Saudi cables in Wikileaks in the New York Times

The report does not mention that an Egyptian journalist, Mustafa Bakri, was discussing a project to launch a TV channel specializing in broadcasting hate against Shi`ites.  2) the report does not mention the extent to which Lebanese March 14 Media are all funded and run by the Saudi government. 

How the US defines terrorism

"The U.S. Government, its allies and their apologists constantly propagate standards that have no purpose other than to legitimize all of their violence while de-legitimizing all violence by their enemies in the “war” they have declared. Nothing is more central to that effort than the propagandistic invocation of the term “terrorism.” We’re now at the point where it is “terrorism” when enemies of the U.S. target American military bases and soldiers, but not “terrorism” when the U.S. recklessly engages in violence it knows will kill large numbers of civilians."

The deterioration and further deterioration of An-Nahar newspaper in Beirut: (a racist and sectarian reactionary newspaper)

And this reactionary bigot enjoys respectability in the US

Franklin Graham

"Four innocent Marines (United States Marine Corps) killed and three others wounded in ‪#‎Chattanooga‬ yesterday including a policeman and another Marine--all by a radical Muslim whose family was allowed to immigrate to this country from Kuwait. We are under attack by Muslims at home and abroad. We should stop all immigration of Muslims to the U.S. until this threat with Islam has been settled. Every Muslim that comes into this country has the potential to be radicalized--and they do their killing to honor their religion and Muhammad. During World War 2, we didn't allow Japanese to immigrate to America, nor did we allow Germans. Why are we allowing Muslims now? Do you agree? Let your Congressman know that we've got to put a stop to this and close the flood gates. Pray for the men and women who serve this nation in uniform, that God would protect them."

U.S. buying time to strengthen the military option

"The intrusive inspections of the nuclear deal will also strengthen the military option by allowing the United States and its allies to better map out Iran’s nuclear program. Although the broad contours of Iran’s nuclear facilities are well known, their exact dimensions, as well as the entire supply chain, almost certainly eludes the United States and its allies." "Most importantly, the new nuclear deal will give the United States and Israel time to develop the capabilities they need to carry out a military strike." "Moreover, while Iran’s nuclear program will be frozen in place for over a decade, the United States and Israel will be free to strengthen their military capabilities." (thanks Amir)

Is ambassador Robert Ford growing a beard? It suits him

Does the US government plan to turn non-profit groups it funds into spies?

"WASHINGTON — A new federal screening program designed to ferret out terrorists working for government-backed nonprofit organizations is drawing sharp criticism from groups that say the vetting is overly intrusive, undermines their mission, and may endanger the lives of their employees.

The Partner Vetting System, run by the United States Agency for International Development, requires for the first time that nonprofit organizations collect detailed personal data — including biographical information and bank account numbers — on each officer, board member and vital employee associated with aid projects funded by the United States. That information is then shared within the United States government.

Officials process the data through classified intelligence and law enforcement databases to determine whether the individual or organization has connections to a terrorist group.  The program, which was authorized by Congress and will go into effect on July 27, will initially operate in five countries — Kenya, Guatemala, Lebanon, the Philippines and Ukraine — but could be expanded, officials said. The government has operated similar screening programs in Afghanistan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for years."

So every Arabist was an anti-Semite?

"In an earlier era, the American foreign policy establishment was dominated by Arabists from the Ivy Leagues. Now, as the names of various Washington officials, scholars and journalists whiz by in Oren’s memoir, it seems clear that the older WASP establishment has been supplanted by the very ethnic group it once disdained."

The Anti-Semitism of Michael Oren

It is often said--with justification--that any passing and casusal comparison of distress to the Nazi concnetration camps and gas ovens are highly insulting to the victims of the Holocaust.  How come there was no reaction to this account by Michael Oren about his bad bigh school experiences in...NEW JERSEY: "“The ovens of Auschwitz, I often felt in high school, were still smoldering.”" From his new book, Ally. 

Israeli assassinations

Israel has been implicated in the assassination of scores of Iraqi, Egyptian, Syrian and other Arab scientists.  Can you imagine the world reactions if Arabs were implicated in assassinating Israeli scientists? 

Can you imagine the world reaction if an Arab regime was implicated in assassinating an Israeli official?

"On Aug. 1, 2008, a small team of Israeli commandos entered the waters near Tartus, Syria, and shot and killed a Syrian general as he was holding a dinner party at his seaside weekend home. Muhammad Suleiman, a top aide to the Syrian president, was shot in the head and neck, and the Israeli military team escaped by sea."

Saudi finances

But because of the plunge in oil prices since June 2014, Riyadh faces a huge budget gap this year, which Mubarak said was expected to exceed the originally projected 145 billion riyals. The International Monetary Fund has estimated the deficit will be about 20 percent of GDP, or approximately $150 billion. So far Riyadh has mainly been running down its financial reserves to cover the deficit; Mubarak said the government had withdrawn 244 billion riyals from reserves in 2015."

For the pleasure of Saudi royals

"Une plage du sud de la France fermée le temps des vacances du roi saoudien"  (thanks Rashid)

How EU threatned Greece with Turkey

"During a pivotal meeting with Merkel, French President François Hollande and European Council President Donald Tusk, Tsipras at one point received a thinly veiled threat that if he walked away and left the euro, Greece risked going it alone geopolitically, too. According to two officials in Brussels with knowledge of the exchange, the specter was raised of aggression from Turkey — a neighboring nation viewed in Greece as a historic antagonist."

Salihi versus Zarif

You get the impression that Salihi is the smart one of the two.  

Those are some of America's favorite terrorists--epsecially because they are sponsored by Mossad

"Making this even more threatening from Iran’s perspective, the MEK is now beloved by much of the U.S. foreign policy elite, and has apparently killed numerous Iranian nuclear scientists with Israeli funding and training." (thanks Amir)

From a Western correspondent on Robert Fisk

"i had to start reading it. look at how he writes in such a racist and simplistic way, "the Arabs," as in "the Arabs at least will suspect the truth" and who are "the great and the good"? he's like a grumpy bitter...: "the dear old United Nations" so they sign this nuclear deal and "Goodbye, therefore, to the overwhelming influence of the Sunni Muslim nations" what kind of editor lets him use terms like "raving loonies"? and what the hell does this mean: "I guess poor old Edward Stettinius had to spend nigh on two months at the San Fransisco Conference to create the UN Charter.  Yalta lasted only eight days, Potsdam 17 days.  No wonder Netanyahu is furious." its like fisk doesnt even know what he's complaining about, he just sees that some people are happy and some people are angry and he wants to shit on both of them out of instinct "Isis – will be almost as appalled as Netanyahu at Iran’s new deal" i doubt ISIS gives a shit for a second it feels like he sympathizes with netanyahu even, if i can even understand this sentence: "But all will remember – and Bibi will remember – that Obama is in the habit of walking away from car wrecks without even calling the insurers." and then this: "And the one word that I bet went unspoken at Vienna these past two and a half weeks?  ‘Palestine’." yes, it was a negotiation over the nuclear deal, palestine is not relevant, you cant just mention the word palestine after a crazy rant like some...angry thomas friedman and think you get points as a leftist for it". 

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iran-nuclear-deal-however-the-great-and-good-represent-it-america-has-now-taken-the-shia-side-in-the-middle-easts-sectarian-war-10388940.html

Ahrar Asham in Washington Post

What is next? Dhawahiri op-Ed? But make no mistake: this was penned by a lobbying firm in DC. 

Robert Fisk

His latest calls for an intervention: he should be begged to stop writing for his own sake. Is it too late to try to preserve some dignity for his career. What say you of a man who seeks the insights of Walid Jumblat--still. 

Who speaks for the Arab world?

Notice in all US media they have accepted at face value that propagandists of Saudi and UAE rulers speak on behalf of Arab people.  

March 14 media and the Iran deal

Give it a few hours and March 14 media in Lebanon will start "reporting" that secret enrichment is taking place in hidden shops in the southern suburbs in Beirut: and the Washington Times and Drudge Report will report those stories.

Why did Israel suppress news about the two "Israelis" arrested in Gaza?

Because one is black African and the other is Bedouin.  If they were European, it would have been at the Security Council.

Being black in Israel

"An American convert to Judaism and her 10-year-old son were detained for almost 48 hours in a holding cell at Ben-Gurion Airport before being denied entry to Israel and placed on a return flight to the US.

Idit Malka and her son Kahxin from Cape Coral, Florida, had arrived on June 12 to celebrate the wedding of Malka’s sister who lives in Yeroham, in the Southern District, and to spend time with her five other siblings, all of whom live in Israel."

the road to jihad now leads south across Turkey to Syria

"In prison Tarkhan met Mohammed, a Saudi follower of the radical Salafi interpretation of Islam. Mohammed had excellent contacts with the leaders of the global jihad, and told Tarkhan about the Saudi role in backing jihad." "For Chechens and Kists, the road to jihad now leads south across Turkey to Syria."

Canada's role in regime change in Ukraine

"But some of Canada’s European allies, speaking on background because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the fact protesters were allowed to stay for so long and operate freely made it appear Canada was an active participant in regime change, and not just lending morale support." "Perhaps reinforcing that rebel image, at least one local embassy staffer was targeted for her attendance at anti-government rallies and online blogging that was critical of Yanukovych." (thanks Amir)

What did Omar Sharif later say about his lousy movie, Che?

OK. He didn't know about the funding but what about the lousy dialogue and the story?  Also, do you notice that Sharif speaks differently to Arab audiences?

This will not be noticed by US correspondents in the Middle East: repressin in UAE

"An Australian woman has been arrested and jailed in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for 'writing bad words on social media', ABC reports.

Jodi Magi, aged 39, posted a photo to Facebook she had taken of a car parked across two disabled parking spaces outside her apartment in Abu Dhabi.

She blanked out the licence number and did not post any identifiable detail, according to the ABC's PM program on Monday night.

But a complaint landed Ms Magi in an Abu Dhabi court, where she was found guilty of "writing bad words on social media about a person" and told she would be deported."  She will be released because she carries the passport of a Western country.

This is the best defintion of Arab liberals: what they are and who they are

`Ali Salem, the lousy Egyptian playwright, whose best plays were "borrowed" from Western plays, is WINEP's favorite Arab liberal because he calls (in English) for normalization with Israel.  He has been shunned by most Egyptian writers and intellectuals for those views. But what he does not say at WINEP's conferences is that he is a writer for the Saudi mouthpiece (of King Salman and his sons), Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, where he writes the most pathetic fawning praise of Saudi royals.  Here is his tribute to Saud Faysal. Read and realize why no one takes Arab liberals seriously: they are either beholden to Saudi royal family or to the Jordanian royal family or to the Kuwaiti royal family or to the UAE royal family, etc. Liberalism my potato.

Khaemenei's attack on Marxists in Iran

So the Supreme Leader of Iran, in a meeting with college students, warned of the Marxist current on college campuses.  I don't know what prompted him to say that but I hope that it means that Marxist currents are growing in Iran.  Marxists were integral part of the Iranian revolution, before the Khumayni current stole the contributions and others and monopolized political power.  I don't know what got to him to express those views now, days after the Jerusalem Day.  Somebody should tell Khamenei that Marxists have been in the forefront of Palestinian struggle.  Are Marxists now the new Grand Satan for the regime?

"Messianic Zionism, Settler-Colonialism, and the Lost Jews of Kaifeng"

"Notwithstanding these setbacks, there was clearly a space for cautious non-state groups and actors to tap into such aspirations and re-direct them as they saw fit. In 1999, a group of Finnish Christian Zionists–connected to the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem that has assisted some 115,000 Jews to emigrate to Israel from the early 1990s–facilitated the entry of the first Kaifeng family into Israel. The family’s head, in fact, was one of the individuals connected to the 1996 incident. This was accomplished in cooperation with Shavei Yisrael, a “Lost Jews” organization founded in the late 1990s by Michael Freund, an American-Israeli pundit with connections to both the messianic settler movement and the right-wing Netanyahu-linked political establishment in Israel. He had originally worked with Amichav, a pioneering “Lost Jews” organization that had emerged following the 1967 war and which has sought to forward the goals of the Gush Emunim bloc by bringing in “Lost Jews” as settlers."

The title of this cartoon is "Evolution of Political Life in the age of "Syrian Revolution"

In number one, the man says: "you need to shorten your tongue a bit (in Arabic the expression means to suppress one's talk).  I number two the man says: "You need to grow your beard a bit".

Jailed in Jordan by Court of State Security for those two comments

He is accused of "undermining the regime and extending his tongue"--literally, as there are such charges in the moderate monarchy.  

Mr. Balanche gives a new defintion of what Lebanon is: it is Hezbollahland

“It is the Iranian strategy – a buffer state between Hezbollahland [Lebanon] and Sunni Syria,” says Mr. Balanche." (thanks Basim)

Omar Sharif and the Nasser regime

Contrary to most articles and obituaries in the US and Lebanese press; Omar Sharif was never ever banned form Egypt under Nasser. In fact, he kept his Egyptian passport and would visit Egyptian embassies around the world to renew his passport. He voluntarily stayed out of Egypt for many years because he didnot want to get the "exit visa" which was required at the time.

Omar Sharif

I will be writing about Omar Sharif in Arabic but: this is my conclusions from reading and watching interviews of his: he was an unabashed anti-Semite in Arabic, while he mocked alleged Arab anti-Semitism on US TV shows in the 1970s and 1980s.  But he was sexist in Arabic and English.

Western correspondents in Beirut would not notice this:2 Israeli drones violate Lebanese Airspace, 1 drone crashes in Tripoli

"On Saturday at about 8:30 a.m., an Israeli drone fell in the port of Tripoli."

"A Hostile enemy spy drone overflew Riyak , Baalbek, Hermel in the customary U-turn that carried it deep over Lebanese territories, Yarzeh-based Army Guidance Department announced in a military communiqué today (Sunday). All-in-all, enemy breach of Lebanese airspace lasted well over than six hours, the communiqué concluded."

Hillary and Israel

"Last week, Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidential race, promised a group of wealthy pro-Israel donors she would be a better friend to Israel than President Obama." "But no US president has been a better friend to Israel than Barack Obama, which is why Clinton’s promise to be an even better friend is mission impossible."

Make no mistake about it: the US is a full partner in this Saudi war crime

"The strike on the market hit an open area. It destroyed the market and damaged the mosque and nearby homes. The second strike hit rocks that were set to be broken down into building material, and tore apart nine children and a man from a farming family selling fruits and vegetables. There is no military site in the area, nor any place for possible weapons storage, according to local residents."

Israeli spy admits: we encouraged anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and even promoted the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

"In a recent interview in the Israeli press to promote his book about this "Periphery" doctrine, Alpher does indeed make a telling statement, giving away perhaps more than he intended.
Of some of the anti-democratic regimes in the region he was seeking to forge ties with he states: "we knew that the issue of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion plays a very important role for them. To a certain degree even, we played that card, so they'd think we have immense influence over the world, and could manipulate US policy in their favour in particular. The Moroccans, the Iranians, the Turks, Idi Amin – they were all sure that one word from us would change Washington's position towards them."
In other words, Israeli spies and diplomats (despite propaganda claims to be the protectors of the Jews of the world) actively encouraged the dissemination of a notorious anti-Semitic forgery for their own cynical power-political reasons."

This is in Karachi, Pakistan

This is how some in Karachi, Pakistan celebrated Jerusalem Day. 

“Avi,” told the court that he could “smell Hamas”

"At that trial, agents of the Israeli Mossad were permitted to testify anonymously and with their faces hidden as expert witnesses about the foundation’s purported links to Hamas. One of the agents, introduced to the jury solely under the pseudonym “Avi,” told the court that he could “smell Hamas” on the defendants’ charity work." (thanks Amir)

Who is this person in a baseball cap? CNN says that he is Muhammad bin Rashid Al-Maktum and I say it is not

  Can anyone identify that person in blue, to the right?

Bernie Sanders

Religion and...

I don't like all the attempts to reconcile religion and science, or religion and music (especially rock music) or religion and feminism.
لا أحبّ محاولات التوفيق بين الدين والعلم, أو بين الدين والموسيقى (خصوصاً موسيقى ال"روك") أو بين الدين والنسويّة.

Didn't I always tell you that this guy is a clown? (Pick one)