Israeli occupation forces destroying an Arab house near Jerusalem. 

The new Iraq. You will not read this in the US media. I was watching the new Iraqi prime minister make his inaugural speech. He ended it by hoping for "martyrdom."

For the US media, there are sexy demonstrations, and then there are the unsexy demonstrations.

A final verdict from CSM: Bush Doctrine Vindicated. "A small posse of Afghan girls shout "heey-ya!" as they practice karate jabs, kicks, and punches."

Full text. "The war in Iraq : the most deadly one for the media since Vietnam; 56 journalists and media assistants killed, 29 kidnapped."

"Kenya's first lady, Lucy Kibaki, entered the offices of the country's biggest-circulation newspaper yesterday, where she allegedly slapped a television cameraman and seized reporters' notebooks and tape recorders to protest at stories about her eccentric behaviour."

"Brazil yesterday became the first country to take a public stand against the Bush administration's massive Aids programme which is seen by many as seeking increasingly to press its anti-abortion, pro-abstinence sexual agenda on poorer countries."

"Iraq, Afghan conflicts limit U.S. military: Secret report says a third war would be longer." (But a fourth of fifth war would be a piece of cake, or baklava).

So who is behind the Iraqi insurgency this week? You will not believe this, but it is a US army manual. You see, U.S. Army published a detailed manual on how to build and hide booby traps, and it was translated by Saddam's government and distributed in Iraq. Once the US military translates the manual back into English, the insurgency will end. Congratulations.

Decline in newspapers' circulation in US. 

"More than 200 animals, mostly horses, have been sexually abused in Sweden since the 1970s..."

"Canadian researchers have made a startling assertion: parents take better care of pretty children than they do ugly ones."

But Mubarak is expediting normalization with Israel: "Egypt has one of the region's lowest rates of female participation, with the number of MPs a mere 2.4 percent." (US media are still unaware the the level of female participation in the US is far below European democracies.)

An Iraqi child facing US occupation. 

Heroin Addicts for Bush.

The Coast of Brittany, 1861. Whistler.
 

"Women of Kuwait denied vote by Islamist lawmakers"

There is a New Ba`th Party in Iraq. I did not enjoy the "old" Ba`th Party, and I am sure that I will not enjoy the "new" one.

"The scale of the continuing violence in Iraq over the past year was underlined by a US report on the 4 March shooting by American troops of Italian security agent Nicola Calipari, the rescuer of the journalist Giuliana Sgrena who had been held hostage. It also reveals there were 15,527 attacks on coalition forces, largely American, from July 2004 to late March 2005. Some 2,404 attacks took place in Baghdad from 1 November to 12 March. The report was first issued by the US in a heavily censored form with sensitive information blocked out. But an Italian computer specialist discovered that the censorship was easy to remove. The picture painted by the uncensored military report is in sharp contrast to the more optimistic views given by the Pentagon to the US media."

"The president of Pakistan has ordered a high-level inquiry after a 17-year-old girl said she was raped by two police officers after she was rescued from abductors who had kidnapped and gang-raped her. Nazish Asghar, from the city of Sialkot in eastern Punjab province, threatened self-immolation in front of the national parliament if her attackers were not brought to justice."

Lebanese skinheads (thanks Salim for sending me the picture from Beirut) 

Facing Israeli occupation. 

Le Monde has noticed "la résurgence des clivages confessionnels" but not US newspapers.

AFP is reporting from Ramallah that a Palestinian (Christian) father smashed the head of his daughter because she planned to marry a Muslim Palestinian that she was in love with. Palestinian security forces allowed the murderer to attend the funeral of his daughter.

Hani Al-Hasan, who has more support within the Fath movement than Abu Mazin--but then again, Bush has more support inside Fath than Abu Mazin, has posed a serious political threat to Abu Mazin. There are now reports that he will be exiled as ambassador in Amman. I will be suprised if he accepts.

Lawyer's trial in Tunisia slated as a "mockery"

Full text. "Abu Ghraib-One Year Later: Comprehensive Report Documents Use of Psychological Torture by US Forces."

Oppression that US Supports: "Police fired tear gas at students in Mauritania's capital on Monday during a protest at this week's visit by Israel's foreign minister to an Arab nation where many oppose diplomatic ties with the Jewish state." Will those demonstrators receive the support of the Washington Post and New York Times? Will Hassan Fattah be dispatched to write glowing profiles of them?

Saddam in his Jail: Oh, no. More information on Saddam's jail conditions. Saddam's lawyer/fan, Khalil Ad-Dulaymi, has talked to Al-Quds Al-`Arabi about Saddam's prison conditions, as if I am supposed to feel bad about Saddam's conditions. Saddam, you see, complains that he has not seen the sun in a year, and yet later says that he sees the sun but only through a little opening. But were Saddam's jail victims when he was still a dictator allowed to see the sun? Hardly. I was disgusted to read that US occupation has apparently assigned a special servant to wash Saddam's clothes. But Saddam is not pleased with the work of the servant, we are told. So he is now washing his own clothes with his own hands to "ensure better cleanliness." Cigarettes is a problem for Saddam as if his prisoners were allowed to live to smoke cigarettes. The quality of Saddam's food is "good and reasonable" said the lawyer/fan. I bet Saddam gets better treatment from US occupation than all other Iraqi prisoners combined. Saddam spends his time mostly praying--he is religious now, is that not sweet?--reading the Qur'an, and writing poetry. Let us hope that his poetry does not get published, ever. I can stomach neither reading Saddam's poetry nor reading his prose. Spare me, Saddam. Saddam does not stop demagoging the Palestinian issue, even inside his cell, and he,again, sent his "salutations" to the "heroic Palestinian people" as if they need his support and salutations.

They call them "terrorists." Facing Israeli occupation. 

I just noticed that Laith Kubba, who until very recently was senior program officer for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy, has been appointed a spokesperson for the new Iraqi government.

What is going on in Oman? "Omani court convicts 31 people over coup plot." But Oman human rights advocates deny that the defendants were members of a "secret underground group." And some major clerics of the Ibadiyyah sect were among those arrested.

The New York Times Waxes Emotional: I have been guilty of criticizing the New York Times for being cold and unemotional about Iraqi developments since the Bush's recent war. I take this back. Today, the New York Times was practically in tears. I have never seen or read a newspaper being so passionate and humane. Judge for yourselves from this headline: "Iraq's Oil Output Is Lagging: Why God, Why? Why?"

Angry Pope is Funny: US media waited days before tying hard to soften the image of the Angry Pope. In unison, they published articles saying that the Pope is in fact quite funny. A sample: "''As the trend in the ballots slowly made me realize that -- in a manner of speaking the guillotine would fall on me -- I started to feel quite dizzy," the 78-year-old Benedict told his countrymen in his native German, smiling and chuckling." What! Stop! Stop, Pope Pope Benedict XVI. Please stop! I can not take this anymore. This is too funny. Are you a Pope, or a comedian? And you thought that Tony Danza is funny? Look at this guy. I cannot take it anymore. Whenever I read the joke, I fall on the floor. I am crawling now. Please stop reporting this hilarious joke. I just cannot take it anymore. Wow! You thought that George Garlin is funny. Listen to this guy. I cannot believe that a Pope would be that funny. Who would have thought. I can't take it anymore. Please help me, funny Pope.

The Lebanese can now resume their civil wars...in peace, hopefully: I do not relish being proven correct in my earlier assessment of the Lebanese situation, and my cynical reaction to the artificial facades of Lebanese popular unity. I do not derive pleasure from watching the Lebanese going back to their ugly sectarian identities and animosities, especially as they historically fueled the successive Lebanese civil wars. People who watch Lebanon, and the Lebanese themselves, are now noting with increasing alarm the rise in manifestations of sectarian hatred, agitation, and mobilization. The tone of the recent beginnings of electoral campaigns are classical Lebanese sectarian dirty politics, and those were camouflaged by the Ta'if charade and Syrian military domination. And the LBC-TV is the best to pour gasoline on the fire of sectarianism in Lebanon. That is their specialty. Let the true Lebanese now come out. `Awn will be back, and Ja`ja` will be released, and the militias are just a phase away. There are militias of course, but they are now just under the surface although even the Global High Commissioner for Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larson (recently praised by Bush, who gives him instructions before his trips to Middle East) noted the presence of armed men in different neighborhoods in Lebanon. Is that not how the civil war started in Lebanon? I have often said that the last refuge of Lebanese scoundrels is sectarianism. And the last scoundrel in this regard is the Lebanese president, Emile Lahhud, who I may interview when I go to Lebanon in June. He now, having realized belatedly that he only has some support among Lebanese Shi`ites, has embarked on a dirty sectarian Christian campaign to win some Christian points of support, in the hope of getting his son, Emile Lahhud Jr., elected deputy. This Lahhud (the son) has a notorious reputation for corruption, and his name was one of several Lebanese who were listed in the captured Iraqi documents published by Fakhri Karim in his newspaper Al-Mada in Baghdad, and the names were those who were granted oil coupons for sale by the government of Saddam's dictatorship. He now also wants sectarian Christian support. Even the president's son-in-law, Ilyas Murr--son of the notorious Michel Al-Murr who more than anybody else was a key linchpin--along with Hariri--in the political-economic order installed by the Syrian military-intelligence apparatus in Lebanon. They all now want to pose as protectors of sectarian Christian interests. All this, the recent sectarian fuss that is, is about appointing a successor to the director of the Surete General in Lebanon. The president, who took a vow of silence once crowned for a second term by the Syrian president, now wants to be vocal in sectarian posturing. This is Lebanon. And the Maronite Patriarch now wants to design electoral districts for Lebanon, the smaller and the narrower, the better for him. You see: he wants each sectarian group to elect its own members to the parliament. A clear recipe for the perpetuation of sectarian identities and animosities. This demagogic patriarch claims that small electoral districts are good because voters would know the personalities of the elected, forgetting that the entire country of Lebanon can fit in one electoral district in the US. Knowing the "elected?" What a false and bogus claim. He just does not want Muslim vote spoiling the elections of extreme Christian sectarian candidates. Yet, the Patriarch and his ilk also demand that Lebanese in Brazil, who never stepped foot in Lebanon since 1926, be allowed to vote for candidates in Lebanon, not realizing the contradiction in his position. But Muslim parties and movements are also sectarian-minded: they want larger districts to bring Christian deputies with Muslim votes. But the Patriarch does not mind the election of Muslim candidates with Christian votes (Jubayl--for the Shi`ite seat, Ba`bda for the Shi`ite seat, etc). The solution is of course full secularization of the system (or gradually the creation of two chambers, one with sectarian distribution and single-member-districts and the other secular with proportional representation), and the elimination of sectarian tags from the system and the from the consciousnesses of people. Proportional representation (with Lebanon as one electoral district) would produce national and multi-sectarian political parties that we so badly need for the country. It will force Hizbullah to run for votes in Kisrawan and `Awn will be forced to run for votes in Tripoli. And the creation of mixed electoral districts is good, because it excludes extreme sectarian candidates, but it cannot be done the way it was done in post-Ta'if Lebanon, where only extreme Muslim candidates were allowed but not Christian. A friend sent me a report from a sports game (basketball) in Lebanon the other day. It was between Sporting Beirut (Sunni team) and al Hikma (Maronite team-pro LF)--yes, even sports teams are sectarian in that Hummus homeland. After the loss of Hikma, their supporters started chanting (to annoy their Muslim rivals): "Hariri Rah, Rah; Nasrallah, waynu, waynu" (Hariri is gone, is gone; Nasrallah, where is he, where?). And "Ah, Ah, Abu Baha'" (Abu Baha' is Hariri's nickname). But I bet that Bush will now talk less and less about Lebanon, and the US correspondents will now be gradually withdrawn from Lebanon. After all, developments will not be seen as validation of the Bush's doctrine, although Washington Post and New York Times reporters have been touring the globe hoping to validate the "Bush's doctrine." The two-months-old Lebanon's charade has officially ended; Lebanon is now unmasked. Just watch.

I was quite disgusted to read that the polygamous Prince Sultan (Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia--also known as Minister 10% because he allegedly insists on 10% of all Saudi arms sales) has donated a meager $150,000.00 to the Center for Women's Participation Center (affiliated with the Arab League). Do you know how much money those princes spend on casino tables? On gifts to British royalty? On arms purchases? On bribes to journalists? On lavish parties? On glossy propaganda brochures? On wastefly lobbying? On funding for fanatical religious ideologies? No wonder I am suffocating.

Kenneth Clark died.

"...a top officer made wisecracks about the soldiers heading off to Iraq to kill some ragheads and burn some turbans." (thanks Maria)

You will be surprised how many good art galleries there are in little Carmel in California (with many catering to kitsch, of course). But some are excellent. I recommend this. (thanks Tara)

Terrace at Cagnes, 1905. Renoir.
 

"A woman's place in the lab"

Could not get the link, but the Times of London is reporting that "THE government of Qatar is paying millions of pounds a year to Al-Qaeda in return for an undertaking to spare it from further terrorist attacks, official sources in the wealthy Gulf state claimed last week."

How often does this happen, and how often have I posted about it, and who is noticing, and does anybody care, and are people going to trial, and how many have been convicted, and is there is an end in sight to this ordeal for the people of Afghanistan, and why is the Feminist Majority, which endorsed Bush's "liberation" of the country silent about this? "U.S. coalition warplanes attacked a rebel camp in a central Afghan province, killing a child and two other civilians along with four suspected militants, the U.S. military said Saturday."

It is official: the right-wing Lebanese opposition has fractured. Two signs: Walid Jumblat is back sounding like the head of the Lebanese branch of the Ba`th party, and Michel `Awn is off his medications. How do I know that? Well, `Awn is back yelling and screaming at reporters. Sure sign. Brace yourselves.
PS. Victor David Hansen is still quoting the Jumblat of the few weeks ago. He has not noticed that he switched back.

What Am I? A Fact-Checker for US Media? I have other things to do, you know. It is tempting these days to subscribe--at least to a degree--to conspiracy theory, provided it is not of the kooky kind that sometimes appeals to people on the left and on the Islamic Fundamentalist bank. Lee Smith (who is always identified as somebody who is writing a "a book on Arab culture") is now writing for the New York Times. Mark my words: Michael Young will soon be writing for the New York Times. And the right-wing team will be complete, and they all know one another, and only interview one another: Lee Smith interviews Michael Young, and Hassan Fattah interviews Michael Young, and Young cites Fattah and Ajami, and Smith cites and interviews Michael Doran, and on and on and on. I once asked Lee Smith, who writes for Slate and who--I am not making this up--states categorically that the racist and unscholarly Raphael Patai (in his book the Savage Mind, I mean, The Arab Mind) is in fact quite "sympathetic" to Arab society in his book, whether he knows Arabic. He said that he took classes, or is taking classes, I do not remember, but that he does not read it. Is this not like me writing a book on Chinese culture? Today, he writes in the Times. It took him only a few sentences to make his first MAJOR mistake: he tells readers that Imam Husayn was killed in 656 AD, when anybody who reads the page on the Middle East in any world history book in high school knows that it was in 680AD. You may wonder why I bother? I do so only to urge you readers to shake your confidence in the reliability of what you read in this "respected" newspaper, the New York Times. People on the left should really read the book by right-wing reporter Bernard Golberg (Arrogance--his second book against the media). He makes an important point about the socio-economic elitism on the part of US mainstream media. He is right. There is an incestuous network in the media, they know one another, they travel together, and attend the same parties, and send their kids to the same school. Goldberg also makes that point. Today, Fareed Zakaria reviews Thomas Friedman's new book. These people are friends. What do you expect him to say about his friend? Friedman's book, in other news, is on the NYT best-seller list today. Also, notice in the aforementioned article by Smith that the Saudi King of Jordan, `Abdullah, is described as "progressive." Progressive? The king who designs electoral districts in order to strengthen the rule of the traditional clans and tribes to defeat progressive bonds and identities, and to stay in power? Progressive when he does not dare to go against the traditional misogynist traditions and practices because he wants to preserve his alliance with the "clans" to use against his opposition, as his father used it against Palestinians? Notice that Smith (who--in case you forgot--is writing a book on Arab culture) refers to Shi`ites in Lebanon as a special "ethnic" group perhaps not knowing that all Lebanese, regardless of sectarian affiliation, are all part of the same ethnic group. He also falsely says that most Lebanese are not willing to negotiate with Hizbullah, when even `Awn and Lebanese Forces are in favor of negotiation with Hizbullah. He also inflates the size of the Shi`ite in the population in Bahrain.