Liberal media ignores catastrophic US-backed war in Yemen

"The message conveyed is clear: to the leading liberal US cable news network, Yemen is relevant when it is Americans who die—not when thousands of Yemenis are killed, bombed daily by Saudi Arabia, with US weapons, fuel and intelligence; not when millions of Yemenis are on the verge of starving to death while the US/Saudi coalition uses hunger as a weapon."

Long history of Islamophobia in the U.S.

"This was a time when Muslims were singled out for legal discrimination—a law from 1790 curtailed the number of Muslims who could come into the United States, and a century later the U.S. Supreme Court described the “intense hostility of the people of Moslem faith to all other sects, and particularly to Christians.” "

Oprah supported the Iraq war

"Like Hillary Clinton and many other right-wing Democrats, Oprah supported the unjustified Iraq War that was supported by, among others, George W. Bush" (thanks Amir)

According to Donna Abu-Nasr there are 18 million Lebanese around the world--kid you not

"With at least three times as many Lebanese living abroad than in Lebanon".

Egyptian intelligence and the control of the messages by talk show hosts

Regarding this report: despite denials from Cairo, I believe it.  But this stuck me: the Cairo bureau chief of the Times, who does not know Arabic--naturally, it is now a job requirement for the Times--never have heard of one of the most Egyptian actresses (who I detest, personally and I don't think that she is talented but has been promoted by the Mubarak regime due to her loyalty). The New York Times correspondent wrote this: "The fourth call was with an Egyptian singer and actress known as Yousra".  Singer?  She taped some songs but no one would call her singer.

Breitbart gets its news from Saudi regime media

Nasrallah said in an interview with AlMayadin that he receives a salary of $1400 from Hizbullah.  Al-Arabiyyah--not unusually--changed what he said and published a story that he actually said that he receives his salary from Iran (which he never said).  Breitbart copied that.

Media turn to pro-Israel think-tanks for Iran protest commentary

"Leading the pack in the “do something” insta-consensus was the right-wing pro-Israel think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), which has overwhelmed the narrative. In the past five days, FDD has had op-eds in influential US outlets like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Post and Politico, and has been quoted in a dozen more."

Chart: The fastest-growing & shrinking economies in 2018

“Once again, the biggest contributor will be China. The world’s second-biggest economy is projected to grow by 5.8% this year, representing roughly a third of the total global expansion.” “And the economy of Puerto Rico, technically an overseas territory of the United States, is forecast to shrink by 8%, in the wake of a devastating hurricane that has left much of the island without electricity.” (thanks Amir)

Fire and Fury

Finished reading it last night.  I may write a review in Arabic.  What it reveals is the inner working of the Trump operation, which does not deviate form other writings on the matter.  There is no politics or ideology as there is PR of the one man on top.  It is all about PR.  Whatever further the man on top, based on the estimation of advisors, will be supported.  Foreign policy is also part of that conception. It is also remarkable that foreign policy also falls into that category.  But who are "the Israeli crooks" which Donald Trump accuses his son-in-law of having links to? That is what I want to know.

NYT whitewashes 70 years of U.S. crimes

"The second dubious assertion is the idea that the US is “viewed” as being (or, by implication, objectively is) concerned with “liberal, rules-based international order.” Perhaps Landler missed the part where the US runs offshore penal colonies for untried political prisoners, and a decade-long drone war that’s killed thousands—both entirely outside the scope of international law. Or the time the US invaded and destroyed Iraq without any international authorization, killing hundreds of thousands."

Ken Roth can't read the "Down with Israel" signs or see Khamenei's photos

Ken Roth sharing image of “anti-regime protesters” in Iran, when in fact the picture is from a pro-government rally. They are carrying photos of Khamenei!

Biological warfare against Ireland

"The organisation claimed the MI5 plot was aimed at destroying the “Eire economy”. It said British intelligence planned to provide it with a spoon of “Anthras” (sic), “Foort and Mouth Disease”, “Fowl Pest, Swine Fever and Jaagsikpi” to be released in Ireland."

How Britain secretly controlled the opium trade

"Britain, which once made a fortune by supplying the Chinese market with tons of opium from India, ended the practice in 1907."

The headline of this article says that there protests in Iran but the article says--in passing:

"The protests, meanwhile, seemed to be winding down, though there is no sure way to tell."

American in Zimbabwe

I don't know about this case but I wonder: what would happen to an Iranian student in the US if he/she were to post against the US government?

Corruption charges against Netanyahu

From Eyal:

"Both the current and the previous attorneys general (*) in Israel are personal Netanyahu picks - Yehuda Weinstein had represented Netanyahu as a defense attorney, and Dr. Avichai Mandelblit was cabinet secretary (who is not a minister, i.e. not in the government himself). There are wide-spread public allegations that Mandelblit is dragging his feet w.r.t. the Netanyahu corruption charges (**). In fact, for about a year now there have been demonstrations close to Attorney General 

Mandelblit's home in Petach Tiqva demanding he get on with the indictments. They refer to Mandelblit is "Mister 'But it is Shabat today, but it is Passover today'" - a.k.a. Mister Procrastination.

The Israeli right-wing is accusing the demonstrators - some of which are associated with the Israeli labor party - of not caring about corruption and merely hoping to achieve by legal means what they have failed to achieve electorally - a defeat of Netanyahu and supposedly a change of government.

Note that, on the other hand, Israeli authorities did not hesitate to charge Ahed Tamimi immediately, nor to quickly investigate the spokesperson of Breaking the Silence, Dean Yisacharof who had given 

public testimony about having physically abused a Palestinian during an darrest. The latter case, in fact, was hastily closed to allow the minister of justice to declare that Yisacharof had lied (and thus 

discredit Breaking the Silence). Unfortunately for the state, it was soon discovered that the state prosecution officers had completely mistaken which person it was that Yisacharof was referring to, and the Palestinian they questioned about Yisacharof did not even understand what the Hebrew document the investigators had made him sign. As this came to light thes state rushed to reopen the investigation.

So I guess all those theories about the relativity of time check out 

after all.

Eyal

(*) Actually it's not quite the attorney general. Israel has a prosecutor general, and an attorney above him/her which both serves the government, defending it in court, but also provides binding legal opinion regarding intended actions, so in a sense he is a legal supervisor for the government

(*) There are now at least four separate corruption cases:

Case 1000 - Gifts/bribes from Arnon Milchan and James Packer Case 2000 - Collusion with Yediot Aharonot publisher Noni Moses to get better coverage in exchange for reigning back Sheldon Adelson's freely-handed-out daily, Israel Hayom Case 3000 - Excessive submarine purchases involving high commission rates for Netanyahu's cousin, attorney David Shimron

Case 4000 - Collusion with the owner of Bezeq and the Walla news website, Shaul Allovich, to get better news and perhaps other kinds of support in exchange for consulting with Allovich befaure making regulatory changes, and perhaps the employ of Shlomo Filber, a man considered close to Allovich, as the general manager of the ministry of communications".

There is a new religo-political title for the Jordanian king

This has not been reported in the Western press.  Ever since the recent rift between the Jordanian regime and the Saudi regime, and in the wake of the Jerusalem matter, supporters of the Jordanian King has been using a new title for him. It reads (in translation) as "The servitor of the first Qiblah and the third holy sanctuary".  Kid you not.  

What is "simple sabotage"?

"The purpose of this paper is to characterize simple sabotage, to outline its possible effects, and to present suggestions for inciting and executing it."

Israeli suspected in organ trafficking arrested

"An Israeli citizen accused of involvement in a human organ trafficking scandal in Kosovo a decade ago has been arrested in Cyprus and the authorities in Pristina have requested his extradition to face trial, police said on Friday. Police accuse Israeli Moshe Harel of seeking out people in need of kidney transplants and of luring donors to Kosovo from Turkey and the ex-Soviet Union with the promise of up to 12,000 euros ($14,500) in payment. Recipients, mainly Israelis, paid between 80,000 and 100,000 euros for the organs. Some donors never received any money."

German neo-Nazi lawmaker charged with hate speech is big Israel fan

"Israeli leaders have habitually exploited violent attacks in Europe to further stoke Islamophobia and justify their own violence against Palestinians. Yet while many mainstream commentators in Germany can be expected to express horror at von Storch’s anti-Muslim incitement, few dare speak out in criticism of Israel – including its prominent role in fomenting xenophobia and hatred of Muslims as part of its effort to push Europe further into its far-right camp." (thanks Amir)

Trump's National Security Strategy

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "Trump's National Security Strategy: The US versus the World".

DC think tank pundits and media types

The lesson of the last week is this: DC think tank and media types can only get excited over protests if they occur in Syria and Iran only--basically only against regimes which are not aligned with the US.  Can you imagine them getting that excited over protests in Palestine?

Saudi lobby and DC punditry

Have you noticed? The various arms of the Saudi lobby in DC has been enthusiastically retweeting and praising the tweets of DC think tank pundits and media personalities over the past week because they all read like Saudi regime talking points?

How come Western media never reported that Louvre AbuDhabi covered up the genitals of all male statues and banned all female statues??

Al-Hayat posted this picture on its front page about "protesters in the heart of Tehran" the other day

Al-Hayat, a mouthpiece of a Saudi prince, put this picture of what it said was "protesters in the middle of Tehran" on its front page.

Saudi regime is officially opposed to the collapse of the Iranian regime

Very telling: Chief Saudi regime propagandist, `Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashid, says the ideal situation for SA is for the regime in Iran not to fall but to say as long as it "changes its foreign policies".