He can't help himself: "Having just stirred up a global storm by quoting from a text fiercely critical of Islam, it might have been expected that Pope Benedict would steer well away from anything alluding to another religion that could be open to misinterpretation. Yet only minutes after saying that he was "deeply sorry" about the reaction to his earlier remarks, he cited a passage from the New Testament highlighting the gulf between Christian and Jewish attitudes to the crucifixion of Jesus."

Don't you like it when clerics of different religions bond?

Should not Muslims be insisting (also at least) that their rulers apologize to them for their offensive words AND deeds?

As a letter to the editor in AnNahar, I read a letter by Lebanese playwright Faysal Farhat. I knew Faysal (a former hardcore Salinist Lebanese communist party member) very well. So what are you trying to do Faysal? Hope that mini-Hariri reads your piece and showers you with gifts? Have some lentils soup Faysal.

Dumb media. The matter is now settled. So An-Nahar newspaper (the dying sectarian Christian, right-wing newspaper in Lebanon) interviewed an "expert" on Christian matters in Beirut and he decreed that the Pope did not offend Muslims. As evidence, the newspaper reports that he had the text on his computer.

I had posted a letter from Ziyad Rahbani to mini-Hariri. Today, Rahbani issued a statement to Hariri rag (of all places) denying that he had authored that letter.

Angry Arab East Canada Tour. My speaking schedule in Canada next week: Monday 25 McGill; Tuesday 26 McMaster; Wednesday 27 Queens U; Thursday 28 York U; Friday 29 Ottawa U, Marion Hall 8:30PM. For further information you may contact laith.marouf@gmail.com

"Pope Gets it Wrong on Islam"

Hummus in the streets. An American correspondent in Lebanon wrote me this: "i was driving back from...and when we got to naameh just before beirut there was some sort of huge clash on the street, a few hundred young men, some holding rocks or belts, a couple of guys were bloody, i couldnt see where the fight was when i got out but i was with other people and couldnt stay, hundreds more were out on the street and the mood was very tense, about ten minutes after the worst of it a dozen soldiers finally headed towards the scene, dont know what any of it was about."

"Filkins, who will begin a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University this month and start work on a book, said that 98% of Iraq, and even most of Baghdad, has now become "off-limits" for Western journalists. Filkins, one of the longest-lasting and most-honored reporters in Iraq, said that many situations lately have become even too dangerous for Iraqi reporters to report on. He described the current climate as "anarchy," and, when asked if the country was already involved in a civil war, he said, "Yeah, sure."" (Thanks mouin). I am not a fan of Filkins, and am not looking forward to his book on Iraq.

I hope that this is not true: "Pro-Israeli editors seek to influence Al-Jazeera International English Satellite TV"

I was amused that the New York Times has asked that the Pope apologizes to Muslims. That newspaper has a long record of sensitivity to Muslims and Arabs.

Kensett, John Frederick, Beacon Rock, Newport Harbor, 1857.

"“Let me just first tell you that I’ve never been more convinced that the decisions I made are the right decisions."

When occupiers face trouble, they blame their puppets: "Karzai blamed for ‘hellhole’ strategy"

"One senior Anglican source said: “If anything, Islam was the religion of reason ahead of Christianity. Mathematics and medical science were developed in the Islamic world. The clash between reason and medievalism has Muslims on the side of reason.”"

To receive American attention and support, Arab governments now resort to inventing sinister Al-Qa`idah plots. This week alone, the Syrian and the Yemeni governments uncovered Al-Qa`idah plots. It is expected that Jordan and Egypt will uncover Al-Qa`idah plots this week. Stay tuned.

"Israel cannot give up this spirit because of the peculiar existential threat it faces." Don't the Israeli propagandists in the US press need to update their propaganda cliches? I mean, what "existential threat? If that is a reference to the Katyusha rockets, what do we call the Israeli nuclear threat to the Arab region? Is that an amusing threat?

"O'Beirne's staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade ."

"Bombs shatter Lebanon's Roman legacy" (Tell the Observer that these were Israeli bombs).

"The women describe how soldiers they have spoken to have had one day off in eight weeks because of relentless fighting with Taliban forces and are surviving on just three hours sleep."

So the Pope had also said: "'the history of Islam also contains a tendency to violence'." OK, o Pope. Tell me. What tendencies does the history of Christianity contain? Inquiring minds want to know.

"Pope Benedict's long mission to confront radical Islam: This is not the first time the pontiff has spoken out on the links between [Islamic] fundamentalism and terrorism"

I read this review of my book. I sent this letter to the editor of the journal:

"Please don't print unless you print in full.

I could not recognize my book from the review by Stephen Schwartz. He begins his review with a sense of self-importance by falsely claiming that I branded him as an Orientalist. Not true. I never accused Schwartz of possessing the erudition, lucidity, language skills, or rigor of classical Orientalists. In fact, I called Schwartz in a very in-passing reference "a right-wing ideologue" which is what he is. He needs years of learning and language training to reach the level of classical Orientalists. He then cites something I said about Ibn Baz out of context and missing the irony in the passage, thereby reinforcing the British accusation that Americans have no sense of irony--at least we know that Schwartz does not have one. How can Schwartz miss this sentence about Ibn Baz in my book (p. 70): "He had a history of fanatical hostility to Jews and Christians--all Jews and Christians." Finally, he falsely claims that I am opposed to the end of the Saudi regime. Yet, I said this on p. 23: "The Saudi government "is a government that should be overthrown; a brutal dictatorship wed to an ideology of religious fanaticism should not be allowed to continue in this century." That he missed that, as well as missing ironies in the English language, says less about my book and more about a right-wing ideologue with no training in Middle East or Islamic studies. And it shows."

The puppet has spoken: "Jordan's Abdullah warns U.S. mistakes since 2001 fueling terrorism"

"The villages of Arab al-Aramsha, Fesuta, Miyaliah and Gush suffered serious damages during the recent conflict with Hezbollah but were denied special privileges given to their neighboring Jewish communities."

We know where the Pope stands: "Saying that the “sons of Allah breed like rats,” she strongly condemned the growing immigration of Muslims in Europe, including her native Italy. “Europe is no longer Europe, it is ‘Eurabia,’ a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense,” she told the Wall Street Journal in 2005. “Servility to the invaders has poisoned democracy, with obvious consequences for the freedom of thought, and for the concept itself of liberty.” Ms. Fallaci’s warnings endeared her to conservatives — and won her an audience in 2005 with Pope Benedict XVI, although she was a lifelong atheist — but she also faced accusations of racism."

Samir Khalaf's Saga. So I reported to you about the fawning letter that he wrote and that was translated and published in An-Nahar. Several AUB professors sent me stories and anecdotes about him. And then, he decided to share the letter with the campus community on the campus-wide network that goes to the faculty and staff of AUB. One colleague of Khalaf wrote a scathing response, in which he accused Khalaf of "brownnosing." Khalaf wrote a long letter in response and said that he is hurt.

When religions clash, or when religious people clash over religion, I watch with little amusement. Yet, there is no question that there is a pattern of Western provocations against Muslim people in matters of their faith although this does not excuse verbal offenses by some Muslims against other religions. The Wahhabi clerics are notorious in that regard. People have been making this point in mainstream US news publications: that Bush seems to be fulfilling the recipe of Bin Laden and Huntington. And just as the late Pope served as a tool for Reagan's foreign policy, this new Pope seems up to the job of hater-in-chief for Bush's policies and wars. I of course read that rambling speech in question. I don't know why I get most offended when people call it "academic" or "scholarly". Why? Because he mentions the "critiques" of Kant? Or does the invoking of the so-called "dialogues" with a "Persian" qualifies as scholarly? It is a speech that contains an element of classical Western medieval polemics against Islam. I can't believe that even the UK's Independent tried to make the Pope--the Pope of all people, and this Pope of all people, a Pope who is opposed to Rock music--look good when it said the other day that when the Pope cited the offending passage he was "[s]tressing that the words were not his own." He did not stress that at all. Read the full text. And he also said some nasty things too, especially when he attributed a certain verse in the Qur'an to Muhammad's powerlessness. I mean if you are a Muslim, are you blamed if you perceive world affairs in terms of a Western conspiracy against Islam and Muslims especially in the age of Bush and Pope? I of course like nothing more than a glorification of reason but certainly not from the mouth of the Pope, any pope for that matter. And this kind of religious bigotry and hostility--it is bigotry when practiced selectively against one but not other religions--only help to contribute to the reduction of the parameters of secular discourse. I can easily see the West and East regressing towards legal changes to prohibit offenses to religions--there are already laws to that effect in Western and in Eastern countries. I can't offend religion in the press in Lebanon, for example, and I would love to. And you can't offend religion in Switzerland. The speech by the Pope and the reaction to it really signal the path ahead. It aint look pretty, as they say. Not pretty at all. I also squirm when I look at the Arab media coverage: this is a story that both AlArabiya and Aljazeera (despite their disagreements) can run away with. This is a story that Arab governments can use to incite and instigate because it does not pose a stress to their delicate client relationship with the US Empire. I read that Morocco protested officially to the Vatican as did other countries--those countries that did not issue such protests against the Israeli war on Lebanon and Palestine. I also get upset when Muslim masses react more strongly to words and cartoons than to wars and aggression.

"But Katyusha Damage Much Less Than Claimed by Israel"

Sources in Beirut tells the Angry Arab that Fu'ad Sanyurah was berated by the Saudi king during his visit to Saudi Arabia. House of Saud was displeased that Lebanese media talked about the Qatari aid to Lebanon during the war. Lebanese clients of House of Saud were instructed to praise Saudi "help" and this partly explains the March 14th Movement's attacks on Qatar this week.

Kensett, John Frederick, Sunset on the Sea, 1872.

"Our challenge now is to maintain the momentum towards a lasting peace in Lebanon while countering the efforts of Hizballah, Syria, and Iran to repaint the conflict as a victory for Hizballah. We will need to move quickly."

"Interrogation Options Seen as Vital" (This is a headline from the Washington Post. By "interrogation options" the paper is of course talking about torture options).

"Bush defends demands for CIA 'torture' power" (All what he's saying. Give torture a chance.)

"From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo to Bagram, to the battlefields of Iraq and to the "black" prisons of the CIA, humiliation and beatings, rape, anal rape and murder have now become so commonplace that each new outrage is creeping into the inside pages of our newspapers. My reporting notebooks are full of Afghan and Iraqi complaints of torture and beatings from August 2002, and then from 2003 to the present point. How, I keep asking myself, did this happen? Obviously, the trail leads to the top. But where did this cult of cruelty begin?" (Robert Fisk is still reliable except when he talks about Lebanon.)

News from "liberated" Afghanistan: "Better paid, better armed, better connected - Taliban rise again"

Husam `Itani on Angry Pope.

"At Auschwitz, in May, [the Pope] appalled many Jews by passing up what they saw as a historic opportunity for a German pope to apologise for the Roman Catholic church's conduct in the second world war. The second factor is that Pope Benedict has signalled clearly that he favours a tougher line in his church's dealings with Islam."

Former Israeli army chief-of-staff on the aerial bombardment of Lebanon: "The air force delivered the goods."

"Eight-year-old Emily Billings makes a pillow out of sow's ear at the Oxford, Maine, county fair. Her 5-month-old Yorkshire pig, Cookie, was due be sold at the fair's youth animal auction."

Hummus Hits the fan. Now that the Israeli war on Lebanon has ended--more or less--the Lebanese sects can now resume their (un)civil conflict. The Lebanese civil war started on the Shiyyah-`Ayn Ar-Rummanah front (a Maronite-Shi`ite front). Yesterday, the Lebanese media were under strict instructions to cover up or suppress the news of a clash between people from both neighborhoods. Weapons were brandished from both sides, and clashes were reported. Several were injured. A brief account in Al-Akhbar.

Shhhh. Hamid Karzai, I mean, Iyad `Allawi, I mean Fu'ad Sanyurah, I mean, Nuri Al-Malki, I mean, King `Abdullah (either of them), I mean Abu Mazen is praying.

Fareed Zakaria is now considered a prominent foreign policy analyst in the US. Here, he provides his sophisticated analysis of Sunnis and Shi`ites: "They have hated each other for almost 14 centuries."

The Minister of Walid Jumblat's Private Jet (by Khalid Saghiyyah)