correction: about Dalai Lama

Edward sent me this:  "I noticed in your blog posting that you criticized the Dali Lama for not speaking about the anti Muslim violence in Burma. Well actually he has spoken out two or three times over the last year.
please see
April 2013
August 2012
The Dali Lama's public letter to Suu Kyi about the violence in Arakan (Rakhine) state was almost completely ignored by both Burmese opposition and state controlled media. The Dali Lama is ofcourse from a different branch of Buddhism which is practiced by very few people in Burma but he is still relatively well known in the country thanks to Voice of America and other foreign funded media groups.
Meanwhile Suu Kyi's spokesperson just told reporters that the Rohingya do not exist. Reminds me of Golda Meir. See here "

Which Afghanistan do you prefer?

I would argue--at least from the standpoint of secularism and women's rights--that the US-installed regime in Afghanistan is far worse than the Soviet-installed regime there during the years of Soviet occupation. 

Libya today

It is quite noteworthy that the lawlessness and crime-ridden Libya does not get covered in the Western press. As for as the Western press is concerned, Libya has been "liberated" just as Afghanistan was "liberated" as soon as Soviet troops left the country.

Muslim Brotherhood: to Israel with Love

"The Egyptian TV reported that the Egyptian Border Police destroyed several border tunnels with the Gaza Strip, including tunnels meant for smuggling cars into Gaza." "Tunnels are also used for smuggling urgently needed medical supplies and medications missing in Gaza Strip hospitals and medical centers due to the Israeli siege."

"White House says Burma's rights record improves as Muslims are burned alive"

From a reader: "The Obama administration lifted sweeping travel restrictions on Burmese government officials Thursday in a further acknowledgment of the country's progress in reversing decades of repressive policies."

This blog

I am told that this blog has been crashing on Firefox and that it has been slow. Is it better now? I removed adzouk ads which I think caused the problems.

Two women rescued from Saudi diplomat's home

"A case of "possible human trafficking" at a Saudi diplomatic compound in Virginia is under investigation, Homeland Security confirmed to News4." "It's not clear if the women, who sources say are from the Philippines, called investigators to the home themselves or if someone else did."

American psychiatry

"Cartwright was a slaveholder's doctor from New Orleans -- he believed in the inferiority of what he called the "African races." He believed that abolitionism was based on a misguided notion that black people and white people were essentially equal. He thought that the desire for freedom in a black person was pathological because black people were born to be enslaved. To aspire to freedom was a betrayal of their nature, a disease. He invented "drapetomania," the impulse to run away from slavery. Assuming there wasn't horrible cruelty being inflicted on the slaves, they were "sick." He came up with a few diagnostic criteria and presented it to his colleagues." (thanks Amir)

typical Israel heroism: against children

"On Sunday, three Palestinian boys were detained by the IDF in Hebron, along with a Swedish activist who seems to have tried to calmly prevent their arrests. (Footage of the arrest is below, and highly disturbing to watch). According to the International Solidarity Movement, who put out a report on Sunday and has since been updating, the children were released a few hours later, but the Swede is still being held and attempts are being made to deport him."

Israel and Syria

One of the many virtues of the fall of the Syrian regime is its impact on Israeli occupation and aggression.  The Ba`th guaranteed quiet on the border with occupied Palestine for too long.  For that, I welcome the chaos scenario. 

Heroes of Syrian "revolution"

"Members of the rebel Free Syrian Army have allagedly desecrated and exhumed the 7th Century grave of a companion of the Prophet Mohammad..."

Samar Yazbak in the Guardian

Basically, any insults against the Syrian regime rings poetic in the Western press.  Imagine if any liberal or even leftist publication were to publish such language about an Israeli butcher: "Assad is a tyrant, a murderer and a sadist. Whatever is to come, it cannot be worse."  Why not just say: Asad is a motherfucker and I don't care who rules Syria unless it is not him.  Is that not more poetic?

fake mahdis in Iran?

"Last year a seminary expert, Mehdi Ghafari, said that more than 3,000 fake Mahdis were in prison."

In Raqqah, Syria

This is from Raqqah in Syria.  The main square there has been renamed Prophet Muhammad Square, and a giant flag of Al-Qa`idah is posted.   And do you still need a fortune teller to tell you how things are going in Syria? (Reuters)

Sep. 11, after a decade

Think about it. After more than ten years since Sep. 11, the US is edging toward reconciliation with Taliban in Afghanistan, and is practically aligned with Al-Qa`idah in Syria.  If only the American public knows.

all options are on the table

Obama keeps saying that all options are on the table.  I am sure but why do I get the feeling that top among the options is a classical American debacle.

Fadil Al-Barrak: Saddam's era

There is so much tel tell about Sulayman Frizli's new book, `Alamat Ad-Darb (Signposts of the Road).  But I don't have time to respond to everything in an 800-book (thanks Ali and Laure for bringing me the book).  The writer was a former editor of many pro-Iraq Ba`thist publication and who worked in many Arab political weeklies.  I met him once in my life: in 1983 just before I came to the US.  I was working at an oil publication, `Alam An-Naft in Beirut.  The owner was a friend of his and he brought him to introduce him to me for some reason.  He told him that As`ad is leaving for the US to finish his PhD at Georgetown.  He was smoking a huge Cuban cigar and he said: people only want to get PhDs for prestige.  It still bothers me that I did not respond with: yes, just like smoking those huge cigars.  Anyway, the book has many revelations about Arab politics and media. He was very close to Michele Aflaq, and there is a whole section about the mysterious Fadil Al-Barrak, Saddam's chief of intelligence for years.  I did not know that Al-Barrak's widow was made to marry Barzan (Saddam's brother), perhaps to humiliate the man even after his death.  But Frizli's account of him is way too uncritical and even apologetic.  But the book is worth reading.

a spectre is hauning the US

"Hummus Is Conquering America". (thanks Rabih)

simply reflecting

From Nu`man: "Churchill was simply reflecting the view of his imperial contemporaries that British officers such as himself were superior to the Indians who served under them. “Nothing is so remarkable as the ascendancy which the British officer maintains over the native soldier. The dark Sowars [Indian cavalrymen] follow the young English subaltern who commands them with a strange devotion. He is their 'butcha’ – the best in the regiment – as brave as a lion. None ride so straight as he; no one is so confident.”....

note "simply reflecting""

He wants a red line? Give him a red line

"Others accuse the Free Syrian Army of trying to rope foreign powers into the conflict by feigning a chemical attack. The Syrian government has little to gain from speculation that chemical weapons are being used in Syria. US President Barack Obama has said on several occasions that the use of chemical weapons would be a "red line" and a "game changer," and could compel the United States to intervene more directly."

Human Rights Watch's office in Beirut: or the branch of the Hariri press office

HRW could not get itself to call for the unconditional release of innocent Lebanese held in prisons run by gangs of the Free Syrian Army.  Look at the language:  "To the extent possible, the government should also work to bring about the release of people kidnapped or abducted by the Syrian government or armed opposition groups..."  So the Lebanese government should just release the prisoners and not Qatar and Saudi Arabia and Turkey which fund and arms those thugs.

terrorism in the US

From Adam:  ""Based on our review of the approximately 2,400 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil contained within the START database, we determined that approximately 60 were carried out by Muslims.
In other words, approximately 2.5% of all terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1970 and 2012 were carried out by Muslims.* This is a tiny proportion of all attacks.
(We determined that approximately 118 of the terror attacks – or 4.9% – were carried out by Jewish groups such as Jewish Armed Resistance, the Jewish Defense League, Jewish Action Movement, United Jewish Underground and Thunder of Zion. This is almost twice the percentage of Islamic attacks within the United States. If we look at worldwide attacks – instead of just attacks on U.S. soil – Sunni Muslims are the main perpetrators of terrorism. However: 1. Muslims are also the main victims of terror attacks worldwide; and 2. the U.S. backs the most radical types of Sunnis over more moderate Muslims and Arab secularists.""

Camp David accords are the ideal goal for Syria's Muslim Brotherhood

"We support Palestinian rights wholeheartedly. It does not mean that once we are in power we will marshal the horses and get ready the soldiers of God. Far from it. The Egyptian Brotherhood ratified the Camp David Accords without backing down on their support for the Palestinian people." (thanks Sultan)

Israeli/Hashemite concerns

"Western diplomats familiar with Jordanian thinking and rebel commanders on the ground say Jordan appears to be channeling weapons to moderate rebels inside Syria to protect its border - a move which might also indirectly address Israeli concerns. The two countries signed a peace deal in 1995 and have worked closely together since then on regional security."

Conflicting Messages on Syria: Obama’s Red Lines

My latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English: "Conflicting Messages on Syria: Obama’s Red Line".

Rampaging peaceful Buddhists: if the Dalai Lama is not busy in Hollywood, he would have spoken out, I am sure

"One day after hundreds of rampaging Buddhists armed with bricks stormed a clutch of Muslim villages in the closest explosion of sectarian violence yet to Burma's main city, Yangon, newly displaced Muslims combed through the wasteland where their houses once stood, facing a suddenly uncertain future. Unable to go home, many were too fearful of more attacks to leave."

Italian racism

"A senior politician has hit out at racist remarks aimed at the country's first black minister by a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party. The League's MEP Mario Borghezio said in an interview with Italian Radio 24 that Cecile Kyenge would make "a great housekeeper but not a minister". He said: "This is a bonga bonga government, they want to change birthright citizenship laws and Kyenge wants to impose her tribal traditions from Congo. You can't say the word 'nigger' in Italy, only think it. Pretty soon you won't even be able to say illegal immigrant … She seems like a great housekeeper, but not a minister."

inconvenience of science

"The United States has failed to take action to mitigate climate change thanks in part to the large number of religious Americans who believe the world has a set expiration date. Research by David C. Barker of the University of Pittsburgh and David H. Bearce of the University of Colorado uncovered that belief in the biblical end-times was a motivating factor behind resistance to curbing climate change." (thanks Amir)

Your backyward--the rest of the world is your frontyard, I guess

"He also said the expulsion was a response to comments last month by Secretary of State John Kerry that angered other leftist leaders in the region by conjuring images of an imperialist foreign policy. “The Western Hemisphere is our backyard,” Mr. Kerry said. “It’s critical to us.”

The United States “still has a mentality of domination, of subjugation,” Mr. Morales said."--

Why can't Muslims learn about peace from Buddhists, so argues American commentators

"Residents said as many as 400 Buddhists rampaged through Okkan, about 70 miles north of Yangon, the nation’s main city."

crimes of Free Syrian Army in Yarmuk camp

A statement from Palestinian leaders and organizations in Syria (who are opposed to the Syrian regime) mildly and politely ask the Free Syrian Army to end its crimes in the camp:

Nasrallah and Khamenei

Look at this picture (from days ago when Nasrallah went on a secret trip to Iran) posted on the twitter account of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.  It confirms what I have been telling you for years: Nasrallah is not like previous leaders of Hizbullah and is not treated by Iranian regime as a mere agent or tool, like Subhi Tufayli was or Ibrahim Sayyid. This picture to my knowledge is quite unprecedented:  people are usually photographed with Khamenei as they are seated.  I don't recall one like this in which they appear as equals.  Any analysis of Hizbullah and of Iranian policies in the region should take this into consideration.  From the picture it seems that Khamenei requested the picture and not Nasrallah. 

Two unresolved mysteris in contemporary Lebanese history

1) the crash of Emile Bustani's plane (in addition to his anti-Zionist activities, Palestinian financiers died with him on the plane. 2) the Yusuf Baydas story and the crash of Intra Bank which I strongly believe is related to Zionist plots at the time.

Lies of the Times: who translates for Anne Barnard

"He warned of “very serious repercussions” if rebels destroyed or damaged the shrine of Sayida Zeinab, a site near Damascus that is a revered pilgrimage site for many Muslims, especially Shiites."  This is a total distortion of the section of the speech.  He did not say that in that context at all. In fact, he said that if the shrine is destroyed, that could trigger a sectarian conflict in Lebanon just as had happened in Iraq when the two mosques were bombed.  Personally, I think that this is a totally unconvincing argument by Nasrallah: the sectarian conflict is raging and the attention to the shrine does not hold water.  Why should the defense of the shrine be more important than a defense of civilians in Syria?  And why would not Hizbullah (which did not acknowledge the defense of the Shrine) defend a village of civilians along (if not instead) with the defense of the shrine if the motive is to prevent intensification of sectarian warfare.

The New York Times' standards on Israel

This phrase struck me yesterday:  "with an increase in stone throwing..."  I mean, who counts stone throwing? Who? Do they count curses and yelling at Israeli occupiers too?  The New York Times and the Zionist media are far more likely to count stone throwing by Palestinians than bombing raids by Israel.  What is the count there, Mr./Ms. Zionist?

Lebanese Shi`ites and Bashshar

So according to Pew, 91% of Lebanese Shi`ite possess a favorable image of Bashshar.  That can't be but due to sectarian considerations.  It can't be due to resistance calculations: Shi`ites of South Lebanon overwhelmingly opposed resistance back in 1982.  No Lebanese sect is pure.  Sects can't be pure. Their calculations are base.  The story of Hizbullah's attitude is different: because the party opposed the Syrian regime which favored Amal from 1982 until the late 1990s.  I can accept that Hizbullah's attitude to the Syrian regime is driven by political-military consideration but I can't accept that the Hizbullah's silence regarding the lousy sectarian Shi`ite regime in Iraq is political. It is purely sectarian. 

Arab public opinion toward Bashshar and toward Syrian rebels

American and foreign policy concerns

"In the poll, 4 in 10 Americans cited the economy and jobs as the country’s most important problems, while only 1 percent named foreign policy."

In Stuttgart

This is the program of the Stuttgart Conference where I shall speak a week from today. 

Qatari-Israeli normalization

"A representative of Qatar's royal family, Prince Khalifa al-Thani, is expected to visit Israel in November in a bid to promote cooperation in the field of high-tech between the two countries.

This will be the first official visit by a Qatar royalty to the Jewish state." (thanks John)

The pope accepted Israeli war criminal's invitation "with willingness and joy"

" "I am expecting you in Jerusalem, not just me but the whole country of Israel," Peres told the pope in the presence of reporters after the talks. The pope accepted the invitation "with willingness and joy", a Vatican spokesman said, but there was no indication when a trip would be made." "Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, has focused on building up relations with Jewish leaders and, when he was archbishop, wrote a book with an Argentine rabbi, Abraham Skorka."

Workers' Day (not Labor Day as in the US to diluate the political signficance)

Workers of the world, unite.  Amen.

Pew Poll

According to a newly released Pew Poll of Muslims, it is revealed that Muslims are human beings and they have brains.  More on this developing story.

Muslims and evolution

"Overall, the survey finds that most Muslims see no inherent tension between being religiously devout and living in a modern society. Nor do they see any conflict between religion and science. Many favor democracy over authoritarian rule, believe that humans and other living things have evolved over time and say they personally enjoy Western movies, music and television – even though most think Western popular culture undermines public morality." (thanks Amir)

Finally, somebody bothered to ask what Arabs want: this proves (yet again) that preferences of Arab rulers are not the same by the people