So if we act as victims, Israelis would stop shooting at us?

"I think that violence doesn’t serve them, partly because they’re dealing with a people which sees itself as the ultimate victims, and anything they do involving violence reinforces and strengthens that sense of victimhood."

Zionist killers/thieves

"There is also the issue of rights: When they say on the conference site that "Indigenous landrace (Baladi) foodcrops have been selected by generations of traditional farmers ..." one must realize that we are talking here about Palestinian farmers, as Israel is less than 60 years old, and the vast majority of its inhabitants came from outside Israel. This genetic material is the property of the Palestinian farmers, who have been forcibly evicted from their lands, turned into refugees, oppressed, cornered into a tiny apartheid zone, who are prevented from harvesting their crops by settlers, and who now have to share their indigenous knowledge "as equal partners" with the perpetrators."

This is Zionism

"They move through cage-like passages and 7-foot-high turnstiles to be checked by Israeli soldiers from behind bulletproof glass. The soldiers often yell at them through loudspeakers. They are supposed to work in pairs to speed the lines through, but sometimes one of them is asleep, his feet on his desk." (thanks Olivia)

They steal the lands: and what is underneath (or above) the land

"Israelis have usurped several Lebanese and oriental products. About ten years ago, they sold 80 tonnes of water-logged cucumbers produced in Gaza greenhouses to the city of Detroit, and called them “Kahale cucumbers”. Kahale is the name of a village in Mount Lebanon which produces a special, non-irrigated sort of cucumber on mountain soil. Extreme vigilance and judicial procedures at an international level are needed to halt these illegal proceedings, which are nothing less than the plunder of a country’s cultural heritage."" (thanks Rami)

Surprise: Dershowitz endorses Israeli murder of Arabs

I mean, has this "liberal"--by American standards only--professor ever encountered an Israeli murder of Arabs, or and Israeli aggression on Arabs, that he did not fully endorse? Imagine if an Arab-American professor publicly wrote in support of Arab murder of Israelis. (thanks Christopher)

Elton John and gays in the Middle East

AZ sent me this (I cite with his permission): Regarding that Elton John statement about gay women in ME being 'as good as dead'. While There are certain social problems for gay women, I have not heard if a single violent incident against them. In fact, Abu Dhabi TV had a talk show recently discussing women homosexuality (link below) and the guests, who had their faces covered to protect their identity, didn't face any derision or mocking or even criticism from either the crowd or the participants in the discussion. The psychologist in the show, while we may disagree with him vehemently, was categorical in his rejection of any coercive measures to 'correct the deviations' of these women, and he recommended only counseling (something akin to church-based groups recommending therapy to gay kids of religious American parents in the US south)."

Emotional Palestinian Dabkah in Lagos, Nigeria

A reader who was there sent me this from Lagos (I cite with her permission): "There was this "small world" event tonight is Lagos where every country performs a show. Of course after the Israeli dance everybody started boooooing, so an Israeli hero got pissed off, walked towards a palestian crowd, took their flag and broke it. The guy was sent back to hospital after all the guys had beaten the hell out f him. It felt so good!!!!! After things calmed down the Palestinian dabké was so emotional."

Assassination of Abu Hasan Salamah

"Two weeks ago, Abu Hassan heard from the Christian Maronite leadership that the Israelis had assigned a new assassination squad to get him. A week before that he had protected a young Christian leader, Dany Chamoun, from a Palestinian mob..." It was not a Palestinian mob, damn it. It was a bunch of radical leftist high school and college students who were most offended with the visit by this right-wing fascist leader, Dani Sham`un, to Hamra in West Beirut. How do I know that? I was 19 year old: and I was one of them, damn it.

Eric Rouleau and Alan Gresh

Wow. I yesterday watched an interview conducted in Arabic with Eric Rouleau and Alan Gresh. How interesting it was. Both spoke in Arabic, mind you. It was an analysis of French policy toward the Middle East: and it reminded me yet again with the question that nags me constantly. Why can't US media produce the likes of Eric Rouleau and Alain Gresh. Both of them made great points even when they disagreed. Rouleau was making the point that French policy toward the Middle East has not changed much, while Gresh was arguing that French policy has changed much since 2005. But Rouleau added another point: he reminded Gresh that there is another variable. That Arab governments in the past used to apply pressures on France and that this factor has disappeared; that Arab governments don't complain about French closeness to Israel anymore. I envy those who lived at the time when Rouleau was a correspondent of Le Monde in the Middle East. And what did the US media produce in terms of a Middle East correspondent? Thomas Friedman. Thomas Friedman, for potato's sake.

The Egyptian state

I know that you are sleeping but have you been noticing that the Mubarak regime is falling before your eyes? I mean that. How did I think about that? Several indicators. I first watched footage of the trial of the Hizbullah cell in the Egyptian Court of the Security of the State-Emergency (that is the actual name of that Orwellian court--kid you not). And I noticed that in the session yesterday, the lawyers took over the court. (This is like me when I once clashed with a cop in court in Berkeley and the judge accused me of "taking over the court room--but that is another story). I feel that the agencies and apparatuses of government in Egypt are now acting on the assumption that the regime of Mubarak is no more. So I then went to see the Al-Ahbarm newspaper, and I felt the stooges of Mubarak are not even trying to do their job like before in defending the regime. It surprised me that the Al-Ahram had on the first page a headline that a US member of congress called for an end of the siege of Gaza. Husni, Jamal, and `Ala' Mubarak: no one will miss you. Just pack and go away. You have overstayed your welcome by decades of corrupt and oppressive rule.

Sad Day in Egypt

It is a sad day in Egypt when Muhammad Al-Baradi`i (or Baradeh as it is pronounced in US media) is considered a hope for Egypt. This is a man who served as a puppet for the Bush administration and who was silent about Israeli nuclear weapons. Are we that desperate? This is like when the PLO men of Arafat used to celebrate the victory of the Labor Party in Israel. I was most disappointed to see Egyptian journalist, Hamdi Qandil, waiting at the airport for the arrival of Al-Baradi`i. Al-Baradi`i was a great friend of Israel in his job in Vienna.

Happy birthday Afaf Kanafani

Writer Afaf Kanafani is celebrating her 93rd birthday this weekend. I am sending my best wishes.

"light attack planes"--my potato

"The United States is reported ready to provide light attack aircraft to the Lebanese army and to establish an elite Special Forces unit, a major step toward boosting the military's now-feeble firepower." Let me translate for you. The US will not give Lebanon any weapons that can be effective against Israeli aggression, but is willing to give Lebanon weapons that can be effective against demonstrators, rebels and the Palestinian refugee camps.

The Video footage of the Dubai murder

I watched carefully the video footage of the dumb Israeli terrorists in Dubai. I don't want to play Sherlok Holmes, but notice the segment when the Hotel employee is escorting Mabhuh to his hotel room. At one point, she looks behind her and spotted clearly the two dumb Israeli terrorists. But instead of stopping to let them pass, she continued to walk thereby allowing the dumb Israeli terrorists to spot the hotel room of Mabhuh. I dont know what this means but it could mean something.

Wall Street Journal justifies the murder of Arabs

"Israel, assuming it was behind the assassination, had good reason to want Mabhouh permanently out of the picture."

If this guy was Muslim, this story would be so much bigger

"Praise for Stack appeared to be largely anonymous, but because it appeared online so rapidly it quickly threaded itself into his Google cache -- popping up on right- and left-wing sites that tried to bat it down, as well as white-supremacist ones that did not take such pains. "God bless Joe Stack an american hero" a person writing as "summit02," posted on the blog of Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella group for the conservative movement. "Thank you Joe for your heroism in the fight aganist the evil elites. that are destroying america," the person wrote." (thanks Molly)

Saudi-Israeli conspiracy? What Saudi-Israeli conspiracy?

"Furthermore, according to the Iranians, Saudi Arabia is attacking Yemen as part of an American and Israeli plot. This sounds ridiculous until we recall the story the Israeli Air Force journal published two years ago about the secret military aid Israel gave the pro-Saudi royalists in their war against Nasser. History is repeating itself." (thanks Mouin)

Cheaters, crooks, thieves, killers, occupiers and terrorists

""We now know that for at least 31 years Israeli agents have been cloning British passports to carry out their dirty work," Derbyshire said. "Something should be done.""

Elton John: the Middle East expert

""I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East - you're as good as dead,"" (thanks Luay)

Americans really heart Israel

But notice that American public views of other countries conform with the orientations of their government. It means that they don't exercise independent judgment in their perceptions of other countries.

Mossad did not know that credit card purchases can be traced electronically

"New evidence incriminating Israel's spy agency in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai includes credit card payments and phone calls made by suspects, an Arabic-language daily reported on Saturday." (thanks Olivia)

war criminals are not be bothered on US college campuses

"The UC Irvine students who were arrested after protesting a Feb.8 speech by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren have received disciplinary letters from the university office of judicial affairs." (thanks Dina)

Emailing Angry Arab

If you want to send me an email, please use my csustan email (somewhere on this page). This email was created for the contest and for the blog and is processed by a volunteer.

Top secret agent of the Mossad: don't tell anyone her real name

Hi. I am a top secret Mossad agent. I traveled to Dubai under the name of Gail Folliard. Now my true name is Erika Maria Chambers. But no one--I mean, no one--is supposed to know my real name. I am super secret.

PS By the way, much of this article contains plenty of errors typical of Western writing on Black September. Wa'il Zu`aytir has nothing to do whatsoever with Black September. He really was a scholar. In fact, after the release of the movie Munich (read my review somewhere on this page), the family of Zu`aytir contacted me and we discussed a possible suit against the filmmaker.

PS Correction. Laleh sent me this: "It can't be. Chambers was born in 1948. She'd be over 60. Chambers was responsible for killing Salameh."

Mossad secret agent

Hi. I was sent on a top secret mission and was told to not let anyone see me or recognize me. How did I do so far?

Academic freedoms in Lebanon

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "Academic Freedoms: The Dangers of Hariri Totalitarianism"

Mossad man's suicide

The Western media are so protective of Israel, especially when it comes to embarrassing revelations. Last year, a top Mossad (or Israeli military intelligence, I don't recall) officer with responsibilities for Lebanon shot himself in his office. Of course, Israeli media are always subservient to the government and they obey military censors without complaint or protest. But even the western media did not pick up on that story. It happened just as the Lebanese police--Lebanese police for potato's sake--was arresting Israeli spies in Lebanon, right and left. More than 80 has thus far been arrested. Just yesterday, a top Mossad killer/agent in Lebanon was sentenced to death.

Najla Said

I have not seen this performance yet, but this New York Times reviewer went to see Najla Said's performance only to 1) pick on her; 2) to pick on Palestine and the Palestinians. It was clear that she was quoting everything out of context.

Iran rumors in oil trading world

A reliable source who does not want to be identified sent me this: "All anonymous if you decide to use this as usual. I don't want to make too big a deal of this as traders are notorious for blowing things out of proportion, but I heard the rumors below today regarding Iran. Given the silly statements coming out of Washington these days, this kind of stuff isn't surprising. If true, it would at minimum mean the US is trying to use the latest Iran uranium enrichment news to get other countries to cave in to accepting the unilateral US sanctions that they've resisted for years. And that Europeans are responding. US government supposedly telling oil companies that if they charter Iranian vessels from NITC () then the US government may seize their assets. If true, it's not an issue for US oil companies who haven't dealt with Iran for such things in many years. But rumor is that Total (French) and ENI (Italian) are staying away from these ships now. I don't follow shipping so closely, so don't know if that's been the case for a while or if it's a new development. The market rumor insinuates it's a new development. Final rumor is that some firms in Europe are telling their crude traders to close any short positions (bets that price will fall) for fear of rhetoric/potential conflict with Iran heating up.""

PR for war crimes

"Israel's government has launched a campaign aiming to boost the country's image abroad even as it finds itself in the middle of an international uproar over the suspected role of Israeli spies in the assassination of a Hamas operative. Through a new Web site, TV commercials and pamphlets handed to passengers boarding planes, the campaign launched this week tries to get Israelis to promote their country when traveling." To be fair. Ian Black, Isabel Kershner, and Ethan Bronner are doing their best. (thanks Olivia)

PA chief collaborator reverses himself

"According to the senior government official, Spindelegger also said Abbas told him negotiations, which will be indirect, would begin next week." (thanks Sarah)

Mossad agent.

Look away. Look away: I am a top secret Mossad agent in disguise.

Lebanese Army

No one can defend Lebanon better than the brave soldiers of the Lebanese Army. (thanks Ahmed)

PS I am told that these are Internal Security Forces and not Lebanese Army. Lebanese Army soldiers are preparing the best Shish Tawuq there is.

Ian Black: chief Mossad propagandist in UK

""... prompting what sometimes sounds like grudging admiration as well as loathing in the Arab world – where a predisposition for conspiracy theories boosts the effect of the disinformation and psychological warfare at which the Israelis are said to excel." Do you notice that Israeli propagandists in the Western media are working over time this week? (thanks Asa)

Mossad

So basically the Mossad is good but...the Lebanese police and Dubai police are better? Ha ha ha ha ha

LA Times headline: " A bumbling Mossad hand suspected in Dubai assassination"

"But now the entire episode appears to have gone terribly out of control, more Coen brothers than John le Carre, with police releasing images of the alleged operatives in shorts and baseball caps traipsing around the corridors of the hotel where Mabhouh stayed, fumbling with their bags and looking straight at surveillance cameras."

Dahlan, o Dahlan

"Hamas said Friday that the two Palestinians arrested in the killing of one of its operatives in Dubai are former members of the rival Fatah movement's security forces with links to senior Fatah's
security official Mohammed Dahlan." (thanks David)

Ian Black is very worried about the reputation of the Mossad

"The Dubai assassination, however, may yet turn out to be far more damaging – not least because the political and diplomatic context has changed in the last decade. Israel's reputation has suffered an unprecedented battering, reaching a new low during last year's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. "In the current climate, the traces left behind in Dubai are likely to lead to very serious harm to Israel's international standing," the former diplomat Alon Liel commented yesterday." (thanks Suha)

Colonial rule has not ended in the Middle East

"In fact, the question posed by al-Jazeera is perhaps the wrong one, since, in many ways, colonial rule has not ended. Although direct rule stopped more than half a century ago, with the exception of Iraq since 2003, indirect rule never ceased. In broad terms, the region's regimes fall into two general categories: those who have accepted the role of client states and those who have opposed it and been punished and "contained" for stepping out of line. Then, there's the privatisation and franchising of imperialism to multinationals." (thanks Dina)

History of dumb Mossad

"A brief history of Israeli espionage scandals." This list is so incomplete and so brief that it does not even begin to tell the story. (thanks Ali)

Making excuses for the dumb Mossad killing team

The New York Times is very embarrassed for the dumb performance of the Mossad killing team. I noticed that they are barely covering the repercussions and today they reassured the readers that London does not want to make a big deal out of the so-called fake passports (they were real for all we know). So they stumbled on this fellow, who is a propagandist for Saudi and UAE media who helped the times in trying to justify the dumb performance of the Israeli hit team: "The fallout from the killing, and the extensive evidence made public by the Dubai authorities, suggest that a significant increase in the number of surveillance cameras and new passport technology have made such assassinations more difficult than they were in previous decades, said Mustafa Alani, a security analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. Years ago, operatives could use fake passports that correlated to no real people, but now passports are checked against global databases for authenticity." And then this Alani guy (whose knowledge of strategic matters equals Ethan Bronner's knowledge of cherry tomatoes and drip irrigation) added more praise for Israeli Mossad: "And in the 1970s, Israel paid compensation to the family of a man it had killed in a case of mistaken identity in Norway, Mr. Alani said. In the latest case, the killing went off smoothly, but the assassins failed to escape undetected." Smoothly? If you are talking about killing a Moroccan waiter because the dumb Mossad agents thought that he was Abu Hasan Salami, than that was smooth? Smoothly? Killing him near his pregnant wife around a swimming pool? Smoothly? The top secret Mossad killers were in fact arrested and tried in Norway but were then released. Does this Mustafa Alani guy know how to use google?

Dismantling the racist "fence"

"Some 1,200 people arrived in the West Bank village of Bilin, west of Ramallah, in order to protest against the separation fence being built in the area.The Palestinians reported that two protesters were injured in the demonstration. Even before the rally began, its organizers pledged to bring many protestors in honor of the fifth anniversary of the village residents' struggle against the fence. Some of the demonstrators dismantled parts of the fence." (thanks Farah)

PS Oh, and I don't like flags, and I don't like nationalisms, but...for Palestine and the Palestinians anything and everything.

Drip irrigation

Yesterday, Ethan Bronner did his post to carry, word for word, propaganda claims by Israel. (See below). He attributed drip irrigation to an Israeli "breakthrough" (the only Israeli breakthroughs that I know are massacres). Comrade Rami sent me his response: "On that other issue of israelis (or americans) having invented drip irrigation, the book "علم الملاحة في علم الفلاحة" by Abdul Ghani al Nabulsi, 1050-1143 hejri refers to a method of drip irrigation using large clay vessels with a small opening at the bottom from which water drips gently. The vessels are placed near trees to irrigate them without wasting precious water. They are refilled as needed."

Who invented cherry tomatoes: the claim by Ethan Bronner

As Ethan Bronner yesterday felt obligated to carry, word for word, propaganda claims by Israel (see below), he mentioned without evidence the claim that Israel "invented" cherry tomatoes. Yesterday, I carried the response of comrade Rami. Today, comrade Riad, a professor of agriculture who works for the food department in the state of California sent me this response (I cite with his permission): "Rami is right. The Israelis claiming that they have developed the cherry tomato is completely unfounded. As a matter of fact, the 'regular' tomato itself was developed from cherry tomatoes as one parent, and reports of the existence of cherry tomatoes appear before 1948. While the Israelis have produced some popular varieties, most commercial varieties were developed somewhere else. The coveted Santorini variety of cherry tomatoes that Rami refers to is still only grown in Santorini-Greece and is largely unchanged. It is also thought that the Santorini originally came from somewhere in Egypt, so the Egyptians can claim that they are behind one of the most famous cherry tomato varieties. Other very popular varieties like Sweet 100 and derivatives have been developed in the US. North Carolina State University (especially R. Gardner), as well as the USDA have developed many varieties as well as the breeding lines that others (like those Israelis) use to develop new varieties. This claim, as with their other false claim that they have developed drip irrigation (which was 'invented' in the US), as Rami said, is their usual practice of taking something that they have not invented and slapping their name on it. Of course, as any self-deluding Lebanese knows, the act of claiming a non-existent achievement is itself a practice that the Israelis have stolen from the Lebanese."

Hi: don't hate me because I am dumb. Hate me because I am a killer

Hi. I am a top secret Mossad agent and I am very dumb. In fact, I am extremely dumb, when I perform my killing missions, I leave not only finger prints behind me, but a trail of video footage. And my disguising skills are as good as when Superman turns into Clark Kent.

PS Angry Arab is still receiving contributions for best captions. They have not been screened yet.