obvious these days.
Western media are hailing Erdogan for posing with a little Syrian girl as a propaganda prop
I remember when Saddam posed with children of Westerners in Iraq back in 1990, Western media feigned outrage and said that children should not be exploited in photo ops and propaganda projects. But when it serves Western interests, it is fair and cut, I guess.
The Economist magazine is getting dumber and dumber: it unearthed "evidence" of Russian intervention in Reagan's election
"In November 1984 the Kremlin tried to stop Ronald Reagan from being re-elected. As part of its active-measures programme, Moscow promoted the slogan “Reagan Means War!” To discredit him, Russia propagated stories about Reagan’s militaristic adventurism, rising tensions among NATO allies, discrimination against ethnic minorities and corruption." What? That those who opposed Reagan around the world, and those who raised the plight of ethnic and racial minorities in the US were doing the Russian bidding? And what is your evidence of what "Moscow promoted". Let us put it this way, if this is the manner of Russian intervention in US elections, it really is insignificant compared to US heavy-handed intervention in elections in every country in the globe--except Israel (and even there, Clinton tried to help the Labor Party).
Gene Sharp
"Tattered copies of his book have been found on the streets of cities where people protested against their governments. In other countries, where the political scientist is portrayed as a dangerous CIA agent, his writings are banned." What? No tattered copies of his book were found anywhere, and no country in the Middle East banned his books to my knowledge. He is too insignificant. Let us agree on this: that this Gene Sharp business and the Arab uprising has been the worst news story of the last decade, by far.
Human Rights Watch and the use of the word "atrocities"
By the way, correct me if I am wrong--I never am--but Human Rights Watch never in its entire history used the word "slaughter" to refer to Israeli war crimes and massacres. I am only mentioning that because I notice that its director on social media uses that word casually about Russia and the Syrian regime.
Repression and censorship by Jordanian autocracy never gets covered or condemned in the West
Just yesterday, the Jordanian regime issued an ultimatum that any media which publishes information or news or articles or commentaries about the "domestic and foreign affairs" of the Kingdom without license will be closed instantly. It also warned against publishing rumors "and fake news".
Human Rights Watch director Supports the UN resolution on settlements because it is in Israel's interest
The Director of HRW yesterday tweeted in support of the UN resolution for the same reasons that France also supports: that it is good for Israel. In fact, director of Human Rights Watch bluntly supported the resolution because he said that it is balanced in that while it condemned (vaguely) settlements it also condemned "terrorism" of the Palestinian people under occupation. Human Rights Watch was a necessary political development in the West because it really taught the natives that the entire Western human rights project is part of the "soft" and hard power of US empire.
Human Rights Watch on mistreatment of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
Notice that whenever Human Rights Watch talks about Lebanon's Internal Security Forces they never mention their political sponsors, namely: the Hariri family, the US, and Saudi intelligence service. It just happens that HRW office in Beirut belongs to the same political camp of the Hariri family.
Being black in the US
Contrary to O’Reilly’s fantasies about a modern and color-blind United States, evidence continues to mount that the system of oppression remains open for business. Witness a New York Times investigation spotlighting a massive discrepancy in how black inmates in New York state are treated vis-a-vis their white peers. Witness a stunning USA Today investigation showing that, in the words of the headline, “Black people are three times likelier to be killed in police chases.” Chilling: “Deadly pursuits of black drivers were twice as likely to start over minor offenses or non-violent crimes that posed little danger to the public until a police officer decided to give chase,” according to the USA Today article. Should O’Reilly need more information on this topic, he could always pull up the Justice Department’s damning and endless March 2015 Ferguson report. One passage: Ferguson’s law enforcement practices overwhelmingly impact African Americans. Data collected by the Ferguson Police Department from 2012 to 2014 shows that African Americans account for 85% of vehicle stops, 90% of citations, and 93% of arrests made by FPD officers, despite comprising only 67% of Ferguson’s population. African Americans are more than twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during vehicle stops even after controlling for non-race based variables such as the reason the vehicle stop was initiated, but are found in possession of contraband 26% less often than white drivers, suggesting officers are impermissibly considering race as a factor when determining whether to search. African Americans are more likely to be cited and arrested following a stop regardless of why the stop was initiated and are more likely to receive multiple citations during a single incident. From 2012 to 2014, FPD issued four or more citations to African Americans on 73 occasions, but issued four or more citations to non-African Americans only twice. FPD appears to bring certain offenses almost exclusively against African Americans. For example, from 2011 to 2013, African Americans accounted for 95% of Manner of Walking in Roadway charges, and 94% of all Failure to Comply charges. Notably, with respect to speeding charges brought by FPD, the evidence shows not only that African Americans are represented at disproportionately high rates overall, but also that the disparate impact of FPD’s enforcement practices on African Americans is 48% larger when citations are issued not on the basis of radar or laser, but by some other method, such as the officer’s own visual assessment."
Can you tell your Syrian rebels to stop masquerading little children for the cameras?
I don't blame Syrian rebels for this as much as I blame Western media who basically have encouraged the Syrian rebel exploitation of children as propaganda props. Look at this disgusting video: they made a child stand in the snow in order to say: look at the children. Why not take him inside?
The prisons of the Syrian Asad regime (father and son)
I have been reading an unpublished manuscript, of a memoir by a key player in the Lebanese civil war. There is in the book the experience of this man in Syrian jail and the graphic description of the torture techniques and squalid conditions of those prisons. Those prisons were not in any way accidental to the Syrian regime repression but were an integral part of its apparatus of power and repression.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
