The Real Face of Arab Liberalism: There are tons of Arab media now available on the web. But I always like to receive a hard copy of an Arab magazine, and in the Arab world we really do not have "magazines" per se, the Hawadith of the 1960s and 1960s was the exception. Al-Hawadith ended when Salim Al-Lawzi (its corrupt but talented founder and editor was assassinated in 1980 when he went to Beirut upon the death of his mother. He had relocated to London after the beginning of the civil war, and the success of the magazine (and the purchase of ads by Japanese companese during the boom years along with King Fahd's patronage of Lawzi afforded a very large supply of funding. He was assassinated after a daring cover story with the headline "Syria: Why The Regime Lies?". He was tortured and his dead body was found with his tongue cut out and placed in his anus. A pen was also inserted there, as I later learned. I also notice that many Israeli experts of the Arab world still--perhaps because they do not know any better--extensively rely on Al-Hawadith magazine not knowing that the magazine has not been read since 1980, and that the new magazine is a mere ad for its wealthy publisher, Lebanese publisher Milhim Karam--who I debated on AlJazeera and went on the air to remind me that he was a friend of my late father, as if I cared. (That reminds me that I need to finish my Angry Arab Media Guide, Part II: Newspapers and magazines--I started on it and hope to finish before leaving for the Hummus Homeland in June). Magazines are merely newspapers, and newspapers are often magazines. Sometimes Al-Hayat publishes academic papers by Arab academics (who do not pose a threat to House of Saudi rule, of course). So last year, I subscribed to Rose El-Yusuf. What a magazine. On the one hand, it pleases me because it challenges the taboos of Islam, which is always a good thing for me. All taboos of the Arab world should be challenged: regime monopolies and fake legitimacies, neo-colonial intervention in region's affairs, vulgarities and juntas of Arab nationalism, and the taboos of religion. Rose El-Yusuf publishes columns by the courageous anti-clerical Sayyid Al-Qimni (whose books on Islam I recommend for their knowledge and dare although I am not a fan of his Arab liberal leanings--liberalism is to Angry Arab what conservatism is, only more obnoxious for its dogmatic self-righteousness especially in its Arab guise). And Arab liberalism is Western Conservatism with a fake human face. Rose El-Yusuf also publishes articles by the Syrian free thinker Muhammad Shuhrur. Yet, the magazine is a platform for regime protection and defense. And this liberal mouthpiece dismisses all critics of the Egyptian regime as "spies for Israel and US". They are obsessed for example with Sa`d Id-Din Ibrahim, and defame him issue after issue. All critics of the regime are found miraculously to be operators for Western conspiracies. Rose El-Yusuf is also one of those Arab media that believe that the world is now run by a Washington-based neo-conservatives. Correct me if I am wrong, but sometimes I feel that the "neo-conservative scenario" is not different from the classic world views of notorious Western anti-Semites. And what bothers me about this Arab media obsession with the "neo-conservative conspiracy"--the widely read Jihad Al-Khazin cannot stop writing "Who's Who in American Neo-conservatism"--is that it absolves those who are more powerful than neo-conservatives and who are not neo-conservatives: i.e. Richard Cheney and his assistant George W. Bush, for example. What about that? Today's issue placed Donald Rumsfeld as the head of the neo-conservative conspiracy. I have also noticed something new: the Egyptian regime is so concerned about the Muslim Brotherhood and the various Islamic religious organizations of the various stripes, including inside Al-Azhar itself, that they now seem to promoting Sufi orders. Rose El-Yusuf has been running pieces about them, claiming that their members amount to some 10 million. So to distract the masses from their daily concerns, misery, and oppression at the hand of the regime, the masses are encouraged, nay urged, to rotate and dance and recite Qur'anic citations. Try it. Are you dizzy now? You may have dissolved yourself, then. And typical of Arab "liberal" publications, Rose El-Yusuf is also full of the most sleazy and sexist features about Arab female stars, and they are always featured scantily clothed. And I hate it when Rose El-Yusuf (and other Arab publications) publishes a feature about "exploitation of sex in US media" but the feature is a mere excuse to publish American female stars in various positions of undress. Anything to distract and sidetrack and non-politically stimulate the masses. There is a need for a new Arabic effort: a free website that talk about what is not talked about. Elaph (a pro-Saudi website) was the first of its kind and now is a badly written pro-Saudi Arabia propaganda sheet. I have talked to a few friends and colleagues about doing something. We should. It has to be collective. I am so yearning for an Arab collective thing, any thing, even for the making of a tabbulah plate. NOW.