"In the rapidly unfolding crisis in Pakistan, no matter what happens to President Pervez Musharraf -- whether he survives politically or not -- he is a lame duck. He is unable to rein in Talibanization in Pakistan or guide the country toward a more democratic future. Since March 9, when Musharraf suspended the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, public protests have escalated every day -- as has a violent crackdown by the police and intelligence agencies on the media and the nation's legal fraternity."

A well-placed and reliable source tells me this: "You do know that Abdallah of Jordan lost his private jet at a poker table in Pakistan , .. and he had to fly back "commercially"? (thanks X)

Mourning in the Jordanian royal family: the saddest day since the kingdom was founded.

British press continue its extensive coverage of public beheadings in Saudi Arabia.

Every day--almost every day, literally--you read in the Israeli press about a new excuse or a new "explanation" about why the "mighty" Israeli army was humiliated by 2400 Lebanese fighters in South Lebanon. Once, we read how the "three Iranian soldiers" in South Lebanon were responsible for Hizbullah's military performance, and now this: "Malfunctions in the transfer of supplies to the front was the main reason for the IDF's difficulties in the second Lebanon war, not a lack of supplies." If Arabs were not afflicted by their regimes--all their regimes--the Zionist regime would not stand a chance.

"The Association for Civil Rights in Israel is calling on the Defense Ministry to examine the legality of preventing Palestinians from accessing Route 60, a main road in the southern Hebron Hills area of the West Bank. In a letter it sent to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, the ACRI argues that the Israel Defense Forces is illegally blocking Palestinian access to the road, thereby seriously impairing the freedom of movement of Palestinians who live in the area and impinging upon their civil rights."

"U.S. to continue funding security forces loyal to Abbas of Fatah"

This is Zionism: "The Knesset on Wednesday voted to extend and widen the controversial Citizenship Law, which denies family unification to Israelis and Palestinians. The law, which was to have expired next month, will be extended to July 2008 and apply to citizens of the four "enemy states" - Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran - as well as to those of the Palestinian Authority." Notice the ambiguous and convoluted language that Haaretz used to refer to a blatantly racist law that prohibits "mixing of the races" from the standpoint of Zionists.

Lebanon is on the verge of civil war and the Lebanese police is busy uncovering a "lesbian network". The women were arrested but were later released after the intervention of a "religious authority" to avoid scandal.

An Israeli occupation dog attacking a Palestinian woman in `Ubaydiyyah (thanks Eyas)

Sanyurah, the "Victim."

Another Traffic Fatwawawa: Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah issues a fatwawawa that traffic laws should be respected.

A student from UC, Berkeley (who wants to remain anonymous although I know who she/he is) sent me this: "Tonight, Stand With Us and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies brought self-described Israeli Arab Khaled Abu Toameh to UC Berkeley. He is the senior correspondent of Palestinian affairs for the Jerusalem Post, and the Palestinian affairs producer for NBC News. He was brought to hail free speech in Israel, and to condemn the lack of a free press in Palestine. He had this insight to offer: "The Arab people are emotional people. We dance in the streets for everything and we don't even think about it. We are experts in shooting ourselves in the foot." One of the audience members asked him if he also wrote in Arabic or appeared on television in the hopes that his words would reach the Arab masses. He circled around the question and praised his own humility for one of the reasons that he doesn't appear on any other media: "I just want to be a little reporter, I don't even want to be senior editor of the Jerusalem Post" he said. But then he added: "the reason Al Jazeera would not invite me (and I've never tried to go on) is that if I did come on, I would also have to tell them that I hate the Jews and that everything is the Jews' fault. So I cannot go on to citicize the Palestinians only." But if you want to know the real reason why he is appreciated by right-wing Israeli press, it's not because they love freedom of speech. It's because he had this to say about the occupation. "The wall that Israel is building," he said, "and the checkpoints, should all have the following written on them: Made By Yasser Arafat and Hamas." He also said that "if it were up to me, I wouldn't pull out from the West Bank either under the current circumstances." He also stated that Hamas and Fatah should not be dealt with diplomatically until they proved they were "moderate" by recognizing Israel's right to exist, renouncing violence, and accepting Oslo."

"Angry Arab News Service: Let Me Tell You This, Esteemed Columnist" (thanks Maria)

"Yesterday, Mr. Obama's presidential campaign issued a dissent from the Hungarian-born billionaire's assessment. " Mr. Soros is entitled to his opinions," a campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said. "But on this issue he and Senator Obama disagree. The U.S. and our allies are right to insist that Hamas — a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's destruction — meet very basic conditions before being treated as a legitimate actor. AIPAC is one of many voices that share this view.""

"A spectre is haunting" Latin America: "Republican presidential candidate John McCain warned on Wednesday against the spread of socialism in Latin America and pledged to give the region renewed U.S. attention if elected."

This is how a US State Department official responded to Mubarak's repression in Egypt: ""You have to put this in the wider context of political and economic reform in Egypt," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said when asked about the reforms which the Egyptian opposition has denounced as anti-democratic." (thanks Regan)

Save old Damascus. (thanks Haisam)

Don't forget. Tomorrow on Dancing with the Stars.

"Witch hunt" (thanks Rania)

A headline from Saudi daily Ar-Riyadh: "An American researcher at Georgetown and Columbia: King `Abdullah exerts unprecedented efforts to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict..." Does that mean that the Guradian of the three sites (two holy and one IKEA store in the kingdom) really cares? Really cares? (thanks Haytham)

"European food aid is delivered to Palestinians in Hebron. Europe alone is subsidizing a million people, a quarter of the Palestinian population." NYT

"When you’re sitting on a volcano, it is never easy to tell exactly what is happening underneath — or what will happen if you move." This is when Thomas Friedman uses imageries. Sitting on a volcano? I don't know about you, Mr. Friedman. But I have never had the experience of sitting on a volcano. Is this your idea of being imaginative? Do you feel pleased with yourself when you write such sentences? And do you notice that Friedman now writes as if he was opposed to the war in Iraq all along, when he was an early cheerleader? People should use lexis-nexus to find some of his early triumphalent articles. And he very late in the process started to voice strong criticisms of Rumsfeld, but do you remember when he said early on that Rumsfeld is very good in the job?

I often note the different between Western and Eastern media coverage of world events. For example, there is barely any mention in US media of the fierce clashes in Somalia between Ethiopian troops and Somali militias. Do they deliberately ignore all news that may seem counter to the assumptions of Bush Doctrine?

"Experts said loyalty to the Saudi and Al-Hariri family political agendas in Lebanon is expected in return. "The most important aim is to articulate a Sunni political agenda that is critical of the Iranian role in the region," AbuKhalil said."

Did you read the article in WSJ on Hariri's assassination? It was no more than an interview with the director of Internal Security Forces (the Hariri militia in Lebanon), Ashraf Rifi. At one point in the article, it referred to Rifi as "The Tripoli native was close to Mr. Hariri, and once headed the prime minister's security detail." That says it all. I rest my case.

This is an actual headline from the Daily Star: "Are Lebanese taxes scaring investors away?"

The Bush Doctrine in Egypt: "The proposed amendments, which have dominated political life in Egypt in recent months, would also allow President Hosni Mubarak to dissolve parliament unilaterally and would weaken judicial oversight of elections, which have been marred by complaints of widespread irregularities. The amendments also write into the constitution tough new security powers for the president, which critics fear will be abused. Amnesty International has described the changes as the biggest threat to Egyptian democracy since emergency laws passed after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat by Islamist extremists in 1981."

What? This? It is a meeting of the Egyptian "parliament" in which Mubarak goons show their loyalty.

That's what I needed. A traffic fatwawawa in.....Dubai.

My first cousin is chief of public relations for the Sunni Mufti in Lebanon, Hariri tool, Muhammad Rashid Qabbani. I once was criticizing the Mufti for opposing civil marriage in Lebanon, and my cousin suggested that I meet with him and discuss the matter. I told him that I would not mind meeting the Mufti but over drinks. The meeting was not arranged.

Israeli occupation forces demolished their house in Khalil.

One century later, and there are the Palestinians.

Prior to the Arab summit, Condoleezza Rice asked to see Abu Mazen twice. Just in case he does not understand his instructions.

This is Khalid Mish`al of Hamas with the Saudi king.

"The retiring psychology professor who ran the famed Stanford Prison Experiment savagely criticized the Bush administration's war on terrorism and said senior government officials should be tried for crimes against humanity. In his final lecture at Stanford University on Wednesday, Philip Zimbardo said abuses committed by Army reservists at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison were not isolated incidents by rogue soldiers. Rather, sadism was the inevitable result of U.S. government policies that condone brutality toward enemies, he said. Individual military personnel -- those who stripped prisoners and leashed them like dogs -- are only as culpable as the people who created the overall environment in which the soldiers operated, Zimbardo told undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology." (thanks May)

The Gemayyel family represented a fascist movement in Lebanon in 1975. Today, the family represents a joke. (thanks Bechir)

"Ladies and gentlemen of AIPAC, it's a new day in America. The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened. There are 50 million Christians standing up and applauding the State of Israel!" (thanks Laleh)

"SH: Back to Iran, doesn't Israel's possession of nuclear weapons destabilize the region, especially since the U.S. government has never acknowledged its existence?
JC: I think there is no comparison between Israel and Iran and those who would draw a comparison ignore the fact that Israel is our ally and one of the most important points of democracy, and one of the most democratic nations in the entire Middle East. Iran is a state-sponsored international terrorism, sponsors Hezbollah and others that kill innocent civilians in pursuit of their agenda. To me, there is no comparison whatsoever.
SH: But, the U.S. government –
JC: I think that rather than allow a filibuster over here, perhaps another question –
SH: [laughs]."

"WMR has learned from former UN peacekeeping sources that some of the contract Arabic speaking interrogators and torturers used by the U.S. military in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay were likely war crimes suspects who worked as interrogators for Israeli occupation forces in South Lebanon. In 1991, after Lebanese prisoners and hostages were released from the Israeli-run prison prison at El Khiam, UN medical personnel noticed the prisoners had been exposed to significant torture. During the medical examinations, the released prisoners revealed the names of a number of the prison leaders and interrogators to UN authorities. The interrogators and prison leaders were mostly South Lebanese, both Christian and Muslim, all working for the Israeli Defense Force. In 2000, when Israel evacuated South Lebanon, the interrogation personnel were transported to Israel. With valid Israeli passports, some of the interrogators emigrated to countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia. Some had been sentenced to death in absentia by Lebanese judicial authorities for their war crimes in Lebanon. A full report on the El Khiam matter was forwarded to the Norwegian government in 1991, and in 2002, to the War Crime Section of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The Canadian police officer in charge of the investigation was, according to UN sources, Blake Leminski." (thanks As`ad--not me).

This upcoming Arab summit is quite significant. Usually, these events are quite formal and rarely reach meaningful conclusions but this summit will officially crown House of Saud as the leader of the club of Arab regimes. The summit will basically be an occasion of official acclamation: instead of tribes offering loyalty and fealty, the US will use this summit to designate Saudi Arabia as the overall leader of Arab regimes. Even Syria and Sudan will go along. Bashshar just gave a pathetic interview to a Saudi newspaper in which he all but apologized to "his uncle" King `Abdullah. He paid more tributes to King `Abdullah than what you read in the Saudi press normally. Nobody is left; the Saudi era--or the Shakbuti ear as the Syrian thinker Yasin Al-Hafidh used to call it--assumes a new role. This is Saudi Era Part II. In the Saudi Era Part I, the House of Saud was still intimidated by several Arab regimes, and it kept its role in support of Sadat's pro-Israeli policies behind the scenes. Now, the Saudi government leads the camp of normalization, and then the so-called Saudi "peace initiative"--better be called the Thomas Friedman initiative--will quickly be reduced to what Israel wants from it: not full peace and prostration in return for 24% of Palestine and Golan and Sinai without sovereignty, but full peace and prostration in return for nothing. Instead of land-for-peace, it is peace-for-nothing, or nothing-for-peace. Syria will continue to negotiate in secret with the Israelis, and will continue to try to please the US, but will also continue to maintain its rhetorical bluster--the Ba`th has only contributed bombast and bluster for Palestine. This summit will deliver the US demands and conditions to the assembled camp of unelected bunch; a group of people who will not feel safe walking in the streets of their own capitals. A group of leaders who will have one model to emulate: they will all be expected to become like Karzai and Sanyurah: people with no room for maneuver or initiative: people who only take orders and can't even negotiate their terms of surrender. Some in the 1960s used to suggest that Um Kulthum was an Israeli conspiracy because she tranquilized and distracted the masses. Now, with the Satellite stations (funded by House of Saud and their affiliates) all over the region, there are hundreds of distractions and tranquilizers for the Arab public. When you are hopeless, it is easy to be distracted. Once in a while, the regimes will allow the masses to let off steam: like in the case of Danish cartoons. But the Arab regimes are at the hight of their arrogance and their false sense of security: from the King of Jordan to Walid Jumblat, they all feel warm having US troops close by in Iraq. But that will alas not last. Jumblat admitted that in his interview with an American reporter. These are people who want US troops in Iraq forever, just like the puppets of the US in Iraq. But US troops will leave; a new chapter of US foreign policy will leave them vulnerable. I am not saying they will necessarily be overthrown. Don't get me wrong: I am not betting on Arab masses. Like `Arafat, I lost my hope for the ability of the Arab masses to bring about desirable change back in 1982. We still remember unfondly that the Arab masses were busy with the World Cup when Beirut was under siege by Israeli occupation troops. But don't get me wrong: the Arab masses will be outraged if Danish cartoonists offend their religious sensibilities again.

"For Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), there is $25 million for spinach growers hurt by last year's E. coli scare. For three conservative Democrats in Georgia, there is $75 million for peanut storage. For lawmakers from the bone-dry West, there is $500 million for wildfire suppression. An additional $120 million is earmarked for shrimp and Atlantic menhaden fishermen. So far, at least in public pronouncements, the $21 billion in funding beyond President Bush's request has earned Democrats nothing but scorn."

Would somebody copy and past (and then email to me) the WSJ article on Hariri investigation? I need it NOW. Thanks. (I received it; I don't need you. Go away NOW).

" On Saturday, April 21, As'ad AbuKhalil, professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at University of California, Berkeley will speak after a shorts program that includes Palestine, Summer 2006, a film project initiated by the Palestine Film Collective. It is an entertaining compilation of three-minute works by thirteen different film and video artists creating evocations of Palestine."

This is Walid Jumblat on the Iraq war in 2003. Translation is by As`ad (not me): "Mr. Jumblat-after meeting with the Iranian ambassador in Lebanon- renewed his warning to the Kurds from “joining the ranks of the right wing, Christian, Zionist coalition represented by Bush and his allies which is aiming for the break up of Iraq”. He went on to confirm that “the strategic goal of the war on Iraq is to redraw the map of the region and to oust any political or cultural party and movement that disagrees with the US and Israel, cause the war is an American-Israeli one. He added that “if the Americans succeed in Iraq, the next target will be Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, and any political movement that says no to the US and Israel, and as such, defending Iraq and the steadfastness of the Iraqi people, and helping them militarily, financially, joining their ranks and defending Iran, all these things will ultimately lead to the defense of Syria, Hezbollah and our pride and existence.” Jumblat was surprised by Saoud el Faysal’s- Saudi Secretary of State- call for the president of Iraq to step down. Jumblat added that “the radical Christian group represented by President Bush and his team is opposed by all Catholic, Anglican and even Protestant churches and therefore he is a Zionist group who believes that in order to achieve the Israeli dream, it is mandatory to occupy all Palestinian land, and this is a Biblical theory.”