Champs Elysees in the Za`tari camp in Jordan? Colonial coinage

Only a colonialist mentality would come out with this insensitive attempt at humor.  Are you aware "the main road in Zaatari camp, also the market road has been officially named (Champs Elysees)"?  The picture and the information is from my secret source who does not wish to be identified.  She tells me that the name has likely been coined by none other than Kilian Kleinschmidt, who was profiled last Saturday in the New York Times.

Saudi King dead?

I don't know if the Saudi king is clinically or actually dead or not, but I know that I have a shovel ready at all times for Saudi princes and kings.  The official announcement of his death will come out of Tel Aviv this time.

Bien sûr

(...) la France est attachée à la stabilité du Liban et à ses relations avec toutes les communautés libanaises. Nous appelons toutes les parties libanaises à respecter les engagements souscrits dans la déclaration de Baabda du 15 juin 2012, qui visent à dissocier le Liban de la guerre en Syrie. En décidant d’intervenir massivement en Syrie, le Hezbollah rompt ce consensus. La guerre de Syrie n’est pas la guerre des Libanais. L’importer au Liban est dangereux pour sa stabilité, comme le montre la montée des tensions dans le pays. »
Bien sûr, le porte-parole n’évoque pas les autres ingérences en Syrie, notamment celles des partisans du mouvement du 14-Mars, dirigé par Saad Hariri."

Who starts the clashes in Tripoli?

Easy to determine decisively that the Salafites of Tripoli ALWAYS start the clashes with Jabal Muhsin. 1) Clashes always start when the Salafis are angry for one reason or another.  2) the first casualty is ALWAYS a `Alawite in Jabal Muhsin.  Always.

Who wants a civil war in Lebanon?

My latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English:  "Who Wants a civil war in Lebanon?"

Syrian "revolutionaries" deliberate in Istanbul, with the former French ambassador to Syria

Its years are numbered

" The vision was ambitious. Better Place, an electric vehicle infrastructure company, unveiled plans more than five years ago to pioneer a system of quick-service battery swapping stations across Israel to enable unlimited travel.  The company’s founder predicted that 100,000 electric cars would be on the roads here by 2010.  But on Sunday, Better Place announced that its venture, a flagship enterprise of Israel’s image as a start-up hub, was coming to an end.". Just as Israel is coming to an end.

Sweden under conservative rule

" The left, which dominated Swedish politics for decades and devised the cradle-to-grave welfare system, has blamed reduced state benefits and a modest shift toward the privatization of public services for the unrest, pointing to an erosion of the country’s tolerant, egalitarian ethos. A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that income inequality had grown faster in Sweden than in any other industrialized nation between 1985 and the end of the past decade, although it remains far more equal than most countries.  “The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer,” said Barbro Sorman, an activist of the opposition Left Party. “Sweden is starting to look like the U.S.A.”

Tourist visas to Syria: regime cancel them for Iraqi tourist groups. I am NOT making this up

Walid Al-Mu`allim yesterday said during a visit to Iraq that the Syrian government would henceforth cancel all visa requirements for Iraqi tourist groups.  I am not making this story up. 

You want me to support those "revolutionaries"? Are you kidding me?

As far as I am concerned, those are Arab Zionists.

Syrian "revolutionaries" kill a young Syrian reporter

Syrian revolutionaries today killed a young Syrian reporter working Syrian regime TV.  Watch and see how the Committee to Protect Some Journalists will come out with the most convoluted statement in order to conceal the identity of the killers.

This is how Anne Barnard will market this murder tomorrow

Fee Syrian Army shell just killed a girl in Hirmil.  Anne Barnard will tomorrow justify the murder by referring to Hirmil as "Hizbullah-controlled".

What Anne Barnard calls Israeli restraint

"Israel inflicts different methods of terror on Lebanon daily: F-16s and F-15s stage mock raids and drones stalk our skies — all in violation of UN resolution 1701. Lebanese citizens are kidnapped near the border, Israeli landmines and cluster bombs continue to await their victims on Lebanese soil, not to mention the Israeli army's continued occupation of parts of Lebanon."

7000 millionaires

In 2011, 7000 millionaires in the US paid no taxes whatsoever.

The Isareli war plan

"Israel has pursued a policy of Bedouin urbanization for decades, in an effort to contain the Bedouin population on as little land as possible." "The Prawer Plan, as it became known, suggested forcibly evicting 40 percent of the Bedouin community — between 30,000 and 40,000 people — from their homes, and moving them into urban townships."

liberty, fraternity, and equality--but not for all: from the land of the French revolution

"An estimated 150,000 people joined a Paris demonstration against France's recent legalization of same-sex marriage." (thanks Amir)

Real reporting on Hizbullah's intervention in Syria: not based on "inside sources" or "sources close to Hizbullah" or to "fighters skyping from Qusayr"

This is real reporting.  As-Safir reports about the families of Hizbullah fighters who died in Syria and it reports about casualties of Hizbullah, without relying on the lies and exaggeration of Saudi and Hariri media, which are then recycled in Western media.  And what is interesting is that the families don't consider the fight to be in defense of Bashshar Al-Asad (and even Nasrallah did not portray the fight in those terms).  The views of the families are of course inconsistent with the "impressions" of the handful of Sh`ities that Hariri press office rolls out for Western reporters in Jumayzah.

Saudi government is now the hope of liberalism in Syria

"The failure to broaden the coalition, in which Qatar and a bloc largely influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood has been playing the driving role, could undermine Saudi Arabian support for the revolt and raise the specter of a rivalry among Gulf powers that could further weaken the opposition.

Its Western backers have pressured the Coalition to resolve its divisions and expand to include more liberals to counter domination by Islamists. The plan also had support from Saudi Arabia, which had been preparing to assume a bigger role in coalition politics and has been uneasy about the rise of Qatar's influence, coalition insiders said.

"Saudi Arabia before this meeting was on the verge of throwing its weight behind the revolt. It would have made sense for Qatar to take a role in line with its size and let Saudi Arabia take a lead role. Sabbagh, and apparently Qatar, got their way, but at what expense?" (thanks Basim)

Anne Barnard finally reports about Lebanese Salafite infiltration into Syria but--IN PASSING

"And Lebanese Sunnis from early on have crossed the border to fight alongside the rebels."  This is a pattern with her. She would be writing a front page article on the audacious intervention by Hizbullah in Syria, and then slips in passing a sentence about Lebanese Sunni Salafite intervention.

Anne Barnard on Israeli restraint

"Both Hezbollah and Israel have tended to act with restraint along the border since their war in 2006."  Restraint along the border? Israel violates Lebanon's territory or airspace or national waters almost daily.  If that is restraint, then Anne Barnard is an objective journalist who knows what she is talking about.

Anne Barnard does her job: she covers up the crimes and lies of the Fee Syrian Army

"Ammar Wawi, an official with the Free Syrian Army, the loose-knit, Western-backed rebel umbrella group, said on LBC that if Hezbollah did not change course there would be attacks on Beirut’s airport, prompting some reports that he was claiming that the rebels had fired the rockets.

Later, though, in a joint telephone interview with the Free Syrian Army’s political spokesman, Louay Mekdad, Mr. Wawi said that was not what he meant. Rather, he said, he was warning that Mr. Nasrallah’s statements would have repercussions in Lebanon.

“Our battle is in Syria,” Mr. Wawi added. “We will make them pay a high price in Syria.”"  In fact, the early statement by Wawi left no doubt that he was claiming responsibility.  And the later joint telephone interview was clearly undertaken to cover up the early claim of responsibility.  If Anne Barnard is a fair and objective reporter--which is not, by any stretch of the imagination--she would have mentioned that such antics are part of a pattern of lies and coverups and denials by the Fee Syrian Army.   Also, Ms. Barnard: from someone who knows Arabic (me) to someone who does not know Arabic (you), the statement by Wawi did not leave a false impression: it left a clear impression from the way he spoke, the later lies and denials notwithstanding.

Boycotting of the enemy

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "Boycotting the Enemy: East and West."

translations of the Last of the Semites

For Zionists reading pleasure in particular, translation in German, French, and Dutch of Joseph Massad's The Last of the Semites.

Gene Sharp

Admit it.  You really now are ashamed to maintain that Gene Sharp inspired Arab uprisings.  You realize how ridiculous you sounded when you said that?

"Well-placed" sources--many, not just one--on Hizbullah: in the Western media

This must be a classic: if you know anything about the party and the role of Qasim, you will chuckle:
""A well-placed source told The Daily Telegraph that Sheikh Nasrallah has initially tried to minimise his group’s involvement in Syria.  But after receiving orders from Iran, Hizbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassam, sanctioned military operations without Sheikh Nasrallah’s full consent."" (thanks Hala)

PS What is amazing is that those inside sources only share the most damaging stuff about the party with Western reporters, especially those who are most Zionist among them.  For some odd reason.

Let Americans first tell pollsters where Tel Aviv is

"A recent survey ranking the world's favorite brands has revealed that Tel Aviv is more attractive than 90% of the most popular brands in the United States."

Hany Abu-Assad

I don't know where you are these days, Hany, and I have misplaced your phone number. I am not big on awards especially those dispensed by the White Man to natives, but I wish to congratulate you.  I know first hand how much you resisted the temptations of lousy commercial ventures in Hollywood and for that I salute you, comrade. 

King of Jordan hosts Davos

The King of Jordan knows that he is inferior but he feels particularly less inferior when in the presence of the White Man, who he impresses with his unaccented English peppered with badly pronounced Arabic words.  His wife has been in hiding and is no more allowed before the cameras, and the couple can't go to Davos anymore, so Davos can come to Jordan.  If you can't come to Davos, Davos can come to you.

Fee Syrian Army and rockets on southern suburbs

A spokeperson (sorry, I should have said spokesman, as women are not allowed in their ranks) of the Fee Syrian Army, `Ammar Al-Wawi, claimed responsibility for the shells that fell on Shiyyah.  Minutes later, another spokesman, Fahd Al-Masri, said that what Al-Wawi said is not true, and should be ignored.  Kid you not.

Look how nice those Israelis are: they occupy their house but honor their name

" And on the outside of their house they have put up a plaque noting that until 1948 the structure was the home of the Khader family, a tiny homage to a destroyed world."

Ethan Bronnerc is back and he wants you to know thast there is only love in Israel

" The groom’s grandparents emigrated from Yemen; the bride’s came from Eastern Europe, an example of continuing and increasing intermarriage between Sephardim and  Ashkenazim."

Deportation in Dubai

"Dozens of migrant building workers who joined a strike earlier this month in Dubai are now facing deportation.

Thousands of mainly Asian workers employed by Arabtec – one of the Gulf’s largest construction firms – stopped work on May 18 but returned after four days when police intervened. Unions and strikes are illegal in the UAE and other Gulf states, and some of the strikers are reported to have been detained for questioning."

Western reporters on the scene

"The Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, famed for its colossal Roman ruins, now feels like a garrison town. Hezbollah men in military fatigues and police outfits are everywhere. As are Jeeps and Chevrolets with blacked-out windows - the group's vehicles of choice."  Police outfits? Those are not Hizbullahs smart one.  (thanks Krim)

negative and positive

"Germany is the most positively viewed nation in the world with a 59% positive rating, according to the BBC's Annual Ratings poll. Israel was ranked 14th in a poll that rated 16 countries and the European Union. Iran came in last as the most negatively viewed."

Hadn't those liars say that they were kidnapped by the regime?

"Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria last month are “in good health,” though there is no news on their whereabouts, an opposition official told reporters Saturday in Istanbul.
“Two or three days ago, a doctor visited the two bishops. They are in good health,” said Abdul Ahad Steipho, member of the main opposition’s National Coalition and of its committee established to follow up on the kidnappings."

mission intégriste

"Between 180 and 200 French citizens have traveled to Syria in the past year to join a two-year-old rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad, le Monde reported on Saturday, citing figures from France's internal DCRI and external DGSE security services."

"Our" violence and "their" violence

"Labeling the violent acts of those Muslim Others as "terrorism" - but never our own - is a key weapon used to propagate this worldview. The same is true of the tactic that depicts their violence against us as senseless, primitive, savage and without rational cause, while glorifying our own violence against them as noble, high-minded, benevolent and civilized (we slaughter them with shiny, high-tech drones, cluster bombs, jet fighters and cruise missiles, while they use meat cleavers and razor blades). These are the core propagandistic premises used to sustain the central narrative on which the War on Terror has depended from the start (and, by the way, have been the core premises of imperialism for centuries)."

Three dimensional civil war in Lebanon

If, or when, the civil war breaks out in Lebanon, it will be three dimensional this time around as Syrians and Palestinians will participate.

Sep. 11 made him do it

"The pop star went into rehab for his drinking habit in 2005 but in a wide-ranging interview insisted that the spate of accidents in two preceding years was not caused by his heavy consumption of vodka, his alcohol of choice. "I was kind of in a mental fog, and it had nothing to do with the booze," he told The New York Times. "My mind wasn't right. I wasn't focused. I went into a deep, deep depression after 9/11." (thanks Amir)

Saudi student in Boston

"“They were really scared of me. I am injured, I don’t have anything and they asked me “What you have in your hand!” I told them “Nothing, it’s just a napkin!” and I throw it to them and they were like “ahh!” …All the police officers and the FBI … and all the nurses and all the doctors were staring at me … I was looking [at] them like, is it because of the color of my skin or is it because of the name of my country?”

sectarianism that is not fit to print

"Lebanese Sunni cleric Sheikh Seif Eddin Hussami, head of the Islamic Action Front- Emergency Committee, declared war on the Lebanese Alawite leader Rifaat Ali Eid and members of his sect who are taking part in the sectarian clashes rocking Tripoli, north of Beirut.

"We say to Rifaat Eid (...) We are coming to liberate our people from your dirt and clean the area that you have taken hostage. We are coming to set free our trapped sisters, brothers and children from the various denominations whom you are using as human shields to implement your plans and blackmail the country." (thanks Basim)

Salafi Zionism

"A Salafist adviser to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said Sunday that he “had no problem” with the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt".

In the Hamas police (non) state, it is illegal to criticize Qatar's cleric, Qaradawi

"A former minister in Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Interior was briefly detained on Sunday for allegedly insulting an influential Muslim cleric, his wife said."

Syrian revolutionary "liberals" and anti-`Alawite bigotry

The website of "liberal" revolutionary "thinker", Yasin Hajj Saleh, hosts a disgustingly sectarian article against `Alawites, as `Alawites.  By the way, I don't recall I read one piece in the Western media about "revolutionary" hatred of all `Alawites.  Oh, I know that they roll out a `Alawite man and parade him before the cameras once in a while, but come on. (thanks Ahmad)

The story of a Syrian in San Francisco

A friend sent me this: "We took my brother to dinner for his birthday, the restaurant owner was a Syrian Christian. I asked, "Min wayn?" He said, "Souria." I said, "What do you think about what's happening there?" He sat and told us that he never cared for this regime or this family but that he changed his mind a few months ago after his daughter was chased out of Damascus by "revo" goons. She moved to Syria from the U.S. because she like many Arabs born here felt a connection and wanted to go back, feeling like she didn't fit in here. These Islamists started harassing her and leaving intimidating notes on her apartment and her car, they poured a red substance on her car which he said was supposed to look like blood to scare her. It worked, she dropped out of school and came back to the U.S."