"And in a delicate spy-versus-spy dance, sharing takes place even with governments that are themselves important N.S.A. targets, notably Israel. The documents describe collaboration with the Israel Sigint National Unit, which gets raw N.S.A. eavesdropping material and provides it in return, but they also mention the agency’s tracking of “high priority Israeli military targets,” including drone aircraft and the Black Sparrow missile system. "
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Hamas conspiracy behind every corner in Egypt
Fahmi Huwaydi yet again exposes the kooky "Hamas conspiracy" element in the propaganda of the Sisi dictatorship. (thanks Yusuf)
The Most Unfair Countries to Women in the World: Why you can't trust any of those Western rankings
I have never seen a Western (governmental or private, conservative or liberal) ranking of countries using different criteria that I trusted. In fact, I always look at them to confirm my suspicions that they are unreliable. There are political considerations employed in all those ranking, without exception. Look at this one on "The most Unfair Countries to Women". 1) Who with his/her right mind would believe that Syria ranks behind Saudi Arabia on women's right and status? Who but a propagandist? 2) Notice that this silly ranking lists Saudi Arabia as having "a parliament". I kid you not. The rest is trash. (thanks Saad)
The surveillance state
"“The bill that the intelligence committee voted on this week would expressly authorize this bulk collection for the first time, and that would be a huge step backward for the rights of law-abiding Americans,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), one of four committee members who voted against moving the bill."
Bandar's friend in the Washington Post
As you know, Bob Woodward is a close friend of Prince Bandar (who in Washington DC press corps who has received lavish gifts from Bandar is NOT a friend of Bandar? There will come a time when someone like James Bill in The Eagle and the Lion will write about how the Shah's embassy in Washington, DC lavishly spent on the Washington press corps) and here he presents Saudi displeasure at the US as a national security crisis for the US. Notice that not one word in a long article is even mentioned about the atrocious human rights record of the House of Saud. I like this line: "Although the Saudis and others in the region have been supplying weapons to the rebels since the fighting in Syria began more than two years ago and have cooperated with a slow-starting CIA operation to train and arm the opposition..."
War on Burma’s Rohingya
"The anti-Rohingya violence has since affected other Muslims in Burma. In September, a Buddhist mob rampaged through a Muslim neighborhood of Kamein ethnicity in Thandwe, a town in Rakhine state. Among those killed was a 94-year-old grandmother. Attacks have been reported in dozens of locations across Burma. In the central town of Meiktila, for example, a mob massacred middle-school students and their teachers, among others. Survivors told investigators from Physicians for Human Rights grisly details of beatings, stabbings, decapitations and immolations while scores of police officers watched and hundreds of bystanders cheered and shouted such things as, “Kill them!” A key catalyst for the violence is the rising influence of the 969 movement, a campaign led by Buddhist monks that preaches religious purity and urges boycotts of Muslim-owned businesses.
The threat of future violence is acute against all Muslims in Burma but particularly the Rohingya. Burma’s 1982 citizenship law does not include the Rohingya among the country’s officially recognized ethnic groups, so they are essentially stateless. They are widely reviled throughout Burma as illegal immigrants. They must obtain official approval to marry and to travel, even to neighboring villages; in some areas, they are prohibited from having more than two children. Many Rohingya, including children, have been forced to work without pay for government and military authorities. Rohingya routinely face arbitrary arrest and detention, confiscation of property, and physical and sexual violence.
Perhaps most outrageous amid this violence against Rohingya and other Muslims has been the tacit support of Burmese authorities. Investigations by Physicians for Human Rights and others have found that Buddhist monks and local politicians incited and led many of the attacks. State security forces have failed or refused to stop incidents of violence and sometimes participated in it. While hundreds of Muslims have been jailed for supposedly instigating the violence, few perpetrators have been arrested. It has become evident that there is little risk in Burma to those who attack Muslims. "
The threat of future violence is acute against all Muslims in Burma but particularly the Rohingya. Burma’s 1982 citizenship law does not include the Rohingya among the country’s officially recognized ethnic groups, so they are essentially stateless. They are widely reviled throughout Burma as illegal immigrants. They must obtain official approval to marry and to travel, even to neighboring villages; in some areas, they are prohibited from having more than two children. Many Rohingya, including children, have been forced to work without pay for government and military authorities. Rohingya routinely face arbitrary arrest and detention, confiscation of property, and physical and sexual violence.
Perhaps most outrageous amid this violence against Rohingya and other Muslims has been the tacit support of Burmese authorities. Investigations by Physicians for Human Rights and others have found that Buddhist monks and local politicians incited and led many of the attacks. State security forces have failed or refused to stop incidents of violence and sometimes participated in it. While hundreds of Muslims have been jailed for supposedly instigating the violence, few perpetrators have been arrested. It has become evident that there is little risk in Burma to those who attack Muslims. "
As I predicted
None of the Western media that I looked at today bothered to mention the shooting at poor Workers in Tripoli just because they are `Alawites.
The prophetic vision of Geroge W. Bush
"Bush told Republican governors in the fall of 2002. “Afghanistan and Iraq will lead that part of the world toward democracy.”"
Bassem Youssef and Arab Liberals
The scene over the last few days has been grotesque: Western media and Arab liberals, who for months have ignored the clamp down on "Ikhwan media" in Egypt and the murder of Egyptians by the Sisi regime, have suddenly discovered that the Sisi regime is anti-democratic after all. What a late and lame arrival at the truth.
Steve Jobs and Capitalism
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "Steve Jobs and Capitalism in the Technological Age".
Saturday, November 02, 2013
For the first time, I find myself in full agreement with Barry Obama
"Obama meditating on drone strikes and telling his aides that he’s “really good at killing people”".
Calm down: Israeli nukes are safe
"The article quoted “American sources” as saying the United States would not pressure Israel to give up its nuclear weapons before reaching a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, which Iran says is peaceful but which Israel believes is aimed at building nuclear weapons. "
Roger Cohen was not kidding here in defending the mainstream media
"Greenwald overstates the conformity of mainstream papers, whose investigative journalism is often vigorous and fearless."
Western powers are NOT alarmed
"The Rokkasho reprocessing facility … is capable of producing nine tons of weapons-usable plutonium annually, said Japanese officials and nuclear-industry experts, enough to build as many as 2,000 bombs, although Japanese officials say their program is civilian."
"Enlightened" Muslims should pray for the British Royal Family
From Nu`man: "So how should an "elightened" muslim behave, according to Douglas Murray; they must pray for the royal family: "Tell them that the era of ifs and buts about the extremists must end. Tell them to put the concerns of the state foremost in the minds of young Muslims, to have a picture of the Queen and say a prayer for the royal family in mosques as it is said in synagogues every Saturday. Tell them to teach their young that if they feel an urge to get involved in a struggle, they can join up for one the best armies in the world — the British army..."
Al-Arabiyya (the newsstation of King Fahd's brother-in-law) documents its stories
"But an Israeli military intelligence website ruled out health issues are behind Khamenei’s absence. DEBKAfile reported that the supreme leader has likely disappeared to focus on drafting a “trilateral” U.S.-Russian-Iranian accord for resolving the issues of Iran’s nuclear program." (thanks Basim)
Make no mistake about it: when House of Saud was (and is) sponsoring and arming Islamist fanatics, the US was aware and supportive of the endeavor
From Amir: ""If there were a prize for Most Irresponsible Foreign Policy it would surely be awarded to Saudi Arabia. It is the nation most responsible for the rise of Islamic radicalism and militancy around the world. Over the past four decades, the kingdom's immense oil wealth has been used to underwrite the export of an extreme, intolerant and violent version of Islam preached by its Wahhabi clerics. Go anywhere in the world--from Germany to Indonesia--and you'll find Islamic centers flush with Saudi money, spouting intolerance and hate."
"Of course some of this history is well known. The blowback story—how the US armed the mujahedeen, some of whom morphed into al-Qaeda—has been told in book and film. We are also getting a sense now of how parts of the US-backed Pakistani military-intelligence complex have actively supported radical Islamists. Collusion between Britain and Islamist movements over the past century has also been explored. And of course, Israel’s support for Hamas as a counterweight to the Palestinian Liberation Organization has gone down as one of the great diplomatic miscalculations of recent history." "In Egypt, the charge was often made by the government of Gamel Abdel Nasser that the Muslim Brotherhood was in the CIA's pay."
"Of course some of this history is well known. The blowback story—how the US armed the mujahedeen, some of whom morphed into al-Qaeda—has been told in book and film. We are also getting a sense now of how parts of the US-backed Pakistani military-intelligence complex have actively supported radical Islamists. Collusion between Britain and Islamist movements over the past century has also been explored. And of course, Israel’s support for Hamas as a counterweight to the Palestinian Liberation Organization has gone down as one of the great diplomatic miscalculations of recent history." "In Egypt, the charge was often made by the government of Gamel Abdel Nasser that the Muslim Brotherhood was in the CIA's pay."
For years I have been telling you about the Saudi-Israeli alliance
"A week or so ago, I found myself sitting on a panel about Iran with Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud and Israel analyst and former Mossad officer, Yossi Alpher."
This is a maassacre that you won't hear about: a massacre that won't outrage Western human rights organization. A massacre that won't bother the UNSC
The "pro-Western", March 14 thugs of Bab At-Tibbanah in Tripoli (the ones managed by the Intelligence Branch of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces which is run jointly by the Saudi intelligence service and the CIA), stopped a bus full of `Alawite workers and shot at the civilians only before circulating the pictures (proudly) on various social media. I went to the page of the director of Human Rights Watch in Beirut, who tweets round the clock, because I knew that he won't say a word on the massacre, and I was right. Not a word. Imagine of this was in reverse: if those `Alawites stopped a bus load of Sunnis and shot at them. It would have led to a special meeting of the Arab League, and the president of the Security Council would have been forced by the US to issue a statement and to convene a special session. Just as the massacre of `Alawite civilians in Latakia took place without any concern or attention in Western capitals, this one would barely get the attention of Western media because the killers and the Western correspondents stationed in Beirut are in the same trench, literally in some cases. They are allies of the gangs of the Syrian "revolution". Here are names of some of the victims.
Friday, November 01, 2013
The blog
I have received many tips regarding correcting the problem where only a few posts appear per page. Thanks to you all. Correct me if I am wrong--I never am, how dare you--but it seems better today, no?
Am I a suspcious Middle Eastern male adult in my neighborhood, I wonder?
"Last month, the ACLU’s California office released summaries of suspicious activity reports collected by law enforcement officials, Choudhury said. In one, a police officer reported a suspicious individual in his neighborhood, described as “a Middle Eastern male adult physician who is very unfriendly.”
“That report doesn’t reveal any evidence supporting the reasonable suspicion that the person engaged in wrongdoing,” Choudhury said. “But it does reveal bias against people of Middle Eastern descent.”
“That report doesn’t reveal any evidence supporting the reasonable suspicion that the person engaged in wrongdoing,” Choudhury said. “But it does reveal bias against people of Middle Eastern descent.”
When Pakistan government counts civilian causalties of drone attacks
"The Pakistani government said Wednesday that 3 percent of the people killed in U.S. drone strikes since 2008 were civilians, a surprisingly low figure that could alter the highly negative public perception of the attacks....There was no indication why the new data seem to differ so much from past government calculations and outside estimates." I don't know how to break it to you, o Washington Post, but some governments lie. Not in the US, of course. Not in the US, but overseas.
GCC courts
From Rupert: "Surprisingly no mention made by FT that many judges in GCC Courts are from Egypt and Syria, none of whom were replaced by their paymasters during the abortion that is Arab Spring.
Dubai is the worst example, with Courts presided by Egyptian and Syrian Judges, apart from DIFC where the law applicable is English and Welsh, not Shariah/French!"
Dubai is the worst example, with Courts presided by Egyptian and Syrian Judges, apart from DIFC where the law applicable is English and Welsh, not Shariah/French!"
David Ignatius has been enamored with Arab potentates for a long time
"That’s a useful note of honesty, but the White House could have saved itself a lot of trouble by communicating its strategic views better to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt — all long-standing U.S. allies. "
This article in the New York Times is quite accurate and reliable, except for this correction--that is
"This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 31, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated a word in the name of the party that Angela Merkel led a dozen years ago as a rising star of German politics and continues to lead today. It is the Christian Democratic Union, not the Christian Democratic Party. An earlier version also misspelled part of the name of the German weekly in which Helmut Schmidt, a former German chancellor, discussed the National Security Agency spying scandal. It is Die Zeit, not Die Ziet. And an earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the person who said on behalf of the French government that “the N.S.A. director’s denials do not seem very plausible.” The person who commented, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, is a woman, not a "spokesman."
Correction: October 31, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated a word in the name of the party that Angela Merkel led a dozen years ago as a rising star of German politics and continues to lead today. It is the Christian Democratic Union, not the Christian Democratic Party. An earlier version also misspelled part of the name of the German weekly in which Helmut Schmidt, a former German chancellor, discussed the National Security Agency spying scandal. It is Die Zeit, not Die Ziet. And an earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the person who said on behalf of the French government that “the N.S.A. director’s denials do not seem very plausible.” The person who commented, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, is a woman, not a "spokesman."
Jared Diamond
"Jared Diamond is back at it, once again trading in the familiar determinist tropesthat earned him a Pulitzer Prize for his 1999 book Guns, Germs and Steel, That dullbook was chockfull of the bad and the worse, the random and the racist. At best it is just silly, as when he offers unsupported, and unsupportable, assertions such as hisget-off-my-lawn grouse that children today are not as smart as in the recent past and television is to blame. At worst, it develops an argument about human inequality based on a determinist logic that reduces social relations such as poverty, stateviolence, and persistent social domination, to inexorable outcomes of geography and environment. Arguments such as these have made him a darling of bourgeois intellectuals, whohave grown tired of looking meanspirited and self-serving when they make their transparently desperate efforts to displace histories of imperialism back on its victims.They need a pseudointellectual explanation for inequality in order to sustain thebourgeois social order that guarantees their privilege. This they found in
Guns, Germs and Steel..."
Guns, Germs and Steel..."
Syrian "revolutionaries" staging events on video? No way. They would never do such a thing. Are you diddling me?
"In a video published on October 28, two men are filmed skinning, cooking and eating a cat, allegedly because they face dire food shortages in their neighbourhood of the Damascus suburbs. While it is not impossible that Syrian civilians may have resorted to this where the fighting is fiercest and life the hardest, this video appears to have been carefully staged to create maximum impact. The video was first posted on the YouTube channel of a group calling itself the "South Damascus Media Bureau", which has published several dozen other videos, mostly of rebels doing battle."
American nuclear upgrades
""The non-partisan Stimson Center think-tank last year estimated the total cost of the nuclear upgrade over the next decade, including weapons, infrastructure and delivery systems, at between $350 billion and $400 billion.""
The chief PA buffoon--the father of all buffoons--tendered his resignation, yet again
"Asked about the resignation of the negotiators, Saeb Erekat and Muhammad Shtayyeh, a senior American official said, “We have been informed by the Palestinian side that they remain committed to the negotiations for the nine months agreed upon and that they fully intend to participate in the next round of negotiations.”
I need your help: this passage in the Washington Post is beyond my comprehension
"The Senate Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to advance legislation that would endorse a National Security Agency program to collect the phone records of nearly every American while strengthening privacy protections for the Americans whose data is gathered."
A Syrian liberal "ideologue" of the "revolution" now laments the "growing fascist" features of the "revolution"--kid you not
Liberal Syrian ideologue of the "revolution", Yassin Hajj Saleh, who just fled Syria having been threatened by the rebels of the "revolution" now (only now, when for long months he denied that there are fanatical Islamist elements) complains about the the "growing fascist features" within the "revolution".
Liquid cocaine drink banned in Lebanon
The Lebanese state officially and categorically banned the drink "liquid cocaine" (I don't even know what it is) because the name is found to be offensive and dangerous. Kid you not. (thanks Laure)
obscurantism in the US
"Over one half (63 percent, to be exact) of young Americans 18-29 years old now believe in the notion that invisible, non-corporeal entities called "demons" can take partial or total control of human beings, revealed an October 2012 Public Policy Polling survey that also showed this belief isn't declining among the American population generally; it's growing." (thanks Amir)
Nazis in Lebanon
"The ad headlines "Heil Hitler" (yes, nothing short of the Nazi salute). And goes on to announce "Here it is! The second shipment has of the Nasr German golden blades has arrived. Nasr blade is the only German blade which was used by Herr Hitler and all the leaders of the German army. Made of pure German steel hurry up and use it to get a clean and comfortable shave. Nasr blades sold in all major shops."
Before you drop your jaw on this, just consider that Phalangists or Kataeb were inspired by the Nazi youth when Pierre Gemayel saw them in the 1936 Olympics in Germany (last year they decided to keep the official Nazi salute as part of their rituals). Further, during the second world war, and since the Lebanese have a history of 1) standing with whomever is winning 2) considering that an enemy's enemy is a friend, it is a small wonder that in Tripoli there was chant that said "Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Bla Monsieur Bla Mister" - Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! No Monsieur, no Mister - since Monsieur and Mister are the words used in French and English, therefore not supporting the allied and the colonialism at the time passed by endorsing Nazism." (thanks "Ibn Rushd")
Before you drop your jaw on this, just consider that Phalangists or Kataeb were inspired by the Nazi youth when Pierre Gemayel saw them in the 1936 Olympics in Germany (last year they decided to keep the official Nazi salute as part of their rituals). Further, during the second world war, and since the Lebanese have a history of 1) standing with whomever is winning 2) considering that an enemy's enemy is a friend, it is a small wonder that in Tripoli there was chant that said "Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Bla Monsieur Bla Mister" - Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! No Monsieur, no Mister - since Monsieur and Mister are the words used in French and English, therefore not supporting the allied and the colonialism at the time passed by endorsing Nazism." (thanks "Ibn Rushd")
AAUP and Zionist influence
"Several US university professors are accusing the Journal of Academic Freedom of caving in to pressure to publish a series of essays opposing the academic boycott of Israeli institutions.
The journal, which is published by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), made the decision after coming under attack for including a number of articles supporting the boycott in its most recent issue.
The dispute goes to the heart of a broader battle within the AAUP and US academia over freedom of speech when it comes to Israel and the right to advocate for boycott of Israeli institutions.
“Unfortunately” some “among the AAUP leadership are not prepared to grant [the Journal of Academic Freedom] editorial independence and are insisting that the journal revise the contents of Volume 4 to include more anti-boycott articles in the interest of ostensible balance,” says a letter to the journal’s editor signed by organizers of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).
A copy of the letter, addressed to Ashley Dawson, editor of the Journal of Academic Freedom, was shared with The Electronic Intifada, and is published in full below.
The letter also addresses the broad, ongoing assault on the rights of teachers to speak out about the question of Palestine and the Israelis."
The journal, which is published by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), made the decision after coming under attack for including a number of articles supporting the boycott in its most recent issue.
The dispute goes to the heart of a broader battle within the AAUP and US academia over freedom of speech when it comes to Israel and the right to advocate for boycott of Israeli institutions.
“Unfortunately” some “among the AAUP leadership are not prepared to grant [the Journal of Academic Freedom] editorial independence and are insisting that the journal revise the contents of Volume 4 to include more anti-boycott articles in the interest of ostensible balance,” says a letter to the journal’s editor signed by organizers of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).
A copy of the letter, addressed to Ashley Dawson, editor of the Journal of Academic Freedom, was shared with The Electronic Intifada, and is published in full below.
The letter also addresses the broad, ongoing assault on the rights of teachers to speak out about the question of Palestine and the Israelis."
Obama and intellectaul sparring
From Michael: ""But get him in an off-the-record setting with a small group of opinion columnists — the David Brooks and E.J. Dionne types — and he’ll talk for hours.
“He likes the intellectual sparring element of it,” a source familiar with the president’s thinking told POLITICO."
...
"Participants vary depending on the issue of the day, but there are regulars. Brooks, the New York Times columnist, is a frequent guest, as is Joe Klein of Time Magazine. From The Washington Post: E.J. Dionne, Eugene Robinson, Ezra Klein and Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor. On foreign policy: the Post’s David Ignatius, Bloomberg View’s Jeffrey Goldberg, and the Times’ Thomas Friedman."
There is so much that is incredibly depressing in this article but nothing more so than seeing "intellectual sparring" and Thomas Friedman even remotely linked."
“He likes the intellectual sparring element of it,” a source familiar with the president’s thinking told POLITICO."
...
"Participants vary depending on the issue of the day, but there are regulars. Brooks, the New York Times columnist, is a frequent guest, as is Joe Klein of Time Magazine. From The Washington Post: E.J. Dionne, Eugene Robinson, Ezra Klein and Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor. On foreign policy: the Post’s David Ignatius, Bloomberg View’s Jeffrey Goldberg, and the Times’ Thomas Friedman."
There is so much that is incredibly depressing in this article but nothing more so than seeing "intellectual sparring" and Thomas Friedman even remotely linked."
Zionist colonization of Palestine
Comrade Joseph: "Ever since its colonial project was set in motion, Zionism has insisted that it seeks to colonize Palestine “peacefully,” indeed that its colonization of the country will not only not harm the native population, but that it would be of benefit to them. The movement’s founder, Theodor Herzl, himself provided two visions of this future, a fictional public vision advertised in his futurist novel Altneuland, where Palestine would become a Jewish state allowing coexistence with the native Arabs who would be happy and grateful for being colonized and civilized by European Jews, and a secret logistical and practical strategy to evict the Arab population out of the country, which he spelled out in his Diaries. Herzl’s dual approach of declaring peaceful intentions for public consumption behind which he sought to hide Zionism’s violent strategy of conquering the land of the Palestinians would be adopted wholesale thenceforward and continues to be the cornerstone of Israeli policy to the present.
Indeed, long before George Orwell popularized the expression “war is peace” in his 1949 novel [1984], Zionism understood well that its colonial strategy depended on a deliberate and insistent confusion of the binary terms “war” and “peace” so that each of them hides behind the other as one and the same strategy: “peace” will always be the public name of a colonial war, and “war,” once it became necessary and public, would be articulated as the principal means to achieve the sought after “peace.” This is so central to Zionist and Israeli propaganda that Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, which killed 20,000 civilians, was termed operation “Peace for Galilee.” War and peace therefore were the same means whose only and ultimate strategic goal was the European Jewish colonization of Palestine and the subjugation and expulsion of Palestine’s native population."
Indeed, long before George Orwell popularized the expression “war is peace” in his 1949 novel [1984], Zionism understood well that its colonial strategy depended on a deliberate and insistent confusion of the binary terms “war” and “peace” so that each of them hides behind the other as one and the same strategy: “peace” will always be the public name of a colonial war, and “war,” once it became necessary and public, would be articulated as the principal means to achieve the sought after “peace.” This is so central to Zionist and Israeli propaganda that Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, which killed 20,000 civilians, was termed operation “Peace for Galilee.” War and peace therefore were the same means whose only and ultimate strategic goal was the European Jewish colonization of Palestine and the subjugation and expulsion of Palestine’s native population."
Israeli terrorism against Palestinain civilians
The lousy New York Times today, using the name of its subservient token Arab stringer whose only job is to look after the welfare of Israeli collaborators in occupied Palestine, on behalf of his Zionist handlers, "reported" that Israel killed a Palestinian "militant". But it did not report that a a civilian vegetable vender in the village of Qabatia in Jenin was also killed when Israeli terrorist troops fired indiscriminately in the market.
That lousy Syrian regime, again
Despite all the empty bombast from Syrian regime media and the media of the "resistance camp", Syria was subjected yet again to an Israeli attack without the cowardly Syrian regime lifting a finger in response. This is a regime that is steeped in humiliating cowardice towards Israel from the first post that Hafidh Al-Asad assumed in the Ba`thist regime. And you dare call the regime a "resistance regime"? How dare you?
A narrative of a pilgrimage to Mecca
A reader shared with me his observations about performing the Hajj (I cite with his permission):
"I went for Hajj in KSA for the first time earlier this
month. I thought it would be nice to share with you some observations.
1- While praying in Mecca (directly facing Al-Ka'ba
Al-Sharifa), an official came and stopped me (actually, he pushed me while I
was praying). When I asked for the reason, he said "pray right and then
you have a right to ask". I put my hands down when I pray...I am sure you
know the difference/no difference. It was an unfortunate incidence that is
based on his lack of understanding. Sure, I waited until he left and prayed
again without talking to him as I would not go into discussion /
"Jidal" with him...
2- I was looking for some of the old places that are related
to Islam (i.e. bayt al-mawlid of the Prophet (PBUH)) in Mecca.
Unfortunately, they built on it a library. I attach a photo that I took of
it.
3- A lot of the enlargement of the Al-Haram surrounding
the Ka'ba is, unfortunately, happening at the expense of destroying a lot of
old archeological and Islamic places.
4- A nice moment was on the very end of Hajj (after we went
out on third day from Mena). Thanks to the Iranians, in the tunnel, everyone
start to shout as if we are in a demonstration ('mothahara"). And, the
words are along "al-mawt li Israel, labbayka ya hussain" and all of
that...I say thanks to Iranians because they were the first ones who did such
thing few years ago and Saudis, then, killed hundreds of them on that day.
Then, Iranian government took some actions and obliged Saudis to give Iranian
pilgrims some privileges during Hajj (i.e. to visit 4 Imams in Baqi' in Madina,
to do this demonstration, and few other things without anyone coming after
them)...Many of us (Lebanese and Iraqis) just benefited from this treatment to
Iranians in Madina and Mecca as we sneaked with them --
unfortunately Lebanese government asks for no such thing for
us ...a picture in the tunnel in Mena on last Hajj day is attached too :)
I did not take many photos there as I was mainly there for
worshipping and visit...
by the way, also the Iranians have a RIGHT now
in Madinah to read دعاء كميل on Thursday nights
in البقيع in front of أماكن دفن أربعة من الأئمة الإثني عشر ... I am glad
their government was able to get this right for them from the
Saudis...I was not allowed to enter with them as a Lebanese....and on
general I felt in Mecca more respect for / fear from Iranians by Saudis given
their government apparently stand up and take a position for some attitudes by
saudis".
Celebrating Halloween in Beirut: humor according to the upper class
Some upper class brats from privileged families in Beirut sought to celebrate Halloween by dressing as foreign domestic workers in Lebanon. (thanks Thurayya)
On Thomas Jefferson and the Qur'an
"Jefferson first read about Muslim “civil rights” in the work of one of his intellectual heroes: the seventeenth-century English philosopher John Locke. Locke had advocated the toleration of Muslims—and Jews—following in the footsteps of a few others in Europe who had considered the matter for more than a century before him." The author seems to overstate her case: Jefferson in the bill to protect religious worship in Virginia invoked Muslims to make a point, but not to show respect for Muslims. He would (not unlike the manner in which Locke in his Letter Concerning Toleration) invoke Muslims in the same way once would argue that we should give freedom of speech even for members of the KKK. To make that point, is not to extent respect or acceptance to the KKK. (thanks Sultan)
Hagel and Power prostrate to Abe Foxman
"In his speech, Hagel announced that the Pentagon would speed up the delivery of six tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft to Israel’s special forces, pledging to make them available in two years. The agreement to provide the Ospreys to Israel was originally disclosed in April as part of a broader $10 billion arms deal with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“The Israeli and American defense relationship is stronger than ever, and it will continue to strengthen,” Hagel said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
Another senior Obama administration official, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, addressed the league during a luncheon Thursday. "
“The Israeli and American defense relationship is stronger than ever, and it will continue to strengthen,” Hagel said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
Another senior Obama administration official, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, addressed the league during a luncheon Thursday. "
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