Somebody told me about an amusing (but vulgar) fight on AlJazeera TV between Michel Mu`awwad and Wi'am Wahhab. Does anybody have a link? (Please email it to me).

Lebanese newspapers are reporting that Hasan Nasrallah will be meeting soon with Sa`d Hariri. Don't be surprised if the sectarian Sunni, Shi`ite, and Druze political forces come together again in the next parliamentary election, they way they did back in the last election. This is Lebanon.

"Rappelons que la première attaque d’envergure de l’armée israélienne contre le Liban a eu lieu en 1968. Dix ans après, elle a occupé une large partie du sud du Liban de façon permanente. En 1982, son armée a occupé une bonne moitié du Liban, dont la capitale Beyrouth (environ 20 000 victimes au cours de la période de juin à septembre 1982)." (In fact, Israeli attacks on Lebanon began much earlier). (thanks Ziyad)

Norman: You are under no obligation to tell anything to Israeli interrogators and torturers, and your ban would not change by asserting your support for the "two-state solution". Do you know how many Palestinian supporters of the two-state (it should be called a state and 1/5th of a state, not two-states) have been killed by Israeli occupation troops? "I did my best to provide absolutely candid and comprehensive answers to all the questions put to me. I am confident that I have nothing to hide. Apart from my political views, and the supporting scholarship, there isn't much more to say for myself: alas, no suicide missions or secret rendezvous with terrorist organizations. I've always supported a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. I'm not an enemy of Israel."" (thanks Nader)

"في عام 1994 كان عثمان العمير على موعد مع اطلاق شركة انتاج تلفزيوني مع عبد الرحمن الراشد وسميت بالاحرف الاولى من اسمي الرجلين ORTV وقد قدمت العديد من الافلام الوثائقية حول المواضيع العسكرية والسياسية والاجتماعية، وابرز ما قدمته في هذا المجال فيلمًا عن الملك عبد الله."

Justice is served, again: "The Marine Corps will not bring criminal charges against two officers in command of a unit involved in the shooting deaths of as many as 19 civilians in northeastern Afghanistan last year after a car bomb struck the marines’ convoy, it was announced Friday. In the episode, on March 4, 2007, several marines opened fire with automatic weapons after a suicide car bomb exploded and wounded one marine. Human rights groups said that up to 19 unarmed civilians were killed and 50 people were wounded along a six-mile stretch of road near Jalalabad, as the convoy fired automatic weapons along the route back to its base. A statement released Friday said Lt. Gen. Samuel T. Helland, commander of Marine forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan, had determined that the officers in command and the troops in the convoy “acted appropriately and in accordance with the rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures in place at the time in response to a complex attack.”"

""That's not to say they're just smut peddlers insult-wise. Some of the most disrespectful things you can say are 100 percent penis-free like "Surmayye a'raasac" (A shoe is on your head). The foot is considered the most filthy part of the body, courtesy of their deserts not having any shortages on dirt. To direct your foot at someone verbally or physically means you aren't hiding your contempt, as vividly demonstrated by the thousands of Nike treads upside Saddam's bronze dome (right)."" (thanks Ali)

I did not know that J.C. Hurewitz was still alive until I read his obituary in the New York Times. I never met him, but I read him although he was mostly retired when I came to the US. What struck me most about this obituary is that it presented a man that I could not recognize from his writings. He was presented in the NYT as non-partisan and non-biased. Well, yes: if Ben Gurion was not biased on the Arab-Israeli conflict, than Hurewitz was not either. You may go back to his PhD dissertation published in 1950 as The Struggle for Palestine. Well, first: his conclusions are now largely discredited, from a historical point of view. Hurewitz went out of his way to refute claims of Zionist plans for the expulsion of Palestinians. And then go to his later book: Middle East Politics: the Middle East Dimension. I will leave aside the controversy about the book as reportedly raised by his graduate students at the time, but you will find that Hurewitz did not find one Israeli act of aggression or war that he did not justify, including the 1956 tripartite invasion of Egypt. He even used term "preemptive" strike to refer to Israeli attack on Egypt in 1956 (p. 363). You look back to that era of Middle East expertise and you realize: 1) language skills were more stressed in Middle East training then; 2) that all the Middle East departments at US universities were dominated by ardent (or quiet) Zionists at the time; 3) that pro-Palestinian voices were shut out of the academe with the exception of some conservative American oil advocates; 4) Middle East studies did not suffer from what it suffers now: namely, the invasion of non-specialists whose only qualifications on the Middle East is their fanatic support for gun Zionism, and their hostility to Islam. I now live at a time when Paul Berman is not hesitant to comment on Sayyid Qutb (or Qooooootb, as he pronounces it).

I don't like flags, and I don't like nationalisms, but for Palestine and the Palestinians anything and everything. (A group of Syrian and Palestinian activists in Damascus are showing the largest flag). (AFP)

"A masters student at the University of Nottingham who was arrested under the Terrorism Act under suspicion of possessing extremist material was studying terrorism for his dissertation, Times Higher Education can reveal. Academics and students have expressed concerns about the police’s handling of the case, which saw police searching campus property. Rizwaan Sabir, a 22-year-old who was studying in the politics department, was arrested along with a 30-year-old member of staff. Both were released without charge on 20 May after having been held in custody for six days." (thanks Laleh)

Two Lebanese walk on...Mars. "Zeidan and Kaddoura dedicated their achievement to MP Bahia Hariri and the memory of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri." (Yesterday, I dedicated a potato to Rafiq Hariri, after I ate it). (thanks Manar)

Walid Jumblat: then and now. (thanks Hicham)

My article in Al-Akhbar: "Urgent: from a former leftist to another former leftist"

Comrade Iskandar criticizes Doha agreement.

The biggest loser in the recent changes in Lebanon is certainly Wi'am Wahhab--the pro-Syrian politician. I don't have time to elaborate. But the traditional feudal lords of the Druze, the Jumblats and the Arsalans decided to agree in moment of communal challenge. Arsalan greatly enhanced his standing although I still think that Jumblat has the support of probably 90% or more of the Druze community.

I always tell you: Robert Fisk can't be read or trusted on Lebanon. "Let us remember here that the SSNP still wants an Arab nation which includes "Palestine", and Cyprus." How could any one writing on Lebanon not know that the Syrian Social National Party believes in...SYRIAN and not Arab nationalism? I mean, really. Just ask your driver, Abed, about what SSNP refers to, OK?

"Don't judge me because I've got a funny name...If you get one of these e-mails that says I'm a Muslim: not true," he told the crowd.""

I am told that Walid Jumblat, when he visited mountain villages and towns before departing for Doha, Qatar, had to ask permission from Hizbullah.

Many of the National Inquirer-like headlines in Israeli newspapers have been recently based on Saudi newspapers, or on the newspaper of Kuwaiti propagandist, Ahmad Al-Jarallah (one of the early Arab advocates of Anwar Sadat (he later became an advocate of Saddam Husayn, and was also an advocate of Bashshar Al-Asad and then they had a feud). Take this headline in Haaretz: "Iran reportedly irate over Israel-Syria peace talks." When I read this headline, I said to myself: I wonder how they know, only to learn that it was based on the account of the mouthpiece of Prince Salman, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat. And Saudi media are as reliable on the inner working of the Syrian or Iranian regimes, as Fox News is on the inner working of the Obama campaign. Also, as if the Iranian regime would not, under certain conditions, deal or negotiate with Israel. We remember Iran-Contra.

Zionism's flirtation (and alliance) with anti-Semitism. I was thinking about the item below about Rev. Hagee's anti-Semitic, pro-Zionist past (and present). As you know there is a long history of Zionist embrace or flirtation with anti-Semitism. I was just reading in the new book (new collection, really), The Jewish Writings by Hannah Arendt. Read her article on Herzl and his Der Judenstaat (which begins on p. 375). As you may know, Herzl made appeals to "honest anti-Semites" to make small donations to help found a Zionist state. Arendt wrote that Herzl believed that "anti-Semites would be the Jews' best friends and anti-Semitic governments their best allies."(p. 376) (Arendt also commented that "Palestinian reality has turned out to be almost the opposite of what Herzl dreamed."(p. 375)

"Asad Abu Khalil, professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, and author of The Angry Arab blog, spoke about new dangers in the Arab world, including how Zionism has won allies among nearly all Arab regimes. "After 60 years, we should be aware how Zionism has its tentacles throughout Arab media and government," said Abu Khalil. He said the battle against Zionism could only succeed if launched against Arab regimes in their alliance with the US."

"Despite his call for the U.S. to win the "hearts and minds of the Islamic world," Sen. John McCain recruited the support of an evangelical minister who describes Islam as "anti-Christ" and Mohammed as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil.""

"An American helicopter strike killed eight civilians, including two children, during an assault near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji, the Iraqi police said Thursday. The American military confirmed that two children were among the people killed Wednesday night during an operation against “known terrorists” working with the Sunni insurgent group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia."

Prince Bandar bin Bribe: "BAE in the News" (thanks FLC)

Anti-Semites for Israel: "His prominence is partly explained by his activism on behalf of Israel. Mr. Hagee has given about $30 million to Israeli causes."

"And the American academic Norman Finkelstein has been arrested and ordered deported from Israel. Finkelstein arrived in Tel Aviv earlier today on his way to the Occupied Territories. He was immediately detained and told he is banned from Israel for ten years. He’s expected to be deported tomorrow. Finkelstein is known one of the most prominent academic critics of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza." (thanks Marcy)

Minister of Ping Pong, Ahmad Fatfat, having...tea. (thanks F)

"Tony Blair came within moments of being killed when two Israeli fighter aircraft threatened to shoot down a private jet taking him to a Middle East conference in the belief that it might have been staging a terrorist attack." Such a scary story. Imagine if something were to happen to him. We would all be sad, very very sad. (thanks Sellam)

Doha Shams on Al-Arabiya TV. Fair and balanced...in Arabic.

I believe this like I believe that Sistani plays chess: "Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops is permissible — a potentially significant shift by a key supporter of the Washington-backed government in Baghdad."

"Even before I fully understood the history of the Jewish people, the Zionist movement was something I connected to," Obama said in the ballroom of the B'Nai Torah Congregation, west of Boca Raton." (thanks Mick)

This proves my theory: Christian Zionism is largely motivated by anti-Semitism in its support for Israel, but Israel forgives anti-Semites (like Sadat or Abu Mazen or Hagee) as long as they support Israeli wars and occupation.
PS Do you notice that the media ignores the anti-Muslim bigotry of Hagee?

"Lebanese Canadian lost interest in sex due to flies in water" (thanks Hassen)

"Human Rights Watch has called on Saudi judges to overturn a decision to drop charges against a Saudi couple accused of severely abusing an Indonesian maid." (thanks anonymous)

Peace through...cluster bombs. Somebody can write a PhD dissertation on this: as a policy and as discourse. "A proposed global ban on cluster bombs could jeopardize U.S. participation in joint peacekeeping and disaster relief operations around the world, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday."

Comrade Pierre on the Lebanese intellectual.

Very unusually blunt language from Salim Al-Huss on Hariri money.

I am told that Mubarak's stooge, `Amr Musa, is furious at the marginalization of his role in Qatar. He was furious that the Qatari prime minister did not assign him a leading role in any of the affairs of the Lebanese meetings. Musa did not hesitate to express his displeasure to journalists.

This is an excellent file on the background of the Hawthi rebellion in Yemen, and its background--beyond the slogans of the movement.

Look who is back: "Clinton Bailey is a former adviser on Shiite affairs in Israel's Ministry of Defense." But Mr. expert on Shi`ite affairs was the one who provided advice to the Israeli army during its long years of occupation of South Lebanon. And how did that occupation go, may I ask? And this original idea of his: he does not think that Hariri INC tried for 3 years to do that but that Birri knows that public opinion is against a rift with Hizbullah? Also, does he not know that Amal is armed already? Israeli Orientalists: they never cease to amaze you. Which book tells the story about Bailey, who presents himself as an expert on "bedouins" too, and who gets lost in the desert while trying to find his bedouins? Also, does Israel's Ministry of Offense have experts on Sunni and Druze affairs? What a state. (thanks Nir)

Sometimes I don't know what I hate more: when Lebanese leaders disagree or when they agree.

"Now the half-Kenyan-by-way-of-Hawaii candidate, who only recently completed a beer-and-bowling tour to impress blue-collar Midwesterners, has committed more fully to showing off his inner Jew. He recently made a surprise speech at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, and, in the interview with Mr. Goldberg, he told stories about a long-lost Jewish summer camp counselor who taught him about Israel and recalled reading Leon Uris and Philip Roth, arguably opposite poles of American-Jewish fiction." (thaks Ali)

Let the Lebanese people enjoy the festival of self-deception now. Let them claim falsely that all their conflicts have ended, and that the threat of civil war has been eliminated once and for all.

I have received many emails regarding the closure of the comments' section. Only two were opposed the rest were congratulatory. Congratulation Angry Arab: may your days be filled with honey and tiramissu.

I have received many emails regarding the closure of the comments' section. Only two were opposed the rest were congratulatory. Congratulation Angry Arab: may your days be filled with honey and tiramissu.