Israeli military methods

Here is an Israeli terrorist demonstrating Israeli heroism. (Reuters) (thanks Fadi)

That lousy Adonis

Here, Adonis talks about his favorite topic: himself. He said that no women has ever turned his love down.

This is Zionism

"A recent Jerusalem Magistrate's Court verdict indicates that settlers may fire in the air to repel unarmed Palestinians, a ruling that a Palestinian rights advocate called a dangerous precedent." (thanks Sarah)

You really want us to make peace with this cruel entity?

"The Israeli Police released a 13-year-old girl from the southern West Bank city of Hebron after detaining her for five hours and after she was forced to sign a pledge “not to harm the security of the State of Israel”." (thanks Olivia)

They will not go away

"For to recognize Israel as a Jewish state would be not only to renounce (which no leader and indeed no individual Palestinian has the authority to do) the right of return of those Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes during the creation of Israel in 1948. It would also be to abandon to their fate the remaining million or so Palestinians (including their descendants) who survived the nakba and have been living as second class citizens of Israel, and perhaps even to give Israel license to expel them all and complete the "job" (as Benny Morris puts it) of 1948. Israel today is no more Jewish than America is white or Christian. The big difference, though, is that, whereas America (for the most part) embraces its own multiculturalism, Israel still desperately wants to be Jewish. Its absurd demand to be recognized as such (no other state goes around impetuously demanding that others accept its own sense of its national character) is an expression of its own profound insecurity: not its military insecurity--the only serious military threat Israel faces on its own territory is imaginary--but rather its anxious awareness of its status as a botched, and hence forever incomplete, settler-colonial enterprise. Unlike Australia, there were too many aboriginals left standing when the smoke cleared over the ruins of Palestine in 1948. And to this day the Palestinians have refused to simply give up, go away or somehow annul themselves." (thanks Naseer)

Yemen

Comrade Fawwas calls for a referendum in Yemen and analyzes the outcome of the recent wars.

Israel and Saudi Arabia

Don't you like it when Israeli officials and/or Saudi officials speak about fighting "extremism"?

Zionism is racism

"Three of the couple’s six dogs have been mysteriously poisoned; Mrs Zakai’s car has been sprayed with the words ”Arab lover” and the windows smashed; her three children in school are regularly taunted and bullied by other pupils; and a collection of vintage cars in the family’s yard has been set on fire in what police say was an arson attack. To add to these indignities, the Zakais have spent three years and thousands of dollars battling through the courts against the elected officials of their community of Nevatim, in Israel’s southern Negev desert, who have said they are determined to keep the Tarabins from moving in." (thanks Ali)

Just compare

Who will inherit the land of Palestine? You be the judge. (thanks Nad)

House of Saud Responds to Israeli repression of Palestinians

This picture was taken yesterday. Saudi king seen with his brother Nayif and Salman dancing in Janadiriyyah. (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat)

The Full text of the Home Office's Report on "Islamic blogs"

How ignorant are the researchers of the Home Office? How many time does one have to espouse atheist, anarchist, and secular principles before they realize that their categorization is screwed up? Or did they categorize the blogs on the basis of the names of the bloggers? I really suspect it was the latter. How else would you explain the addition of my blog to their list of "Islamic blog."

Look how they labeled me: "Government names most influential 'pro-Islamic' bloggers"

"The Home Office's counter-terrorism communications unit has named its top 20 most influential "pro-Islamic" political bloggers...The top 20 list compiled as a "snapshot" in 2008 includes several based outside Britain but posting on UK politics in English. The top five sites listed are Ali Eteraz, Islam in Europe, the Angry Arab News Service,Indigo Jo Blogs/Blogistan and Daily Terror. Ali Eteraz is the author of Children of Dust – a memoir of Pakistan that was named on the New Statesman 2009 books of the year list – and has been a regular poster on Comment is Free.The list only covers blogs published in English. Some, such as Angry Arab, which publish news articles in full from various sources draw heavily on the New York Times, al-Akhbar and Ha'aretz."

PS For lawyers in US and UK, do I have legal basis for suing the Home Office for the fallacious labeling of my site? Please advise.

Multazimun responds to me

The Lebanese organization, Multazimun, responds to my criticisms. (thanks Ahmad)

King Faysal: Ogaritte Dandash report

The report on on King Faysal today on New TV news was awful. Just awful and weirdly fawning. The Faysal who was portrayed has no relation whatsoever to the real Fayasl. New declassified US documents only confirm that behind the scene he was very much helping the US to smash the Palestinian national movement. And the oil embargo was a joke as Saudi Arabia was selling oil in the spot market.

They will be cleared

"Military police investigation soon to be launched following initial findings on killing of two Palestinians in pitchfork incident near Nablus." (thanks Olivia)

Electronic Comrade

"But the situation on the ground will not wait for the United States to come to its senses; in Jerusalem and the West Bank, popular resistance is growing, in the form of nonviolent protests, to Israel's land confiscations. Israel's violent response, including the arrests of civil society leaders, may cause some Palestinians to react in kind. Globally, Israel faces a growing campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions just like apartheid South Africa did in the 1980s. A leading Israeli think tank, the Reut Institute, warned the government recently that this campaign "possesses strategic significance, and may develop into a comprehensive existential threat within a few years." It also stated that a "harbinger of such a threat would be the collapse of the two-state solution as an agreed framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the coalescence behind a 'one-state solution' as a new alternative framework." With its aggressive settlement expansion plans, Israel has in effect chosen a one-state instead of a two-state solution -- but it is indeed an apartheid state." (thanks Electronic Ali)

The New Book Burner at Al-Azhar

Some press reports have said that the new Shaykh of Al-Azhar (who is a mere functionary of the ruling party of Egypt and is a member of the Jamal Mubarak gang) has earned his PhD from the Sorbonne in Paris. That is not true. He earned his PhD from Al-Azhar itself, although he says he spent "a few months" in Paris. I don't know what he did there but Paris is an interesting place.

Musa As-Sadr propaganda

I mean, if I am sick of Rafiq Hariri propaganda I am also sick and tired of Musa As-Sadr propaganda. Enough already.

This is Zionism

"The current Knesset is the most racist Israeli parliament since the country’s founding, according to a report published Sunday by the Coalition Against Racism and the Mossawa Center, which works to promote equality for the Palestinian citizens of Israel." (thanks Dina)

Zionism is racism, always

"Knesset Member Yaakov Katz (National Union) sparked uproar when he proposed a solution for the infiltration of African refugees into Israel – building a southern town where the refugees would work exclusively." Why the uproar? Hebrew Labor started before the state was created and it excluded Arabs from Jewish enterprises.

This is fishy

Britain, since the Balfour Declaration, always comes to the rescue of Israel. "Britain has expelled an Israeli diplomat over the alleged use of forged U.K. passports in the assassination of a Hamas operative in a suspected Mossad hit. Israel said it was disappointed but vowed to strengthen its relationship with Britain." I don't by the implication that the passports were forged. I think that this was staged to imply that they were for the obvious reasons. Israel wants to continue to use Israeli citizens were real double passports. (thanks Marc)

Comrade Sinan

I managed last night read and enjoy Sinan's new book of Arabic poetry. Not because he is a dear friend (and one of the funniest people I know--although Sinan is one of the funny people who draws a sharp line between what is funny and what is not) and I sometimes tell Sinan if there is a certain poem I like more than an another. I really really enjoyed this beautiful book of poetry. He had told me that Berlin was very conductive for his creativity and I feel the energy in the poems although I like that Sinan's poems are never forced (unlike a lot of the modern Arabic poetry). I so respect Sinan as a poet especially when he ends when he thinks the poem should end. But I really like the poems he wrote in Cairo (more like ghazal style). Very nice indeed. Some should be put to music, and I recommended the talented (but not widely known) Syrian (Paris-based) `Abid `Azriyyah. The book is titled Laylun Wahid fi Kull Al-Mudun and published by Jamal.

Lies of Israel

I happened to catch part of the speech by Netanyahu at AIPAC's conference last night. You get the feeling with Netanyahu that he knows that you know that nothing he says is truthful. Look what he says about Fath commander, Dalal Al-Mughrabi: "A few days ago, in a public square near Ramallah, the Palestinians named this square after a terrorist who murdered 38 innocent Israeli civilians including 13 children, including an American citizen, the photographer, Gail Rubin." Is this a female commander or a Terminator? So according to the latest lies of Israeli propaganda, Dalal managed to shoot AND kill 38 Israelis before she was killed? That only proves my theory. Never ever believe anything Israel says. They lied about the founding of Israel, they lied about the aims of Zionism, they lied about how every war started and they lied about Samir Quntar. Having met Samir Quntar, I know the cheap lies of Israel about him full well.

The ploys of NYT: or how to cover up Israeli murders of Palestinians

If an Israeli is killed by a Palestinian, the NYT leaves no doubt that the Israeli was killed by a Palestinian. But when Palestinians are killed by Israeli terrorists, the story is buried under such layers of details and various accounts and Israeli propaganda claims, that you are left confused not knowing what happened even when it is clear what happened. Look at this: "As is often the case in such shootings with few witnesses, the circumstances surrounding the death of the cousins on Sunday were in dispute. Relatives and neighbors who gathered in the village of Awarta at the home of one of the youths, Salah Muhammad Qawariq, insisted that the two were simply working their land when Jewish settlers from a nearby settlement came and shot them.

“There were no soldiers in the area,” one of the neighbors, Dalal Aziz, said in a telephone interview. Ms. Aziz did not see the shooting, but she said she had run to the scene soon afterward to try to help. Also, sharp differences remained over the Saturday killings. The military maintains that the two were shot by rubber bullets as soldiers dispersed a violent protest involving dozens of villagers hurling rocks. But the Israeli human rights group Btselem distributed photographs of the victims taken by its researcher, Salma al-Debi, in the emergency room of the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus showing wounds that appeared consistent with live ammunition. The youth who died overnight, Ussayed Qadus, had a bullet lodged in his head, but in accordance with the family’s wishes, he was buried on Sunday without an autopsy.The military said that both deaths were under investigation."

Adonis on Darwish

This is such a small and petty man. Adonis waited for Darwish to die to now claim that he was practically a lackey for Saddam. Notice that Adonis in the series in this mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan has no criticisms of Islamic fundamentalism or Salafism and that he does not mention his visits with Arab oil royalties. (thanks Raed)

Sa'ib `Uraykat

It it is not true that my disrespect for `Uraykat is such that I would assign him no role whatsoever in liberated Palestine. I do see a role for him. I would feature him on a weekly TV shows where he would be seated on a chair (strapped) and kids can throw water balloons and shoes at him. Imagine the joy that it would bring to little kids (and me).

Saudi King: Gaurdian of the IKEA store in the kingdom

There is a conference in Janadiriyyah hosted by the Saudi king. It features (comical) panels and workshops about his vision and leadership. Some of the "papers" are being published in Saudi newspapers. They make for great readings for their comical value. This guy is a former member of the Shura council (members are appointed and have no power whatsoever--would you not like to join?) in the kingdom. He said: "The visions and initiatives of the wise and just leader, `Abdullah bin `Abdul-`Aziz House of Saud, have achieved in two decades for Arabism and Islam [not to mention for potato cultivation] what many leaders could not achieve in two centuries." The article later said that he brought Muslim closer together: did he mean that he brought them close to the brink of sectarian civil wars?

Why Israel's years are numbered

""The results show a decline in the Palestinians support for the two-state solution," Waleed Ladadweh, a researcher with the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research told The Media Line. "From 64 percent in December 2009 to 57 percent in this poll." Dr Nabil Kukali, Director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, agreed that Palestinian public opinion is trending towards a bi-national state."

Pew Polls

There are a lot of problems with Western polls that are conducted in the Middle East. I find that the ones that are conducted by Zogby to be more accurate: much more than Gallup or Pew. I was looking at the latest Pew poll conducted in Lebanon. It just does not make sense. I mean, in the last parliamentary elections, we clearly see that Hariri gets some 80 % of support among Sunnis in Beirut, and some 70 to 75 % of support among Sunnis in Sidon or Tripoli (and even in some areas of Biqa`). But in the Pew Poll, it shows Hariri goals capturing support of more than 95 % of Sunnis. What happens with those polls is this (among other problems I have discussed here before): the big Western polling firms, contract the polls to local firms, and most are pro-Hariri.

AIPAC, J Street, what is the difference anway

"Even the competition with the new Israel lobby group on the left, J Street, did not succeed in shaking the standing of AIPAC, at least in terms of the numbers of participants, with 7,500 people signing up, a record high for the group." The lousy J Street? Who would want them to succeed anyway? They are a branch of AIPAC, no more. Today, they took up an ad in the New York Times. They called on Palestinians to desist from inciting violence but did not call on Israelis to desist from inflict violence.

New York Times foreign coverage rules

It is best to cover Iran from Toronto. It is best to cover Lebanon from Dublin. It is best to cover Egypt from Memphis. It is best to cover Israel, from Israel.

Adonis (Part II)

Can Adonis ever have anything to say about another poet or writer? Ever? Here, he accuses Muhammad Al-Maghut of beating his wife.

Israel: as a "secular democracy"

"Alionel Ltd., owner of the McDonald's franchise in Israel, was fined NIS 30,000 (about $8,000) for illegally having a youth work during Shabbat, the Tel Aviv Labor Court announced Thursday. This would not be the first time that the franchise has committed the offense. In 2003, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor filed a complaint against Alionel after finding out that a McDonald's chain owned by the company employed a Jewish youth on a Saturday. Under the Youth Employment Law, it is forbidden to have Jewish youth employees during Sabbath." (thanks Sarah)

Iyad `Allawi: and Shi`ite sectarianism in the Middle East

The reason why the sectarian conflict in the Middle East grew and expanded is that no one was qualified to combat the Saudi Wahhabi plan. I mean, Hizbullah is the logical rival of Saudi Arabia but Hizbullah itself is burned by its sectarian agenda and composition, and its relations with Iran which prevent it from going all out against Saudi Arabia. So Hizbullah is supporting the electoral list of `Ammar Al-Hakim and Muqtada As-Sadr, while the Amal Movement was supporting `Allawi, who is close to Nabih Birri, although Ahmad Chalabi (who aligned himself with Hakim and As-Sadr) used to allegedly fund Amal in the 1980s. `Allawi (former puppet prime minister/car bomber/embezzler in Yemen/Saddam henchman and possible fabricator of an assassination plot on his life in London) was on Aljazeera yesterday. He praised the resistance to US occupation troops and said that he serves as "the bridge" between the Iraqi resistance in the political process in Iraq. Allawi basically ran his campaign as Ba`th light, with the support of Prince Muqrin. For this I now have a theory: that Prince Muqrin can win any election in the Middle East. He won in Lebanon, Iraq, and will soon win in Palestine. This is why, I dont call for elections or democracy in the Middle East--until further notice.

Moussavi groupies for Israel

"The fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed during protests in Teheran following the Iranian elections last year, visited Israel as guest of Channel 2, the station reported Friday evening." (thanks Shaheen)

Holy sex segregation

"A hardline Saudi cleric called for demolishing the Holy Mosque in Mecca and rebuilding it in a way that would insure Sex segregation." I like it when they say "hardline Saudi cleric" as if the government allows for the appointment of any cleric who is not hardline. (thanks Safia)

Fascists for Israel

Look at the fifth picture below. (thanks Asa)

harsh treatment

"UK's military intelligence ran a secret torture unit in Iraq which "reported directly to London" and authorised harsh treatment of detainees, a media report said on Sunday."

It is all for you, Jamal Mubarak

""I had very good relations with the director of Israeli military intelligence." (thanks Olivia)

Sterilizing poor Egyptian women

The Egyptian government now wants to sterilize poor Egyptian women. (thanks Basma)

Nicole Kidman in Iraq

"Speaking after the surgery, bandages and swelling gone, 23-year-old Sarah Saad Abdul-Hameed was ecstatic. Friends who visited "were surprised with the change in my face," she said. "They compared my nose to Nicole Kidman's!""

Prostraters before he House of Saud

Al-Janadiriyyah conferences basically is a gathering to all those Arab writers/intellectuals who wish to prostrate themselves before the princes of the House of Saud. (thanks Hikmat)

The lousy Muslim Brotherhood

"The Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie said he is praying for Mubarak's health and wishing him a safe return after his surgery in Germany." (thanks Laleh)

Walid Jumblat calls me "crazy"

I mean, what better honor, really. So Walid Jumblat in an interview with Rami Al-Amin calls me "majnun." (crazy) To be called Majnun by Walid jumblat is like being called unprincipled by.... Walid Jumblat. My enemies don't know this: I relish being hated by them.

Iraqi elections

I mean, I have never ever heard of a longer voting count than that of the Iraqi election. If takes a day longer, I am going to start thinking that maybe there is political and financial corruption in Iraq. But there are US troops there and the US is a guarantee against corruption, no?