Saturday, June 17, 2017
Israeli cyclist hit by bus in nyc, gets an article in the times.
From Jar: "Cyclists are killed nearly every week in New York City, with rarely a mention. But, this one gets a story in the Times".
Friday, June 16, 2017
The Project of Muhammad bin Zayid
My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "The Project of Muhammad bin Zayid: The Arabization of the Israeli Model".
The Israeli lobby does not approve of the Saudi arms deal, it seems
The mouthpiece of f the Israeli lobby is not pleased with the latest Saudi arms deal.
A Lebanese professor digs legal holes in the US government case against two ostensible Hizbullah operatives
There are many holes in this story.
What if the Russian really managed to kill Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi?
If that happened, then I can assure you that all US media will invite various pundits from GCC think tanks in DC, and they will all say in unison that, in fact, Baghdadi was not really the leader and that his cousin, Tom Baghdadi was the real caliph.
Never seen before pictures of Hajj Amin
Every few years, the Zionist movement decide to revive the case of Hajj Amin. The one or two meetings he had with Hitler generated far more literature than Hitler's meetings with European leaders.
The Shabbihah of the Syrian regime are still alive and well--and kicking
This article in Al-Akhbar talks about the resurgence of Shabbihah
David Fromkin
Never studied the Middle East, did not know one of the languages of the region, but after finishing his law studies, became a historian of the Middle East. It never matters what people of the region have to say about it in their own languages.
Did you know that the Jordanian regime banned a Lebanese musical group because it has a gay member?
The Jordanian regime banned the Lebanese musical group, Mashru` Layla, because it has a self-identified gay person.
It worked. Saudi regime pressures worked
After a long silence, many of the Saudi clerics and preachers finally spoke in support of the regime. There were many stories of passport confiscations and direct pressures.
Stop saying that Qatar (or Aljazeera) welcomed the "Arab spring"
This is not true. Qatar welcomed the uprising in Syria but not in Bahrain; in Egypt but not in Morocco.
A local restaurant review describes her first experience eating chicken with the Middle East-style garlic paste
"The shawarma – a pita-wrapped sandwich filled with chicken, lettuce and tomatoes – is elevated by owner Licha Abounaoun’s own garlic sauce, a smooth, cooling counterpoint to the warm, spiced chicken. That garlic sauce is a point of pride at the cozy cafe, resting at a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spot on Yosemite, close to the sprawling E&J Gallo Winery campus. “My dad makes it here, everyone goes crazy over it,” Licha’s daughter, 21-year-old Sarah Abounaoun, said. “They always tells us we should bottle it and sell it.” Yeah, count me in with those folks; the garlic sauce is magic and takes the shawarma over the top."
Even Iraqi Christians are being targeted by immigration authorities
" Iraqi Christians in the US are expressing alarm over the arrests of Chaldean immigrants in the Detroit area for deportation back to the war-torn nation, where they could face persecution. A number of Chaldeans, part of an ancient Christian minority in Iraq, were detained Sunday in an enforcement sweep, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said. The immigrants targeted had criminal records and were living among a community of tens of thousands of Iraqi Chaldeans in the Detroit area. Many fear returning to Iraq could be dangerous, if not deadly."
The American citizen released from North Korea: so was he really tortured?
"the doctors appeared to dismiss that theory, saying there was no evidence the young man had botulism. A senior American official said this week that Mr. Warmbier was singled out for particularly brutal beatings while in captivity, but doctors said they saw no evidence of beatings." I am just trying to understand. So he was subjected to particularly brutal beatings and yet there is no evidence of beatings? Was he beaten with an invisible tool?
What is the dirtiest, filthiest, and stinkiest airline in the world? Well, it is not difficult to guess
"A new list published by London’s Heathrow Airport rates Israel’s national carrier as the dirtiest and noisiest of all the carriers servicing the the world’s third-largest airport."
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Not only Muslims
"Iraqi Christians in the US are expressing alarm over the arrests of Chaldean immigrants in the Detroit area for deportation back to the war-torn nation, where they could face persecution. A number of Chaldeans, part of an ancient Christian minority in Iraq, were detained Sunday in an enforcement sweep, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said. The immigrants targeted had criminal records and were living among a community of tens of thousands of Iraqi Chaldeans in the Detroit area. Many fear returning to Iraq could be dangerous, if not deadly."
Communist Party of Philippines on U.S. & Duterte
"The US military has long used so-called “anti-terror cooperation“cover for its intervention in the country. It has labelled as “Islamic terrorists” such groups as the Abu Sayyaf which trace its roots to US, Saudi, Pakistani and Israeli funded groups in Afghanistan in the 1980s and recently in Iraq and Syria. Leaders of these groups are linked as well to corrupt officials and personnel of the AFP [The Armed Forces of the Philippines]."
The starvation strategy in Yemen
"A U.S.-supported naval blockade has left 19 million people — more than two-thirds of the country’s population — in need of life saving aid and 7 million on the brink of starvation and famine. Meanwhile, the Saudi air force has deliberately bombed food sources — like farms and fishing villages — as well as factories, hospitals, and children’s schools. The U.S. has been a constant partner in the war since the beginning."
No international outrage as Gaza is left to suffer in the dark
"Israel will reduce its electricity supply to the occupied Gaza Strip by 40 percent, turning an already dire situation into a catastrophe." "Before the cut, Gaza’s population of two million has received only four hours of electricity a day, with hospitals, desalination and sewage treatment plants severely imperiled or made inoperative." "But as Gaza is left to suffer in the dark, there has been virtually no international attention to the worsening crisis." (thanks Amir)
Do you remember the story about how Israeli intelligence infiltrated ISIS?
Fanatical Islam: a Saudi export
"Saudi Arabia has been working for decades to pull Indonesia away from moderate Islam and toward the austere Wahhabi form that is state religion in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis’ campaign has been patient, multi-faceted, and lavishly financed. It mirrors others they have waged in Muslim countries across Asia and Africa." (thanks Michele)
West can't tell Arabs who their best writers are
I just observed in Arabic: Ghassan Kanafani is far more present on Arab social media among the young than Naguib Mahfouz. Mahfouz is certainly not the best contemporary Arab writer--and I don't think that Kanafani necessarily is. I think that people like Tawfiq Al-Hakim, Taha Husayn, Abbas Al-`Aqqad, Mikha'il Nu`aymah, and even Amin Rihani are all head and shoulders above Mahfouz.
Major shift in Saudi policy towards Morocco
Upset by the neural stance of Morocco, today Al-Arabiyya refers to the struggle of Western Sahara people and spoke about their rights. This is a first. It even spoke about occupation.
The Pakistani press is clearly far less burdened with oil and gas than the Arabic press
"Hezbollah and Hamas pose no direct threat to the Saudis. They are both the consequence of Israeli policies, in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories, and therefore perceived as foes by Israel. Could it be purely a coincidence that Saudi Arabia shares this attitude, as well as Israel’s implacable hostility towards Iran? And — surprise, surprise — another key demand is that Qatar must rein in, if not abolish, Al Jazeera, the television network that has regularly caused kerfuffles in the Middle East, and has been a particular bête noire for Egypt’s dictator Abdel Fattah al-Sisi."
Only Westerners can ban, no one else: think of Wonder Woman
"In his musings about what happened to the Starship Enterprise's chief medical officer, android Data says that Ireland would be reunified in 2024 as a result of a successful terrorist campaign." "Due to what no doubt many people will still consider to be sensitive content, the episode has never been shown on terrestrial TV in UK or in the Republic of Ireland and initial airings on Sky One were
edited." This was forced by the organiser of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast quoted in the article: "It dates from 1990, a time when songs, including one by the Pogues, were being banned and republican politicians' voices being dubbed by actors. "It's hard to believe that but both the BBC and RTE refused to show it and it still hasn't been shown on terrestrial TV in the UK or Ireland."
PS It was finally broadcast a few months after this article, September 2007.
Saudi regime creates a Qatari opposition twitter account
Years after Mujtahid (whose identify is well-known by now), the Saudi regime created a counter account in the name of the Qatari opposition. But this account tweets in English, for some reason.
The protests in Morocco are still being ignored.
Even after the massive protests march in Rabat, the Western press still wants to ignore the protests. Morocco seems to have maintained a neutral stance toward the Gulf crisis (and even sent food shipments to Doha) in the hope that Aljazeera would go easy in its coverage.
Qatar: how to woo the American government
IT was rather hilarious. The Qatari regime's Defense Minister flew to DC to sign yet another arms deal. He then assured the American people--Trump's style--that thousands of jobs will created in 42 states. This is the formula of Gulf governments: you can please DC by buying American arms and inching closer toward Israel. This is why I tell Arabs in Arabic: never count on any regime in squabbles, conflicts, and wars between regimes.
You would think from reading this that Gulf regime media were ever into "balanced reporting"
| Rami G. Khouri (@RamiKhouri) | |
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Among big losers could be Arab news media that drop balanced reporting in favor of pure propaganda. credibility lows will b hard to overcometwitter.com/hxhassan/statu…
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Tuesday, June 13, 2017
I have never seen a climate of fear and intimidation in Arab media and social media like this
Saudi and UAE regimes are going nuts. Their media are a festival of crude and vulgar propaganda. But what you will never see in the English language version of UAE/Saudi propaganda is that they attack Qatar for being close to Israel. And in English, they attack Qatar for being close to Hamas.
A lousy article in the Guardian about the Wonder Woman movie: I don't recognize the Guardian anymore
Don't you miss the old Guardian? In this article the paper made it sound that the notion that Lebanon would ban a movie starring an Israeli occupation soldier is outrageous or weird. Would the Guardian find it odd if Israel were to ban a movie starring a Hizbullah or Hamas fighter? And notice that the lousy article cites only one Lebanese: a blogger who I have never heard of in my life who is opposed to the ban of the movie.
Monday, June 12, 2017
Name the only three countries in the world which extended diplomatic recognition to the Taliban regime
The three are: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and UAE.
Sunday, June 11, 2017
People are rushing to close down their Facebook and Twitter accounts in UAE
People (citizens and residents--lay people and writers) are rushing to close down their twitter and Facebook account for fear of persecution for the crime of "sympathy".
Nazi-style propaganda prevailing in Saudi regime media; warning of fifth columnists
For those who conduct polls in Gulf countries: how an Emirati professor was compelled to remove a twitter poll
So UAE professor, Abdul-khaliq Abdullah, posted a Twitter poll in which he asks people whether they approve or disapprove of the "isolation and boycott" of Qatar. Results quickly showed that 64% strongly disapproved. He was then urged to remove the twitter poll and told that the results in fact violated the laws of the UAE. He agreed with this and removed it.
Feminism cannot be Zionist
"In both cases, Gadot and Coates have been unapologetic and open about their support of anti-Palestinian violence. During Operation Protective Edge, Gadot, just cast as Wonder Woman, used her new platform to defend direct attacks on civilians, including women and children. Gadot celebrated Israeli propaganda that every such casualty was Hamas’ fault for storing weapons close to them in the most densely populated open-air prison camp on earth. The most frustrating thing to me is how obviously this invalidates Gadot as a feminist icon, and Wonder Woman as well, when the character is brought to life by Gadot. If gender is shared by all racial groups, feminism cannot be Zionist, just as it cannot be neo-Nazi—feminism that doesn’t have an understanding of how it intersects with racial and ethnic oppression is simply a diversification of white supremacy."
DUP's Pledge for Israel
"But unable to command a majority in the House of Commons on their own, the Conservatives will rely for support on the 10 lawmakers from the Democratic Unionist Party, a Christian Zionist group in Northern Ireland which pushes extreme pro-Israel policies." "The DUP is a staunchly pro-Israel party – Ian Paisley himself launched the group Northern Ireland Friends of Israel in 2009. Before this election, members of the DUP joined dozens of candidates from other parties signing a so-called “Pledge for Israel.” "As The Electronic Intifada’s David Cronin has observed, “the racist discourse of the Protestant establishment in the north of Ireland” is “almost identical to what Israeli politicians say about Arabs.” "
Saudi/Jordanian/UAE chief promoter in DC: a columnist in the Washington Post
""Ignatius’ writings have a strong influence not just on the U.S. public, but on the government itself. His columns' impact on the administration of President Barack Obama and on his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was evident in the tranche of emails released from Clinton’s hacked private server. Ignatius was mentioned 40 times in the Clinton emails."" (thanks Amir)
What happens to you if you write a Facebook post critical of the prime minister in the Israeli occupation state
"An Israeli court on Sunday ordered a journalist to pay more than $25,000 in damages to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara for libeling them. The magistrate court in Tel Aviv ruled that Igal Sarna libeled the couple for writing a Facebook post that claimed the prime minister's wife kicked the Israeli leader out of their car during a fight. Sarna writes for Yediot Ahronot, a major Israeli newspaper that is often critical of Netanyahu."
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