It is not about charm: it is about lavishness, extravagance, and expenditure. They used to say that, i.e. charm, about the notorious Azdeshir Zahedi. He also manipulated the press (liberals and conservative). Read James Bill's account in the Eagle and the Lion. There is a section about the fancy gifts that NYC and DC journalists received from him. It is so pathetic how pundits, journalists, and officials were so fawning to the representative of a police state--but a police state which is on good terms with Israel and US wars in the region.
Monday, June 05, 2017
Royal competition
There is a stiff competition going on between Lebanese and Egyptian pro-Saudi journalists. Each wants to prove they are better in royal propaganda.
This is significant
Despite the strict censorship and repression in Saudi Arabia: the number one hashtag in Saudi Arabia is "The Gulf people refuse to boycott Qatar".
This is what is odd
`Abdul-`Aziz bin Fahd has been tweeting in (mild) disagreements with the policies of his government.
When did the US learn of the UAE-Saudi scheme?
Apparently, the US Secretary of Defense knew of the plan before the people of both countries knew.
Aljazeera
After all those years, Aljazeera Arabic called me to appear yesterday to comment on the UAE ambassador's emails. I declined and said: I don't wish after all those years to serve as a tool in conflicts between regimes.
Israeli analysis of Arab affairs
Why is it that Israeli analysis of Arab affairs is always wrong by 10 years at least? I remember that I would read books by Israeli academics and find that they were still citing Al-Hawadiwth magazine in the 1990s, when the magazine lost its influence by 1977. Look at this story: Aljazeera is no more the issue in the relationship between GCC countries and Qatar. Aljazeera lost its influence in 2011 when it became a crude too of regime propaganda and when the Arab media scene got fragmented with the rise of local country-wide Arab satellite stations. Aljazeera is not the power that it was. When they started hiring their "correspondents-activists" to cover Syria you knew that the slide had begun, and their coverage against Mubarak and the feel of Ba`thist propaganda.
The code word of Saudi propaganda in the West
It is clear from all those Saudi propagandists (especially the active Lebanese among them) in the West: the order of the day is to maintain that there was nothing embarrassing about UAE ambassador's emails and that he was merely protecting his "country's interests" (presumably by aligning himself by one of the most rabid anti-Arab/anti-Muslim and fanatic Zionist lobbies in DC).
Sunday, June 04, 2017
Is Saudi regime almost declaring war on Qatar??
Read the Saudi Foreign Ministry statements. Unprecedented.
Do you notice that US diplomats and pundits are more protective of House of Saud than...House of Saudi?
What a sense of humor Mr. Al-Muhandis has. I wonder if Saudis appreciated his joke about maybe going to Riyadh & Jeddah.
US-led coalition admits killing at least 484 civilians in Syria & Iraq
"The number of men, women and children killed in the campaign has rocketed since the start of the Mosul offensive, seeing densely populated residential districts pummelled by air strikes and artillery. Independent monitors say the death toll since the bombing campaign against Isis started in 2014 runs into the thousands, with transparency project Airwars claiming at least 3,800 civilians have been killed."
Israelis shot & then taunt dying Palestinian girl
"Video from the scene shows the girl, identified as Nouf Aqab Infayat, 16, lying on the ground and moaning in pain while Israelis stand around her, cursing her and calling for her death:" (thanks Amir)
BBC Arabic
BBC Arabic called me twice last night to comment via phone on the attack on London bridge. The second time, I started talking about how Western policies and wars produced Jihadi terrorists of various kinds in different parts of the East when the interviewer clearly did not like what I had to say and abruptly ended the interview.
There is a full scale revolt in Morocco's rural areas and you would not know it in Western media
The New York Times articles about an Israel plan to drop a nuclear bomb on Arabs
Look at this very sentence:
1) It gives a free justification for the use of a nuclear weapon. Can you imagine this justification is given to Iranian plan?
"Israel, fearful for its existence, rushed to complete its first atomic device on the eve of the Arab-Israeli war. But the planned demonstration remained secret in a country where it is taboo to discuss even half-century-old nuclear plans, and where fears persist that Iran will eventually obtain a nuclear weapon, despite its deal with world powers."
2) It even makes it sound like a non-existent Iranian weapon is scarier than an actual Israeli nuclear weapon.
1) It gives a free justification for the use of a nuclear weapon. Can you imagine this justification is given to Iranian plan?
"Israel, fearful for its existence, rushed to complete its first atomic device on the eve of the Arab-Israeli war. But the planned demonstration remained secret in a country where it is taboo to discuss even half-century-old nuclear plans, and where fears persist that Iran will eventually obtain a nuclear weapon, despite its deal with world powers."
2) It even makes it sound like a non-existent Iranian weapon is scarier than an actual Israeli nuclear weapon.
A New York Times writer calls the story of Israeli plan to detonate a nuclear bomb "fascinating"
David Sanger (@SangerNYT)
Can you imagine someone describing an Iranian plan to denote a nuclear bomb as "fascinating"
50 years later, a fascinating tale of a nuclear detonation that nearly, but never, happened. W/ @WilliamJBroad mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/03/wor…
All kidding aside, is there today a more original thinker than this guy? Serious.
| AUB (@AUB_Lebanon) | |
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"Follow your dreams, not solely looking into yourself, but look around you" @DrFadloKhuri #AUB #aubgrad17 pic.twitter.com/kt1ztkSffw
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A new recruit in Saudi regime media
Yahya Aridi (the spokesperson of the Syrian opposition delegation in Astana) is now a columnist for Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, mouthpiece of Muhammad bin Salman. The man who used to hurl the most obscene and vulgar insults against anyone who criticized the Syrian regime (and I got my share of his insults at Georgetown when we both were students) will now hurl vulgar and obscene insults at anyone who criticizes the Saudi regime. Long live revolution--GCC style.
The worst part of the UAE embassy leak?
The most important revelation from the leaks is the incestious relationship between UAE embassies and the press and government officials and former officials. The message between the ambassador and David Ignatious is not surprising (given the contents of the articles by Ignatious over the year) but now we have documentation. Gulf money has really corrupted Washington DC more than it is already corrupted. Pundits, journalists and officials (and former officials) of both parties are seduced by money, junkets, speaking fees, trips, and meetings with royals. Don't forget donations to presidential libraries and to policy centers. There are barely any independent and non-corrupt voices in DC who speak on Gulf affairs. Follow the money whenever you read an opinion or hear a statement on Gulf affairs by a DC person.
UAE embassy leak: this picture is now more clear
Saturday, June 03, 2017
zbigniew brzezinski and Jihadi Islam
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: The passing of Zbigniew brzezinski: the organizer of Jihadi Islam against communism?
Wonder Woman
Regarding the controversy (in the Arab world but not in the US) about the new Wonder Woman movie:
It is rather significant that there is no controversy about the movie in the West as there is in the Arab world. It seems to me that had Hollywood recruited a Hizbaullah or Hamas fighter to play the lead female role, there would have been protests in Western capitals. If Hollywood were to have assigned the role to a soldier in the apartheid South African army (a close ally of Israel at the time) there would have been wide protests as well. But this is Israel, which has a special place--in Hollywood and in the rest of the US.
There is little redeeming artistic value in those action movies--there is little artistic value in what comes out of Hollywood.
The feminist enthusiasm about the movie is in explicable to me. I understand that finally the "super hero" is a woman. But is Hollywood the best place to look for gender equity in, when it is a place which represents gender inequity at every level of the business? And if feminists welcome a Hollywood product, would they run the risk of legitimizing the rest of Hollywood production which is invariably sexist and misogynistic?
Let us say that we accept the argument that for once a super action female heroine is the star and that this is delightful: and regarding what Americans call "the role model" thing. Should little girls be looking for role models in Hollywood and in the world of comic action heroes? Would the cause of feminism not be better served if little girls are acquainted with real "wonder women" in real life, and who are real people who do heroic things ever day of their lives--and without having to jump from high building? And those real "wonder women" are rarely if ever portrayed or covered or promoted or featured in Hollywood or in popular culture, and if they are their contributions are rather distorted or minimized.
I think in inculcating little girls and boys with feminist values it should be stressed that Hollywood is the place where patriarchy and misogyny are perpetuated and that girls and boys should be insulated from the messages of those movies, and trained to deconstruct them. For every "Wonder Woman" movie--and I certainly doubt that there is a feminist agenda in the movie--there are many more lousy sexist movies out there.
There is a sinister message in having to recruit--from all the women of the world--an occupation soldier to play the female lead, while they never had to do that for the male action heroes. This tells something rather sexist--and even racist--about the standards employed in the casting of this female lead.
Friday, June 02, 2017
Israel main cause of Palestinian suffering, UN says
"Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which will exceed the 50-year mark in June, is “the main cause” of Palestinian humanitarian needs, the United Nations has affirmed." "Earlier this year a report from another UN agency found “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Israel has imposed a system on the entire Palestinian people that meets the legal definition of apartheid – one of the major crimes listed in the founding statute of the International Criminal Court." "As the occupation enters its 51st year, there’s little sign that any governments – or the UN itself – take seriously their own obligations to end their complicity in Israel’s violations and begin to hold it accountable." (thanks Amir)
Middle East Institute propaganda; ISIS is actually Iranian Shi`ite: here is their evidence
"The Afghan media today published a confession video of an Iranian national arrested in eastern Nangarhar Province".
The Zionist-Saudi alliance is so close that it is almost touching
Amb. Adam Ereli (@erelija)
Good rationale by @aliShihabi for 4 getting past stereotypes and dealing w/the realities of the region washingtonpost.com/news/global-op…
Iranian election fraud
Do you notice that Western media only takes accusations of election frauds in Iran seriously if the accuser is favored by Western governments?
"Hard-line Rouhani foe claims election fraud". Why could it not be serious?
"Hard-line Rouhani foe claims election fraud". Why could it not be serious?
This counts as foreign policy analysis in the US
"This week for the first time I saw the official photographs that now grace the entry halls of all U.S. embassies. Vice President Mike Pence is smiling warmly. Trump is actually scowling. If his picture had a caption, it would be: “Get off my lawn.” It could also say: “Let all who enter this embassy know: We don’t do alliances any more. We only do Master Limited Partnerships. Interested? "
The AP, now competing with Reuters for fawning over the Saudi King, finds this to be an imporant study
"The world leader whose original tweets generate the most retweets is Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, according the latest “Twiplomacy” study by communications firm Burson-Martsteller. “He (King Salman) posts exclusively in Arabic and without any visuals, but every tweet is a digital home run,” said the report, which was based on analysis of 856 official and personal Twitter accounts of leaders in 178 countries." (thanks Basim)
Absolute freedom of expression
Absolute freedom of expression? There is no such thing. Who among those who claim that only to defend Zionist propaganda would support the release of anti-Semitic propaganda? I certainly don't.
Do you notice that Winep and the rest of Zionist shops are all fully engaged on the Side of Saudi regime
Here WINEP carries a threat against Qatar by the director of the official Saudi lobby in DC.
Saudi-Qatari intelligence war
A Saudi writer conducts a "poll" on Twitter
A whiskey-advertising Hizbullah newspaper?
This writer in Al-Akhbar points out the obvious: that people (for obvious reasons) want to discredit Al-Akhbar by accusing it of being a Hizbullah newspaper when it regularly advertises Whiskey brands. No, this can't be dissimulation because for any religion party, especially Hizbullah, any promotion or advertisement for Whiskey is a major sin.
Who is the enemy? A Saudi regime propagandists defines
He wrote in Al-Watan: "The enemy is not only Iran, although it is the biggest actor, but there are the Ikhwan and Arab nationalists and the intellectuals of the north (of Arabia), and there are Gulf people who adopted all those fantasies. There is a thousand mercenary inside the Gulf house".
James Zogby cheers Saudi regime in...Saudi regime media
Saudi regime media are very active in calling on its tools, functionaries, and propagandists to cheer the Saudi regime. Zogby does not disappoint. Yesterday, he spoke against Qatar and defense of Saudi regime in...Saudi regime media. You can't accuse the man of lack of political courage.
BDS Lebanon: don't believe the lies in the West or in Lebanon by English-writing people
BDS Lebanon is comprised of progressive secular activists with no political party affliction whatsoever (some are close in theory to the PFLP of Habash days). Hizbullah or the Syrian regime and its cronies were never EVER active on BDS and they never gave a damn about issues of boycott. They are mere bystanders. I know that the lies about BDS-Lebanon are convenient for some propagandists who tie them to Hizbullah or to the Syrian regime.
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