Several years ago, when I spoke about the Israeli-Saudi alliance, some paid propagandists of the Saudi regime scoffed

Between Obama and Trump

The transfer of power between administrations are felt in the US, but not around the world, where bombs keep falling--regardless withther the president is Obama or Trump.

Trump's speech

When people said that Trump wrote his own inaugural speech, I was skeptical. Now I believe it.

Rev. Graham

Rev. Franklin Graham is the most unabashed hateful bigot. If what he says about Islam is said about another religion he would not be allowed into any event--official or private.

10,000 civilians killed in Yemen

"At least 10,000 civilians have been killed and 40,000 wounded in the ongoing conflict in Yemen, a United Nations official said Monday."

US-UK-backed war on Yemen & the western media

"The biggest known player involved in Yemen is Saudi Arabia, who has been carrying out its military campaign with arms brought from the US and Britain. In December, the US announced it would be halting an arms deal worth $350 million to the Kingdom amid concerns of the coalition's indiscriminate bombing inside the country. But up until that point, President Obama had reportedly sold arms to the tune of $115 billion (107 billion euros) to Riyadh during his eight years in office - more than any US administration in history." "The UK, meanwhile, approved 3.3 billion pounds (3.7 billion euros) worth of arms to the Kingdom in the first 12 months of its bombardment of Yemen. So it may not make for good business sense for the corporate media in the US and the British mainstream media to cover a war and the negative impact it's having on civilian life when their governments are making huge profits from it."

Israeli terrorists kill father of five

"The fatal shooting of Mahdawi came one day after Israeli forces were shown on video dragging an injured Palestinian teenager who would later be declared dead."

Zionism and anti-Semitism

"Zionism and antisemitism are long-time bedfellows, and not strange at that. They’ve been consistently sharing the cause of emptying Europe of Jews while transplanting them in Palestine. Theodore Herzl, the founder of colonial Zionism, stated very clearly in his Diaries: “The anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies.” This alliance continues to this day as the burgeoning extreme right aims to have a Jew-free white America while maintaining a staunch support for Israel. Trump’s friendship with Netanyahu is emblematic of this tendency." (thanks Amir)

US is primary responsible for the creation of the war criminal regime of South Sudan

But now it claims that it can't interfere there due to the "limits of diplomacy".

This is now a standard: Whenever Israeli terrorists shoot and attack Palestinians it is during a "clash"

"NYTimes: Villager and Israeli Police Officer Die in Clash at Bedouin Hamlet"

Saudi regime magazine, Al-Majallah, portrays life in Iran

The headline says: "Iran: the cemeteries are homes for the displaced in the brutal winter nights".

The ranking of media in the Arab world: rise in Russian RT

I was looking yesterday at ranking of media in Lebanon.  I was rather surprised that the website of RT is now ahead of the BBC.  

Edward Snowden as a Soviet Agent

So Edward Snowden was recruited by the KGB when he was a toddler.  He infiltrated the world of babies on behalf of the USSR. 

Missing Obama

Propaganda and fake news

In the Cold War, US invented the notion that propaganda by enemies of the US is...propaganda, while propaganda by US and its allies is the truth.  Something similar is happening these days with the stories of "fake news".  I like it when Obama speaks against "Fake News".  I mean, is there a source producing more fake news around the world than the US government?   And the US intelligence report on Russian hacking kept talking about Russian propaganda TV stations. What about US propaganda TV station in Arabic?  

This liberal love for Joe Biden

Joe Biden was a terrible Senator.  He was not known as a friend of the feminist movement at all (remember what Alexander Cockburn write about him during his last presidential run?).  He was instrumental in creating a Democratic posture of bending over backwards to accommodate Republicans.  He was the one who aborted the attempt to block the nomination of Judge Thomas.  He was for all his career a tool of the Zionist lobby.  He once had lunch with a foreign policy person I knew to discuss about the Middle East. I asked him: so is he one of those people who criticizes Israel in private but then says that he can't say it in public?  He said: no, he speaks the talking points of AIPAC in private and in public.  He had a history of plagiarism and fake claims and fabrications.  He has no legislative record to speak of.  He is annoying and sleazy.  Yet, liberals are in love with him because they have on one else to love.  

The assassination attempt on the life of a young Yemeni free thinker

Regarding this story by Brian Whiaker.  I would be very careful.  There are Yemenis on social media expressing doubts.  The fellow, Muhammad `Ali `Atbush, who authored a book challenging the Islamist and even mainstream notion of "Qur'anic miracle" of science, seems to be engaged in a degree of self-promotion.  I don't know whether he really survived an assassination attempt but the story seems fishy: that a team of hit men came to his neighborhood to kill him but that they missed him from a distance of...2 meters. How credible is that? The author on his Facebook page also seem to relish posting what critics says about him.  And how come there were no witnesses there? And killing with silencers is not very common there.  I won't judge either way on the matter but I would be skeptical especially that the book was really not as known as Whitaker seems to think.  

Chelsea Manning and Judith Miller

Judith Miller just accused Chelsea Manning of hiding WMDs in her prison cell.

MTV of Lebanon: the most racist, sexist, and sectarian TV station: sponsored by US embassy in Lebanon

We don't know of the US finances MTV TV station in Lebanon. But we know that it was the only TV station which was visited by the US ambassador in Lebanon.  Not only it is notorious for its blatant sectarianism and racism (especially against Palestinian and Syrian people), and for its classism, and for its pleas for Saudi financing in Saudi Wikileaks, but it has referred to women as "whores" here.

Sudanese government: Dictators of the world Unite--but under US leadership

Here is the Sudanese government bragging that a US diplomat announced the removal of US sanctions on Sudanese dictatorship.  Where was George Clooney?

Zionists (and US govt) constitute the biggest threat to Freedom of Speech in the US: Fordham Bans Students for Justice in Palestine

"January 17 – Citing concerns that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) would be too “polarizing” for the campus to tolerate, Fordham University denied status to a group of students seeking to establish an SJP club."

Have you noticed?

Whenever Syrian regime and its allies are engaged in bitter fighting with ISIS, all US media (and the hyper active Western correspondents in Beirut on Twitter) disregard the news.  Why? Because it simply violate their dominant narrative about the war in Syria. 

Samantha Power paying tribute to human rights at GCC-Hariri think tank in DC

Saudi foreign minister's praise for Trump

I notice that Western media went out of their ways to distort and invent statements by Bashshar Al-Asad to prove that this one tyrant who is not in US camp is very happy about Trump, while all the positive statements about Trump by Gulf leaders were ignored in Western media.  Saudi foreign minister said yesterday that he was optimistic about Trump, and if you read Saudi regime media lately there is a love fest for him.

What is this guy talking about? Are people in EU and US "included"--and he thinks highly of their governments

Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth)

1/17/17, 2:36 AM Xi Jinping talks about those left behind by globalization but makes no mention of the human rights that would help them be included. #WEF17pic.twitter.com/rnKyWkxUou

The new government in Jordan

Like his father, when he gets in trouble or faces political threats, the King of Jordan changes government (or dissolves parliament--he did both recently).  The change of the foreign minister is due to many factors, from what I gathered.  Nasir Judah was close to King but: 1) he was blamed for the non-delivery of Gulf aid; 2) he was seen as too close to the Hillary Clinton's team and the King wanted a new start with Trump.  The new foreign Minister is the first Druze Minister in the history of Jordan (there was a Druze prime minister before, Rashid Tali`).  He is very close to UAE government, and held a post of head of the government information service there.   (The first call he made after his nomination was to UAE).

This is most touching: Kenneth Roth's two idols sitting together

	Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth)
1/17/17, 6:54 AM Our credibility is at stake. West Bank is being eaten up by settlements. John Kerry at Davos #wef17 pic.twitter.com/pc7mX9SCFt

Trump as president

Several times a day since the election, I look at Michele and say: I can't believe that Donald Trump is the president. This is like having Peter Griffen of Family Guy (or an unfunny version of him) becoming president.

So which is more violent? Bible or the Qur'an?

"'Violence more common' in Bible than Quran, text analysis reveals: The Old Testament was found to be more than twice as violent as the Quran"

Bahrain executes 3 stateless torture victims

"Bahrain today executed three torture victims following authorization by King Hamad. Sami Mushaima (42), Ali Al-Singace (21) and Abbas Al-Samea (27) were executed this morning by firing squad, the first people executed in Bahrain since July 2010, and the first Bahrainis executed since March 1996." "We have previously recorded the torture allegations of Abbas Al-Samea and Sami Mushaima, two of the three sentenced to death. Al-Samea, a teacher, was at school at the time of the bombing incident. Sami Mushaima is illiterate. Bahraini authorities subjected them to torture and convicted them of plotting and carrying out the attack."

UK links to Bahrain's 'torture prisons'

"Meanwhile, documents obtained by the legal charity Reprieve reveal that officials from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons visited Bahrain and helped prepare for an official inspection of the country’s most notorious police station, where a number of inmates have alleged ill treatment. The inspection of Bahrain’s CID building took place on 24-25 December 2014, leading to a report that ran to only six pages and failed to mention several high-profile allegations of torture."

US-backed Saudi war on Yemen - millions on brink of famine

"The UN says millions of Yemenis need humanitarian aid as the country slides into a catastrophic famine. This report contains disturbing images of starving children."

Zionists are often anti-Semites: How the Israel lobby political exploits and invents charges of anti-Semitism

"In episode two of The Lobby, Israeli embassy agent Shai Masot is seen telling the undercover reporter that complaints of anti-Semitism should be pursued against long-time anti-racism activist and Labour Party member Jackie Walker. “Do not let it go,” Masot says. He encourages similar tactics against others: “Not just her, all of the party.” " (thanks Amir)

Israeli Mossad experts think that Hizbullah members wear Jalabiyyahs: I am not making this up

source

Hizbullah attends a memorial for Fidel Castro

Leader of Hizbullah parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Ra`ad, gives a tribute to Fidel Castro.

This is it

This is it. I have finally found the best desk chair there is. I want this exact chair in my new office at school. Look how comfortable it looks. And I am always on the look out for the most comfortable chair.

How Fake News started in the Middle East media: it began with--you guessed it--Israel

In the Syrian war, it has been coming by both sides to invent stories.  But the first time I can remember when fake news were invented was by the dumb Israeli Mossad.  When Israel began its terrorist assault on Lebanon in July 2006, they leaked through a "friendly" sleazy Saudi "news" site, Elaph, among other sources a fake story claiming to be Reuters that suggested that Lebanese mega star, Haifa Wehbe, had criticized Hasan Nasrallah.  Saudi regime media ran with the story but it took only a few days for Haifa to come out and expose the story as a lie.  Since then, regimes have resorted to this kind of fake quotations and citations.  

Fake News in Bahraini regime media

Look at this story.  It cites a Russian paper which cites a Russian intelligence official claiming that Trump has asked British intelligence to "end the services of Sistani", implying that he was their agent.  Something is funny about the Bahraini royal family accusing someone of being an agent for British intelligence--as much as I detest Sistani.

Finally, Kenneth Roth reveals his role model: it is Ronald Reagan

Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth)

1/15/17, 8:53 PM

At Reykjavik, Reagan stood up to Soviet autocracy. If Trumps meets Putin there, will it just be more adulation? bit.ly/2iAjtrz pic.twitter.com/Vydpf7kQJt

Saudi Embassy manages the Twitter account of Syrian Coalition

"Qorvis-MSLGROUP’s latest disclosure reveals that the firm has suggested story ideas to The Weekly Standard and NPR, and pitched other interviews on behalf of the Saudi government.  The disclosure also shows that the Saudi Embassy, through Qorvis-MSLGROUP, manages the Twitter account @SyrCoalition, which is touted as the “official” voice of the Syrian opposition to Bashar al-Assad."

PS Sorry. This is an old one form 2014.

Watch how the family of the Palestinian who ran over Israeli terrorist soldiers faced an Israeli TV reporter

Watch the courage of the Palestinian family of the Palestinian man who ran over Israeli terrorist soldiers.  

Joseph Massad's Islam in Liberalism reviewed

Read here.

Ben Hubbard and Arab media: learning through Zionist eyes

So he wrote this piece about Arab media: nothing original,  just that media are split between two rival camps but:
1) He does not say that Qatari regime and Saudi regime media dominate more than 95% of Arab media, while Iran and Syria control the rest--to varying degrees (for example, he does not mention that Al-Mayadin--which he calls "pro-Iranian" is more pro-Syrian regime as it is not run religiously.  Minor point? Not really if you are writing about the media.
2) He relishes bringing in his pro-Israeli passion: "Once, after militants in Gaza fired a volley of rockets at Israel, I called a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad group to ask who was “responsible” for the attack." Do you think he ever calls Israeli government "after it fires a volley or rockets on Syria or West Bank or Gaza?
3) This is how he defines Hizbullah's mission: "Hezbollah and other groups committed to the destruction of Israel". But Mr. Hubbard does not explain why Hizbullah emerged after the Israeli invasion of 1982, which killed more than 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinians and Syrians--mostly civilians. The date of emergence must have been a pure coincidence.
4) He leaves out from his tally the number of Arabic language propaganda media belonging to Israel, US, EU, and even Israel.  
5) As he concludes the article, he talks to two "objective" experts on Arab media. One is a professor of Arabic at Brown.  Fair enough.  The second, however, works for Al-Arabiyya TV, the same channel which he had earlier told us is a propaganda channel for Saudi regime.  Can you imagine if he were to speak to "an expert" on Arab media at...Al-Manar TV?  
6) I left the article learning about Zionist reading of Arab media what I knew not before.

Where was Islam?

Wait: Human Rights Watch released this statement about Jordanian regime's mass arrests against reform advocates

The statement says: "HRW condemns the Syrian regime of Bashshar Al-Asad".