Gucci Revolution: "Some people here are jokingly calling the phenomenon "the Gucci revolution" - not because they are dismissive of the demonstrations, but because so many of those waving the Lebanese flag on the street are really very unlikely protestors. There are girls in tight skirts and high heels, carrying expensive leather bags, as well as men in business suits or trendy tennis shoes. And in one unforgettable scene an elderly lady, her hair all done up,was demonstrating alongside her Sri Lankan domestic helper, telling her to wave the flag and teaching her the Arabic words of the slogans."" (thanks Ru'yah)

I cannot keep up. I am reading the accumulated copies of the New York Times from last week. This part of an editorial from the New York Times got my attention: "Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whose pronouncements carry great weight throughout the Arab world".
Do you see what I mean? What do you expect from a newspaper that thinks that the pronouncements of Crown Prince `Abdullah "carry great weight throughout the Arab world?" Usually, his pronouncements get attention but only because he cannot read a sentence without stumbling.

Liberation Centers: "The American military's major detention centers in Iraq have swelled to capacity and are holding more people than ever...As of this week, the military is holding at least 8,900 detainees in the three major prisons, 1,000 more than in late January. Here in Abu Ghraib, where eight American soldiers were charged last year with abusing detainees, 3,160 people are being kept, well above the 2,500 level considered ideal, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for the detainee system. The largest center, Camp Bucca in the south, has at least 5,640 detainees."

Jamal `Abdun-Nasser and his grandson: The Arabic music satellite TV channel, Melody, which specializes in video clips of Hayfa Wahbah and Nancy `Ajram, is owned by Jamal Marwan, grandson of Jamal `Abdun-Nasser.

Behind Lebanese "Unity": a reliable source in Beirut was telling me this. That you can still see the sectarian divisions in the crowd at Martyrs' Square. She said that you will see the Christians on one side, the Druze in one side, and the Sunnis in a separate section. The Christians chant :"freedom, sovereignty, independence" while the Sunnis chant "truth, freedom, national unity." I am also told that the movement downtown is very-well funded. Free food (good quality Lebanese sandwiches) is available in abundance. Did I not tell you that it was all about Hummus and Baba Ghannuj?

Who Speaks for Lebanon? There was yet another front page article in the New York Times, with yet another picture of demonstrators in Lebanon. When Chou En-lai was asked by Henri Kissinger in the 1970s about his impressions of the French Revolution, he famously answered "it is too soon to tell." Yet, US newspapers are so eager and so desperate to superficially cover Middle East events to "validate" Bush's wars and arguments. This is why the pictures from Lebanon were so convenient for them. Do you know that in one event of `Ashurah in Beirut in February during the Hummus demonstrations in Beirut, Hizbullah assembled a crowd (estimated at around half a million people) larger than the crowds of the opposition for the whole week. I did not see one picture of them in US media, and the suffocatingly one-sided Saudi media (and like Bin Laden--the graduate of the House of Saud's school of fanaticism--they think that Shi`ites are infidels) also did not cover them. On Tuesday, the parties that are opposed to the opposition and are aligned with Syria (and they include some Syrian puppets--like the pro-Syrian Ba`th party in Lebanon--and some groups with popular bases, like Hizbullah, Al-Maradah, and SSNP among others, are planning demonstrations in Beirut against UNSC 1559. Do you think that the New York Times will cover them? Do you think that Hassan Fattah will be dispatched to talk to them? Do you think that their pictures will appear on the front pages of New York Times and Washington Post? You see: US media can only cover popular movements if they are not opposed to US policies and designs in the region. And if they dare demonstrate against Israel, they will never be covered, or they will be branded as "terrorists" (or "anti-Israel terrorists", to quote the language of Hassan Fattah). No one side speaks for Lebanon. Lebanese have always been, and WILL ALWAYS BE, divided. Always. That is the nature of the Lebanese conflict. They are flying the Lebanese flags because they want to artificially camouflage their real sectarian and ideological identities. But Bush has decided that the Maronite Patriarch, who was beaten up by `Awn's thugs in Beirut in 1990, speaks for all the Lebanese. I was told by Muslim Sunni sources in Beirut that Sunni public opinion is increasingly unhappy with Maronite right-wing hijacking of the movement that came out from the outrage at Hariri's assassination. They also have never been fans of the continuously shifting Walid Jumblat. I read the full text of the very long speech of Bashshar Al-Asad last night. The American cliche applies: too little, too late. That speech should have been made long before US pressures. Now it will be seen as insincere and motivated by Syrian desires to avoid pressures and isolation. He also should have addressed the Lebanese people more extensively, and his reference to Hariri's assassination was not sufficient in my opinion. He also should have said something about the Lebanese abuse of poor Syrian workers in Lebanon. He should have said that Syria does not object to an international investigation (assuming that the Syrian government has nothing to do with the assassination) of the Hariri assassination. A Lebanese-Syrian investigation will never satisfy anybody and will not reach conclusions. It may even blame Hariri's death on dangerously high levels of cholesterol. And most repugnant in this mess in Lebanon, are statements by Israeli leaders. The Israeli prime minister, who can not visit many European capitals for fears of war crime charges, dares to speak about the need for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. The head of the government that has occupied Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, and Jordanian lands is the last government to speak. You read those statements and get the need to take a very hot shower, using a very rough lufa.

"Women fear losing rights in new Iraq"

"Rule Change Lets C.I.A. Freely Send Suspects Abroad to Jails"

I read a statement by one of the pathetic Jordanian lawyers who volunteered to defend the tyranny of Saddam Husayn. He was expressing his concern over Saddam's prison conditions. But he does not seem to be concerned over the prison conditions of political prisoners in Jordan. Only tyrants concern him.

Reforms in Egypt: Egyptian security forces preventing demonstrations. 

A Palestinian girl behind the racist separation wall in Palestine. 

The files of the Maronite Patriarchate in Lebanon: In 1947, Maronite Bishop "Mubarak expressed his opinions in a passionate letter to UNSCOP (UN Special Committee on Palestine). Denying any Arab claims to Palestine, contrasting the enlightened Jews (and Christians) with the "backward and unprogressive" Muslim Arabs, and citing the need for cooperative minority havens in the Middle East." (From Zittrain Eisenberg, Laura, "Desperate Diplomacy: the Zionist-Maronite Treaty of 1946," Studies in Zionism, vol 13, no. 2 (1992), p. 159.

Walid Jumblat (the feudal warlord who is a descendant of a medieval dynasty--he recently sent his son Taymur to Paris to preserve the dynasty) the star of the "democratic" opposition in Lebanon receives tips about democracy from democratic theorist Crown Prince `Abdullah.

"A woman who drew international attention after being gang-raped in Pakistan in a retaliatory "honor" attack said yesterday she is fearful after several of the alleged perpetrators were ordered released from prison."

"The attachment of American Jews to Israel has weakened measurably in the last two years," according to a study carried out by Prof. Steven Cohen of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem."

"China announced Friday that its military budget would grow 12.6% this year"

Heroin Addicts for Bush: "More than three years after a pro-US government was installed, Afghanistan has been unable to contain opium poppy production and is ''on the verge of becoming a narcotics state," a federal report said."

The Real Faces of the Opposition in Beirut: I saw one familiar face today on a Lebanese TV station. It was the face of one of the "opposition" leaders in Beirut. He is Fu'ad Abu Nadir, former commander of the right-wing death squads known as the Lebanese Forces (and a relative of the Gemayyel family). He used to salute Ariel Sharon when he would drop by the headquarters of the Lebanese Forces after the Israeli invasion of 1982. And this guy dares to speak about "freedom," "democracy", and "sovereignty." Really? The former head of the militia that slit the throats of Lebanese who belonged to the "wrong religion" wants to lead change in Lebanon? Or Amin Gemayyel? Or Walid Jumblat who was one of the most submissive clients of the Syrian regime? I also saw in another segment the pathetic head of the pro-Syrian Ba`th party in Lebanon. One of the virtues of the Syrian military withdrawal in Lebanon (when it occurs that is) is that Lebanese politics will be revealed as it actually is, and not as Syria wishes it to be. Thus, the pro-Syrian Ba`th party will go back to its real size: utter insignificance and unpopularity. Yet, the Syrian regime (and successive Hariri cabinets) insisted on representing this highly unpopular party in every Lebanese cabinet. And last night, the thuggish leader of the party `Asim Qansu lead a demonstration of a 100 or so supporters of the party in front of the...Headquarters of Syrian mukhabarat (intelligence) in Beirut. And US will be wrong (again) if it assumes that opposition to Syria in Lebanon will translate into support for US or Israel (just as US had assumed that opposition to Saddam in Iraq would translate into support for US). And one Arab journalist informed me the other day that pictures of the notorious `Aql Hashim were seen among the demonstrators in Beirut. Is that true?

"An Army intelligence sergeant who accused fellow soldiers in Samarra, Iraq, of abusing detainees in 2003 was in turn accused by his commander of being delusional and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in Germany."

It is good that Martha Stewart was released from jail. The story pushed away the silly coverage of Lebanon's developments. I cannot believe how much coverage the US media are giving to Lebanon and demonstrations in Beirut, when they ignored the country for more than a decade. And did the US media ever notice the demonstrations against the Israeli occupation before 2000? And there was (and is) a solid consensus against Israeli occupation. But that is not a story that fits into Bush's Middle East "vision." I wish that US newspapers stick to celebrity news and leave foreign coverage to international newspapers.

"Journalist's Shooting Stirs Italian Anger" (and this case got attention because the victim was European).

"Friendly Fire"?! What kind of expression is that? Is that not a contradiction in terms? How could fire be friendly? Is "friendly fire" not like "affectionate killing" or like "loving murder"? Who invents those silly terms, and for what purpose?

"A U.N. report offers three scenarios projecting the number of new HIV/AIDS cases in Africa ranging from 65 million to 89 million in 2025."

Nora Boustany of the Washington Post has yet another fluff piece, here on Saad Eddin Ibrahim. Here he claims that he was an opponent of Nasser's regime from the beginning. Ibrahim did not know that there are some people who read his writings from those times, and some of his writings from the 1960s and even 1970s clash with this claim. It is important for people to be consistent, and if you want to reinvent your past, you cannot erase your paper trail. (Read for example Ibrahim's articles in Dirasat `Arabiyyah from those years). (I have known Ibrahim over the years, and served on panels with him, and never had a personal problem with him. In fact, just before his arrest in Egypt, in one conference at Georgetown he briefly suggested that we do a study of Arab public opinion toward Arab unity (he did one earlier study in 1970s). But politically, we do not agree, at all.)

US may send Ahmad Chalabi to Iran.

"American troops fired on a car rushing Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena to freedom today after a month in captivity, killing the Italian intelligence officer who helped negotiate her release and wounding the reporter."

Free Trade up to a Point: "The United States illegally subsidised its cotton farmers to the tune of $1.5bn (£790m), the World Trade Organisation ruled yesterday."

"Writers and academics voice anger as state department refuses visa to let Sandinista revolutionary take up post as Harvard professor"

My friend Husam `Itani (the editoral page editor of As-Safir) has a good article today in which he mocks the claims of the opposition in Lebanon about the non-violence of their movement. He points out that some 11 poor and innocent Syrian workers have been killed in Lebanon since the assassination of Hariri, not to mention that scores of others who have been injured, abused, and robbed. The opposition does not obvioulsy consider the lives of poor Syrian workers to be worthwhile, and the Syrian regime never valued the lives of its citizens to care. I care.

I sometimes receive such an interesting links and information from people I do not even know, and from around the world. One such personl who wishes to remain anonymous sent me some interesting links about New York Times reporter Hassan Fattah. Apparently, he was "discovered" by none other than Thomas Friedman who wrote this about him in August 17, 2003 :"Hassan Fattah is a young Iraqi-American journalist who has returned to Baghdad to start a terrific newspaper called Iraq Today (www.iraq-today.com). Before the fall of Baghdad, though, he worked as a reporter in the West Bank. "I sympathize with the Palestinian cause," he said, "but after the fall of Baghdad, when I told Palestinians that I was an Iraqi, they would say to me, `You sold us out. You sold Iraq for nothing.' I was called a traitor. The average Palestinian wanted to see us fight — to resist — America, and the American `occupation,' because that is what they understood." Of course, Iraqis want to run their own government as soon as possible, said Mr. Fattah — but not in order to join the old Arab nationalist parade, but rather to focus on themselves." Here is a a link to the newspaper that he edited in Iraq. Chris tells me that it was not pro-occupation. I will have to see it to judge. I could not get copies from the site.

Mainstream US Media: How much I have changed in my attitudes toward the US media. When I was a graduate student, and even afterwards, I enjoyed doing all these mainstream US "news" shows, although I do not like watching myself or listening to myself in the media. But I later came to realize, that you have to express yourself within the set parameters of debate, unless you do not want to be back. After Sep. 11: I really came to realize how much you are a prop, used to make an already reached conclusion, to used to caricature "another" position, to bolster the conventional established position. Once (in my days when I thought it was important to speak through the US media after Sep. 11 to explain certain things to US public--that sounds arrogant, but I did not mean it, but I will not edit it out), a woman on Fox News, asked me: do you believe the US was the "great Satan?" What do you say to that? What do you say when you are somebody who does not believe in God or in Satan, and have to respond to such an idiotic question? How can you respond to that? I said to her, that you will never find me speaking this kind of language that is used by Iran and its supporters? And she came to say, but "did you not oppose the war in Afghanistan"? What kind of (il)logical leap is that? I said how did you go from here to there? She did not even see why I was shocked. I came to realize I was being invited to showcase "an angry Arab" so to speak. And that is the irony of the name of this site. As you can read by the story written on this site in a SF publication (it is cited in the bottom left hand side of the site, under the illustration of Mother Teresa), the name Angry Arab was given to me ("affectionately" by her) by a producer on the Newshour in the early 1990s. Another time, also after Sep. 11, an anchorman on MSNBC (he now is on Fox) asked me whether my reference to civilian casualties in Afghanistan did not coincide with Bin Laden's references to civilian casualties. I was so angry at the guy, that I expressed myself arrogantly and nastily on the air, whereby they ended the segment abruptly. I also took the attitude, that I have to go beyond the parameters of set debate, and that will guarantee that I do not get invited back. But why should I come back anyway? For what? A friend would tell me, you always come back angry from those interviews. She was right. I resolved then that I have to just stick to Arab media (the very small number that has me on), and the alternative media (and international media). I write this because I had a conversation with a producer on NBC Nightly News today. I first agreed to tape a segment for NBC Eevening News, but then I called him back to decline. There is no room for nuance in mainstream US media, especially in the visual media. I told the fellow, that I will tape a 20 minutes segment, and then a sound bite, one small sound bite, will be used, and it may very well misrepresent what I want to convey. One Lebanese fellow read something I said a few days ago in a UK or Seattle newspaper to the effect that things are not that rosy in Lebanon, and he wrote me back inquiring whether I am a Syrian puppet. What was I supposed to have said? Did I have to preface my remarks by pointing to my opposition to the Syrian regime, before I make my point, and will the newspaper print that anyway? That is why this site works for me. Here, there is no way that I can be misunderstood--I mean I can, but I cannot feel responsible for it, not in my mind at least, and I can explain myself and contextualize my views and offer explanations. I am responsible for my words here, and I cannot accuse myself of misquoting me, especially that I pretty much get along with myself, and rarely have disagreements with myself, except when I have to decide what to eat. I was just invited to do the MSNBC's show with Ron Reagan (he is a thoughtful guy by the way) but last (and only) time I was on Hardball, the host was so furious at me and at my attitude, that it was a weird experience. I also believe that I come across as nasty and mean on TV, and some people in Long Beach told me that my sense of humor (assuming I have a sense of humor of course) does not show in my media appearances. A Palestian friend once asked me to not do media because I do not come across as nice, and he said that there is a need for nice Arab guests on TV. He is right. If you want nice, go to Nice Arab News Service.
PS: I forgot to divide this passage into paragraphs. So please, kindly divide it into three or four or five equal sections, and call each section a paragraph. You may--if you must--designate the beginning of each paragraph by a flower or a smiling face or a picture of a volcano. Are you happy now?

Full text: UN's Women and Gender Equality Report.

There is charity, and then there is wasteful and ostentatious "giving": "Aga Khan gives £27m to Chantilly restoration"

"As Voltaire lay dying, a priest urged on him the virtues of Jesus. His response, “Sir, do not speak to me anymore about that man”..."

Saudi Crown Prince Means Business (and I don't mean monkey business): "Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah has advised Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon "rapidly", a Saudi official has said." Now I do not disagree with that demand, but I wonder. Would that brave Saudi polygamous prince (not to be confused with all the other polygamous Saudi princes who are leading "reforms" according to Bush) also call on US to withdraw "rapidly" or even "slowly" from Iraq? Would he dare say that? There is evidence that there are more Iraqis who want the US out of Iraq than there are Lebanese who want Syria out. Reading the Lebanese press, you cannot but notice how much of the Lebanon's story is kept out, espcially the views of the Shi`ites who constitute at least 50 percent of the population (I heard that a US estimate puts the Shi`ite percentage higher)? The Highere Islamic Shi`ite Council issued a statement in which it rejected the consideration of UNSC 1559 as an "alternative to Ta'if accords." It described UNSC 1559 as one that "splits them, and is a project of sedition among them." The statement seems to insist on the preservation of Syrian-Lebanese relations. Shi`ites, it seems, have not joined the Hummus Revolution. Ayatollah (he officially is now Grand Ayatollah) Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah also issued a statement clearly distancing himself from the goals and slogans of the Hummus Revolution.

Sectarianism: the last refuge of Lebanese scoundrels, and keeping Sectarian Dynasties Alive. Ostensible and artificial Lebanese unity, always masquerading behind flags and Baba Ghannuj, splits and fragments along sectarian fissures, always. What passes as "national unity" is no more than temporary sectarian arrangements and marriages of convenience. So the Lebanese "opposition" met in Mukhtara palace--the palace of the feudal warlord who heads the "Progressive and Socialist Party" in Lebanon no less, and who recently sent his son Taymur to Paris because he said that he wanted to keep a member of the family secure. Keep the medieval sectarian dynasty alive, is his real slogan. Forget about all the talk about "democracy" and "freedom." Unless he means freedom for sectarian agitation and mobilization, and for the monopoly of sectarian representation.

So former Israeli-installed president Amin Gemayyel, was dispatched to the Palace of Mukhtarah (seat of Jumblat) to convince him to put aside his demand for the resignation of the Maronite president. Jumblat had called on AlJazeera for his resignation the night before. The right-wing Maronite Patriarch (who is taking time from his busy schedule of warning against a conspiracy of "Satan's Worshippers"--kid you not, he is obsessed with them) sent Amin Gemayyel with that urgent message. Maronite right-wing groups have historically always opposed the resignation of the president for fear of setting a president. So the Maronite Patriarch, and his sectarian clients, does not mind if the Sunni prime minister resigns, but not the (Maronite) president. That is how these sectarian-minded and petty people--who reject civil marriage and secularization in Lebanon--which Angry Arab fully supports--think and operate. Jumblat obliged, and the statement by the opposition crowd did not call for the resignation of the president.

It is shameful that so many days after the explosion that killed Hariri, a body of an innocent Lebanese (who has been missing since that day) was found only yesterday. That says something about the conduct and shortcoming of Lebanese security services, and of the state. Israel may be excited at developments in Lebanon today, just as Israel was prematurely excited after its Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 (which killed some 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinians), but they will be disappointed again. Just as the new Iraqi puppet government of Allawi did not dare mention peace with Israel (and they have 130,000 US troops with them), no Lebanese government with or without Syria will even broach the subject. Lebanon will probably be the last Arab country to do so. I do not think that Lebanon ever will; the memory of the Qana massacre (and of many other Israeli massacres) are too fresh in Lebanese minds.

Yes, I was assured that Hassan Fattah of the New York Times, and graduate of the New Republic School of Arab/Muslim Studies, is the same Hassan Fattah who edited the Iraq Today publication in Iraq after the US invasion. Chris tells me that the publication was not pro-occupation, but I have heard otherwise. I have to see it to judge. But then again, I can judge by reading his dispatches in the Times.

Today, I heard that the Bush administration is taking credit for the construction of the pyramids of Egypt.

When the Left is "Right" in Lebanon: THE LEFT is ALIVE in Uruguay, but dead in...LEBANON. It is worse in Lebanon; there is a small group of former leftists who claim that they constitute the "new left." I have written in an article in As-Safir that they are more the like "old right." They share the same slogans of the fascistic Phalanges Party from the 1970s, and they see no fault in Hariri's aggressive and cruel capitalism which impoverished large segments of the Lebanese population. They also are not shy from expressing prejudicial attitudes towards the Syrian People (as was expressed by Samir Franjiyyah in an interview on New TV). The Lebanese Communist Party is doing what it does best: being useless, obsolete, and ineffective. I am suffocating. I said repeatedly that the Hariri's assassination was a hineous crime, and it killed scores of innocent people. But we need a perspective that sets the record of Hariri straight. Look at Antwan Haddad's study of poverty in Lebanon under Hariri. It has reached an all time high. What about Hariri's habit of buying off people, and using massive bribing in elections, and engaging in blatantly sectarian agitation. When Hariri came to power in Lebanon, Forbes estimated his wealth at $ 2 billion. As of now, Hariri's wealth is estimated at $ 6 billion. By contrast, Lebanon's foreign debt when Hariri came to Lebanon, was $2 billion, and it is now estimated at $40 billion. So please, do not listen to reports about Hariri "building Lebanon". Also, regarding the Hassan Fattah of the New York Times Watch. I have been told that he was dispatched to Iraq after the US war and occupation to edit a pro-occupation newspaper. I have not been able to confirm that. (H.: if you are reading this, knowing that you know. Please, send me an email to confirm or not confirm that.) Inquring minds want to know, NOW. Oh, and Bashshar Al-Asad (and his father before him) tried to isolate the Lebanese Communist Party from Lebanese political life. But a few weeks, an invitation was dispatched to the party to meet with Bashshar. And he said nice things about them. He needs them now. They do not need him.

My dear friend Bassam got it right: ""What's missing from all the pictures we're seeing is the 50% of the Lebanese public which is not supportive of the opposition," said Bassam Haddad, a political science professor and Syria expert at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. "I think in the next week or so we'll begin to hear those voices."" (Bassam is half-Lebanese, half-Syrian. And his two sides get along famously. His Syrian part promised to not interfere in the Lebanese side, but only after a few months, and in return for guarantees. His Lebanese side, unlike the demonstrators of the Hummus Revolution in Lebanon, has not hurled insults at the Syrian side of him.)

Angry Arab warns: Don't Play with the fire of Lebanon.

Angry Arab pontificates.

The Hummus Revolution in Lebanon: Please do not use the word "revolution" so casually in referring to the events and developments in Lebanon. If you use the word "revolution" you are implying that the lousy bunch of crooks, war criminals, corrupt politicians, clerical clients, feudal warlords, militia gangsters are "revolutionaries." You think that the word "revolutionary" applies to the likes of Ahmad Fatfat and Walid Jumblat in Lebanon? But this is Lebanon. They describe Jubran (whose writings are used on Hallmark cards in US) as a "philosopher" no less and they get offended when you tell them that his writings are no more than "mawkish sentimentalism" (the description appears in the words of Amin Rihani in Jubran's biography by Mikha'il Nu`aymah). And Lebanese refer to their failed experiment of a "nation" as a "civilization." Have respect for the French Revolution before applying it to the baba ghannuj developments in the country with less cedars than Morocco. Lebanon always exaggerates its significance to the world; the right-wing militia leader Amin Gemayyel who was installed as "president"--the worst in Lebanese history--in 1982 by Israeli tanks and with US support (America did not discover "sovereignty" of Lebanon until last week, you know), once told an assembly at the UN: "give us peace, and we will astound the world again." First, what does "again" here mean? When did little insignificant Lebanon astound the world the first time around? Yes, Lebanon did astound the world with the cruelty and savagery of its combatants (its own Lebanese combatants) during the civil war years. Jumblat used the expression again. And Amin Gemayyel's Intelligence Service of the Lebanese Army (allegedly--my parents are both lawyers, so I have to insert that) sent a car bomb to kill Jumblat, but it missed him. Now they are allies. Just the mafia types that you would expect from those characters. But Lebanese used the word "thawrah" (revolution) back in 1958 during their mini-civil war: a "rehearsal" (to use Lenin's description of the 1905 revolt in Russia) for the later bloody civil war of 1975. This is not a thawrah. And Arab leaders just amaze me. Bashshar Al-Asad gave a second interview after the assassination of Hariri. The first one was for La Republica in Rome and the second one was for Time. These are unelected and unaccountable leaders who do not care about their own Arab constituencies, but care a great deal about the constituency in Washington, DC. He could not once address the Lebanese people, or the Syrian people, not even about the continued Lebanese abuse of poor and innocent Syrian workers in Lebanon, not to mention their abuse of Sri Lankan maids in Lebanon (an article of mine is coming out soon on this very topic in a book on Women and Human Rights Worldwide). Racists need to abuse other poor people to feel good about themselves. And Lebanonism passed through three phases or kinds of racism: the first one characterized the efforts of sectarian Christian ultra-nationalists in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s who expressed condescension toward Muslim Arabs. You still find traces of those attitudes in Lebanon today by the way. The second phase, was Lebanese racism against Palestinians. I grew up with this kind of anti-Palestinian racism around me. And the recent phase, entails Lebanese racism against the Syrian people. People, and I am not talking about justified hostility to the Syrian regime. And Bashshar is busy talking to the Western press. And he did not even dismiss the head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, for his negligence AT LEAST. And people wonder why the Syrian government is being suspected by Lebanese. And the Lebanese president remains silent. That is his habit. I criticized him when his rule was extended (I called it "crowning") because he also did not even bother to ask the Lebanese people for their support. Syrian support sufficed. How could I ever sympathize with those various parties and factions. From the bad to the worse. And I noticed that in Marwan Hamadah's speech (and he survived an assassination attempt before Hariri's assassination) before parliament on Monday, he again remembered fondly the days of Hafidh Al-Asad. Do you see what I mean? These people disagree with Syria not on principles and not on independence and not on freedom but on spoils and corruption and access. Hamadah did say that they had more access during the days of the most ruthless and brutal Hafidh Al-Asad. Did you notice that the Israeli foreign minister expressed his desire for a peace treaty with Israel? That, among its cruel and bloody history of intervention in Lebanon, makes Israel very much a suspect in my eye. It should not be ruled out at all. They will never hesitate in using such methods. I still believe that these are still the suspects: Syria, Israel, Gen. `Awn's gangs, Lebanese Army Intelligence, and Sunni fanatical groups. Any of them could be responsible, although I do not know for sure. I am getting very suspicious at the role of the opposition, and the recent falafil visit by Mr. Satherfield. I do agree with the corrupt opposition on two matters: 1) there should be an international investigation; 2) all the heads of the security services in Lebanon should be ousted without a doubt. I support former prime minister Salim Huss's effort to chart a third independent path, away from the opposition and the government alike. Hope it will succeed. What he lacks in charisma he makes up for in honesty, integrity, and consistency. I notice that the opposition is making every effort to pretend that there is a national identity being formed. Never. That is not the Lebanon I know and studied. I wrote my PhD dissertation on Lebanese political identities, and this Hummus Revolution will not succeed in erasing the sectarian fears, animosities, prejudices, and hostilities. I am not optimistic about the future. And I cannot believe that there are the typical foolish members of the US press who are trying to give credit to Bush for signs of Arab desires for independence and democratization. These are the fruits of the struggles and sufferings of Arab people over the years. If you have doubt, read Augustus Richard Norton's Civil Society in the Middle East in two volumes, published in 1994. In that project, movements of civil society were examined in several Middle East countries LONG BEFORE BUSH CAME TO POWER. But then again. The media would like us believe that Bush also discovered oil in the Middle East. Believe what you wish. It does not matter. I still believe that the US and France are playing with fire. They are acting as if they do not even consider the possibility that things in Lebanon can still get out of hand, and even hurt them, and hurt the Lebanese people. And there are divisions even within the Maronite community. Who can deny that Sulayman Franjiyyah in Zghurta has a huge following there. The rally that he held the other day leaves no doubt as to his standing, at least with his people. But I think that Lahhud is stubborn and may not respond to the demands of the opposition. Salim Hussa is now reconsidering his earlier decision to not seek the prime ministership. I remember in the 2000 election how I urged him to respond to the blatantly sectarian Sunni campaigns of mobilization and agitation launched by none other than Rafiq Hariri. He refused; he told me that "I would not go down to that level." I remember that when I asked him about Syrian interference in governmental affairs, he got very nervous. And then told me bluntly: "please, do not ask me about Syria anymore." Minister of State of this government (which just resigned) Albert Mansur called on all the politicians to submit to the Lebanese law about the origins and size of their wealth. He wanted to show that they all either embezzled or benefited from Hariri's largesse. When I was in college, the driver of Mr. Mansur once unleashed his AK-47 over my head because I refused to back up to allow the limo (with Mansur inside) of this big shot (I had the right of way). That was a close call. I almost died that day. I was furious at Mansur, and still remember it every time I see him on TV.
PS: many of you have pleaded with me to divide these posts into paragraphs. Even Neal firmly asked me to do so. But this has annoyed too many people for me to change now. (I mean people who deserve to be annoyed).

...off to Los Angeles (I am speaking tonight at California State University, Long Beach), and then to London. I will not be visiting Lebanon to wave the flag, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding. Will return Saturday night. If I could not update, you may stay informed by visiting this site.

Hassan Fattah of the New York Times Watch: well, the New Republic graduate has a front-page piece today. Are you not proud of him? I am. Well, at least he explains why US is angry at Syria. It is all about US rejection of "anti-Israel terrorism." "Anti-Israel terrorism". Was that phrase coined by Marty Perez, I wonder. And does Fattah consider Palestinian poetry to be "anti-Israel terrorism" too, I wonder? Well, Mr. Fattah interviewed three people today in his piece, and this time all three are right-wing, but one is not part of the opposition and not Christian (in Lebanese sectarian terms). Fattah interviwed AUB Professor Farid Al-Khazin (but he calls him Jihad Al-Khazin who is a columnist for Al-Hayat). Be patient. Fattah is just confused and overwhelmed these days. Again, Fattah does not tell the reader that Al-Khazin is a founding member of the Maronite right-wing oppostion group (known as Qurnat Shihwan) and headed by a Maronite bishop. Details. Mere details.

Repeat After Me: Batata: So US deputy assistant secretary of State, David Satterfield, is visiting Lebanon. Why now? Nothing special. He has heard a lot of good things about the quality of Falafil in Lebanon, and wanted to see for himself. When European and Asian diplomats visit Lebanon, they speak in Arabic. But Mr. Satterfield is an American "Middle East expert" so I noticed that whenever he spoke during this visit (always in English of course--he spent years working on his English afterall--he uses one Arabic word for extra effect. On the first day of his visit, he used the word "fitnah" (sedition), on the second day of the visit, he used the word "fawran" (immediately). It is expected that that on his third day, he is planning the use the word "batata" (potato). His family must be so proud of him for his extensive use of the Arabic language. At this rate, Mr. Satterfield may actually use four full words of Arabic during this touristic visit. His first meeting was with the right-wing Maronite patriarch (who, like the Mufti in Lebanon, is an enthusiastic book burner, and firmly believes that there is a "Satan's worshipping conspiracy in Lebanon-kid you not), and Bush has decided to invite the latter to the White House. Perhaps France gave the Americans figures of the various sizes of the sects in Lebanon from the times when France colonized Lebanon after WWI.

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday offered to help Lebanon hold free, fair elections and hinted at the possibility of international security assistance if Syria withdraws its troops." See how nice and innocent the US role is? I am touched, are you not?