"Satloff is welcome to disagree with the analysis, but manufacturing a quote to make one's point has no place in a reasoned and scholarly discussion."

To Arab and Muslim supporters of Obama: he does not want your support. He has made that clear. Please leave him alone.

U.S. and Shi`ite Politics in Lebanon. So you all must have heard about this incident with the U.S. embassy delegation in South Lebanon. Several remarks: notice that all Western news accounts referred to the protesters as "Hizbullah supporters". How did they know that? Did they interview them one-by-one? I saw the footage on Lebanese media and none referred to them as "Hizbullah supporters". The purpose behind the identification of the crowd as "Hizbullah supporters" is: 1) to delegitimize the protesters in Western eyes; 2) to pretend that protest against U.S. policies is confined to Hamas and Hizbullah in the Middle East region; 3) and to promote a distinction between the people of South Lebanon and Hizbullah when public opinion surveys and elections indicate that Amal-Hizbullah (and Amal is the very junior partner here) command the support of at least 95% of Shi`ites in Lebanon--whether you like it or not. The other thing that got my attention was this: U.S. efforts at promoting and cultivating Shi`ites alternatives to Hizbullah are rather comical. This is like the hosting of Ahmad Al-As`ad (representative of what remained of Al-As`ad feudal family, and who 25 years ago complained to me that his father (former speaker, Kamil Al-As`ad) spoiled his education because he never would make up his mind whether his son would become a "za`im" or not--the father and son are now on non-speaking terms) by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (which holds views to the right of Meir Kahane). But what was amusing is that Ms. Sison was visiting this `Abdullah Bitar (who belongs to Ahmad Al-As`ad's group which has a support among Shi`ites equals to much less than the margin of error of every poll on the subject), who after the flight of the delegation from his house earlier today made a statement to the LBC-TV. He said that he only meets with the Americans to pressure them to pressure "the Israeli enemy." It was not reported whether he chanted to the crowd that song by Sha`ban `Abdur-Rahim titled "I hate Israel." You read this story and learn of the brilliance of U.S. Middle East policy what you knew not before.

"For the most extensive medical study of former US detainees published so far, Physicians for Human Rights had doctors and mental health professionals examine 11 former prisoners. The group alleges finding evidence of US torture and war crimes and accuses US military health professionals of allowing the abuse of detainees, denying them medical care and providing confidential medical information to interrogators that they then exploited."

"The U.S. military hid the locations of suspected terrorist detainees and concealed harsh treatment to avoid the scrutiny of the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to documents that a Senate committee released Tuesday." (thanks Sellam)

In praise of the Saudi King in...The Independent.

"Zimbabwe's voters told: choose Mugabe or you face a bullet." Saudi voters told: You don't exist.

"special activities — Activities conducted in support of national foreign policy objectives that
are planned and executed so that the role of the US Government is not apparent or acknowledged publicly. They are also functions in support of such activities but are not intended to influence US political processes, public opinion, policies, or media and do not include diplomatic activities or the collection and production of intelligence or related support functions. (JP 3-05)"

Nader wrote: "All parts of Joseph Massad's review article that refer to Gannit Ankori's
book _Palestinian Art_ have now been deleted from online versions of the
Fall 2007 issue of Art Journal: The College Art Association, as publisher of the journal, has written to all libraries that subscribe to Art Journal, asking them to remove the parts of Joseph Massad's review article that refer to Ankori's book. However, at least for now, an uncensored version of the review sems to be still available on the Birzeit University website." (thanks Nader)

"Anthropologists have been especially outspoken about the Pentagon’s Human Terrain Teams, a two-year-old program that pairs anthropologists and other social scientists with combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in which Mr. Bhatia was participating at the time of his death."

The lousy and clownish secretary-general of the obsolete Arab League, Amr Mousa, said yesterday that "we shall not remain silent vis-a-vis the expansion of Israeli settlements." Oh, you will remain silent. Go fetch a glass of water for Prince Saud Al-Faysal.

Adam Sandler on the Arab-Israeli Conflict. I saw the movie Zohan, and although it is a silly and stupid movie (and sometimes I enjoy silly and stupid movies) I was rather surprised that I found it to be the least offensive mainstream movie that deals with Middle East issues and with Arabs. It really tries to strike a balance toward both sides, regardless whether it succeeds or not--it does not, in fact. It is not funny, although I enjoyed the Hummus jokes. But do you notice that the Hummus in the movie did not look like Hummus at all, and they never poured olive oil over it? The movie basically promoted the notion that both sides are stupid and that they should stop the hate. It certainly made fun of both sides but it was not similar or balanced: Israelis were ridiculed for having a bad taste in music (that really offended the New York Times reviewer--how dare any movie say anything negative about Israel and Israelis) and for being typically involved in electronics stores. And Arabs were instead mocked for being too obsessed with hate and with violence. The movie also referred to Israeli violence as "counter-terrorism" and Arab violence was referred to as "terrorism". Israelis were also ridiculed for being over-sexed, which usually is a charge applied to "inferior peoples" in Western literature. Furthermore, the preachment at the end by the main female lead (who played the Palestinian) was typical Israeli propaganda of the left: the notion of "let-us-stop-the-wars-and-hate" is all too convenient a message for Israeli occupation because the balance of forces is to their favor. I am sure that the Palestinians would not have any problem in delivering a message of "let-us-end-the-wars" AFTER the liberation of Palestine and the return of all the refugees. But having said all that, I still think that it was least offensive mainstream movie regarding Arabs--and I can't say that about mainstream movies in the U.S. (possibly with the exception of Syriana which was so painfully boring). But still: Zohan tried more to be balanced--although it failed--than any other movie, and some small credit should be given to it in that regard. And the movie did address the issue of prejudice against peoples in the Middle East. Finally, the movie also promoted the false view that Arabs and Israelis have been fighting for "thousands of years."
PS The movie contained a reference to that link between shoes and insults in Arab culture.

"Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate." (thanks Emily)

"From this perspective it's not surprising that a focus should be placed on Israel and the Palestinian plight. After all, the UN has a special responsibility for Palestine that goes back to its effort to partition the mandate for the territory in 1947. From the UN perspective this unconsummated effort to address the future of both Palestinians and Israelis is, in a sense, the greatest unresolved issue on the UN agenda. Beyond this, the prolonged Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is unprecedented in international experience and has produced immense Palestinian suffering. It should also be noted that the HRC has appointed special rapporteurs for other situations of severe human rights concern, including North Korea and Myanmar." (thanks Linda)

"Former Guantánamo detainees told McClatchy Newspapers that U.S. soldiers and interrogators mistreated the Quran in detention facilities at Bagram Air Base, Kandahar Airfield and Guantánamo. Former detainees interviewed in Jordan, Russia, Kuwait, Pakistan and Afghanistan said that from late 2001 to early 2002, soldiers at Kandahar dropped Qurans into buckets used as latrines."

"The Beer Sheba Magistrate's Court sent the two settlers suspected of assaulting Palestinians in the West Bank a week ago to a three-day house arrest."

"THE GOVERNOR of Paktika has lashed out at coalition forces who he blames for the killing of innocent civilians in his province during an intense air assault on Taliban positions. Governor Akram Khupulwak said the US-led coalition had failed to warn him of the attacks, which he said killed many civilians."

"Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been ordered by commanding officers "to ignore" incidents of sexual assault among the civilian population, says a military chaplain who counsels troops returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder." (thanks Olivia)

"At a news conference, she praised Israeli women for their natural quality, love of fashion and for being comfortable in their own skins. Davis said she was not nearly as naive or conservative as her fictional character." (thanks Brian)

"Now several non-governmental organizations have formally celebrated tabbouleh in an attempt to bring Lebanese together through this unifying dish: The Garden Show and Spring Festival concluded on June 14 with Tabbouleh Btijmaana (Tabbouleh Unites US) festivities." (thanks Laurie)

Did you see A.Q. Khan on Al-Arabiya TV yesterday? So he was invited to speak by phone. The Saudi station wanted to ask him about reports regarding his assistance to Iran's nuclear weapons program. So he would answer by saying that there are many reports, including in the Washington Post, that have linked to him to several Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia. He mentioned Saudi Arabia twice, and the anchorperson (former anchorperson at Hariri TV) was so clearly frustrated at the mere mention of Saudi Arabia. She had to bluntly explain: we invited you to speak about reports regarding Iran.

Republican Party antics. (thanks Laleh)

These are Lebanese Ministers (and they include a minister from the so-called opposition--opposition my potato) holding copies of a new book by Hariri TV anchorperson (to the left) in praise of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi ambassador is in the middle. (thanks F.)

Now we know where Thomas Friedman gets his information on the Middle East from. Apparently, he seeks wisdom from the editor of the mouthpiece of Prince Salman--I kid you not.

In a newspaper owned by Dubai ruling dynasty, this dude writes this: "governments unwilling to accept the fact the age of controlling the flow of information is over." (thanks David)

Lebanon has been bragging all week that the first "Facebook" cafe has just opened in Beirut. Headlines stress that it is the first one in the world. Of course. How silly is that? Basically, the walls of the cafe are painted blue. That is supposed to be true to the Facebook theme. Lebanon needs to grow up, but it never will. Maybe if they free their Sri Lankan maids they will get more time to think.

"In the meantime, Israel and resistance factions have maintained a de facto tahdi’a or “calming.” Yet this is a somewhat deceptive term. Over 100 more Palestinians, including over 20 children and almost 30 other civilians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since early March. Hundreds of others have been injured, arrested or kidnapped by Israeli forces. In the first six months of 2008, Israeli forces killed almost 400 Palestinians, equaling the total death toll for 2007.^{13" (thanks Electronic Ali)}

"Hezbollah’s much anticipated Economic Plan may reshape the Middle East and the populations of Egypt, Jordan, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may demand a local version of the same." Franklin Lamb should slow down. What Economic Plan? And who is anticipating it? Nobody is. Hizbullah's economic plan is the same as the Hariri plan provided the government allows party to preserve its weapons. Hizbullah did not oppose the privatization and shock capitalism of Hariri. (thanks Linda)

"But their arrival comes with controversy. American acquisition of the documents has been attacked by Iraq's national archivist, who demands that the collection be repatriated back to Baghdad. Saad Eskander, the director general of the Iraq National Library and Archive, argues that the records are Iraq's public property — and belong there. However, others worry that Baghdad — which suffers daily violence — is too risky to house the records. They fear they may be stolen — or used by political opponents for retaliation.""

"For your information: we spoke Arabic at home. Edward knew not only the Mashriqi dialect of Lebanon, Palestine and Syria, but also the Egyptian dialect, and he could easily flip from one to the other. He read the language with ease and was an avid reader of Arabic poetry. He lectured in Arabic, conducted interviews with the media in Arabic, and read the Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat daily. He could write in Arabic, although he had not been trained to do so, and had greater fluency writing in English. His friends, colleagues and students knew his mastery of many languages. He was a stickler when it came to understanding the meanings and uses of words. I would like to point out to your readers an essay written by Edward in Raritan, V21, No 4, entitled “Living in Arabic”. This essay should end all speculation.
Perhaps it hasn’t occurred to Irwin that “Said still dominates the debate thirty years on” because he articulated something profound and substantial that opened the field to greatly needed debate. MARIAM C. SAID".
I can add to this, that Edward made a point to deepen his knowledge of Arabic in the early 70s when he took private lessons (for a year, I think) from one of the well-known professors of Arabic at AUB (I forgot which one. Was it not Maqdisi?). I felt that he had tremendous appreciation for the Arabic language, and made a point to speak it among Arabs. He once complained about an Arab student--a Lebanese, unsurprisingly--at Columbia because Edward said that he would greet him in Arabic, and the other would respond in English. (thanks Amer)

For those who doubt the greatness of Lebanon (and this is sponsored by the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism). (thanks Toufic)

""Last year, 2007, was a record year for blogger arrests, with three times as many as in 2006. Egypt, Iran and China are the most dangerous places to blog about political life, accounting for more than half of all arrests since blogging became big," said Assistant Professor Phil Howard, lead author of the World Information Access Report. Howard also suggests that the real number of arrests may be much higher, as not every arrest makes it into the media." (thanks Olivia)

"U.S. professor Richard Falk, barred from Israel after remarks comparing its forces' actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis in wartime Europe, put his proposal to a session of the UN's 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC)." (thanks Sellam)

He may get the Nobel Prize for Peace for this: "He questions whether Islam is even capable of adapting to a post-modern world in the way that Christianity and Judaism have done." (thanks Karim)

"I asked him what it was that finally triggered his split with Ayatollah Khomeini, just a few months before the latter's death in 1988. He said one day one of his associates, a cleric, came to him in panic saying his 13-year-old daughter was in danger of execution on suspicion of supporting an opposition group. Ayatollah Montazeri said he did his best to prevent the execution but to no avail." (thanks Nabeel)

Pearls of Wisdom from Condoleezza Rice: "“Obviously, in any compromise, there are compromises,” she said."

I am bracing myself. For months until the elections in November, I will have to endure all this self-congratulations in America about "how far we have come" on race issues. The media constantly congratulations the country because a woman almost became a candidate, when female leaders are now common in most regions of the world (except the Arab world and U.S.)--the Persians had a female leader in the 7th century.

"The use of Arabic, Azeri, Balochi and Kurdish languages in schools and publications has been strictly prohibited even in their own regions. No cultural institutions or activities are tolerated among the non-Persians nationalities. Only Persian history is taught as “Iranian” history, never the history of other national groups." (thanks Yafa)

When you read An-Nahar newspaper you read such precious items: "A Western intelligence report has warned against the "return of organized terrorist attacks" to Lebanon...." (thanks Nir)

I am not making this up. According to An-Nahar (the right-wing, sectarian Christian, anti-Palestinian (people), anti-Syrian (people) ) newspaper, there was somebody who did a "professional MA"--whatever that is--at Hummus University in Beirut and that she found that An-Nahar is "the most objective" and "most logical" of all media in Lebanon. Apparently, the degree of objectivity was measured by the extent to which the newspaper drips Hummus after being submerged in...Baba Ghannuj.

I was unfair yesterday when I mocked Hassan Fattah's newspaper (on behalf of Dubai's ruling dynasty). I said that he did not cover a teachers' sit-in, but look at investigative journalism at its best: "Dubai tackles drug shipments."

Flash. Another Success for the Bush Doctrine. "Egyptian security forces detained a schoolboy for several hours after he wrote in an exam that President Hosni Mubarak was a tyrant who ruled over cowards, an education official said on Monday."

"In the Arab world, shoe flinging is a gesture of extreme disrespect. A notable occurrence of this gesture happened in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. When U.S. forces pulled down a giant statue of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 invasion of Iraq , many Iraqi detractors of Hussein threw their shoes at the fallen statue.This may be an ancient gesture from the Middle East; Psalms 60:10, speaking of some of the traditional enemies of Judah, says that "Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe....""" I can vouch for this one. I have lived for 24 years, and am still astonished that shoe flinging is seen as an affectionate gesture in U.S. culture. I in fact engage in shoe flinging with my neighbors all the time, and we have a good laugh. (thanks anonymous)

Shoes and American culture: "“People take off their shoe, hand it to me and say, ‘Here, it’s for you,’ ” he told Joey Green, author of “The Get Smart Handbook.” “In restaurants they send over shoes. I’m so tired of it. I keep getting shoes. People in cars drive by me, recognize me, take off their shoe, hand it out the window and say, ‘Here, it’s for you.’ ”"

Yes, mini-Hariri: it is really adorable and cute how you put the picture of your dead father 3 years after his death on the couch next to you. It is really moving and it makes people cry every time. I don't know which P.R. firm told you to do that, but I suggest that you also add pictures of your dead grandfather and grandmother and put them on adjacent couches. This is really moving. I get goose bumps when I look at that picture. (Oh, and the man to the right is a very emotional man: he is none other than Iyad `Allawi--former puppet prime minister/embezzler-in-Yemen-car bomber/Saddam's henchman but he reportedly gave mini-Hariri some contracts in Iraq early on.)