Gas masks in Israel

Every six months since 1990 the Israeli government anounces that it has distributed gas masks to its citizens. And every time Wesrwen media cover the ritual and volunteer analogies to the holocaust for extra propaganda effect. By my count every Israeli citizen should have by now around 23 gas masks.

All is well. West depends on Saudi Arabia to promote secularism in Syria. I now can go to sleep

"Saudi Arabia has prevailed over its small but ambitious Gulf neighbor Qatar to impose itself as the main outside force supporting the Syrian rebels, a move that may curb the influence of Qatari-backed Islamist militants. The outcome, many Syrian opposition leaders hope, could strengthen them in both negotiations and on the battlefield - while hampering some of the anti-Western Islamist hardliners in their ranks whom they say Qatar has been helping with weaponry. Prince Salman bin Sultan, a senior Saudi security official, was now running relations with the Syrian rebels, backed by his elder brother, intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan." (thanks Rabih)

Ms Anne Barnard. Please stop making things up. Thank you

"The government, for instance, portrays the mostly Sunni rebels as eager to kill minorities."  That is made up by Ms Barnard. The lousy Syrian government never mentio s the sect of armed groups and in fact claims that they pose a dangder to all Syrians. Ms Barnard is a victim twice, of her ignorance and of her political bias. Also Ms Barnard.  The matter is not merely portrayal. Your beloved terrorist groups have indeed killed minorities.

It is official: Anne Barnard confirms and cirtifies. Armed groups in Syria are all secular. A volunteer told her.

" But another volunteer detained that day, Reem, a Christian wearing a two-inch cross, said that she had never felt threatened in rebel areas.  “There is nothing to fear,” she said. “It’s not one sect against another. It’s the opposition against the government.”. Based on this assurance, minorities all over Syria--even those who are still held hostage by armed groups--took to the streets in celebration. 

ICRC

How come the ICRC did not worry before about civilians when regime forces were under siege? Those are mere arms of US foreign policies and war. Kid us not. 

What kind of twisted logic is this?

" The spark for Lebanon’s growing troubles has been the battle for Qusayr...". Are you kidding me? Lebanese Salfites have been figbting in Syria for well over a year and Hariri camp and other tools of Saudi inteligence have been embroiled there for more than two years. Tripoli Salafites have been shelling Jabal Muhsin as some kind of sectarian revenge for well over a year Nd you think Qusayr is the spark?

What Western media call "activists" are often proud terrorists

Look at this guy: " A Syrian antigovernment activist, Jad al-Yamani, speaking from the outskirts of the besieged Syrian city of Qusayr, defended the rebel attacks on Lebanon, saying that they were justified because they would turn what he called “honest and free Shiites” against Hezbollah."

How New York Times justifies yet again the killing of civilians by Syrian armed groups

Look how the Times justifies murder of civilians: " suggesting that rebel groups were also willing to punish civilians in Hezbollah strongholds." Next time civilians in Israel are killed I will remember to refer to them as "civilians in Zionist strongholds". 

Hanging by rebels

By the way, the Syrian Observatory is an opposition propaganda outfit funded by the Qatari government and works closely with Aljazeera (the station of House of Thani).  But it is far more willing, albeit grudgingly and only minimally, to report some war crimes by the rebels than Western media or the Human Rights Watch of Lebanon-Syria office--a mere press office branch for the Hariri family and its media establishment.  Just yesterday, the armed groups executed by ganging a Syrian for being "suspected" of working for the regime. Did you read about that in your local Western media? 

Hue and Cry over Qusayr

Are you not too predictable in your propaganda on Syria?  Whenever the armed groups face a setback of defeat in some area or town, the Western press and the Western human rights organizations that serve as a mere arms of US imperial policies (what do you expect from groups that now never ever criticize Israel without directing the same level of criticisms to the victims of its occupation and aggression) raise a hue and cry and yell that there is an imminent slaughter or a massacre about to take place and that civilians (of course, all armed fighters are civilians because they are identified as "activists") need to be evacuated.  The pattern is all too predictable.  How come they don't raise the same hue and cry whenever a town or Syrian regime soldiers face a siege by rebels?  Is there not an American proverb: what is good for the geese is good for the potato, or something like that?  Who are you kidding.  

Nusrah and other Islamists in Syria

Comrade Amer wrote this in Arabic on his Facebook page (my translation): "To draw a decisive line between the Nusrah Front and other armed groups in Syria is nothing but evidence of confusion of thought and foolish subservience to standards of Western hegemony in politics and culture.  The distinction between Nusrah Front and others is purely a legal matter that concerns the US government alone, and does not concern us one bit...As far as we are concerned, and as far as our reality and future and political alternatives, what is really the difference--in the ideology, outlook vis-a-vis the society, and in practices and deeds--between Nusrah Front and "Ahrar Ash-Sham" or "Suqur Ash-Sham" or "Ansar Ash-Sham" or "Al-Ghuraba'" or or or.  Nothing expresses the poverty of Arab culture and the enslavement  of a large sector of our elites like the attitudes toward Nusrah Front. Many of the intellectuals and politicians in Syria have considered Nusrah Front an essential element of the "Syrian revolution" and swearing that they never saw bad thing from it, until the US placed Nusrah on its terrorism list, so the same elites started making the Nusrah Front the exception, as if it is alone the problem, calling for its isolation and promoting for alternatives to it, mostly creations of the CIA.  It is enough for the US to to draw a line in the sand for them to prostrate behind it, and they expect us to take them seriously.  If only they are committed to the causes of their people and the red lines like their commitment to US laws and the desires of the funders.

Racism in Israel

Recently, the Education committee in the Israeli Knesset released the results of a survey among people of Israel.  It revealed that some 20% of Arabs are not ready to have friends with Jews, while 44% of Israeli Jews are unwilling to have friends among Arabs.  And while 36% of Arabs are not willing to visit a Jewish home, 63% of Jews are not willing to visit the home of an Arab.  10% of Israeli Jews are afraid of Arabs, while only 2% of Arabs are afraid of Jews.  28% of Israeli Jews express hatred of Arabs, while 14% of Arabs express hatred of Jews.  46% of Israeli Jewish students (from the ages of 15 and 18) believe that Arabs should not be given the same rights as Jews, and 20% of Jewish students consider the popular Israeli slogan "Death to the Arabs" is a legitimate and acceptable slogan.  

PS The study was covered in Al-Quds Al--Arabi by its correspondent in Nazareth.  Of course, the New York Times was bush writing features about the buff and handsome and charming and fit and charismatic new leader in the Israeli racist Knesset.  

Algerian news media and Hizbullah

From Ahmad: " Dear Prof. AbuKhalil: I've been lately reading Algeria news outlets and they seem to generally take a pro-Hezbollah and Pro-Assad stance. Any idea why? Seems strange given that the majority of North African media outlets are increasingly sectarian and anti-Hezbollah. Here are some examples: 
http://www.elwatandz.com/articles/8664.html?print

http://www.elwatandz.com/watanarabi/8720.html

The unending adventures of Richard Engel who really hearts his captors

From Eric: " In this article in Vanity Fair recounting his alleged experience as a hostage in Syria, Richard Engel demonstrates that his skills as a propagandist for the US imperialists and their lackeys are very poor indeed (http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2013/04/richard-engel-kidnapping-syria).  The inconsistencies and absurdities in the article are too abundant to enumerate (for example: the FSA commander's bodyguard is able to reply "that's me sir" shortly after his mouth is sealed shut with duct tape).  Moreover, the final sequence detailing the hostages' release from captivity in the context of a deadly firefight is contradicted by one among them, private security contractor Ian Rivers (bizarrely identified as a "technician" in the article), who states in this video that he was in fact released by his captors "in the confusion of some sort of handover" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcnNJRvgWtw). "

Not in Western media

"Lebanese security officials and the state-run news agency say low-flying Israeli warplanes are violating Lebanese airspace, overflying territory including the capital Beirut. The National News Agency says the warplanes flew over southern Lebanon, Beirut, the eastern Bekaa Valley and the city of Baalbek. Israeli warplanes regularly enter Lebanese airspace. A security official confirmed the Sunday overflights and said they were among the most intense recently."

Lincoln's war on terrorism

" "SHERMAN ALEXIE: Another Proclamation. When Lincoln Delivered The Emancipation Proclamation, Who Knew that, one year earlier, in 1862, he'd signed and approved the order for the largest public execution in United States history? Who did they execute? "Mulatto, mixed-bloods, and Indians." Why did they execute them? "For uprising against the State and her citizens." Where did they execute them? Mankato, Minnesota. How did they execute them? Well, Abraham Lincoln thought it was good And Just To Hang Thirty-eight Sioux simultaneously. Yes, in front of a large and cheering crowd, thirty-eight Indians dropped to their deaths. Yes, thirty-eight necks snapped. But before they died, thirty-eight Indians sang their death songs. Can you imagine the cacophony of thirty-eight different death songs? But wait, one Indian was pardoned at the last minute, so only thirty-seven Indians had to sing their death songs. But O, O, O, O, can you imagine the cacophony of that one survivor's mourning song? If he taught you the words, do you think you would sing along?"

"SHERMAN ALEXIE: Well, essentially, they were executed for terrorism. The perception of being terrorists for defending themselves and their people from colonial incursions."

"SHERMAN ALEXIE: And then all over the country massacres happening of people they, you know, they would push these tribes and these people onto reservations and then send the soldiers in to wage war on them. I just learned, I don't know why I didn't know this, some sort of denial I guess. But they gave medals of honor to U.S. soldiers who participated at Wounded Knee, absolute massacres of unarmed women, children, and elderly people. They gave medals of honor. And, you know, this idea of Lincoln as this great savior. Which is true. But in deifying him, it completely, completely whitewashes the fact that he was also a complete part of the colonization of Indians, a complete part of the wholesale slaughter of Indians." (thanks Amir)

Typos

When I am on the road I use my Sony Xperia for bloggging and it makes my daily typos and mistakes worse.

Qardawi bowing to Wahhabi clerics

" The cleric blamed himself for previously backing Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah who gained popularity after steadfastly leading his group in the fight against Israel in 2006. "I defended the so-called Nasrallah and his party, the party of tyranny... in front of clerics in Saudi Arabia," which is wary of neighbouring Shiite Iran and its allies. "It seems that the clerics of Saudi Arabia were more mature than me," Qaradawi said." (thanks Basim)

Turkey

From a person with connections: " From a guy in the super-know in turkey:

"Some more for you from one source. What is clear is that coverage is controlled in Turkish media. The situation is much  worse than it is seen in the media. We are following from social media. The media is not covering nearly the 10th of it. Yesterday the numbers were in hundred thousands, the media is still saying 'thousands of' protesters. People got furious after the PMs speech during the day. In the evening for a while the police made it look like they are withdrawing from Taksim, but increased violence in Besiktas, Ankara and İzmir."

Arango and Barnard's account of Sunni-Shi'ite strife in the New York Times

There is a hilariously comical but typically propagandistic account of the sectarian war in the Middle East.  I dont know the background of Arango but I know that Ms. Barnard has no background whatsoever in the Middle East-and it shows daily-which makes her for two reason easily susceptible to Syrian armed opposition propaganda.  Barnard and Arango think that the sectarian conflict began with the Syrian war and they don't know that Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in secarian hatred against Shi'ites for decades-nay centuries ever since Muhammad ibn 'Abdul-Wahab led his band of Jihadis northward to kill Shi'ites and to destroy their holy sites.  Barnard and Arango don't even mention that sectarianism was a deliberate policy of American occupiers.  They then want to convince readers that the blatant sectarianism of the armed and exile opposition was due to Hizbullah intervention in Qusayr as if it didnt begin even before the uprising given the past sectarian hatred of the Muslim Brotherhood and its sponsors: " He was visiting Lebanon from a rebel-held Syrian town, Qusayr, where his brother died Tuesday battling Shiite guerrillas from the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. “People lost brothers, sons, and they’re angry,” he said.". Notice that all Zionist media strive to provide rationalizations for Sunni sectarianism.  In fact, Shimon Peres has all but declared his conversion to Sunni Islam.  but the fallacies of this article are thus revealed: " The Syrian civil war is setting off a contagious sectarian conflict beyond the country’s borders.". This is what happens when people without depth or training write about the Middle East.  In fact, it is the other way round:  the secarian regional conflict instigated by Saudi Arabia triggered the war (I am not talking here about the popular uprising which all but died) in Syria. And the article cite the authority of Saudi propagandists even among an Iranian token voice: " “Nothing has helped make the Sunni-Shia narrative stick on a popular level more than the images of Assad — with Iranian help — butchering Sunnis in Syria,”". Notice that Bahrain and Saudi sectarian military intervention there is mentioned not once there.  It just didnt happen because it disturbs the Saudi Ikhwan narrative of this silly article.  So it is not only ignorance that drive the thrust of the article but also malfeasance.  Here the duo in the article present the aims of rebel commanders: " Rebel leaders say their only aim is to depose a dictator.".  They deliberately disregard the blatantly sectarian discourse of rebel commanders and even of liberal opposition leaders including threats to incinerate all Alawites or to grind them. And here you get an idiotic account of the rise of Jihadi sectarian groups: " With the West hesitant to fully support the opposition, rebels accepted help from Al Qaeda in Iraq," Here Arango anc Barnard all but call for arming of the rebels. So the rebels were secular liberals but only turned toward sectarian and Jihadi ideologies because the West didn't arm them. So are they saying that those are mere mercenaries who adopt the ideology of whoever assist them? But the duo felt compelled to grudgingly admit the obvious: " Sunni rebels and gangs have been accused of kidnapping Shiites. Sunni fighters call Shiites “filth” and “dogs.” Rebel commanders have begun to refer to Hezbollah, whose name means party of God, as the “party of the devil.”" But notice that they made it sound as if this sectarianism is new when the term Party of Satan has been applied by Wahhabis for over a decade.  But then the duo want to provide balance and want to report on anti-Sunni sectarianism: " Government supporters call rebels “rats” and paint them with a broad brush as Bedouins and Wahhabis — a puritanical strain of Sunni Islam from Saudi Arabia. Fadil Mutar, an Iraqi Shiite, said at the funeral of his son, who was killed in Syria, that he died fighting Wahhabis, “those vile people.”". You are kidding me.  Describing rebels as rats is secarian?  And opposition and even hostility to Wahhabiyyah which is an ideology and not religion or sect is bigotry?  All Sunnis until the appearance of oil money were vocally opposed to wahhabiyyah so that makes Sunnis sectarian anti-Sunnis?  And why the NYT duo didnt chronicle all the sectarian killings by the armed opposition?  Bashshar is a bloody tyrant but like Saddam he is non-sectarian in repression (Alawites were singled out for worst torture in Asad jails) and in rewards despite the sectarian base of the regime which was expanded under Bashshar. You think the regime would have lasted for two years if it was truly supported only by Alawites?  But to bolster their silly sectarian claims they cite the authority of "Abu Ali", a student in Najaf.  When they get silly like that I feel compelled to not be dragged inti silliness. But they are right in the reference to the discourse by those who support the regime (Sunnis, Shi'ites, Christisns, and seculars) to their enemies as bedouins. It is true. That is classist and regionalist but hardly sectarian and I have spoken out against what appear as racism against people in the Gulf. If I am grading this article I would have givrn it a D- at best.

You knew this was coming

"Syria gleefully turned the tables on Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday over his response to anti-government demonstrations, calling on him to halt the violent repression of peaceful protests or resign...Syrian state television broadcast hours of live footage from Istanbul, where thousands of protesters clashed for a second day with riot police who fired teargas and water cannons." (thanks Elyse)

Saudi police as the sixth pillar of Islam

"Fuad Kawther, a Saudi engineer associated with Islamic activities, emphasized the importance of promoting virtue and preventing vice in society. “Some scholars have considered it the sixth pillar of Islam and they believe that without it the five pillars would not be complete,” he told Arab News." (thanks Basim)

"unchanged problematic" situation

"For years, every single government coalition in Germany has stated that the country has particularly strict regulations for sales of weapons of war to foreign countries." "In 2008, the Economics Ministry approved the manufacture of German G36 rifles in Saudi Arabia, although the Foreign Ministry previously attested the country an "unchanged problematic" situation, including a record number of executions, the suppression of women and opposition forces, censorship and coerced confessions."

Lebanese Foreign Ministry

Do you know that the Lebanese Foreign Ministry has a special "code section"? They do need code to send their reports? What is secretive about those reports?  Most of them are of this kind: The London embassy ran out of pickles.  The Embassy in Paris needs more shipment of Kishk, etc.

Friends of Turkey

Will Syria now call for an international conference of the "Friends of Turkey" to be presided over by Armenia?

getting-rich "revolutionaries

"A rebel commander, based near Damascus and familiar with the unit which buckled, said its failure had been due to its leaders having preferred using their local power to get rich rather than fighting Assad - a common accusation among the fractious rebels: "Qatar's bet ... failed especially in the Wadi al-Deif battle. The regime managed to break through them after they became the new local warlords, caring for money and power not the cause," the senior commander told Reuters. That battlefield collapse infuriated Qatar's allies in the anti-Assad alliance."

no fly zone

"Rather than a quick and relatively painless affair, any effort to dismantle Syria's air defenses as part of enforcing a no-fly zone would be tantamount to a declaration of war, cautioned NATO's new military chief, Gen. Philip Breedlove. "It is quite frankly an act of war and it is not a trivial matter," said Breedlove, NATO's new supreme allied commanderr and head of U.S. European Command, during a recent Thursday to Naples, Italy."

CIA and Hollywood

" "The two heads of DreamWorks television called me," said Weisberg, who is in the rare position of being a TV executive that has also trained as a CIA operative. "They knew I'd been in the CIA and that I'd produced and written a previous TV pilot with them, based on the CIA station in Bulgaria. When those illegals were arrested, they asked me if I'd be interested in basing a show on it. That was the genesis of this story." " (thanks Amir)

Committee to Protect Some Journalists

The Salafites of Tripoli attack journalists on a daily basis but the Committee does not take notice. As for the Human Rights Watch office in Beirut, they are concerned in a new press release that the fighters in Qusayr are in need of more explosives.

How the US cares about Syria

From Jon:  "One for your 'Poor Israel Feature'.

John Kerry here:

"We ask them again not to upset the balance within the region with respect to Israel," Kerry added. "The weaponry that is being provided … has a profoundly negative impact on the balance of interests and the stability of the region and it does put Israel at risk. It is not, in our judgement, responsible because of the size of the weapons, the nature of the weapons and what it does to the region in terms of Israel's security, so we hope that they will refrain from that in the interests of making this peace conference work."

So a peace conference to try and stop the bloodshed in Syria depends on whether or not nuclear armed Israel feels secure? Is there anybody, ANYBODY on this planet that believes the United States gives two hoots about the Syrian people?"

I am confused

I don't get it: because in the shallow Western press, I have been reading that all world Sunnis love Turkish policies in Syria and love the Syrian "revolution":  "The protest movement comes amid continued public anger at Turkey’s policy of supporting the rebels in Syria, which many Turks feel has led to a violent spillover inside Turkey, including recent car bombings in the southern city of Reyhanli, which killed dozens of people."

Qardawi: do you notice that insults to non-Jews by Muslim clerics go unnoticed by Western media?

Qardawi has been consistently insulting `Alawites, qua `Alawites, and there is no attention to that in the Western press.  It is clear, from reading Western media and Western human rights organizations report, that `Alawites don't amount to human beings.  Qardawi the other day said that "Alawites are more infidel than Jews".   (thanks Ahmad)

I sincerely call on the Syrian armed opposition (and its echo chambers in the New York Times) to improve the quality of their lies

"Hundreds of wounded civilians have been reported to be trapped in the town, which has been under intensifying assault by Syrian government troops and their Hezbollah allies. On Friday, the interim leader of the Syrian Coalition, the main umbrella opposition group, said about 1,000 insurgent reinforcements had broken through military lines and joined their colleagues in Qusayr."   So let me get this straight: the siege of Qusayr is so tight that civilians are trapped in, but the armed opposition smuggled 1000 fighters inside?  Why not allow the trapped civilians leave through the route used by the smuggled fighters? I mean, are we idiots?

Syrian "revolution": the most unpopular revolution there is

It is now the season to read in the Western press how Nasrallah has lost all of his support because he is going against the Syrian "revolution" which is assumed to be loved and supported by all Arab Sunnis.  I read that now daily in the Western press.  Have you seen the latest Pew poll about Arab attitudes towards Syria? They seem to hold views closer to mine: they are disgusted by both sides Syria.  I have been making the point for two years: that the best sign is that there are no demonstrations in support for the "revolution" in any Arab capital.  There were calls for demonstrations, and usually a small numbers of salafis (and a handful of Trotskyists) show up.  Yesterday, was supposed to be a day of solidarity with the "revolution".  Let me report. There was not one demonstration that I saw reported on, even in the Arabic press.

The Syrian reagime means business, this time

 I am not making this up.  This is the front page of As-Safir from 1986, when Israeli terrorists hijacked a Syrian civilian plane carrying Syrian and Arab officials because Mossad idiots assumed that George Habash was on the plane.  Syrian officials, Abdul-Halim Khaddam and Hikman Shihabi, threatened that Syria would "choose to respond to the crime in the right place and time".  Kid you not.  And I have been waiting since 1986 for that response.

It seems that your esteemed Fee Syrian Army chief, Idriss, is about to flee the scene

The esteemed general has had it.

US Ambassador in Lebanon

Pro-Syrian Lebanese politician was on TV the other day.  He mocked the US ambassador in Lebanon about her weight and about her single status.  Of all the policies and wars of the US, you could only focus on the weight of the ambassador?  Typical sexist.  I remember when I first heard James Zogby speak in Washington, DC when I arrived into the US: he spent most of his speech mocking the face and appearance of Golda Meir.  I was thinking: this is a woman who casually ordered the bombing of refugee camps and assassinations of civilians, and this buffoon could only mock her face?  I guess men are always perfect looking. 

Friends of Syria--Iran version

I noticed that whenever the US organizes a "Friends of Syria" conference, Western media rush to report.  I have not seen one Western media reference to a similar "Friend of Syria" conference held in Iran and was attended by representatives of 40 countries.  Of course, I think that both hosts (US and Iran) are not friends of the Syrian people and are pursuing their naked regime interests.

Wester media and human rights propaganda

Regarding Qusayr: can you cool the propaganda a bit? I mean, it is way too obvious now. 

Free Turkish Army

Will Obama consider arming the Free Turkish Army or will he stick to providing non-lethal non-military aid and non-lethal military aid?

Turkey in Arab media

There is a kind of a split: Arab (read Qatari and Saudi) media are embarrassed by the events in Turkey.  They don't know how to handle them, awaiting more specific orders from the ruler.  But in Arab social media: there is a field day.  There are so many jokes going on about the irony of the demonstrations in Turkey. 

Erdogan

Turkish opposition has called on Erdogan to surrender power to Faruq Ash-Shar`.

Hizbullah in Qusayr

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar:  "Hizbullah in Qusayr".

Let the propagnada on Qusayr begin (II)

A well-known correspondent for a Western newspaper in the Middle East sent me this: (she/he does not want to be cited):  "FYI spoke to people with info re Qusair yesterday they said most civilians left, those left behind few hundred at most relatives of armed people, women who cook for them etc. true about 600-700 injured but nearly all fighters.   Civilians including wives and children of some fighters had been evacuated long ago, rebels knew offensive was coming and wouldn't keep them inside.  Each advance they made into the town, there were no civilians in houses or streets or neighbourhoods they took over from rebels, so on this basis they assume and conclude there are no civis left.  Note both al-jazeera activist/citizen journo adballah whatever his name is was going on jazeera saying 40,000 civilians inside will be massacred.  Gen Idriss on BBC also wailed 50,000 civilians inside qusair will be knived by Hezbollah, but no one challenged him about the fact that Qusair's etire population is between 30-40ks at most and we know for a fact that majoiryt left before the offensive and during the last year when rebels took hold of the town and several thousands about 5,000 in total left town at start of offensvie (as reported by UN organisation yesterday who visited these displaced families nearby) so how can there be 40 and 50 ks inside as per opposition claims?
BBC instead quoted the figure in its online report.!"

Let the propaganda on Qusayr begin (I)

I knew that this would happen.  When Qusayr is about to fall in the hands of Syrian regime and Hizbullah forces, the propaganda of the other side would intensify.  I knew that it was a matter of time because they start talking about massacre of women and children: or about how Hizbullah is dropping nuclear bombs on the city around the clock.  Notice that the Fee Syrian Army, and its echo chambers in the Western press AND Western human rights organizations, talk about Qusayr as if Syrian forces and Hizbullah forces are facing only civilians: that there are no fighters from Syria and from around the world in the city.  Look what Nadim Houry (the director of Human Rights Watch in Beirut, who has been serving as a lynchpin of March 14 propaganda in Lebanon for years but has become more enthusiastic as of late), tweeted in his propaganda about how the civilians of Qusayr are under siege.  "on Qusayr is not ICRC but activists/medical relief workers on the ground."  I loved his term "activists/medica relief workers" on the ground. What is the nature of activism in Qusayr? Are there workshops being held? Are there demonstrations being organized? Are there meetings being held by civil organizations?  I suggested to him to invent a better term: how about activists/bomb makers/medical relief workers/pacifists/Jihadis/democrats/Bin Ladenites.  That would be more apt. The purpose of the high pitch propaganda is clear: the fighters in Qusayr need to be rescued.  They want a safe passage for the fighters.  And in the name of "safe passage for the civilians", they are trying their best to help those armed gangs in Qusayr.  I mean, who are you kidding?