From Time magazine in 1954: "THE French cut off the medina with three cordons of troops, through which no Arab could escape. Inside the medina were detachments of Foreign Legionnaires, colonial infantry with tanks, barefoot Berber goumiers, whose hatred of the Arabs is legendary, and French police from whose wrists swung weighted truncheons. Police men, working with maps, split the medina into half a dozen sectors. Then the legionnaires, working systematically, began breaking down the doors of every house. Once a door was smashed, in went the goumiers and drove out every male, except small boys. Women cried out in terror, and were beaten back with clubs or gun butts. On top of a low hill in Port Lyautey's medina is a dusty sheep market. Legionnaires drove the Arab men there and herded them under the muzzle of a Patton tank. A dozen policemen formed a gauntlet, six on either side. One by one, the Arabs were thrust forward, each with his hands on his head. "Entrez done, Monsieur," said a reserve police colonel. "The session is about to begin." He smiled broadly, then hit a middle-aged Arab with his right fist, below the belt. As the Arab went down, the colonel kneed him in the groin. The Arab tried to get up; another cop caught him across the jaw with a club. Down went the Arab and the next cop kicked him, twice. He got up again and ran into the arms of still another policeman, who poked him into a sitting position with the muzzle of a carbine. Crying "Allah." Altogether, more than 20,000 Arabs were routed out of their homes to run the gauntlet that day. Slugging, clubbing and beating that many men is an exhausting job, so the police spelled one another. They invited civilians to lend a hand, and one brute of a youngster accepted and enjoyed himself." (thanks Laleh)

"A former Pace University student who twice threw copies of the Quran into a toilet at the school after disputes with Muslims pleaded guilty Monday to disorderly conduct in connection with the incidents." (thanks Rashid)

The largest demonstrations in support of the people in Gaza were held in Syria and Mauritania. Other Arab countries were busy with Danish cartoons.

"An Israeli settler killed a Palestinian protester in the West Bank." (thanks FT)

"It turned out, though, that Mr. Marshall’s Web sites had been put on a Treasury Department blacklist and, as a consequence, his American domain name registrar, eNom Inc., had disabled them. Mr. Marshall said eNom told him it did so after a call from the Treasury Department; the company, based in Bellevue, Wash., says it learned that the sites were on the blacklist through a blog." (thanks Earl)

"Arab-America’s Store." (thanks Junaid)

"Shooting the Witness, an exhibition by the Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al-Ali, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his assassination in London, is at the Political Cartoon Gallery in London from March 6 until April 12." They forgot to name the murderer. Yasser Arafat (reportedly) ordered the murder of Naji Al-Ali. (thanks Anindya)

"The editor of The Guardian newspaper had the last word at the Jewish Book Week's closing session on Sunday night when he apologized for his publication's controversial editorial following Israel's incursion into the Jenin refugee camp in 2002." He then chanted: with blood, with spirit, I sacrifice myself for you O Olmert. (thanks Asa)

Look how the language of the "liberal" Israeli newspaper tries to justify the Israeli murder of Palestinian civilians: "The human rights organization B'Tselem on Monday said in a statement that more than half of the Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip in Israel Defense Forces operations in recent days did not take an active part in the fighting. This statement came after the IDF Chief of Staff issued a statement saying that 90 percent of those killed were in fact armed militants. In their statement, B'Tselem outlined a string of incidents in which IDF allegedly killed innocent bystanders in the course of military operations aimed at battling the escalating rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. According to data gathered by B'Tselem, 106 Palestinians were killed between February 27 and march 3. Fifty four of them were civilians who didn't take part in the fighting, and 25 were under 18, the statement said."" (thanks Sellam)

Al-Arabiya TV had a special party to celebrate its fifth anniversary in Dubai. Among the invited (and honored) guests was Amin Gemayyel. Gemayyel said that the station was great for "the Arab cause." That says it all, does it not?

Sam Husseini asked this question to the Egyptian rubber stamp speaker, Ahmad Fathi Srur (whose power in Egypt is equivalent to the power Dennis Kucinich in the White House) during his visit in Washington, DC yesterday:

Q: the Palestinian authority of which you speak has broken off relations with Israel. Do you think that Israel has violated international law in its most recent attacks which have killed over a hundred people in the last few days? And wouldn't Egypt's breaking off diplomatic relations constitute a deterrent to Israel?

A: Of course not. Any cut of relations doesn't help anything. What happened with the population of Gaza is wrong. We don't like to see massacre, children being killed. Israel must be proportional. But at the same time Hamas must stop fighting without (?) the atmosphere of peace in the region. But Israel must help.

This is how the Cairo correspondent of Al-Arabiya TV described the Israeli war on Gaza: "Israeli escalation in response to Hamas bombing of Israel." I kid you not.

Abu Mazen just said that based on the Israeli war on Gaza, it looks like 2008 will be the year of peace. I kid you not.

There will be a demonstration to protest the Israeli war on Gaza.
Tuesday March 4th, 2008 at 5:30 PM on the steps of Dearborn City Hall, located on the corner of Schaefer and Michigan Ave.

"Unless the government suddenly backs down, the courtroom will become the stage for an extraordinary parade of top officials being forced to testify about some of the unseen ways American foreign policy is made. Over the strong objections of the Justice Department, the judge in the case ruled that the defense may call as witnesses Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state; Stephen J. Hadley, the White House national security adviser; Elliot Abrams, a deputy national security adviser; Richard L. Armitage, former deputy secretary of state; Paul D. Wolfowitz, former deputy defense secretary; and a dozen other Bush administration foreign policy officials. The defense’s goal is to demonstrate that the kind of conversations in the indictment are an accepted, if not routine, way that American policy on Israel and the Middle East has been formulated for years. Mr. Rosen’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the case raised “strange and troubling issues, notably the decision to target Aipac for common and proper behavior that goes on in Washington every day.”"(thanks Joelle)

On the Vanity Fair article. By the way, I really think that the Vanity Affair's article on US and Muhammad Dahlan was very important. It reveals a lot about US foreign policy making in the Middle East. But I should add a caveat: it is clearly written with the full cooperation and support of Israeli intelligence sources. In fact, if you read it carefully, the Israelis come across as wise and informed, and the American as bumblers and unwise. Keep that in mind. The side that comes across well in such articles is the side that leaked the most to the writers. So the debate between the various factions was over this: can Dahlan be trusted as the agent of Israel? Many Zionists (like members of US Congress who refused to disperse the funds for Dahlan and the UAE came forward with the money) believe that NO Palestinian can be trusted, not even Dahlan.

Don't you love this view of elections? America's clients want elections "when they are ready." Dahlan says he warned his friends in the Bush administration that Fatah still wasn’t ready for elections in January.'"

"This official estimates that the program raised “a few payments of $30 million”—most of it, as other sources agree, from the United Arab Emirates. Dahlan himself says the total was only $20 million, and confirms that “the Arabs made many more pledges than they ever paid.” Whatever the exact amount, it was not enough."

"In essence, the program was simple. According to State Department officials, beginning in the latter part of 2006, Rice initiated several rounds of phone calls and personal meetings with leaders of four Arab nations—Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. She asked them to bolster Fatah by providing military training and by pledging funds to buy its forces lethal weapons. The money was to be paid directly into accounts controlled by President Abbas."

"We were sitting in Abbas’s office in Ramallah, and I explained the whole thing to Condi. And she said, ‘Yes, we have to make an effort to do this. There’s no other way.’ ”"

"Walles and Abbas both knew what to expect from Hamas if these instructions were followed: rebellion and bloodshed. For that reason, the memo states, the U.S. was already working to strengthen Fatah’s security forces. “If you act along these lines, we will support you both materially and politically,” the script said. “We will be there to support you.” Abbas was also encouraged to “strengthen [his] team” to include “credible figures of strong standing in the international community.” Among those the U.S. wanted brought in, says an official who knew of the policy, was Muhammad Dahlan."

"Abbas, one official says, agreed to take action within two weeks. It happened to be Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast during daylight hours. With dusk approaching, Abbas asked Rice to join him for iftar—a snack to break the fast. Afterward, according to the official, Rice underlined her position: “So we’re agreed? You’ll dissolve the government within two weeks?” “Maybe not two weeks. Give me a month. Let’s wait until after the Eid,” he said, referring to the three-day celebration that marks the end of Ramadan. (Abbas’s spokesman said via e-mail: “According to our records, this is incorrect.”) Rice got into her armored S.U.V., where, the official claims, she told an American colleague, “That damned iftar has cost us another two weeks of Hamas government.”

"Wurmser accuses the Bush administration of “engaging in a dirty war in an effort to provide a corrupt dictatorship [led by Abbas] with victory.” He believes that Hamas had no intention of taking Gaza until Fatah forced its hand. “It looks to me that what happened wasn’t so much a coup by Hamas but an attempted coup by Fatah that was pre-empted before it could happen,” Wurmser says." (And this is Wurmser--not friend of the Palestinians or Arabs)

"Vanity Fair has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, to provoke a Palestinian civil war. The plan was for forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America’s behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the democratically elected Hamas-led government from power. (The State Department declined to comment.)"

"Bush has met Dahlan on at least three occasions. After talks at the White House in July 2003, Bush publicly praised Dahlan as “a good, solid leader.” In private, say multiple Israeli and American officials, the U.S. president described him as “our guy.”"

"Bahaa Hariri, the eldest of four billionaire sons of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, left the family owned Saudi Oger Ltd. construction, utility and telecommunications company to run his own property business. ``I am not involved in Saudi Oger,'' Hariri, 41, said in an interview during the Jordan Economic Forum at the Dead Sea yesterday. ``We have done a settlement,'' he said of his departure from the Riyadh-based company, which he joined in 1991. ``I hope the best for it.''" (thanks Laleh)

"With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever." (thaks Mohamed)

"On a number of issues, such as the Middle East peace process, Obama advocates a continuation of Bush administration policies but promises more energetic and intense presidential involvement."

Don't you like it when House of Saud's journalists question the democratic credentials of Chavez? I mean, is that not amusing?

Since I posted about it yesterday, elaph removed that item about Palestinian missiles "posing a threat to quarter million Israelis."

I noticed that none of the US media remarked that the number of victims of violence in Iraq increased by 25% last month. They are busy celebrating the "success" of the surge.

The story of Anwar As-Sadat.

"The National PR Forum, which compiled this manual, is a newly founded body that includes representatives from several government agencies, and which was first launched following the Winograd Commission's report. Aside from distributing the aforementioned PR manual, the PR forum also targeted the al-Jazeera Network as its chief adversary in the war for hearts and minds." (thanks Sellam)

"I pray to Jesus every night."

They killed the rocket launcher: "Palestinians in northern Gaza on Sunday mourned a 21-month-old girl killed in an Israeli strike." (AP)

Notice the language of the New York Times: "But Israel’s military and economic pressure on Gaza, the menacing rocket fire from Gaza into Israel..." Israeli bombing is not, of course, menacing, according to NYT standards.

The most Arab public (and even governmental) responses against the carnage in Gaza took place in Mauritania. The rest of Arab public is watching Alissa on LBC TV.

From Egyptian poet's Amal Dunqul's Ending (my translation):
"Oh...who will stop the windmills in my head?
Who will remove the knives from my heart?
Who will kill my poor children...?
In order that they do not...grow up in the red
furnished apartments..
servants..
catamites..
pimps...
who will kill my poor children?"

CALL FOR A SOLIDARITY VIGIL FOR GAZA***
MONDAY, 3 MARCH, 2008
11.45 A.M.
Location: Harvard Square, in front of Au Bon Pain

The Man Whose Back is Against the Wall by Libyan poet Muhammad Al-Fayturi (my translation):
"For whom?
I embrace fire while dead...
and fight
I, who have no land, no country
no face, no time
no glory, no price
For whom?
Your eyes spit in my eyes..
I am the fugitive..
Stare in my eyes as you wish
Say that I was a coward
that I was weak
Cry over my birth
Raise your quivering hands
to the sky
If only you searched my soul..
my blood..
You will only find
rejection and contempt
I hate you all..
Do not beg..
Do not smile..
Your dry smile..
only fills me with contempt
for you
A rock I am,
so do not call
I condemn you all,
you clowns
I do not make exceptions..
In the name of your glory,
my nation is clothed
in mourning
And in the dust of your horses,
my homeland was lost!
...My cause is mine alone
and after me, there is fire"

From a poem by Palestinian poet Kamal Nasir--killed by Israeli terrorists while he was sleeping in 1973:
"I was born carrying my corpses
on my shoulder
I was born, to my sorrow
I had no say over my
arrival or birth
I am the victim of my
history and chains
Damn. The big damn
is chasing me,
it afflicted my grandparents
Tomorrow, it will embrace
my children and grandchildren
and they will realize as I did
in my eagerness
that I came to this world,
to my sorrow
I came carrying my corpses
over my shoulder
aimlessly"

My translation of Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwish's poem titled, Passport:

"They could not recognize me from the shadows that
absorb my color in the passport,
My wound was exposed for them,
to a tourist who loves to collect pictures,
They could not recognize me, Oh, do not leave
my hand without a sun,
because the trees know me...
and so do all the songs of rain,
Do not leave me pale like rain.
All the birds that
chased my hand at the gate of the distant airport,
all the meadows of wheat,
all the prisons..
all the white tombs,
all the borders...
all the handkerchiefs that waved,
all the eyes,
were with me, but they excluded them
from the passport!
Naked without a name, without identity?
On a soil that I raised with those hands?
Job yelled today toward the sky:
Do not make me a lesson twice!
O, gentlemen,
O, gentlemen, the Prophets
Do not ask the trees for their names
Do not ask the valleys about their mothers,
from my forehead, the sword of light is split
and from my hand, the water of the river springs,
My nationality resides in the hearts of all the people,
so go ahead and remove my passport!"

"Half the casualties of Israel's onslaught are civilian, including women, children and a 21-month-old baby."

"First came an explosion in the street outside. Then the sound of a single rifle bullet slicing through the sky in a sharp crack and into the apartment directly above the home of Raed Abu Saif, the same apartment into which his young daughter Safa had just gone. It was Saturday afternoon, about 4pm. Abu Saif hurried upstairs and found, lying on the floor of the front room, Safa, aged 12. There was a hole in her chest where the bullet had entered and a hole in her back where it had exited. It took her three hours to die."

Saudi-Zionist conspiracy? What Saudi-Zionist conspiracy? Look at the front page of the Saudi sleaze site, Elaph. The headline (to your left) says: "The missiles of Hamas threatens quarter of a million Israelis."