Son of Saudi King playing with Playstation from atop his servant

This is prince Badr Bin `Abdullah.  I am told that the man is his slave, literally.

Zionism is permanent racism

"An illegal migrant from Darfur has recently suffered a stillbirth, after her please for medical attention while in the Israeli Prison Service detention facility were denied, Ynet learned Wednesday."

losing Saudi citizenship

M. sent me this: "This is a video that was posted a few months back. This guy's father lost citizenship because their tribe's chief demanded 50 thousand riyals (I think that it officially costs around 50 riyals or so) so that he would issue them a Saudi ID (I've been told that in tribal areas the tribe's chief testimony is required for the tribe's members to get an ID). You have no idea how hard it is to live in Saudi without ID. If you're caught at a checkpoint without your ID you go strait to jail. I had a gun pointed at me by mabaheth (undercover police) when I was 14 because I refused to give them my name and ID...I didn't even know they were mabaheth."

Khaled Amayreh: he hates to sound sectarian but...

""There, these beasts walking on two legs decapitate Syrian children and rape Syrian women and then shout rather hysterically Hussein! Mahdi! Abbas! and Ali! The murderous thugs, brainwashed into thinking they are avenging the death of Imam Hussein more than 1300 years ago, are actually the Shiites of Iblis (the devil), not the Shiites of Mohamed or the Shiites of Hussein.""

killing flies

""It really is like swatting flies. We can do it forever easily and you feel nothing. But how often do you really think about killing a fly?"" (thanks Amir)

Muslm Brotherhood and Israel

""The security cooperation between us and Egypt is excellent, and is continuing as normal," he concluded." (thanks Hussein)

"clean repression" in Jordan

From Ahmet in Tunisia:  "Asad, as if the Brotherhood had tested the regime capacity for bloody repression, what a meek posture and notice how he finally slips a a pro forma objection to the stationing of US troops on the Syrian borders the at the end, probably after coming under fire from Leith Shbeilat and other critics. And still, he is begging for more reform:

"And having seen that the world does not call to account Assad, we in the Jordanian opposition have deep doubts about the true intentions of the American and British troops who were reported to be on Jordanian soil. They claim they are providing "protection to Jordan from Syrian spillover", but we oppose any foreign troops on our land, and consider this a clear violation of Jordanian sovereignty.

In Jordan, the regime has not shed blood; it pursues a strategy of "clean repression". Regrettably, the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections was used as an excuse to forge the Jordanian elections in 2007. That was not a one-off: the Palestinian intifada was also used as an excuse to suspend parliamentary life for two years, during which time the government issued 200 temporary laws in the absence of a parliament. Today the Arab spring is used as an excuse to delay, rather than accelerate, reform.

Even so, in the absence of bloodshed there is still hope. In our monarchical system, reform is possible, and we have a history of reform that we can build upon. In the 1950s, a constitution was enacted and a parliamentary government was formed. In 1989, the Islamic Movement participated as a partner in the government and led a programme of democratic transformation."""

Zionist newspeak in French

Jerome sent me this:  "How do you say grave violation of the UN charter and threat to international peace and security in Zionist/French newspeak?

Here is the answer: "Dans ce genre de raid, qui n'obéit pas vraiment aux règles de la Charte des Nations unies".

Government militias

"Officials in Libya said on Wednesday that government forces had taken control of the western town of Bani Walid, after a deadly assault that lasted almost a week and led to accusations that the country’s new government was using indiscriminate force to punish a restive city."  What government forces? Those are government militias doing battle with rival militias.  Get the record straight, please, as impossible as my request is for the New York Times.

Happy `Id

"Palestinians smuggled sheep to Gaza in a tunnel under Egypt's border for the Muslim celebration of Eid Al-Adha, where goats, sheep and camels are slaughtered commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail on God's command."

`Id Al-Adha

I wish to salute all the sheep in the Arab world.  Today is a painful day for the sheep.   We should ask for their forgiveness.  Why not sacrifice an eggplant or a cauliflower instead to spare the sheep?  Can religious rituals be amended?

The gift to Arab secularists and atheists

Mark my words.  The rule of the Muslim Brotherhood will prove to be the best gift for Arab secularists and atheists.  Just watch.  They are so repulsive that they will drive people away from fundamentalism and even from religion altogether.

Secularist demonstration in Tunisia

I am glad that Reuters has noticed:  "Thousands of secularist protesters accused Tunisia's Islamist government on Monday of undermining a transition to democracy by failing to stem violence after a secular politician was killed in political violence last week." (thanks Sean)

Hariri militia commander

You wont read about this Hariri militia commander in the Western press. He is featured in Al-Akhbar.

The pious King

(thanks Laure, who took this picture).

Obama's favorite TV show

Comrade Joseph writes a brilliant critique of "Homeland".

The day of sectarian violence in Lebanon

My latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English: "The day of sectarian violence in Lebanon".

It is only fair that we thank NATO for establishing a real democracy in Libya: picture below in Bani Walid shows a glimpse of the new democratic process

Not that you would notice

Thousands of secular Tunisians demonstrated the other day in support of secularism and in opposition to fundamentalism.  Did any Western media notice that?

Global Gender Gap Report: skewed as always on the Middle East

So according to this deformed report, UAE and Qatar are ahead of Lebanon, and Jordan is ahead of Lebanon, while Saudi Arabia is ahead of Syria.  Is there anything that the West does or says about the Middle East that is not twisted and wrong-headed? Anything?  (thanks Dana)

debate

"And there was no criticism of Israel, its settlements or its occupation of the West Bank. Mr. Romney did say that Mr. Obama had not visited Israel as president even after his 2009 visit to Cairo in which he pledged a new era in relations with the Muslim world.  Mr. Obama responded with descriptions of an earlier visit as a legislator, but Mr. Romney missed an opportunity to respond tartly, for even top Obama aides concede that failing to go quickly to Israel after Cairo to make a similar speech and then calling for a “settlement freeze” in East Jerusalem, instead of in the larger West Bank, were errors."

The Economist proves that Syrian armed groups can't be bad guys

"“But many of us drink beer.”" (thanks Raed II)

FLASH: Hamid Karzai is angry, and he means it this time. He won't allow more NATO killing of Afghan civilians

""Despite repeated pledges by NATO to avoid civilian casualties, innocent lives, including children, are still being lost," Karzai said in the statement."

Mursi's disgrace

"Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood official resigned in protest against a cordial letter sent by Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi to his Israeli counterpart, and urged Morsi to resign for his “treason” in sending it.   Ahmad Hamrawi, former secretary general of the lawyers’ association in Alexandria and a founder of Morsi’s Freedom and Justice party, left the Muslim Brotherhood following publication of the letter of credence sent by Morsi to his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres on the occasion of the arrival of Egypt’s new ambassador to Israel, Atef Salem, on October 17.  “What Morsi said in his letter to the Zionist entity… is national and religious treason to millions of Egyptians,” wrote Hamrawi in a press statement Saturday, ending his 28-year membership in the Muslim Brotherhood."

by way of comparison

""When it comes to justifying the killing of civilians, the only difference between the Joe Kleins of the world and Osama bin Laden is that they're on different sides. To the extent one wanted to distinguish them, one could say that the violence and aggression brought by the US to the Muslim world vastly exceeds - vastly - the violence and aggression brought by the Muslim world to the US. That's just a fact."" (thanks Amir)

top 20 list

""Mullen told White House and counterterrorism officials that the Pakistani military chief had demanded an answer to a seemingly reasonable question: After hundreds of drone strikes, how could the United States possibly still be working its way through a "top 20" list?""

condolence payment: how nice, how kind

"“I offer my sincerest condolences to the families of the civilians that were killed. Additionally, I am committed to ensuring we do the right thing for the families of those harmed and we will meet with them personally to offer a condolence payment and express our deep regrets,” said Gen. John R. Allen, commander of ISAF."

Israel's dirty hands and arms

"Global Post has published an important overview of Israel’s role as major arms exporter fueling the Armenian-Azeri conflict. Recently Azerbaijan announced a $1.6-billion arms deal with Israel that would bring its drone fleet to 100 including Israel’s most advanced Heron model. Here’s an inventory of arms sales to one of the region’s wealthiest, most corrupt and autocratic leaders".

Emir of Qatar in Gaza

"The emir of Qatar has called a planned address to the Palestinians in Gaza City's main soccer stadium. The address had been the centerpiece of the emir's landmark visit to Gaza. Hamas cited the emir's tight schedule in announcing the change. But the stadium was only about one-fifth full around the time of the cancellation." (thanks Basim)

The worst thugs of the Middle East

The worst armed thugs in the Middle East are trained and/or funded and/or armed by the US: Dahlan Fath militias in Palestine; Hariri Salafite thugs in Lebanon, and NATO militias in Libya, and Free Syrian Army gangs in Syria.  This is all part of the democracy promotion agenda of the US government.

CORRECTION: Jeffrey Feltman's children: the pro-West March 14 thugs asked him about his sect, and then cut off his fingers with a sword

There has not been one single account of the sectarian crimes of Hariri thugs in Lebanon in any Western media outlet--to my knowledge.  (thanks Raed)

PS And the guy says that he is seeking revenge.  That is how civil wars start.
PPS My apology.  Now they are saying that the story published in An-Nahar is in fact fabricated by the person above.

If someone wrote that in the US, he/she would be accused of anti-Semitism

"The debate over Iran and Israel was really about Jewish voters in Florida, while the debate over China was really about jobs in Ohio and the Midwest, noted François Heisbourg, a special adviser at the Foundation for Strategic Research, based in Paris."

Fath and the municipal elections in the West Bank

So more than half of the voters did not bother to vote.  And Hamas boycotted the election and its candidates did not win.  And Fath did not win a landslide even when its main rival boycotted.  And the presence of Dahlan candidates proves that Muhammad bin Zayid is still supporting his business partner. 

An official Israeli acknowledgement of what happened in Gaza

"After Hamas won a clear majority, Washington sought to train Fatah forces to crush it militarily in the Gaza Strip. But Hamas pre-empted this scheme by taking control of Gaza in 2007..."  The US is yet to admit its criminal, anti-democratic role.

This guy's view of the Middle East

"Muslims are killing Muslims across the Middle East and Central Asia today".  In every place where Muslims are killing Muslims--and it certainly is not everywhere across the region--the US or its clients are arming and financing one side and are deeply implicated in instigating the conflict.  In every one of those conflicts.

fighting terrorism--or Toyyorysm as Shimon Peres prounces it

"An informant recruited by the New York Police Department to collect information on suspected Islamic militants has quit and denounced his police handlers, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.  The informant, a 19-year-old American citizen of Bangladeshi descent, was recruited by the NYPD recently as part of an expansive intelligence-gathering program the department launched after the al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001. His assignment was to make contact with suspected Islamic extremists to try to determine if they had any inclinations to engage in violence, the source said.  On October 2, however, the informant, whom the source did not name, posted a message on his personal Facebook page exposing himself as an informant to people he had been in contact with. He declared that he had quit as a police informant.  "I was jus (sic) of pretending to be friends with ya cuz I honestly thought i was fighting terrorism, but let's be real, it's all a f...king scheme," the informant wrote, according to the source. "It was all about the money," he added.  The source said that the informant was not involved in an investigation that led to the arrest of a Bangladeshi man last week in connection with an alleged scheme to bomb the New York Federal Reserve Bank in Lower Manhattan."

Ruling over you is a sacrifice: Jordanian King

If he was not a client of the US/Israel, the Jordanian King would be the laughing stock of the international stage.  Today, in a speech he told his subjects: that the rule of the Hashemites is a sacrifice by them.  Kid you not.  His subjects wanted to yell: spare us the sacrifice, please.

Turkey in the Arab world

An assessment from two people who know what they are talking about:  "In record time, Turkey evolved from having zero problems with its neighbors to nothing but problems with them. It has alienated Iran, angered Iraq, and had a row with Israel. It virtually is at war with Syria. Iraqi Kurds are now Ankara’s allies, even as it wages war against its own Kurds and even as its policies in Iraq and Syria embolden secessionist tendencies in Turkey itself."

An assessment by a clueless guy:  "“Turkey has become the effective leader of the Arab world, even though it’s not Arab.”"  (Hey: at least he knew that Turkey is not an Arab country.  That is huge).

"This is not a revolution"

This is one of the best things I have read on the Arab uprisings.  And so beautifully written too.  (thanks Hussein)

PS No, I don't support Agha and Malley's views on the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

Saudi rap agianst the regime

Update from Damascus

Akram from Damascus:

"If the label of most of the Syrian cities and towns is death and mass destruction, in Damascus it is the chaos. The city is not anymore an urban continuum, but rather a group of separated districts where the main streets that are supposed to play the arteries role for the movement between the different parts of the town are hit by multiple major clots caused by the checkpoints, that became familiar to the Damascenes, or completely closed by barricades that block access completely to the major squares and the sensitive security and governmental facilities. This situation make movement within the city extremely difficult not only because the traffic in the few streets that remain open is jammed all over the time but also one can’t plan his trip in advance, nor can he expect his arrival time because, in most cases he would find himself obliged to change his track and take side roads to find himself in late or, in some cases he would find his way surprisingly accessible in a way he reaches his target too early. In these conditions, cars became a real burden for their owners and taxis take the opportunity to impose unfair conditions on the passengers: few are the cabs that operate their counters, a violation that, in normal conditions, costs a great fine (or a bribe), and many of drivers refuse to head to the city center or the hot areas or impose a great reward. Moreover, the residents are, practically, prisoners in their city: leaving to the neighboring suburbs, let alone the more distant towns, is more a suicide mission than a simple trip: very few are those who dare to do so, fearing of getting stuck amid daily clashes, or particularly, in the case of Alawites, slaughtered by FSA (or, if some people prefer, by gangs borrowing the FSA label) or for the more fortunate, kidnapped for ransom.

To this impossible situation, is added the escalating wave of explosions that strike the city on daily basis. These explosions became a real obsession to the average Damascene: in the beginning, it was enough to avoid the major security centers, that many of them were, already, hit by car bombs. But after the Syrian authorities have taken preventive measures that made targeting them exceptionally difficult, the ambitions of the terrorists became lower (police stations as in the case of the recent Bab Touma explosion, isolated checkpoints on the outskirts of the city, or even cars owned by junior officials or people considered pro-regime) and their explosives smaller, though not less effective in spreading terror or in taking lives especially when implanted in crowded areas. But the Syrian security apparatus, equipped with decades of expertise in individual and institutional corruption and in oppressing the Syrian society, seem unfamiliar in dealing with terrorism: Contrary to many metropolitans in the west or even in many Arab cities, surveillance cameras are very rare in Damascus. And while explosive detecting devices or dogs don’t exist, security men seem to be working in the dark and depend on their own guess and experience (or on warnings issued by their superiors) that have proven, so far, to be ineffective.

In Damascus, who is planning to marry to whom, who is at odd with who and other family chats aren’t of the Damascene’s priorities anymore, nor the ridiculous polemics of the Lebanese politicians. The talk show presenter Marcel Ghanem and his weekly circus of Thursday night stopped to be on their agenda. Even the daily gossips about an expected departure of this Syrian minister or that, or a long waited wage increase that "is coming soon", or the hilarious corruption stories of the philanthropist Rami Makhlouf &co. retreated to the back range. The death occupies the entire scene, and from time to time, impose themselves the statements of the Lakhdar Ibrahimi and his desperate attempts to make the canons silenced even for few days."

I wish that Jimmy Carter would just go away

"“The United States used to be major obstacle to Israeli expansion...“I’ve known every prime minister since Golda Meir,” he said, ticking off experiences with Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak. “All the previous prime ministers have been so courageous in their own way. In the past, all committed to the two states."  This is not dumb it is a lie, but Carter has a history of lying. 

Forcing their maids to join their ugly demonstrations

This is a tradition in March 14 demonstration: they force their maids to join their ugly demonstration.  The flag is for the Lebanese Forces. (thanks Marc)

Lousy New York Times on lebanon

Read this long article in the times on lebanon and you won't understand a thing.  There is absolutely no reference whatsoever  to basic facts: that pro-US Hariri thugs who include Salafites were the ones who were doing the shooting and killings.   and tell peter harling of ICG that pro-Saudi March 14 never supported the policy of dissociation in Syria.   I mean, I know that you all are doing your best to serve the propaganda interests of the US and its Saudi clients in Lebanon, but do you think that people in Lebanon won't notice the glaring biases of this lousy article? 

Bin Ladenites who laugh and joke

Adam sent me this:  "Another attempt to depict the Free Syrian Army as progressive : ""This was very unusual to see," he laughs. "I came to the town thinking the Jond Allah battalion is some al-Qaeda inspired group of fighters.  "But they were not. They treated al-Meeki like an older sister. They are normal people. They laugh and joke. Some pray, some don't. Some smoke, some don't. Some even drink."  So because one woman joined the FSA we have to believe that there are no salafites in the armed opposition. How logical."