Your anti-Semitic allies: The Saudi government orders an investigation to determine if banned books that "promote Judaism" were allowed in the Riyadh Book Fair--kid you not

The spokesperson of the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information ordered an investigation to find out if "banned books and publications promoting Judaism and some sects" were sold at the Riyadh Book Fair.   This kind of stories is not translated in the English version of Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat (the mouthpiece of King Salman and his sons).

US versus the rest: paid maternity leave in weeks

People should be reading Marwan Muasher's articles in Arabic in Jordanian newspaper

He (vice-president of Carnegie Endowment for pro-US Arab dictatorships) basically wants a front to fight ISIS and he finds that only the Jordanian poetentate is qualified to lead it and wants people to follow the leadership of the potentate to "fulfill his prophetic vision".  I kid you not. (thanks Ahmad)

Did you hear what "Abu Ali" told Nicholas Blanford? Another super secret secret

"We are taking the area square by square until we reach the border with Israel," says Abu Ali, a veteran Hezbollah fighter who has served multiple tours in Syria. He confirmed that Iran was leading the offensive and that Iranian troops were on the ground. "Not just officers but soldiers as well," Abu Ali says. "Iran will be so close to the Israelis that it will no longer need long-range missiles to hit them."

Abu Ali said that tunnel and bunker construction in the Golan had been underway for a year, replicating facilities Hezbollah built in southern Lebanon in the years before the 2006 war with Israel. He added that the Iranian general killed near Quneitra in January was conducting an inspection tour of the new facilities."  Let me guess: Abu Ali then told Blanford: I am willing to provide you with any information that can be damaging to the party and beneficial to Israel because we in Hizbullah love you so much and only trust you because you are so hostile to Hizbullah and have a history of fabrications and falsifications in your reports.  (thanks Basim)

Obama Doctrine and Israel

"Israel's top intelligence officer will visit the United States this week, sources with knowledge of the itinerary said; a sign that security cooperation continues despite disputes between the countries' leaders over strategy over Iran."

Israel kills Palestinian fisherman trying to feed his family under inhumane blockade

"The Israeli navy opened fire on boats off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing one Palestinian fisherman, Gaza hospital officials said." "Gaza hospital officials named the fisherman killed on Saturday as Tawfiq Abu Reyala, 34. The Palestinians say the fishing zone is not big enough to supply the demands of Gaza's 1.8 million people, who are kept under a tight Israeli-Egyptian blockade."

Israeli forces respond to Women's Day march with violence

"More than 30 Palestinians, mostly women, were injured as Israeli troops forcibly dispersed a peaceful march marking International Women's Day at Qalandiya checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah on Friday. Israeli soldiers fired tear-gas canisters, stun grenades, rubber-coated bullets, and pepper spray at hundreds of women to prevent them from reaching the checkpoint. Fourteen of the 30 injured were evacuated to hospitals."


" “Israel has kidnapped nearly 15,000 Palestinian women since 1967,"

Israel's Foreign Minister calls for beheading of Arabs

"Speaking at an elections event at the IDC, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, the head of the nationalist Yisrael Beytenu party said that those [Arabs] who support Israel “should receive everything [in terms of rights]; those against us, it cannot be helped, we must lift up an ax and behead them — otherwise we will not survive here.” "

Saudi Arabia & UAE imported more weapons than all of Europe

"Saudi Arabia overtook India in 2014 as the world’s biggest importer of defence equipment," "Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) together imported $8.6bn of defence equipment in 2014, more than the imports of Western Europe combined. The United States maintained its position as the top exporter, shipping $23.7bn of equipment, ahead of Russia on $10bn. “The biggest beneficiary of the strong Middle Eastern market remains the US, with $8.4bn worth of Middle Eastern exports in 2014, compared to $6bn in 2013,” said the report." (thanks Amir)

Anne Barnard's 4th day in Iraq: her Tahini adventures continue

"Correction: March 7, 2015 
 An earlier version of this article misstated the age of the Hatra archaeological site. It dates to the first century B.C., not the 12th. The same error appeared in an earlier version of a picture caption and a capsule summary with this article. The earlier version also misidentified the location of a statement by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. It appeared on the ministry’s website, not on its Facebook page."

Al-Akhbar English

Just like everyone else, I learned a few days ago that Al-Akhbar English has closed shop for good (that shows you how well-plugged I am in that operation).  However, my weekly 2400-words articles for Al-Akhbar Arabic will continue to appear. 

Rep. Debbie Dingell

"Rep. Debbie Dingell (D- Dearborn) criticized the fact that Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) invited Netanyahu to speak without consulting President Obama. Dingell, who represents all of Dearborn, attended the speech anyway." (thanks Basim)

Eyes everywhere

"Altogether, these bases can snoop on the entire world, friend as well as foe. The leaked documents do not talk about "Waihopai". They use the station's secret Five Eyes code name Ironsand ("IS"). It's not clear why Waihopai is Ironsand. An NSA map shows it is one of a global network of oddly-named satellite interception stations. These stations are the eyes of the Five Eyes alliance."

 

Israeli firing on Palestinians in Gaza every day

"Israeli forces fired on Palestinians in Gaza every day during the month of February," (thanks Amir)

Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day. Happy International Women every day.  

The Missing Narrative

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "The Missing Narrative: Faruq Ash-Shar` Remembers".

Anne Barnard and Tahini: her 3rd day covering Iraq

"The tour convoy began at the Badr Organization’s headquarters in Baghdad. There, over a breakfast of bread dipped in tahini, fighters embraced visiting clerics and recounted missions to Syria to defend the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, holy to Shiites."  1) Tahini is unedible by itself.  No one ever eats tahini raw.  2) I asked friends in Iraq and they were as surprised as I am at this description of breakfast.  Someone commented: they don't even use Tahini in Iraq.  Having said that, I can't deny that Ms. Barnard may have seen a liquid food on her tour.  I can't rule that out.  

PS She must have seen Halava, or halawah which is referred to as rahash in Iraq. 

A Honduran citizen yelling in Arabic

" A woman was arrested at Miami International Airport on Thursday afternoon after she attempted to drive her vehicle through the airport entrance, crashed her car into a Miami-Dade Police patrol car, screamed at officers in what is believed to be Arabic and then, in English, claimed she had a bomb on her person, according to Miami-Dade police. The woman, whom the FBI has identified as Julissa Magdalena Maradiaga-Iscoa, 33, a Honduran citizen, is facing federal charges. Miami Dade police turned over the case to the FBI; she is expected to appear in federal court in Miami on Friday." (thanks Narrima)

Wait: so who founded Hizbullah?

" on the mantle sits a framed photograph of the founder of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, with whom he shares a last name."  (thanks Nir)

Canada and Israeli apartheid

"In recent months, Canadian government officials have been working overtime to further cement their outrageous and biased support of Israeli policies." "However, further research (like peeling the layers of an onion) revealed that the links between Canadian business leaders and Israeli apartheid run deep." (thanks Amir) 

Senator Menendez, the sleaziest senator--literally and figuratively

"In the past two years, Menendez took in more than $25,000 from donors with ties to the Mojahedin, making him the largest recipient in the study over this period."

US Congressperson, Jared Huffman of California on Netanyahu

"“This is a prime minister who’s never seen a war he didn’t want our country to fight,” Huffman said, adding that diplomats negotiating with Iran shouldn’t be distracted by Netanyahu’s address."

Syrian defector, Caesar

As you know, this defector (a photographer with Syrian police) has been the most senior defector since a clerk at the Ministry of Transportation defected to Qatar.  Anyway, this has been the most celebrated defector of the century.  So while we agree on the criminal nature of the Syrian regime, this is the story that we are told to believe: that the defector gave the pictures to the Qatari regime, and the Qatari regime gave the pictures to the FBI. Now anyone who doubts that the Qatari regime and the FBI are not unbiased and neutral on matters Syrian needs to have his/her head examined.  Case closed. casear

Anne Barnard is covering Iraq: corrections from her first two days on the job

On her first day on the job, this correction: "Correction: March 6, 2015 

An article on Wednesday about the eruption of tensions between Iraq and the United States over how to battle the Islamic State misspelled the surname of an aide to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and mistranslated comments he made about American forces’ readiness to move against the militants in Mosul. The aide is Ali al-Alaaq, not Alaa, and he said, “If the Americans continue procrastinating about the time it will take to liberate the country, Iraq will liberate Mosul and Anbar without them.” He did not say that the Americans, in fact, continue to procrastinate."

On her second day on the job, this correction: "Correction: March 4, 2015 
 An earlier version of this article misidentified the Iraqi official whom the United States ambassador, Stuart E. Jones, met with in Najaf. He is Adnan al-Zurufi, the governor of Najaf, not Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shiite cleric. "  Now how could anyone who knows the most basic on Iraq think that Sistani would receive the US ambassador?

A US rapist who tried to frame an Arab

"Chicago woman identified by prosecutors as an escort testified Thursday that she was raped by a former boyfriend after he used a fake identity to evade her online screening process and then showed up at her home in a disguise that included a beard, dark makeup, sunglasses and a turban...Testifying at a preliminary hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, the woman, 26, said she didn't realize the attacker was ex-boyfriend Nathan Nissenbaum until his sunglasses fell off while he restrained her with handcuffs and duct tape before the sexual assault.'

Saudi-Israeli honeymoon

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fiery speech this week before the U.S. Congress, in which he argued against an emerging nuclear deal with Iran, has received tacit support from an unlikely quarter -- Saudi Arabia."

An average of 545 people killed by local and state law enforcement officers in the US

"An average of 545 people killed by local and state law enforcement officers in the US went uncounted in the country’s most authoritative crime statistics every year for almost a decade, according to a report released on Tuesday. The first-ever attempt by US record-keepers to estimate the number of uncounted “law enforcement homicides” exposed previous official tallies as capturing less than half of the real picture. The new estimate – an average of 928 people killed by police annually over eight recent years, compared to 383 in published FBI data – amounted to a more glaring admission than ever before of the government’s failure to track how many people police kill." (thanks Amir)

FBI

"On 25 February, a press release appearing on the FBI’s website announced that three Brooklyn residents had been charged with “attempt and conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a foreign terrorist organisation”. Never mind that the same charge - albeit at a much higher level - can be applied to the United States and a number of its allies, without whom ISIL would not currently be flourishing."

Saudi foreign policies

"The Saudis do not like the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. They do not like Shiite Iran. They do not like the Shiite Hezbollah, or the Shiite Houthis ascendant in South Yemen. The rise of Shiite power in Iraq is a cause of concern to them.

What is their answer to these prevailing currents? The thick-fisted exercise of chequebook diplomacy: handsome handouts to Field Marshal El-Sisi in Egypt, money to the Syrian opposition, and handouts even to Saudi Arabia’s own population. But a chequebook is just that…it is not an ideology. It has appeal for the oligarchies, such as El-Sisi’s oligarchy in Egypt, but what attraction does it have for the support base of the banned Muslim Brotherhood?" Oh, the writer is wrong. They have their Wahhabi idoelogy which they share with Da`ish. (thanks Nabeel)

a student at UCLA: anti-Semitism on US college campuses

Some idiot at UCLA asked a Jewish student there a question that shouldn't have been asked. What does the New York Times conclude? That there is--because of that one question--a rampant problem of anti-Semitism on all American college campuses and they provide the evidence: "often a byproduct of animosity toward the policies of Israel. This is one of many campuses where the student council passed, on a second try and after fierce debate, a resolution supporting the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions movement aimed at pressuring Israel."  Let me tell the New York Times this: I have a student from Yemen and she is veiled: do you know how many stupid discriminatory questions she received per day?

The dumbest analysis by far: Western media on Saudi Arabia

"Nobody expects big changes to Saudi Arabia's position on the Muslim Brotherhood. The movement represents an ideological threat to Riyadh's dynastic system of rule, and its use of oaths of allegiance and secret meetings are anathema to the Saudis. "  Yes, because in Saudi Arabia, democracy open society are routine.  (thanks Basim)

Ibn Taymiyyah

I was reading volume Six of Minhaj As-Sunnah An-Nabwayyiah by Ibn Taymiyyah: that man is so grotesquely hateful and poisonous.  But you have to agree: he is probably one of the most effective polemicists that I have read. He is far better than Lenin. 

Jordanian regime creates its own version of the Muslim Brothers

The Jordanian dictatorial regime is under pressure from its Gulf patrons to ban the Muslim Brothers. So what does the King do? He basically creates a mukhabarat version of the Muslim Brotherhood and then transfers the money of the Muslim Brothers to the new organization and grants it a political license. Now I know why the Jordanian potentate is referred to always as "moderate" in the Western media.

When the US does not like the results of public opinion polls

From Peter: "I came across this hit piece that tries to dismiss  Putin's popularity:

""An opinion poll can only be conducted in a Democracy with a free press," he explained. "In a country with no free press, where people are arrested for expressing their opinions, where the truth is hidden from them, where the media even online is almost all controlled by the government -- when a pollster phones people up and asks, 'Hello, do you approve of Vladimir Putin,' the answer is overwhelmingly yes."

Yet no one questions those laughable PEW polls that take place in the dictatorships in the Gulf. I guess Western back dictatorships are all free of bias."

This passes as poetry in the US--yes, let Americans tell you what poetry is

"His speech, printed in about 48-point font on an inch-thick stack of paper, was poetic (“millions of Israelis were protected from thousands of Hamas rockets because this Capitol Dome helped build our Iron Dome”)".

This will never appear in the New York Times and Washington Post

"As advances by militant Islamic groups displace Christian communities from northern Iraq to western Syria, in Lebanon, Christians like Nasrallah are taking up arms, saying they refuse to succumb to a similar fate.

“We will never stand to not hear our church bells ring,” Nasrallah says, his arms crossed. “That will never happen here.” Ras Baalbek is just one of a handful of Christian villages in the northern Bekaa Valley not far from the Syrian border. While there have been a number of reports of Christians arming themselves in this region of Lebanon, Nasrallah’s men are one of the only Christian groups directly allied with Hezbollah."

Saudi Arabia is believed to have executed 38 people so far this year--but all were moderately beheaded

"Saudi Arabia is beheading criminals at an unprecedented rate - almost half of them for non-violent drugs crimes, the human rights charity Amnesty International has warned.

The Arab state is believed to have executed 38 people so far this year, treble the number in the same period in 2014 and a sign its new King Salman is showing no mercy to offenders."

Nicholas Kristof saves the World

"In the second episode, “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty,” Kristof returns to his roots: foreign poverty porn. Journeying from West Virginia to Haiti to Colombia, viewers see mothers and children in tears, facing terrible choices. Assisted at each location by celebrity guides like Jennifer Garner — an attempt to reach audiences otherwise uninterested in such gloomy subjects — Kristof tries to explain how global poverty works and what Americans can do to get these kids out." "The US-backed coup of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which prompted a United Nations peacekeeping mission that will enter its eleventh year in June, goes unremarked. The conditions that caused the 2008 food riots and unseated the prime minister are not discussed. And the cholera outbreak after the 2010 earthquake that the UN is blamed for starting is nowhere mentioned."

Philanthrocapitalism

"Soros is notorious for making vast profits by precipitating the financial destruction of entire economies. In 1992, he forced the United Kingdom out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and into recession by shorting sterling, making an estimated $1 billion in a single day. He has also been blamed for triggering the East Asian financial crisis in 1997 by short-selling the Thai baht and the Malay ringgit, and was accused of playing a role in speculative attacks on the yen in 2013. But liberal elites around the world laud Soros for channelling large quantities of his dubiously earned wealth into philanthropic projects — primarily through his Open Society Foundation, which promotes democracy, free markets, and economic development around the world."

Ferguson preys viciously on black residents

"As the report noted, from 2012 to 2014 African Americans accounted for “85 percent of vehicle stops, 90 percent of citations, and 93 percent of arrests made by FPD officers, despite comprising only 67 percent of Ferguson’s population.” Tickets mean money for the city–in 2013, municipal court fines were Ferguson’s second highest source, the bulk of which were leveled against African Americans." (thanks Amir)

How some in France see ISIS: Islamophobia unplugged

The Talented Sudanese cartoonist, Khalid AlBaih

Kevin Sullivan's propaganda piece about Saudi prisons

I have to tell Kevin that Saudi propaganda outlets and newspapers of Saudi princes were so pleased with your piece that they translated it into Arabic and are circulating it.  Good work.  His piece was basically this: Saudi regime escorted me to prisons and told me that they are very nice and I believed them on the spot.

So when American fly to Syria and Iraq and join Christian militias it is a good thing?

"“Jesus tells us what you do unto the least of them, you do unto me,” said the 28-year-old from Detroit who served an extended tour in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. He asked for his surname not to be published, to protect his family at home. “I couldn’t sit back and watch what was happening, women being raped and sold wholesale.”

So in December he traveled to northern Iraq, where he joined a growing band of foreigners leaving behind their lives in the West to fight with new Christian militias against the Islamic State extremist group. The leaders of those militias say they have been swamped with hundreds of requests from veterans and volunteers from around the world who want to join them."

According to this guy, Israel didn't mistreat Palestinians in 1948

"When Netanyahu hearkens back to 1948, he hearkens back not only to a different America, but also to a different Israel. It was not yet an occupation power, and it did not mistreat Palestinians."  Maybe he meant it killed them and displaced them but didn't mistreat them.