King Salman mingles freely around his people in Mecca--but surrounded by a whole army

Homophobia in Israel

"But after the lawmaker, Yigal Guetta, revealed in the radio interview that he had attended the wedding of a gay nephew, his chatty appeal to a broader audience of potential Shas voters appeared to backfire. Rabbis and party activists revolted and demanded that he resign. Under pressure from the critics, Mr. Guetta, 51, told Aryeh Deri, the party leader, this week that he was resigning, and Mr. Deri agreed."

The Saudi "reformer": Jamal Khashoggi argues that protests are legitimate in Syria and Libya but not in Saudi Arabia

He agrees with the Saudi regime senior clerics that protests should be banned in Saudi Arabia and says that: "The Kingdom is a successful model among failed republics.  Revolutions there could not be stopped.  The Kingdom needs reforms and not revolutions".

جمال خاشقجي‏Verified account @JKhashoggi

Replying to @a_as3ad

سأعتبر انك جاد وأجيبك، لأن المملكة نموذج ناجح بين جمهوريات فاشلة ، الثورات هناك ما كان لأحد ان يوقفها ، المملكة تحتاج إصلاحات لا ثورات

Ben Hubbard does what he does best: promote the propaganda interests of the Saudi regime

"While many of the proposed changes are popular with Saudis and hailed as necessary for the kingdom’s future".  How did he know that they are popular when expression of disagreement with those "changes" would land you in jail? Did he conduct a survey?

Israel has the worst child poverty rate: a disgrace unto the nations

Child poverty rate.

Israel: 28.5%
Mexico: 26%
Spain: 21.7%
US: 20.5%
Italy: 17.3%
Japan: 15.7%
France: 10.8%
UK: 9.5%
Germany: 8.1%

(OECD)

Senior Clerics in Saudi Arabia rules against protests in Saudi Arabia (but they support it in Syria, Libya, and Iran)

This has been mocked: how Saudi clerics rule against protests in Saudi Arabia but rules in its favor in countries not aligned with Saudi regime.

Criticisms of Hizbullah's political role in Al-Akhbar

Al-Akhbar's publisher, Ibrahim Al-Amin, published a scathing critique of Hizbullah and its corrupt role in Lebanese domestic politics.  He takes on the party for its reluctance to engage in social justice struggle. But the party is not a progressive party so it is not surprising--to me.

How the US wants to win Arab "hearts and minds": by a salutation to Zionism

This has been mocked by Arabs.  The new (even more Zionist) management of the failed project of Al-Hurra TV (the Arabic US propaganda TV) wants to win Arab hearts and minds, so it commissioned an Arabic article to salute Zionism.  Kid you not.

Kim Ghattas: her ignorance of Middle East history and her utter racism and sectarianism

"But after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, World War II, and decolonization, cosmopolitanism clashed with nationalism across the Arab world. The expulsions of minorities, who were often associated with the colonizing powers, led to increasing cultural and social homogenization."  Who expelled minorities? Which minorities? You certainly are not talking about the explosion of Palestinians from their homeland.  Zionists claimed for decades that Egyptian Jews were expelled from Egypt while recently they are now condeding that such explosion never actually took place.  And what is Ghattas claiming? That the Middle East was a great tolerant place until the Arab Jews and foreigners left the region and then it became backward?  But look at her internalized racism: she basically says that when the European and Jews left everything went down hill.  If only colonialism can come back, o Ms. Ghattas.  You would be most happy.  She says: "Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser kicking out thousands of French, Greeks, Italians, and Jews, putting an end to the golden age of Alexandria."  And look at her racism against Syrian refugees: "many worry about the long-term impact of the influx in recent years of around a million mostly Sunni, mostly conservative Syrian refugees on the fabric of society."  So she is saying that if only those refugees are Christians then they would have been civilized.  And she claims that Iran is settling Shi`ites in Syria.  This fabrication is just that: a fabrication and has never been proven.  I thought I could never find anything more distasteful than her hagiography of Hillary Clinton. This is even worse.

Qatari regime: how to please Trump

"The Qatar Investment Authority has deployed more than half of the $45 billion earmarked for the United States since 2015 and most of its future investments will go to the infrastructure sector, its chief executive said on Wednesday."

U.S. sent weapons to Syria through Ramstein military base

"The US military has been using its massive air base in western Germany to arm rebel groups in Syria without Berlin's permission, according to a report from German newspaperSüddeutsche Zeitung published on Wednesday."

Arrests in Saudi Arabia

The lies by the government of Saudi Arabia regarding the arrests are staggering.  The detainees are sometimes accused of terrorism and sometimes of "extremism", making it clear that none are really accused of terrorism as they range in ideological orientations.  And the regime claimed in their media that they were arrested for "intelligence links" but claims in the same charge that they were interrogated before and released after a warning.  So you are telling me that the Saudi regime knew of their outside links to intelligence services (either Qatar or Iran, is being implied) and the government did not punish them? they need to work on their lies.

Israel sponsors Evangelical media summit

"According to Maltz, the Israeli government -- which is sponsoring the gathering of broadcasters and journalists, and paying for the participant's accommodations – is "hoping to explain the country and its often controversial policies to this new target audience." While many issues will be discussed at the first-of-its-kind Summit, it is possible that high up on the list is solidifying opposition to those promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel." (thanks Amir)

"In Vaccines we Trust? The Effects of Anti-vaccine Propaganda on Immunization: Evidence from Pakistan"

"In July 2011, the Pakistani public unexpectedly learnt that the CIA had conducted a fake vaccination campaign as part of the operations to capture Osama Bin Laden. This episode was extensively used by Taliban groups to discredit the health system and vaccination campaigns. We implement a Difference-in-Differences strategy to document the effect of the disclosure of this information on demand for health services. We use survey data to compare vaccination rates before and after the disclosure of this information, across regions with different levels of electoral support for Islamist groups. Our results suggest that the disclosure of information on the fake vaccination campaign had a substantial negative effect on immunization rates: a one standard deviation increase in support for Islamist groups lead to a 9 to 13% decline in immunization rates over the sample mean. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the disclosure of the vaccination ruse eroded the degree of trust in medical services, and consequently, lead parents to actively refuse the use of formal medicine and vaccines, in particular." 

From the profile of the Saudi ambassador in the New York Times: no wonder Saudi regime media are circulating it

"The prince’s allies say his youth is a strength. Captain Mohammad al-Ajmi, an officer in the Saudi air force who said he flew dozens of missions in Yemen and Syria with Prince Khalid, said in an interview that his friend was unassuming and energetic. He has seen the prince quit only once. “He doesn’t know how to ski,” Captain Ajmi, 29, said. “That’s the only thing he gave up on.”"  This is what I call investigative journalism.

Crackdown in Saudi Arabia

Unlike what some in the media are writing on social media, this crackdown is not directed against dissidents.  Many of those arrested are loyal propagandists for the Saudi regime.  They are being punished not for what they say but for what they are not saying: they are being punished for not being vocal against Qatar and against the Muslim Brotherhood. 

When Two Saudi regime writers battle it out

Nasir Salih As-Sirami (above) is commenting on the latest tweet by Jamal Khashoggi who wrote: "You arrest `Isam Az-Zamil!! `Isam was here in DC serving his country accompanying an official delegation.  Those are the best of the sons of my country. What is happening?"   So As-Sirami says: "Don't worry, brother Jamal.  Enjoy America and your spacious home which was bought to you by Saudi Arabia as an advisor to its embassy then.  And don't forget the London home too."  

What is happening in Saudi Arabia: arresting `Isam Az-Zamil

The arrest of `Isam Az-Zamil today adds to a climate of fear and nervousness in the kingdom.  The new regime seems to be insecure and showing it.  MbS has not left the kingdom since he was appointed Crown Prince, and that is telling (unless it was him who secretly visited Israel, as was reported.  Az-Zamil was an economic analyst who was close to the regime.  The arrests seem to target those who were accused of Islamist Ikhwan sympathies or Qatar sympathies or Turkish sympathies.  I can't see how this reign will last when it is floundering before it has started.  I told you: you can bank on MbS to do more damage to the rule of House of Saudi than all their opponents throughout contemporary history.

It seems that Nasrallah convinced Iran to commit to fight for the protection of the Syrian regime--not the other way round

In this private account of a speech given by Hasan Nasrallah, it seems that it was Nasrallah who had to convince Iran--not the other way round--to fight in Syria to protect the Syrian regime.

Al-Akhbar covers North Korea...from North Korea

Al-Akhbar reporter, Sabah Ayyoub, was able to visit North Korea for a sport event and she wrote three articles on it.  They are quite different from what you read in Western media, and even the pictures she took are different.  

This reminds me when Israel courted Lebanese "hearts and minds" to keep PLO away: they got Hizbullah instead

"Israel is courting Syrian ‘hearts and minds’ to keep Hezbollah away".  

PS The article is typical propaganda piece which should be billed as paid PR ad for the government of Israel.  It talks about humanitarian aid without mentioning Israel support for Jihadi terrorist groups, like Al-Qa`idah.  This reminds me of US media propaganda piece about US humanitarian work in Lebanon, when Israel was arming and financing the right-wing death squad militias of the Phalanges and their ilk.

Yet, Western correspondents in Beirut never bother to write about this

"A former U.S. official said Hezbollah and Iranian-backed Shi‘ite militias in Iraq have been “very helpful” in recapturing vast swaths of the caliphate that Islamic State declared in Syria and Iran in 2014."

Jamal Khashggi

It seems that Khashoggi, despite many years of loyalty and fealty to various Saudi princes, will be next on the arrest list, judging from his public disagreements on Twitter with recent arrests.

PS Hilarious. Minutes after I wrote this, I read that Al-Hayat, mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan, just ordered a ban on the writings of Khashoggi.

Islamism and Liberalism in Saudi Arabia

This is the dilemma of the Saudi regime: it has cultivated an Islamist trend in the kingdom.  But the regime can deliver on islamism.  In recent years, the regime has cultivated a fake liberal trend (only to combat Islamist trends in the kingdom) but the regime is incapable of delivering on any liberal promise.  So the regime will have to go back to Islamism for its legitimacy.  

U.S. after Saudi money

"The Trump Administration is “desperate for Saudi money, especially infrastructure investments in the Rust Belt,” the former official told me. An influx of Saudi dollars could generate jobs and thus redound to Trump’s political benefit. As a cynical douceur, the Saudis, derided by Trump during his campaign as “people that kill women and treat women horribly,” joined the United Arab Emirates in pledging $100 million for a women’s-empowerment initiative spearheaded by Ivanka Trump."

Evangelical leader: Trump is anointed by God

"White was also asked about comments she made on the “Jim Bakker Show” about Trump being anointed by God." "White is one of a few dozen evangelical leaders who meet regularly — and informally — as an advisory board to Trump. White goes to Washington at least every couple weeks to visit with him."

Sep. 11, US

Who would have believed that US relations with Saudi regime actually improved AFTER Sep. 11? 

Another Sep. 11

"Chile’s armed forces stage a coup d’état against the government of President Salvador Allende, the first democratically elected Marxist leader in Latin America." "The U.S. government and its Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had worked for three years to foment a coup against Allende, who was regarded by the Nixon administration as a threat to democracy in Chile and Latin America. Ironically, the democratically elected Allende was succeeded by the brutal dictator General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled over Chile with an iron fist for the next 17 years." (thanks Amir)

Liz Sly deleted the tweet (see below)

I can't believe that a correspondent in Beirut would make the claim that Israel was violating Lebanese airspace for the first time since 2006 when those violations are daily (see below).  When this was pointed out to her, she deleted the original tweet.  Now she resides in Beirut to cover Syria but now I wonder: does she reside in Cairo to cover Syria from Beirut?

Corruption charges in Israel

Israel is certainly not a model for transparency and the rule of law--and I am talking about when it relate to Jewish citizens (when it comes to Arab, Zionism imposes the rule of brute force and savage occupation).  But notice whenever there are corruption charges (and every prime minister has been involved to a degree or another with corruption) prosecution always drags its feet and leaks are intended to soften the impact, and sentencing is always a slap-on-the-wrist.  So don't give me the malarky that Israel provides a shining example to Arab countries--certainly not when a former Israeli president spent a career raping women.  

When Liz Sly "clarifies" (see below): she is wrong again, of course

Liz Sly‏Verified account @LizSly  3m3 minutes ago

Replying to @LizSly

"To clarify, Israeli warplanes overfly Lebanon every day, in violation of UN resolutions. But it's rare for them to buzz so low & fast"

This is the Washington Post correspondent in Beirut

Imagine.  By 2010, the Lebanese government reported more than 7000 Israeli violations of Lebanese Airspace.   

Liz Sly‏Verified account @LizSly

For the 1st time perhaps since 2006, Israeli warplanes buzz Lebanon. Broke the sound barrier in Sidon, windows crack

Arrest in Saudi Arabia in anticipation of Sep. 15 Protest Day

There is quite a bit of nervousness on the part of the Saudi regime: it could be due to the impending coronation of Muhammad bin Salman.  Salman Al-Awdah has been arrested and there are reports that Awad Al-Qarni was also arrested.  This came days after reports that dissident Prince, `Abdul-`Aziz bin Fahd, was also arrested when he returned to the Kingdom for the Hajj (although he posted pictures with the king in Mecca).  MbS seems increasingly politically insecure and I can't see how this can continue especially if dissent grows within the royal family.  And the presence of King Salman shields him up to a point, but he will lose that cover when he becomes King himself.  Foes of the royal regime in SA are counting on MbS to bring down House of Saudi, once and for all.

Gender and the law in the US

Q: What is gender bias? 
A: Women are 50% of law grads, 36% of practicing attorneys, 25% of judges, & 2% of U.S. Attorney nominees.

Taxes as a Share of GDP

ISIS expertise

Another great benefit for the demise of ISIS? Maybe the ISIS experts will go away.

These are the Arab reformers that the West champions

Despicable: a Saudi professor maintains that Florida tragedy is a punishment from God, as if Muslims are not hit by natural disasters

Iran behind Sep. 11: I thought that Iraq was behind Sep. 11

So Saudi regime media now are peddling a video "proving" that Iran was behind Sep. 11.

Israeli support for Myanmar is the natural alliance of regimes based on ethnic supremacy

"What has not been reported in the mainstream news is the fact that, even during this ongoing genocidal campaign against its Muslim population, Myanmar has been supplied with weaponry by Israel. This is by no means the first time that the Israeli defense industry has supplied repressive regimes with the tools of their trade, from apartheid South Africa to Pinochet’s Chile and the Guatemalan dictatorship: its weapons industry, indeed, proudly boasts of the fact that its products come well “field tested”. They usually fail to mention that their weapons have been tested in repressing Palestinian resistance to an illegal occupation, conducting war against the predominantly civilian population of Gaza, or in maintaining surveillance and policing of the illegal apartheid wall that runs through the West Bank." (thanks Amir)

Having succeeded in bringing down the Syrian regime, the Atlantic Council now wants to bring down Iranian regime

Is this UAE embassy-sponsored or Saudi embassy-sponsored?

The Intercept: another mainstream news site when it comes to Syria

Did you ever think that you would read this in The Intercept?  "Radwan Ziadeh, a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, and a prolific, longtime Syrian dissident".  Do you need to read further when you see this really?

When the Saudi lobby advertises for jobs: they want "top-rated" candidates

Look at their silly language: "Master’s degree or Ph.D. from a top-rated university".  All the jobs had to insist on this category of "top-rated" university.  Is that because all the Saudi royals went to "top-rated" schools?  But they also want: "Candidates must be first-rate writers". What does that mean?  And don't you like this requirement?  "

• Ability to respond to constructive criticism and work under close editorial oversight;".  What does that mean? Ability to handle the unprofessional settings in all places working for Saudi princes?

David Duke was hosted by the Bahrain government: will there be articles about white supremacy and GCC?

David Duke was hosted by the Bahrain despotic government.  His anti-Semitism was sponsored by the Bahrain despot.

US policies on Israel and natural disasters: Pat Robertson

"Pat Robertson, who saw God’s hand in the Haiti and San Fernando Valley earthquakes, has also said U.S. political pressure on Israel causes natural disasters in the United States, and he warned that gay tourists at Disney World could cause a meteor strike. But he has been quiet about Harvey and Irma."