Rejection of Israel?

Zionists say: but the rejection of a Jewish state is anti-Semitic because why one would single out in rejection this Jewish state? To that one says: 1) Oh, no. I also reject Christian and Islamic and Buddhist states as well. 2) but also one can maintain that one is not necessarily opposed to a Jewish state per se but is opposed to the particular Jewish state which was constructed atop an existing Palestinian homeland.  Maxine Robinson once explained his position this way, he said: I would not be opposed to a Jewish state on the moon, for example.

Zionists can't have it both way

If Zionists in the US want us to believe that anti-Semitism includes criticisms or even rejection of the very existence of the Jewish state in Palestine, then they should also accept the parallel notion that any criticisms or even rejection of the Saudi or Iranian regimes among to anti-Islam bigotry.  Is that your position, o Zionists?

Urban planning in Egypt

I will be furious if the rent in the second building is not very very cheap.

Huffington Post Qatari regime

The Arabic Huffington Post is one of the most misogynistic Arab news site these days (and the competition is stiff given the sponsorship of media and websites by the polygamous oil and gas princes).  Here they talk about "female bickering" at weddings.

Syrian "revolution" festival in DC

Look who the speaker is for an event by the Syrian "revolution" supporters in DC: "Jamal Khashoggi, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Arab News Channel".  I revolution sponsored by the Saudi regime. Where is Karl Marx to see this?

Russia and the bombing of ISIS

Last week, Saudi and Qatari regime media condemned Russia for not bombing Raqqa and accused it because of that of under-the-table non-aggression deal with ISIS.  Yesterday, all Saudi and Qatari regime media were condemning Russia for bombing Raqqa and killing women and children.  I kid you not.  If only I can understand what Qatari and Saudi regime media want exactly.

How Roger Cohen makes his case for equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism

So Roger Cohen of the Times begins by providing anecdotal evidence from one student (he thinks that just because the student is at Oxford that we should be more impressed: "Last month, a co-chairman of the Oxford University Labour Club, Alex Chalmers, quit in protest at what he described as rampant anti-Semitism among members."
But that is not it: the evidence provides the evidence, if there is such a thing in logic. Or the anecdotal evidence presents an anecdotal evidence of his own: "Chalmers referred to members of the executive committee “throwing around the term ‘Zio’”".  I have been in the US since 1983, and have been around many pro-palestinian events and at leftist gatherings and I have never ever heard such a term used, ever.  But then again: my evidence is anecdotal. But he (or his one source) adds another evidence of anti-Semitism: "high-level expressions of “solidarity with Hamas”".  Wait: so solidarity with Hamas is evidence of anti-Semitism? I am no fan of Hamas but how is solidarity with Hamas or with Mahmoud Abbas evidence of anti-Semitism? Please explain.  Unless he considers solidity with the Israeli government evidence of anti-Islam and anti-Arabnss.  But wait: Roger Cohen is not done with his persuasive piece in which he marshals one evidence after another. Here, he stumbles on another example of anti-Semitism among the left: "A recent Oberlin alumna, Isabel Storch Sherrell, wrote in a Facebook post of the students she’d heard dismissing the Holocaust as mere “white on white crime.”"   He is not kidding.  So a Facebook post based on "students she'd heard"?  That is your evidence?  Can you imagine Roger Cohen making his case in a court of law, even a kangaroo court of law?   And I don't doubt that there are anti-Semitic sentiments in the US and there are kooky deniers of the Holocaust, but why is that related to the Palestinian cause? Is the Palestinian cause responsible for notorious Western anti-Semites like Henry Ford and others? He then blames Jeremey Corbyn for the rise in anti-Semitism among the left but then adds: "Corbyn is no anti-Semite".  If Corbyn is not anti-Semitic, why did you mention him then?  He then cites another student from Oxford University: "one Oxford student, James Elliott, put it. Elliott was narrowly defeated last month in a bid to become youth representative on Labour’s national executive committee."  I don't understand this part here. Does he mean that the defeat of an Zionist in any election proves anti-Semitism? So does that mean that humans should vote for Zionists in every and all election to prove that they are not anti-Semitic?  But forget about all this, he finally makes his case why anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism: "What is striking about the anti-Zionism derangement syndrome that spills over into anti-Semitism is its ahistorical nature. It denies the long Jewish presence in, and bond with, the Holy Land. It disregards the fundamental link between murderous European anti-Semitism and the decision of surviving Jews to embrace Zionism in the conviction that only a Jewish homeland could keep them safe."   OK, here is my response as an anti-Zionist: 1) no, anti-Zionists don't deny the historical bond between Jews and the holy land.  I would never also deny the long Jewish presence in Palestine.  But I don't think that the Jews who belonged to Palestine in 1917 and who  constituted less than 10% of the population and who owned less than 3% of the land of Palestine deserved a homeland atop the existing Arab Palestine, or that the aspirations of the 10% should disregard the aspirations of the 91% of the population (the "existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine", as they were outrageously referred to in the Balfour Declaration of 1917).  2) I also don't deny that there is a link between the murder of Jews in Europe and the foundation of Israel, but don't think that it was just to penalize the Palestinian national community for a crime that they didn't commit.  It is not anti-Semitic to believe that the establishment of a Jewish state should not take place at the expense of the Palestinian Arab nation. That is not anti-Semitic, no matter what a student at Oxford told Roger Cohen.  He then adds: "It dismisses the legal basis for the modern Jewish state in United Nations Resolution 181 of 1947. This was not “colonialism” but the post-Holocaust will of the world: Arab armies went to war against it and lost."  It is not anti-Semitic either to dismiss UN resolutions and no one has dismissed UN resolutions more than the occupation of the state of Israel.  And the UN Resolution (non-binding coming from UNGA) does not give the Jewish state what it has today: it was allotted (unfairly) 55% of Palestine when the Jewish population was only a third of the population of Palestine.  And Arab Armies had ever reason to go to war to defend the Palestinians from a Zionist assault: they went to war in order to prevent the massacre of Palestinians and their uprooting and the illegal occupation of Palestine. I only wish that Arab armies went with more force to prevent the larger force of Zionist forces (at the height of the conflict, the ratio of soldiers was 3-1 in favor of Zionist armies.  No matter what propaganda tactics Zionist hoodlums use, they won't shut down anti-Zionist voices in the US and around the world.  The notion that support for Palestinian restoration of rights and liberation of Palestine is anti-Semitic is as absurd as the notion that calling for the overthrow of the Iranian regime or the Saudi regime is anti-Muslim.  Anti-Zionism should never waver and should never quiver and should never compromise but it should also never ever allow anti-Semites to creep into the movement. Anti-Zionism should be clear in rejecting any association with anti-Semitism. 

PS If Roger Cohen accepts (he won't, like most Zionists), I would challenge him to a debate anywhere on anti-Zionism and the left.  

Saudi (and consequently US) war crimes in Yemen

"The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen may be responsible for "international crimes", a category that includes war crimes and crimes against humanity, the top U.N. human rights official said on Friday.   Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned an air strike in Yemen this week and added that the coalition was "responsible for twice as many civilian casualties as all other forces put together".  More than 6,000 people have been killed since the coalition campaign began a year ago to fight Iranian-allied Houthis and forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh and to restore the president they ousted, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Tuesday's strike near Mustaba in northwest Yemen hit an outdoor market and killed more than 100, a provincial health director and a U.N. official in Sanaa said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the war."

Finally. David Ignatius found real moderate Syrian rebels who really can defeat the regime and defeat ISIS--but he is serious this time

The man who previously declared that Riyad Al-As`ad of FSA is the best hope for the West since Churchill, and who later said that in fact General Engineer Doctor Musician Potato Slicer, Salim Idriss will be leading Syria to a bright future, and who later declared that Harak Hazm will be liberating all of Syria from the regime and from ISIS has finally stumbled--in Geneva of all places--on two people who command the most moderate and secular forces in Syria: "The two spoke through a translator, in a conversation that was arranged by the Higher Negotiation Committee, the umbrella group for the Syrian opposition. Both commanders are members of opposition groups that have been armed and trained by the United States, Jordan and other partners. They carry modern, U.S.-made anti-tank missiles and other weapons that have given them more heft on the battlefield than some other opposition groups."

These are the forces created and funded and equipped by US and Israel

"South Sudan pro-govt forces offered women to rape in lieu of wages – UN report"

Date: 2000-12-31 22:00 Subject: NEW IRAN AND SYRIA 2.DOC (From Wikileaks)

"What Israeli military leaders really worry about -- but cannot talk about -- is losing their nuclear monopoly." "Israel's leadership understands well why defeating Assad is now in its interests." "Bringing down Assad would not only be a massive boon to Israel's security, it would also ease Israel's understandable fear of losing its nuclear monopoly."  Of course, the Syrian regime never lifted a finger to liberate the Golan and defended the Israeli occupation border zealously.

Conspiracy in Syria? What conspiracy? From Hillary's emails

"we are partnering with Al-Jazeera who will take primary ownership over the tool we have built, track the data, verify it, and broadcast it back into Syria. I've attached a few visuals that show what the tool will look like."

US-backed despot imprisons human rights activist

"Prominent human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja was imprisoned this week for ripping up a photo of the king of Bahrain, a close ally of the U.S." "Her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, himself a renowned human rights activist and a co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was sentenced to life in prison for helping lead peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011, which were crushed when Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent in more than 1,500 soldiers, with U.S. support."

Israeli theft of Palestinian water

"The letter from Gaza to Flint — signed by various activists, including the prominent doctor Mona el-Farra — notes that Israel controls Palestinian water. The Israeli occupation steals from the coastal aquifer that is Gaza’s main source of water, prevents Palestinians from building sewage treatment facilities and forces them to buy water at prices they cannot afford." "Palestinians live under an apartheid system. And the impacts of apartheid are especially pronounced when it comes to water. While Israeli settlers in the arid West Bank can enjoy the sight of well-irrigated floral displays and dips in swimming pools all year round, Palestinians have access to considerably less drinking water than the levels recommended by the World Health Organization." (thanks Amir)

On the forgotten Golan Heights and Israeli theft of the water of the lake

This is a movie by a resident of the occupied Golan.

The design of my new office

لقد إتخذتُ قراراً لا رجعة فيه: لقد قرّرتُ أن أصمّم مكتباً لي تماما على طراز مكتب أردوغان لما فيه من البساطة والعفويّة.

I have reached a final decision: I plan to design my office exactly like the office of Turkish president. I particularly like its modesty and non-pretension.

It is all over for the Syrian regime. Its days--you guessed it--are numbered, again

And who but Nicholas Branford can tell for sure knowing his special access to Abu Roni of Hizbullah?  "While the Russian intervention has granted Assad some breathing space, his grip on the country remains fragile."

The sexiest man who wrote this comment is a professor of political science at Kuwait University

"عبدالله الشايجي
@docshayji
كابتن طائرة ‫#‏فلاي_دبي‬ المنكوبة التي تحطمت فجراليوم في جنوب ‫#‏روسيا‬ وقتُل فيها 62 شخصا-امرأة!
واستبعاد عمل إرهابي.
هل تثق بكابتن طائرة امرأة؟

It says: "The Captain of the disastrous FlyDubai plane which crashed this morning in southern Russia and where 62 people were killed was a woman.  Terrorism is ruled out.  Do you trust a woman to command a plane?"

Obama Doctrine and the "non vital" US interests in the Middle Eeast

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "Obama Doctrine: The Gulf and the 'non-vital' [US] interests".

The latest Nusrah Front video includes a clip from an interview with Chomsky

Nusrah Front video includes (minute 5:30) a clip from an interview with Chomsky.  The video will expire any minute now, it says.  Of course, they are using what Chomsky said in part for their own purposes and out of the original context. 

US-based lobby helps tyrants whitewash their war crimes

"One of the world’s largest advertising agencies has been accused of helping Saudi Arabia “whitewash” its record on human rights following the kingdom’s largest mass execution for more than 30 years." "In its letter to Publicis CEO Maurice Levy, Reprieve accused Qorvis of helping the Saudis “whitewash serious human rights abuses” by distributing Mr Al-Jubeir’s article, warning that the firm was “dangerously close to helping the Saudi Government defend the execution of non-violent political opponents”." (thanks Amir)

Strict orders for Saudi regime propagandists

They all are instructions: go after Obama doctrine--from all point of view.  The thirst? What dare you attack Saudi regime.

When Arabs and Muslims are harassed in the US

"Adam and Jameel Siam said they have suffered anti-Muslim harassment for at least two years at Williamsville East High School, but they said administrators have done nothing to address their complaints, reported WIVB-TV. They’re hounded on social media and harassed in the hallways at school, and vandals broke windows and doors at the family’s home over the weekend by throwing rocks and eggs. 

The boys have filed at least two reports with Amherst police, the TV station reported — once after a fight in December and then again after their home was vandalized. Their mother said she has repeatedly asked school officials to help stop the bullying, but she said her complaints have been ignored. Now the boys face an expulsion hearing after fighting with their tormenters."

Washington Post journalism about Russian withdrawal from Syria

The Washington Post had an article the other day that Hizbullah is freaking out and "shocked" about Russian withdrawal from Syria, and it cited an unnamed Hizbullah official.  In this article, Hasan `Illayq of Al-Akhbar (who has close access to Hizbullah leadership) writes that Hizbullah and Syria were informed in advance of Russian decision. Who do you believe?  In my case, Hasan any day of the week.

Saudi regime media bring Bush's advisers to defend Saudi regime

Saudi regime media are now rolling out Bush's adverse to defend the Saudi regime.

Saudi media unleash their weapon on Obama: misogyny and anti-communism

This Saudi columnist found it: the problem with Obama is a woman in his staff. You see, according to this guy in this Saudi paper, her sins are numerous: she is a woman, who was born in Iran, and grew up in a communist family--kid you not.

Funny: a writer for Saudi news outlet, Al-Arabiyya on funding of Lebanese press

"There are publications, such as An-Nahar, that are supported by Gulf countries even though they operate from Lebanon. Their financial backbone is Saudi Arabia owing to which they have been the leading print newspaper in Lebanon. With the Gulf countries withdrawing its financial support, such publications do not know how to manage their financial affairs.

“Lebanese newspapers, especially An-Nahar, are like any other newspaper in the country. If it is connected to an economic reality that is comfortable and blessed and sound, then it [the newspaper] is going to take advantage of this blessed reality and use it to make it stronger and more stable,” Ayyash said." (thanks Basim)

Diaa Hadid reporting on the Palestinians

She does not report about the speaker and scores of members of this council who have been arrested or shot at by Israeli occupation forces.  She rightly talks about the dubious legality of Hamas but forgot that Mahmoud Abbas was last elected a decade ago. 

Iran behind Sep. 11

All Saudi media are now festive: that a NYC court found Iran guilty of Sep. 11 and liable.  The same judge who ruled against Iran had ruled in favor of Saudi Arabia regarding its involvement in Sep. 11.  So let me get this straight: based on the series of accusations since Sep. 11: it was Saddam and Al-Qa`idah and Iranian regime and Palestinians who all were behind Sep. 11? Wasn't there an American conservative kook who also threw Russia to the mix? 

Stealth Editing at the New York Times

This is not new; it goes on all the time and reveals the propganda mission of the paper.  New York Times promotion of Hillary in non-editorial articles has been consistent. 

Frank Gaffney is also advising Ted Cruz on foreign policy

In addition to being a major Islamophobe (and an OCD anti-communist prior), did he not believe that Iraqi WMDs were transported to Lebanon from Iraq on the back of camels? 

Who advises Ted Cruz on foreign policy? None other than Michael Ledeen

Has there been a man who is most discredited in foreign policy than this guy?  He basically argued that there is evidence that the PLO was a communist tool; that Bulgarian communists were behind the assassination of Pope John II; that Zarawi worked for Iranian regime; that NATO European allies were behind the movement of radical Islam; that yellow cake (not sponge cake) was proven in the case of Iraq; that Billy Carter was a PLO spy; and he vouched for the credibility of Ghorbanifar in the Iran-Contra scandal.  This man was even mocked by his colleague at the National Review for his kooky conspiracy theories. Will mainstream media pick on this trail of Mr. Ledeen?  I recommend that you go back to 1984 when the Reagan government appointed him in charge of captured documents from the deposed Grenada invasion.  He basically said in a press conference that Grenadan communists were running a world-wide conspiracy against the US.  

Bernard Lewis at 100

People who believe in God and his "divirce wisdom" need to explain to us how Ghassan Kanafani would die (at the hands of Israeli terrorists) before reaching age 40 when Bernard Lewis lives to see his 100th year.  

Liz Sly reports on Twitter that Hizbullah is freaking out about Russian withdrawal

"

Liz Sly (@LizSly)

3/15/16, 11:09 AM Hezbollah freaking out about the Russian withdrawal from Syria: "There is fear Hezbollah will be paying the price" washingtonpost.com/world/russia-b…

Look what Liz Sly (by far the most propagandistic correspondent covering Syria from Beirut) said on Twitter.  You read the Washington Post and there is no reference whatsoever that Hizbullah is freaking out except a quote from an unnamed Hizbullah leader (must be Abu Roni who talks freely about Hizbullah scrects to Nicholas Blanford) who said that they were not informed of the decisions. 

CNN reports on Syrian "liberated areas"

Given how low CNN has sunk over the years, one would have hoped that they would not even pretend that they are interested in covering the globe.  Why don't they just stick to covering Trump and Kardashian sisters.  Here, their correspondents reports from Syrian "liberated" areas: what she found is that the Syrian rebels (mostly Nusrah although she gleefully reports to me on Twitter that she found no ISIS) are democrats and freedom prevails in their areas and that Russian bombs kill civilians but that US and Syrian rebel bombs never kill civilians, or that civilians who live in government-controlled areas are dispensable. 

Saudi Minister of Information and Propaganda on Yemen

"“We hoped at the beginning it would be a quick thing".

For the history books: Samantha Power advocated US support for Saudi war crimes in Yemen

"Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said American military support might mean fewer civilian casualties."

Ahrar Ash-Sham and Nusrah Front in Ghutah

After releasing an official statement with letterhead and nice calligraphy containing railings against Shi`ites and Alawites and communists--kid you not--Ahrar Asham later said that its joint statement with Nusrah Front was not true.  OK.  

Bigotry against Muslims in US: It is not only Trump

On Ibn Rushd and Rationalism

In her book, Political Thought in Islam, Nelly Lahoud makes the point that Ibn Rushd is often perceived through a popularized version influenced by the simplistic movie, Al-Masir, by Yusuf Shahin.  Ibn Rushd was not what people think of him. This is as simple as the Orientalist equation of Mu`tazilah with Rationalists as opposed to the Irrationalist theologians.  I thought about that as I read this passage in this article: " In theology, too, Muslim thinkers like Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroës, developed sophisticated arguments that would inspire Christian thinkers like Thomas Aquinas — thanks to the Muslim engagement with Greek philosophy.". So if Thomas Aquinas was influenced by Ibn Rushd it makes the latter acceptable? 

Here we go: American Zionists come to the rescue of House of Saud

"The President has minimized, or totally overlooked, a host of Saudi efforts that have bolstered Washington’s political, military, and economic objectives in the Middle East and beyond. These include: supporting American anti-Soviet policies during the Cold War; providing financial support for economically strapped American allies, such as Jordan and Morocco; coordinating with American efforts to rid Afghanistan of the Soviets; participating militarily in Operation Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s tender mercies in 1991; hosting American troops throughout the 1990s; taking the lead in offering Israel peace, in the form of the Arab Peace Initiative (to which, unfortunately, Israel gave scant consideration); and funding the opposition to both Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State. The list of ways in which the Saudis have supported American interests is actually longer and is simply too exhaustive for Obama to dismiss the them, and, for that matter, their Gulf partners, as “free riders.” Even worse, his disdain for Riyadh in particular is simply solidifying the distrust of America’s other Arab allies, who have yet to get over Washington’s callous indifference to the fate of long time ally Hosni Mubarak. It is noteworthy that Prince Turki mentioned Mubarak in his letter, but President Obama does not mention his former Egyptian counterpart in any of the quotes that appear in Jeffrey Goldberg’s Atlantic article.

The King of Jordan and his land grab and vacations

This is a big story in repressive Jordan.  Courageous Jordanian dissident, Layth Shubaylat, speaks about the real estate grabs by the King and corruption within the family.  He also speaks about the extended vacations the King takes for most of the year.  Yet, Bernie Sanders regards him as the model Arab/Muslim.  

King of Jordan and PlayStation

The King of Jordan cut short his vacation (which usually lasts for most of the year) and returned to LA to await the release of PlayStation VR.  He said that the headset will replace his crown in official ceremonies.  

at least 78 per cent of humanitarian aid intended for Palestinians ends up in Israel’s coffers

"His astonishing conclusion – one that may surprise Israel’s settlers – is that at least 78 per cent of humanitarian aid intended for Palestinians ends up in Israel’s coffers. The sums involved are huge."

a mass murderer who did a Nazi salute in court, isn't being called a terrorist. Why?

"The answer and reason is simply because of the fact that a white terrorist receives privileged consideration in the media. In contrast, the “terrorist” moniker is one that is exclusively reserved for those who don’t come from within, those who are looked upon as society’s dangerous “others”. Nowadays, that “other” is almost always a Muslim."