14 U.S. lobby firms working for Saudi Arabia

"Two additional firms are now working on Saudi Arabia’s behalf — Hohlt Group Global and Flywheel Government Solutions, which is operating through PR giant MSLGroup. There are now 14 shops working for the country overall, including heavyweights like Podesta Group, BGR Group, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, King & Spalding and Squire Patton Boggs."

Group targets BDS activities on Canadian campuses

"An umbrella body representing 97 Canadian universities made it much tougher for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to be promoted on campuses. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, known as Universities Canada, on Thursday added “places of origin” to its list of discrimination criteria on campuses, which was widely seen as a way to stifle anti-Israel BDS activities there." (thanks Amir)

Wow. How supporters of the Syrian "revolution" can easily and effectively intimidate a Western correspondent in Beirut: Anne Barnard in Beirut

So Anne Barnard mocked Bashshar Al-Asad in a tweet and posted a picture in which his portrait appeared on a wall.  So supporters of the Syrian "revolution" (in the East and West) misunderstood the tweet, and were outraged and thought that she was saluting the Syrian dictator.  She went on to explain and be extremely defensive and wrote repeatedly that her intention was in no way to salute the Syrian ruler, to no avail.  Eventually, she wrote this:

Anne Barnard (@ABarnardNYT)

11/4/16, 12:12 AM 1. My "good morning Damascus" tweet was widely misunderstood so I deleted it because my meaning obviously was unclear.

American role in the Mosul battle

While I don't agree with comrade Amer about his assessment of the role of Shi`ite Hashd in Iraq (or in Syria for that matter), he makes the damning argument that the US military role in Mosul battle has been an utter failure and quite insignificant for the total outcome of the battle.

The Arabic propaganda of US Central Command about their role in Mosul is very funny--if you know Arabic

U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOMArabic)

11/4/16, 11:14 AM ‏القوة الجوية الأمريكية مستمرة بنقل الذخيرة لمساعدة القوات العراقية على إدامة زخم المعركة في ⁧‫#الموصل‬⁩ ⁧‫#العراق‬⁩ ‏⁧‫#كلنا_القوة_الجوية‬⁩ ⁦‪pic.twitter.com/1eXiKk42ld‬⁩

Saudi fatalities in Yemen

A Lebanon expert is born and she has the research and documentation skills that you expect from the Rafiq Hariri Center for Saudi propaganda

"According to Foreign Affairs, quoting Saudi Arabia-owned Al-Arabiya news network, a video was posted in February of Hezbollah commander Abu Saleh meeting the previous summer with Houthi forces in Yemen".

I know that you like the Tunisian model of political transformation but

A Minister in Tunisia was dismissed merely because he faulted the Saudi regime for the spread of fanaticism and extremism.  I know, I know. You love the Tunisian model.

General Franco and Saudi princes

Some lovely pictures here.

Washington Post romanticizes the story of an Israeli war criminal

Look at the accompanying pictures. When you read in a US article on Israeli words like "soul" or "anguish" you know that yet another American journalists is trying to whitewash yet another Israeli war crime or massacre: "One of the most divisive trials in Israeli history is taking place in a cramped military courtroom in a peeling mansion in the poor Arab section of Jaffa. It is the trial of a teenage Israeli sergeant, but in many ways it is about the soul of the Israeli army and the young men and women the Jewish state sends to protect its citizens and enforce its almost 50-year military occupation.  On trial for manslaughter before a military tribunal is a pint-size recruit who sits in the courtroom beside his mother, who wraps her arms around his shoulders and sometimes cries. Such a public trial of a soldier charged in the killing of a Palestinian is almost unprecedented here. The last witnesses appeared this week. The central fact of the case is not in dispute. In March, Sgt. Elor Azaria fired a single bullet at close range into the skull of a Palestinian assailant as he lay wounded, sprawled on his back, on a street in Hebron in the West Bank minutes after lunging at soldiers with a knife."

The Washington Post published a long article about a public opinion survey of North Koreans: here are the details

"The NGO surveyed 20 men and 16 women between the ages of 28 and 80." I am not making this up.  This is at the level of Thomas Friedman when he generalizes about public opinion on the basis of his conversations (from hotel to airport or vice versa) with cab drivers in various cities he visits.

US and NATO may have killed "up to 100 civilians" in Afghanistan the other day: but details AS ALWAYS are "murky"

"Details of the incidents were murky, with conflicting reports on the number of casualties and no official account of the airstrikes. Some local officials claimed that up to 100 civilians were killed or wounded in a series of airstrikes around Kunduz city."

My message to activists on Palestine in the US

Why can't we disagree on Syria and agree on Palestine?  Unless some don't care about Palestine, of course.

The best lobbying that Saudi money can buy

"The government of Saudi Arabia has deepened its bench of lobbyists as it ramps up pressure on Congress to revise a controversial law that allows family members of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government over the 2001 attacks. The Saudis have tapped Rick Hohlt, a longtime GOP strategist and lobbyist, according to documents filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The documents, which were signed Oct. 26, do not explicitly mention the law, Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), and describe Hohlt’s work in generic terms: “provide communications and government relations counsel to support the government of Saudi Arabia in connection with general foreign policy . . . as well as legislative, public policy and media-related activities of interest.” It does not specify a fee or duration of the contract."

Cornel West on Hillary

"But like her predecessor, Barack Obama, she promotes the same neoliberal policies that increase inequality and racial polarization that will produce the next Trump. More important, she embraces Trump-like figures abroad, be they in Saudi Arabia, Honduras, Israel, or Syria — figures of ugly xenophobia and militaristic policies." (thanks Lincoln)

This is how US Ignited the Lebanese Civil War (10)

My weekly article in Al-Akhbar: "This is how the US Ignited the Lebanese Civil War (10): A Preliminary Tally of Israeli arming of the Isolationist Militias".

The war on Syria option

"The debate in New York was an exception to what Blumenthal called a “McCarthyite” environment, in which anyone who challenges the calls for escalation in Syria is smeared, blacklisted or labeled an “Assadist.”"

Reuters has a story about 25,000 Shi`ite fighters in Syria

Here is the source: "the former head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency has told a visiting Swiss delegation."  My favorite part is that he was head of the domestic intelligence agency, and not even the foreign intelligence agency.  

A Saudi student working in Hillary's campaign

Saudi regime media are bragging that a Saudi student is working with the Hillary campaign.  But this violates the rules and agreements under which Saudi students are sent to US to study? In fact, during the last Israeli assault on Gaza, all Saudi students in the US received an official email memo from the Saudi embassy in DC reading them that all manners of political expression are prohibited and warning them against participating in any event in solidarity with Gaza.

Tawakkol Karman at Harvard

What is hilarious about this case of this Ikhwan propagandist, is that Western universities and media don't care that she is a fierce defender of Gulf regimes, especially in Arabic.  

Hummus restaurant

I arrived at SFO yesterday and yelped for some restaurants close by in San Mateo.  I encountered one named "Hummus Village".  I got excited.  I drove there and looked at the menu. They have very specialized Hummus dishes.  I asked the man and woman behind the counter: do you have whole wheat bread? The man answered: no, we get our food form Israel.  I said with utter revulsion: this is an Israeli restaurant? He said: yes, we offer Israeli food.  I said: Israeli food.  Let us read the menu: falafel is an Arabic word. Hummus is an Arabic word.  Musabbahah is an Arabic word.  How come those Israeli dishes all have Arabic names?  Those are Arabic dishes.  I naturally stormed out mumbling obscene Arabic--not Israeli--words.  

PS Shawirma is from a turkish Anatolian word çevirme, which means rotation.

Saudi ambassador in US answers questions about Yemen

Saudi regime media are very embarrassed about this and Al-Arabiyya (the news station of Muhammad bin Salman) today issued a long boring article trying to defend the ambassador.  

FBI infiltration of US mosques

I was in San Bernardino and a Muslim student picked me up from my hotel to take me to the university campus.  He is active in the local Muslim community--he told me--and even knew the San Bernardino shooter (unsurprisingly he told me that he was a very nice guy and he does not believe the official government story about what happened).  So I asked him: how obvious  are FBI infiltrators in the mosques in the US?  He said: way too obvious.  He explains that the community of the mosque all know one another and they know each other's families.  And then suddenly, this white dude (or a Lebanese Christian dude) shows up in the mosque and makes an effort to know the members.  He said that it is so stupid that the informant would invariably ask members: so, tell me what do you think of Jihad?

Illegal immigrants

Some of the most wonderful people I have met in this country have been illegal immigrants and--contrary to stereotypes--not all of them have been Mexicans.

Who is this moderator Of the Syria panel in NYC?

This is by far the worst moderator of any panel I have seen. Her authoritarian and repressive style would have qualified her to run Stalin's show trials.  As for the substance I will be writing something soon.  

On the road

Speaking this evening on Syria and the US role at California State University,  San Bernardino. 

Director of Human Rights Watch blames Russia for bombing of East AND West Aleppo: apologist for US imperialism

Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth)

11/1/16, 7:30 PM Russia's obstructionism at UN Security Council is making it hard to stop attacks on civilians in east or west Aleppo bit.ly/2ff0Ipbpic.twitter.com/GnlBHqbU4J

This is how the New York Times refers to Saudi war crimes in Yemen and elsewhere

"Under Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia is going through a period of muscular nationalism".  

U.S. bombings kills 8 civilians, 3 of them children: Western journalists won't be tweeting their (fake) sadness on this one

"Eight civilians from one family, three of them children, were killed by a US airstrike on their home a few kilometres outside Mosul, relatives, officials and Kurdish troops fighting in the area say." "Pictures showed villagers uncovering bodies from a pile of rubble that had been a home. The house was hit twice, and some of the rubble and shrapnel was thrown up to 300 metres."

Saudi ambassador vows to keep hitting Yemen

" “Will you continue to use cluster weapons in Yemen?” we asked Prince Abdullah Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States. “This is like the question, ‘Will you stop beating your wife?’” Al-Saud responded, letting loose a bellowing laugh." "At last week’s Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference — bankrolled by oil companies Chevron, ExxonMobile, and ConocoPhillips, and weapons contractors Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing — the Saudi ambassador was the keynote speaker."

A professor is arrested in Jordan for a comment on Facebook: NOT IN US MEDIA FOR SURE

Western journalists in Beirut won't be tweeting on this: Palestinian professor, Ibrahim Alloush, was arrested by the Jordanian government for writing a comment on his Facebook page against the king's relations with Israel.

PS: Yes, I am aware that this professor holds repugnant anti-Semitic views.  I and others severed ties with him over this.  But this is an issue about the manners of authoritarian rule of the King of Jordan which gets a pass from Western media--just because he serves Israeli interests.

Aided by Israel, US-backed tyrants are imprisoning activists for social media posts

"The UAE government, however, has already purchased equipment like Internet monitoring tools from BAE Systems, and been linked to using hacking exploits from Israeli company NSO Group. These types of tools have also been discovered in Saudi Arabia — including software that hacks into mobile phones giving total access, including control of the camera and microphone."

US as "an honest broker"

"Ross himself told a private synagogue audience this spring that American Jews “need to be advocates for Israel”– not for Palestinians. And Ross is the guy who was mediating supposed peace agreements!" (thanks Amir)

Marwan Muasher: in Arabic and in English

Like the kings he served obediently in Jordan, Marwan Muasher says one thing in Arabic and another thing in English to Western audiences.  In Arabic, he says that the gas treaty with Israel should be abolished and that it threatens the national security of Jordan. He would not dare say this in English, of course.  

"A shadowy website targets student protesters with 'Classic McCarthyism'"

"The website, which was launched in May 2015, now contains profiles of over 600 individuals, most of them people of color. The site targets students and professors at universities across the U.S., in addition to a small number of people employed by Jewish Voice for Peace and other Palestine advocacy groups." "According to advocates, the "blacklisting" of activists on Canary Mission is part of a broader crackdown on pro-Palestine speech, a phenomenon that they say has become particularly acute in New York. In June, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the nation’s first executive order mandating a withdrawal of public funds from any group or individual that promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The BDS movement, which is said to be inspired by the South African anti-apartheid struggle, calls for the economic, political, and cultural isolation of Israel in order to achieve three aims: ending the occupation of Palestine, ensuring the full equality of Arab-Palestinian citizens in Israel, and promoting respect for the Palestinian right of return."

The demolition of Palestinian homes for illegal Israeli settlements

"The demolition of Palestinian homes for Israeli settlements reached a ten-year high in 2016. While this activity led by the fanatical settler movement is illegal under international law, it is completely aided and abetted by the Israeli government. With hundreds on notice to be evicted and their homes destroyed, Abby Martin goes on-the-ground throughout the West Bank investigating this dire human rights situation. She speaks to residents living under regular settler attacks from encroaching settlements and outposts illegal even under Israeli law, and sees first-hand how this crisis is worsening." 

U.S. mainstream media are pushing for more bombing of Syria

"The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof is ready for a bigger war, as are columnists in the Washington Post and USA Today, as well as, of course, Chuck Todd and other televised talking heads. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s comment to Goldman Sachs that a “no-fly zone” would require “killing a lot of Syrians” has received dramatically less press than her brave calls for creating a humanitarian no-fly zone, and the steady depiction of that proposal as “doing something”—in contrast to the only other option: “doing nothing.” "

Liberal columnist Kristof on poverty

"New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for giving “voice to the voiceless” on international social justice issues, wrote an op-ed in yesterday’s Times (10/30/16) arguing for increased government action on poverty. His calls for heightened attention to economic deprivation, though, were buried in a larger message that was familiar to longtime Kristof-watchers: that the poor aren’t actually poor because they lack enough money, but because of their own moral failings." "None of this is new terrain for Kristof, who previously wrote (5/23/10) of African poverty that “if the poorest families spent as much money educating their children as they do on wine, cigarettes and prostitutes, their children’s prospects would be transformed,” " (thanks Amir)

Saudi students in the US are really facing discrimination, hatred, and sometimes assault: Saudi college student in Wisconsin dies after assault near campus

"Saudi Arabian student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout died Monday afternoon after being attacked on a main thoroughfare near campus, police and school officials said. Hussain Saeed Alnahdi, 24, was outside Topper's Pizza in downtown Menomonie, Wis., in the early hours of Sunday morning when he was assaulted by a suspect police described as a white male about six feet tall, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. Shortly after, police found Alnahdi unconscious and bleeding from his mouth and nose. He was initially transported to Mayo Clinic Health System in Menomonie, then taken by helicopter to Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, where he died from his injuries, police said. Alnahdi was from Buraydah, Saudi Arabia, and had come to UW-Stout in 2015 to study business administration, the university said in a statement." (thanks Sal)

20th anniversary of Aljazeera

In 20 years the Aljazeera news station went from being the glory of the Qatari regime and its proud achievement to being its propaganda embarrassment and source of shame.  What a dramatic decline in 20 years.  I can't recognize the station anymore with its crude and vulgar propaganda which reminds me of Ba`thist and Saudi media.  It was a contrast to Arab regime media when it started despite its regime services all along.  The best indication is this: Saudi regime journalists used to attack the station day and night and now most are invited to Doha to participate in the official 20th anniversary celebrations.  

Errors and mistakes in the New York Times: the piece about Gen. Awn

This piece repeats a mistake throughout the article.  It says that Awn and Michel Sulayman both held the post of 'chief-of-staff" of the Lebanese army.  This is wrong, of course. The chief-of-staff of the Lebanese Army is always a Druze by sectarian tradition. Both men held the position of commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army.

So who are the moderate Syrian rebels and what are their percentages? From Jadaliyya

Ibrahim Humaydi is the correspondent of Al-Hayat (the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan) on Syrian affairs. His views are pro-Syrian rebels and pro-Gulf regimes on Syria, naturally.  Here, he is interviewed by Bassam Haddad for Jadaliyya.  Bassam asks him about the percentages of the non-Jihadi rebels in Syria. Here is what Ibrahim tells him (my translation):  "The number of the moderates--the number of the moderates two years ago--I remember that in 2013 in a research study I prepared really, the estimate was that the level of extremists of ISIS and Nusrah and those who are affiliated with Al-Qa`idah was estimated to be between 10% and 15% of the combatant organizations.  No, the reverse is almost true.  The moderates are now representing 10% or 15% and the rest are generally either Islamists or close to Al-Qa`idah because something has been changing on the ground in the conflict."  Of course, by "moderates" Ibrahim has the Free Syrian Army in mind, which has been involved in various acts of sectarian kidnapping and extortions and thuggery of various kinds.  Riyad Al-As`ad, its once overall commander, once declared that Hariri guy, `Uqab Saqr, is the chief of its "command center".  Kid you not.

ابراهيم حميدي: أعداد المعتدلين، أعداد المعتدلين قبل عامين، أنا أذكر في ٢٠١٣ أعددت دراسة بحثية في الحقيقة. كان التقدير أن مستوى المتطرفين داعش والنصرة والذين لهم علاقة بالقاعدة كان تقديرهم بين ١٠ و ١٥٪ من  الفصائل المقاتلة. الآن العكس هو الصحيح تقريباً. فقد صار المعتدلون يمثلون ١٠ أو ١٥٪ أو ما تبقى فهم عموماً إما إسلاميون أو قريبون من تنظيم القاعدة لأنه في الصراع هناك شيء يتغير على الأرض.

Of course, there is nothing surprising that Qatari regime Huffington Post Arabic would be anti-Feminist

A very unintelligent attack on feminism by a blogger at Qatari regime Huffington Post Arabic.  Of course, Huffington Post English is not that better with its obsession with Kardashian sisters.  

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and other Likudnik outlets in DC

The latest absurdity of Washington, DC is that Zionist likudniks now offer lessons about professional journalism for the world to learn.  What is left? Gulf regimes offering lessons on human rights? 

The mainstreaming descent of Democracy Now

Sam Husseini responds to errors of Democracy Now.