Egypt versus Algeria: all for you, Jamal Mubarak

An Arab journalist in Cairo (who does not want to be identified) sent me this (I cite with his/her permission): " I was at that demonstration in Zamalek, Cairo. The protestors were chanting slogans along the lines of these two, the most common two by the way: "Algeria, get lost: you're the country of one million prostitutes" (ya gaza'ir imshi foot, ya balad millyun sharmout) "1,2,3 fuck Algerie" (1,2,3, qus umm Algerie) It was "respectable" because many of the protestors were rich kids with blackberrys. State tv would only carry images with no audio of the protest, while the anchor women called it "well mannered." One young woman in the protest, dressed fashionably, had a sign saying "get out" in English and in Arabic a call for the expulsion of "the ambassador and all Algerians" I have heard not one dissenting voice on the street toward these racist sentiments. I have been shocked to find most people, aside from a few leftists and Islamists, agree with them. The independent media--Shurouk and Al Masry Al youm--insist that the "barbaric Algerians"--and there is absolutely no distinguishing between people and government--faked the attack on the players' bus. They insist they treated the Algerians here with hospitality, although buses carrying Algerian fans were stoned after the match in Cairo and then hooligans fought with Algerians outside their hotel. 20 Algerians and 12 Egyptians were injured in that clash according to the health ministry. They insist that they are entirely innocent, that Egyptians are the most hospitable people in the world, that Umm el Dunya welcomes everyone to her bosom. This is the rhetoric flooding daily from government and independent media alike. At the same time, they insist that what happened in Sudan was a "bloodbath." Masry al Youm, like the government media, are bringing in psychiatrists to give quack analysis on why the Algerians "have mental problems" and why they are "viscious." I have had Egyptian colleauges and friends calling me to tell me that the Algerians are "a viscious people." They insist that the attacks by Algerian fans against Egyptians in Sudan, which according to the Egyptian health minister injured 21 people--"lightly", Hatem el-Gabali said--was an attack organised by the government. They compare the behavior of these hooligans with the "Egyptian character", as one psychiatrist did today in an interview with state television, which is "respectable" and "beautiful" and "creative." There is no difference between Shurouk and Masry al Yawm and state media in this regard. The liberals, too, are spouting racist invective. Egyptian actors lined up in the Cairo film festival to attack the Algerians, one artist emphasised: "I am against the Algerian government and I am against the Algerian people." And they're getting in the same trench with the government, the ones who actually did muster thugs carrying swords and machetes in 2005 to terrorize voters in the parliamentary election': the ones who brutally tortured a Hezbollah operative to elicit a confession and information on the workings of the group, which they then boastfully published in their Ahram mouthpiece; who annually kill about 10 Egyptians in prison by torture and who have done more than anyone--Israel or Algerian football fans--to chip away at each Egyptian's self respect and sense of dignity and promote the bakshish and ya basha culture."

Oil Sleaze

""My biggest one-off job was with three Arab businessmen at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi," she said. "It's a seven-star hotel and everything is decked out in gold leaf. They paid me £20,000 for one night with all of them. By morning I was exhausted. "Arab men are fascinated by Western women. We're almost like status symbols to them. I've met girls working in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain who've made a million out of escorting."" (thanks Ala`a)

Zionism-IS-Racism: make no mistake about it

"The Education Ministry has sent out a letter to religious boarding schools in Tel Aviv saying there have been reports of misbehavior by "Ethiopian born" students in the city's central bus station."

Dignity for Egypt?

Al-Masri Al-Yawm has joined the hooligans' campaign of the Egyptian regime. It is acting under the headline of "Dignity of the Egyptians". Dignity of the Egyptians? That was erased long time ago: ever since Sadat led the Egypt's humiliating defeat in the October War in 1973.

Israel's war crimes

"É possível que a próxima fase do conflito Israelo-Árabe se possa transferir do campo de batalha para organizações e tribunais internacionais. Em tal cenário, a superioridade militar Israelita é deveras obsoleta." (thanks Michel)

The Mubarak record

Comrade Hossam sums it up: "However, there were signs last night that a public backlash against the government's handling of the football storm was gaining strength. "Hosni Mubarak's thugs have beaten and killed more Egyptians than any hooligans," said Hossam el-Hamalawy, a journalist and opposition activist." (thanks Dina)

Terrorist cats

"The Israeli Prison Administration at the infamous Negev detention camp decided to banish and punish wild cats for befriending Palestinian political prisoners and providing them with light services." (thanks Olivia)

One more: Abu Mazen

Abu Mazen: ""I do not think that the Israelis have caused [division among Palestinians]". (thanks FLC)

...off to Boston, really

I need to get going NOW.

What is wrong with aggression, says the US

"A United States ambassador said Thursday that Washington was concerned about how aggression will be defined as an international crime." (thanks Sellam)

The dignified PA collaboration team

"For the first time in some three years, Israel arrested five senior Palestinian Authority officers Friday morning near Salfit in the West Bank. The defense establishment confirmed the number of Palestinian officers arrested, but did not reveal additional details about the circumstances of their arrest. According to the Palestinians, talks are being held between the PA and Israel in efforts to secure their release." (thanks Olivia)

PS I noticed that I have different pictures of Abu Mazen on my laptops. This is from my travel laptop.

Mo

"Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum tightened his family’s control of the emirate’s largest holding company, the Investment Corporation of Dubai. A decree posted Nov. 19 on Sheikh Mohammed’s Web site listed six members of a new board. It didn’t include Mohammad al-Gergawi, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem or Mohammed Ali Alabbar, three key business aides of the Dubai ruler who are currently named as directors on the investment body’s Web site. Al-Gergawi, Bin Sulayem and Alabbar were at the forefront of a debt-driven building boom in Dubai that collapsed after the onset of the global financial crisis last year. Dubai, the second-biggest of seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates, and its government-owned companies borrowed $80 billion to finance the emirate’s transformation into a financial and tourist hub before credit markets froze." (thanks Christopher)

Ethiopian maids in Lebanon

Ethiopian suicides. (thanks Yolanda)

"highly Political"

"Tension and heated debate circled yesterday as the Rutgers University Student Assembly discussed a motion to reconsider a vote recently passed by RUSA allowing the University Chapter of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to have the rights to the semi-annual meal sign-away program. Concerned University students and some RUSA members said that the PCRF, an international humanitarian group that provides Middle Eastern children affected by war with medical care, should not be allowed the right to the sign-away program because they are a highly political international group." (thanks Anthony)

This is Zionism: fans of bigotry

"Beitar Jerusalem captain Aviram Baruchyan met Thursday evening with fans belonging to the "La Familia" organization and apologized for saying that he would like to see an Arab play in the football team. The fans told him they were hurt by the remark he made about 10 days ago at an anti-violence conference." (thanks Uffe)

Meeting Ja`ja` (Ga`ga` in Egyptian accent)

An American journalist sent me this (I cite with his/her permission): "i had dinner with a former senior national security official last night who was on a recent trip to beirut where he met all the usual suspects. he said geagea was the smartest of the march 14 types and he was most interested in meeting him after reading all the state department cables years ago about geagea personally throwing franjiyeh's baby out the window, and when he met him he couldnt take his eyes off of geagea's hands which were big football player hands he said but he said the state dept knew all about geagea's crimes. i cant believe geagea gets honored at congress despite that"

Palestinian Children in Lebanon

"Palestinian children in the camps of Lebanon are losing faith in the value of an education, with record numbers leaving school to work. “We are facing a big problem here,” said Ray Virgilio Torres, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Lebanon. “There seems to be a growing number of children in the camps that do not think that a school education will profit them … education holds no promise." (thanks Suad)

Globalization of beauty standards

"Muwadda Nour of Saudi Arabia had barely lain hands on her faux-jewel encrusted crown when critics began sniping that at approximately 200 pounds, she "did not meet the required standards" of a beauty queen, according to the popular Arab entertainment site Wikeez. Delphine Edde, the publisher of Wikeez, confirmed to The Times that the site spoke with organizers and contestants at the event. Despite the controversy, Nour kept her crown, beating out 15 other young women between the ages of 18-24 from around the region." (thanks Laleh)

civilized

According according to this Egyptian government newspaper, the crowds near the Algerian Embassy in Cairo expressed themselves in a "civilized" manner. According to the same news item--kid you not--the civilized manner resulted in the injury of 11 officers, 24 soldiers and the destruction of 15 cars. (thanks Osama)

Humor of the Day

Muwaffaq Ar-Rubay`i, one of the worst puppets of the Bush administration in Baghdad said in Arabic: "Washington has to stop interfering in Iraqi political affairs." I kid you not. (thanks

Poor Karzai

"The Afghan government could fall within weeks if Nato pulled out troops now, David Miliband warned today as he urged British opponents of the war to give the fight to rebuild the country more time."

standard operating procedures

"The Canadian government was fending off calls for a public inquiry on torture today after allegations from one of its senior diplomats that Canada was complicit in the torture of Afghan detainees. Richard Colvin, who was second in command at Canada's Kabul embassy in 2006 and 2007, said that Afghans swept up in security sweeps by Canadian troops during that time were routinely handed over to the Afghan intelligence services. "According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured," Colvin told Canada's parliament. "For interrogators in Kandahar, it was standard operating procedure." (thanks Dina)

All that you have done to our people is registered in notebooks

"An official report, received by Arab League from the minister of prisoners' affairs in the Palestinian Authority (Ramallah), revealed that the Israeli occupation forces have kidnapped about 6,200 Palestinian children since the beginning of Al Aqsa Intifada (2000), including approximately 337 children still detained in Israeli prisons and interrogation centers." (thanks Mirvat)

Printed Media

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "Printed Media: Is it the Time to Eulogize it?"

Israeli-Saudi Honeymoon

Do you know that not a day passes without Al-Arabiyyah TV (the private station of King Fahd's brother-in-law) mentioning something, anything, about the Israeli occupation soldier who was captured in Gaza while on a killing spree?

Your friends and enemies

"Americans may not be known for being good at geography or history, but they do have very different opinions of different countries, including countries in or near to the Middle East. A large majority (74%) sees Israel as a close ally or friend, and a small majority (52%) feels this way about Egypt. More than two in five adults see Turkey (50%), Kuwait (49%), Jordan (45%), and Saudi Arabia (43%) as allies or friends. Only one country in the region is seen as unfriendly or as enemy by a majority; fully 70% of adults see Iran this way." (thanks Saeed)

Egypt versus Algeria

Aly, an Egyptian scientist, sent me this: "Are you aware of the magnitude of the problem now? Egyptian media claims Egyptians were attacked in Sudan by Algerian hooligans, while a couple of
days before, Algerian Newspapers (specifically the Algerian Shorouq) claimed that several Algerians were killed in Cairo, which did not happen. I can't speak for our fellow crazy comrades in Algeria, (though here is a little taste) but I can give you a quick update on Egypt. Yesterday, Anas El Feqqy (minister of information, إعلام) threatened on Amr Adib's show (the most provocative war-mongering feudal-loving reactionary person on Arab TV), after several Egyptians called from Sudan claiming to be under attack, to send Egyptian troops (I kid you not) to Sudan to protect the Egyptian citizens. Mubarak has ordered a meeting with the national security council to discuss possible unofficial retaliations against Algeria. The most surreal part of this is the response of Egyptians back home. They are royally offended, and want action against Algeria, that involves withdrawing investments (Egyptian capital is abundant as we all know) and all sorts of ridiculous things. But the amount of hate against other Arabs is crazy. Watch this for example: Egyptians have successfully redefined Egyptian nationalism around the
unfounded Masr Om El Donya, Palestinians being thieves that want to steal
Sinai, Sudanese smelling bad and thus deserving mass killing (مجزرة ميدان
مصطفي محمود في 31/12/2005) and the newly discovered fact that Al Maghreb Al Araby is just a bunch of barbar. I was wondering if I can get your help in selling my passport."

Absolutely transparency

Abu Mazen says that he rules with "absolutely transparency". (thanks Haroon)

Irony

"After his cross-examination got off to a stumble last week over the use of "new evidence," Charles Taylor today admitted to prosecutors that he shared information with the spy agency of the same country he has accused of plotting his downfall: the United States." (thanks Khaled)

Apartheid Israel

"In 1975, the General Assembly passed Resolution 3379 declaring, “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” Other organizations followed suit: The Conference of the International Women’s Year declared that international peace required the end of colonialism, occupation, apartheid and Zionism. The Organization of African Unity stated that South Africa, Rhodesia and Israel shared a common imperialist history. Israel found itself in a diplomatic bind similar to South Africa’s, though not as severe; just as the United States, Britain and France had blocked a move to expel South Africa from the UN entirely, so it was often the US veto alone that saved Israel from Security Council sanction. Resolution 3379 was revoked only in 1991, as a condition of Israel’s participation in the Madrid talks, and under pressure from Washington. The apartheid analogy resurfaced with renewed relevance in the mid-1990s, when white rule in South Africa had ended. The PLO had long since accepted the idea of two states rather than one secular state, and Arafat had become president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), a non-sovereign entity with administrative powers in Gaza and patches of the West Bank, but nothing close to independence. There were striking similarities between Area A, as the districts of PA administration were known under the Oslo agreements, and bantustans: The cantons were non-contiguous, separated from each other by Israeli settlements and military bases and ubiquitous checkpoints, and travel between them or into Israel was severely restricted. Israel began building a network of roads connecting settlements in the Occupied Territories to West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and “bypassing” Palestinian population centers. These measures were adopted even as the PA, Israel and their international sponsors spoke of a comprehensive peace leading to Palestinian statehood. In reality, as Leila Farsakh writes, the Oslo process “paved the way for the ‘bantustanization of the area.’”[2]" (thanks Marcy)

Chief collaborator offers lessons about resistance

""Those who have to resist are the people, and there are different types of resistance, like in (West Bank villages of) Bilin and Naalin, where people are injured every day," he said." (thanks David)

In the courtrooms of the Tunisian dictator

"One of the many defence lawyers, Mokhtar Trifi, noted the absence in court of witnesses for what he called a "stitched-up" case and demanded an expert examination of Ben Brik's alleged confession. Authorised to sit on health grounds, Ben Brik objected "that's not mine, that's a different signature," while the judge shouted for order in a noisy courtroom." (thanks Mud)

Mutran Mubarak

La Sagesse school in Beirut pays tribute to Bishop Mubarak--a sectarian bigot who testified before the UN commission dealing with the Palestinian question in 1947 in support of the Zionist movement. There was uproar in Lebanon about that at the time, and he was denounced by Maronite MPs. (thanks "Ibn Rushd")

...off to Boston

I am leaving tomorrow morning to Boston. I will be around MESA conference and I am speaking on Monday evening at Harvard Law School. Returning Tuesday.

Mr. Khalilzad: how should we handle a puppet?

""You have to show him respect and consideration," said Zalmay Khalilzad, a Bush administration envoy to Afghanistan who remains close to Karzai. "You cannot lecture him. You have to listen to his explanations, why he thinks something cannot be done, and then respond to that in a constructive way.""

Puppet Karzai dared to make a (small) deal of civilian casualties in Afghanistan

"Karzai's first indication that his relationship with the United States would undergo a profound shift occurred 10 days before Obama's inauguration. Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. had come to the palace for dinner, and halfway through the meal, he began taking his host to task for how he was responding to civilian casualties caused by U.S. and NATO military operations. Biden told Karzai that he was politicizing the issue and leveling "ill-founded" allegations in public, according to a previously undisclosed account of the dinner from a person who attended. Karzai argued back, and the discussion turned tense. "Biden got a little bit passionate about it," the participant said. "Karzai was taken aback, and he got a little bit passionate, too."

Universtiy of Massachusetts at Dartmouth

I am speaking here at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth on Dec. 9.

Anti-African racism in Lebanon

It is not that there is no racism in the West, or in the US, in particular. But the fake culture of PC talk, has made blatant sexist and racism speech unacceptable socially or legally in some instances. In Lebanon, there are no restraints. Samir Franjiyyah is considered part of the Left of the March 14 Movement, and he never ever mentions Lebanon without saying: we are not the Congo, or we are not like African tribes, etc. The same on the other side in March 8, of course. Don't expect less racism there. Just two weeks ago, `Awn Minister, Jubran Basil, said: we are not like the jungles of Africa. Yesterday, another `Awn minister, Fadi `Abbud, said on LBC-TV: we are not like the jungles of Africa. It seems this has become an official policy of the `Awn movement. And here, on the website of the `Awn movement, there is a news item about Gen. `Awn receiving the "Ambassador of Africa." The editor of the site thinks that Africa is one country. (The ambassador in question is an ambassador of South Africa). Quick: look at it before they change it back. They are sneaky like that in Lebanon, just as sneaky as they are in the New York Times when they change headlines and news articles without alerting the readers.

Testing. From phone.

I am not buying this story

And it ostensibly happened more than 300 miles off the Somali coast.

TR

"(“I am so angry with that infernal little Cuban republic that I would like to wipe its people off the face of the earth,” Roosevelt wrote in 1906)"...If racism is nothing new, Mr. Bradley’s readers may still be surprised at the xenophobic ugliness of the photos, letters, cartoons, lyrics and political speeches cited here. And if, for instance, American use of waterboarding against turn-of-the-century Filipino prisoners is not unknown (it was the subject of a New Yorker article last year), neither is it common knowledge. Nor, perhaps, are the lyrics to “The Water Cure,” a vintage United States Army marching song: “Shove in the nozzle deep and let him taste of liberty/Shouting the battle cry of freedom.” The toughest parts of this book re-reveal things we should already know."

Three workers die in Lebanon

Yesterday, three workers died in Lebanon. One Egyptian worker suffocated, and a Syrian worker "fell from a tree", and the dead body of an Egyptian worker was found in his room.

We have a new foreign policy brain

""I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don't think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand."" (thanks George)

Serving Israel AND Gulf dynasties

Mohamed sent me this: "Many of the featured individuals work/worked for many Arab Gulf States as consultants for sky high salaries."

King PlayStation Brags

"Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah on Monday met a delegation form the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) , and discussed the importance of overcoming obstacles hindering ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution within a comprehensive regional context." (thanks Marcy)