The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

My article in Al-Akhbar: "`Abduh Wazin* and Solzhenitsyn"

A friend in Cambridge, Massachusetts sent me this: "As'ad, this is a verbatim piece of a conversation I overheard in Cambridge today, between a Birthright Israel recruiter and a possible
candidate.
Recruiter: Think of this not as going to Israel, but as starting a relationship with Israel. This is your first date. If it doesn't work out, not a big deal. But if it does work out, think of the relationship you could develop. This is your first date."

"Ali reports that the names of the poets have been added to the occupation authorities' "list of undesirables."" (thanks Tanweer)

Sen. McCain: what did you call your wife?

Saudi prince in Turkey. (thanks Khaled)

""We have to fix his mind, and change his emotions [in order] to directly change his behavior."" (thanks ls)

"At the end of a long list of reasons to be suspicious of the Iranians, McCain declared: "And they sure don't share our Judeo-Christian values."" (thanks Ali)

Dozens. "Dozens of Israeli high school seniors who are looking to evade mandatory military service on moral grounds sent a letter Wednesday to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Education Minister Yuli Tamir and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi in protest of Israel's policy of "segregation, killing and oppression in the occupied territories"."

"The report found that in the 13 southern states where corporal punishment is most prevalent, African-American students are punished at 1.4 times the rate that would be expected given their numbers in the student population, and African-American girls are 2.1 times more likely to be paddled than might be expected. There is no evidence that these students commit disciplinary infractions at disproportionate rates."

"A phenomenon is sweeping the Middle East as Arab women seek whiter skin and use lightening creams that promise beauty, love and success for those who "suffer" from olive skin." (thanks Seham)

"Iraq is fast becoming one of the United States' top customers for military sales. Since January 2007, Iraq has spent $3.1 billion on U.S. weapons. That number looks likely to grow exponentially as Iraq uses its vast unspent reserves of petrodollars to develop its army into a force capable of defending its borders against hostile neighbors. In the past two months alone, the Pentagon has alerted Congress of a possible $8.7 billion worth of additional military sales to Iraq, for everything from lightweight attack helicopters to armored ambulances to binoculars."

"Each episode of the show takes a look at the historical and cultural heritage of one Palestinian village. At the end of every edition, a resident of the village demonstrates how to cook a local specialty."

King PlayStation of Jordan is visiting Russia this week. He wants to see if the latest Russian military technology can be utilized in Wii gaming.

"A stone smashed through the windshield. Falastin Maali, 31, raised her arm to shield herself, but the rock glanced off her head and struck her 7-year-old daughter, Hadeel, in the back seat. Maali, who is pregnant, was released last week from a hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, after doctors performed two operations to stop bleeding in her brain. Her 7-month-old fetus survived. Hadeel suffered a fractured skull but is expected to fully recover. The attack drew headlines in Israeli media because the suspected assailants are Jewish and the victims are Arab. It was the latest in increasingly bold attacks by Jewish settlers against unarmed Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, Israeli police say."" (thanks Olivia)

""I admire Zionism and am nauseated by it," Mr. Begley quotes from Kafka."

Is that why they fought so well? ""In 2007, Israeli experts trained Georgian commandos in Georgia and there were plans to supply heavy weaponry, electronic weapons, tanks and other arms at a later date, but the deal didn't work out," Israeli media quoted Nogovitsyn as saying."

"The South Ossetian family of a 12 year old American girl have renewed their attack on the U.S. TV network which stopped them from telling their story of Georgian aggression on air. The live interview, which has whipped up a storm over media bias, saw the girl and her aunt describe how Russian soldiers saved them from Georgian attack – only to be bizarrely cut off after just two minutes." (thanks Sellam)

Is Michael Young trying to sound profound or literary here? "Aoun is a cat of many political lives, so it may be unwise to write him off just yet. But even cats need branches to sit on..." Wow. What an insight. Do dogs and alligators also need branches to sit on, o expert of offshoots?

Halliburton and company.

""You have no idea how exciting it was when I saw you waving that flag. Know that you have brought many tears of joy to Israel," he added." Wow. Israel is really desperate for something to take pride in.

You are a cute puppet.
No, no, no. YOU are the cute puppet.

Look who has gotten himself into the Georgia story: none other than BHL. As Raed reminds me, "Bourdieu called him once the "negative intellectual" (l'intellectuel negatif) and includes him in what he calls "les pauvres blancs de la culture"." Here is this new expert on Georgia: ""Tous ces ministres et conseillers sont des boursiers de fondations type Soros dont la "révolution des roses" a interrompu les études à Yale, Princeton, Chicago. Il est francophile et francophone. Féru de philosophie. Démocrate. Européen. Libéral au double sens, américain et européen, du mot. De tous les grands résistants que j'aurai rencontrés dans ma vie, de tous les Massoud ou Izetbegovic dont il m'a été donné de prendre la défense, il est le plus évidemment étranger à l'univers de la guerre, à ses rites, ses emblèmes, sa culture – mais il fait face." (thanks Raed)

I don't follow Olympic games but there is one thing I follow closely: I just always hope that Lebanon does not win--not even a tin medal.

" And with Israel and the US providing military backing to Georgia, Russia appears set to respond in kind by supporting Syria."

"A member of the Modesty Patrol, a group of ultra-Orthodox men working to eradicate so-called immodest behavior in Haredi areas, has detailed in a rare interview an organization that enjoys the support of rabbis and the police." (thanks Rakia)

"In an exclusive briefing to Dawn, the [U.S.] official also said the United States wanted President Pervez Musharraf to be treated with respect even after his ouster." (thanks Tanweer)

"Since Israel began making `goodwill gestures` to the Palestinian Authority last year, it has arrested more than four times the number of Palestinians it released from prison, former Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouthi said on Monday." (thanks Ali)

"Men in front, women in back"

"The blatant media bias displayed by the "mainstream" news organizations is more than matched by the shameful cover-up of Georgian atrocities by the mainline "human rights" organizations, first and foremost Human Rights Watch. In the most brazen display of willful ignorance since Walter Duranty overlooked the Soviet gulags, HRW spokeswoman Anna Neistat told the Guardian that Ossetian claims of Georgian atrocities were "suspicious":"

"In answer to the question, Rabbi Melamed ruled that the inquirer should report the case to the Interior Ministry, “and in this way you are doing great justice to your friend and saving him from sorrow.”"

"But Iraq's government is suspicious of such groups, fearing their decision to break with the insurgency was a short-term tactic to gain U.S. money and support. The government fears they will eventually turn their guns against Iraq's majority Shiites."

"A lawyer for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera News Agency demanded that the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, apologize for publishing a faulty report in its printed and online editions. The report in question claimed that Al Jazeera had apologized to Israel for a weekly report which focused on Sameer Al Quntar, a Lebanese fighter who was release recently in a prisoner-swap deal after more than 30 years in Israeli prison." (thanks Olivia)

"Earlier this month, a thirty-four-year-old Chinese computer engineer, Hiu Lui Ng, who overstayed his visa, died in a Rhode Island immigration detention center. He had cancer in his liver, lung and bones, and a fractured spine. Despite repeated complaints of severe pain, Mr. Ng was refused independent medical evaluation by immigration officials." (thanks Sellam)

"A 16-year-old Saudi girl drank a bottle of bleach in an attempt to commit suicide to escape a forced marriage to a 75-year-old man, press reports revealed Sunday." (thanks Seham)

On foreign domestic workers in Lebanon.

Let me make this prediction. MEMRI and other Zionist tabloids will not report you Walid Jumblat's statement from yesterday in which he railed against U.S. occupation in Iraq and the treaty being imposed on Iraq, which Jumblat compared to British attempts in the 1920s. Michael Young must be crying as we speak over the new transformation of his idol.

This is a delicious picture. U.S. troops arrest an Iraqi puppet officer in Ba`qubah. (Reuters)

What will happen to Egyptian democracy now that the Egyptian parliament building suffered from a fire?

Muhammad Dahlan eulogizes...Mahmud Darwish. (thanks anonymous)

Al-Akhbar reporter, Fida' `Itani, had the best coverage of the short-lived pact between Hizbullah and one Salafi group. It basically explains what happened: a pro-Kuwaiti (and Kuwaiti-funded) group signed the pact, and the Saudi-funded (and Hariri-aligned) Salafis refused to join in. But within 24 hours the pro-Kuwaiti Salafis withdrew (or suspended the pact). But the most important part of the afffair is this: Hariri sponsorship of Lebanese Salafis has been uncovered for all to see.

A Lebanese politician from Tripoli (somebody I have never met) called me yesterday and shared with me some information and opinions about what is happening in the city. He said that Hariri's Intelligence Apparatus is running the city, and that the Israeli weapons in the hands of Hariri Salafis (reported on in New TV reports) were supplied to them by the Lebanese Forces.

Yesterday, I met a dear Jordanian friend who knows the PlayStation King of Jordan. He told me things that I can't use because he does not want me to.

"“President Bush appreciates President Musharraf’s efforts in the democratic transition of Pakistan." Isn't this like appreciating Hitler's efforts in the democratic transition of Germany?

When your best bet is a failed military dictator. "“We’ve said for years that Musharraf is our best bet, and my fear is that we are about to discover how true that was,” one senior Bush administration official said."

Wahhabi Zionism: conspiracy? What conspiracy? Saudi sleaze website, Elaph, says that "beautiful [Jewish] settlements [in Gaza] were transformed by Palestinians into barren deserts." Zionists and Saudi Wahhabis deserve each other. Their friendship fits.

Saudi media racism. The Saudi sleaze website, Elaph, talks about Bangladeshi "criminal nature" and said that "the French were most right in describing them as while ants who eat all what they see without discrimination." This right-wing sleaze website is often described in Zionist media (like MEMRI and Israeli newspapers) as "liberal." (thanks Toufic)

"According to Marc Garlasco, of Human Rights Watch, there is growing evidence of the use of cluster bombs by Russian forces around Gori and elsewhere. It is the first time these weapons have been used since Israel utilised them in the war in Lebanon in 2006, and despite a recent international agreement on banning them."

"General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of staff of the Russian Military revealed Tuesday the extent of the military assistance Moscow claimed Jerusalem had given Georgia. "Israel armed the Georgian army," he told reported at a press conference held in the Russian capital. According to Nogovitsyn, Israel provided Georgia with "eight types of military vehicles, explosives, landmines and special explosives for the clearing minefields.""

"The Israel Defense Forces kept Sgt. Maj. Moshe Moridan, a senior regiment commander, in his post for three months after he had been accused of raping a mentally challenged woman volunteering in the army, it emerged Monday."

Women's rights in "liberated" Afghanistan: "Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah's medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man." Does the Feminist Majority do anything except cheer for wars on poor Muslim countries?

"Afghanistan has changed the venue for its independence celebration on Monday to an undisclosed location, an official said, after President Hamid Karzai survived an attempt on his life by Taliban in a military parade in April." People all over the country were asked to show up in large number at the undisclosed location.

What is a "strongman"? A "strongman" is a pro-U.S. dictator. (thanks Fahd)

"Mike Huckabee, who earlier this year lost to John McCain in the race for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, earned the title from Mati Dan, founder of the Ateret Cohanim religious seminary, for expressing support for the settlement of Jews in the quarter and for calling a potential division of Jerusalem "unimaginable.""

"Anderson has been quietly seeing a man from the United Arab Emirates. And he's not just any man—the dude is a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, a source exclusively tells me." (thanks ls)

"The Kuwaiti Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour has issued orders to security authorities to gear up and be ready to face further demonstrations by Bangladeshi workers in the country, a Kuwaiti daily reported yesterday." (thanks Tanweer)

"A state government in eastern India is encouraging people to eat rats in an effort to battle soaring food prices and save grain stocks." (thanks Olivia)

Olympic Zionism. "Then there is Zakia Nassar. She's a 21-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem studying dentistry in Jenin, a city in the West Bank. She said it has been her dream since she was 10 to swim in the Olympics but there is no pool available for training in Jenin. There is an Olympic-sized, 50-meter pool in nearby Nazareth, but the Israeli government did not give her permission to use it." (thanks Imane)

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered "deep gratitude" Monday for resigning Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's original decision to join the U.S.-led fight against extremists." (thanks Seham)

What is the big deal about the resignation of Musharraf? I mean, a pro-U.S., "democratically-elected" dictator will be replaced by a pro-U.S., "democratically-elected" dictator.

"The town of Postville, Iowa, population 2,000, has been turned into an open-air prison. Jerry Johnson, who works at nearby Luther College, called it something out of a bad science-fiction movie or the kind of thing a 1930s totalitarian regime might have cooked up." (thanks Julie)

Hamdir Qandi: on AlJazeera's dirty tricks. (thanks Mirvat)

Just as ambassadors tender their resignation at the end of each administration, should not U.S. puppets around the world do the same? Musharraf did.

"“So are you going — I understood you are going to give a tough fight for us in December,” he said.
Ms. Rice: “Always, Mr. President. We always fight for our friends.”"

"I will start with the most recent polling. In March of this year ORB conducted a poll for the British Channel 4, asking Iraqis what they would like to see happen with the Multinational Forces. Seventy percent said they want the Multi National Forces to leave, with 78 percent of this group wanting them to leave within six months or less and 84 percent within a year. Thus about six in ten of the whole sample said they want the troops out within a year or less. In a poll conducted in February of this year for a consortium of news outlets led by ABC News, 73 percent said they oppose the presence of coalition forces in Iraq. Sixty-one percent said that the presence of US forces in Iraq is making the security situation in Iraq worse. Iraqis have been asking for a timetable for withdrawal for some time now. At the beginning of 2006 WorldPublicOpinion.org found that 7 in 10 wanted US-led forces out according to timetable of two years or less. About a year later 7 in 10 favored a timetable of one year or less. In late 2006 the US State Department conducted polls in numerous major Iraqi cities and consistently found about two-thirds calling for the US to leave."

I find it delicious when the New York Times orders Arabs what to do on the Palestinian question: "Arab countries also need to face up to their responsibilities. They need to press Hamas toward more responsible positions and provide more political and economic support to Mr. Abbas." OK, New York Times. What else would you like? A smoothie perhaps?

What about your Walid Jumblat? I asked this before and I ask it again: how come MEMRI and other Zionist sites and writers have stopped quoting Walid Jumblat since he started invoking Arabism and Palestine? Today, he called for the a revival of the labor movement in the entire Arab world in order to confront "savage capitalism." He hailed communist struggles around the world, and warned of the dangers of multinational corporations, and invoked the Internationalist's anthem. (Of course, I don't trust nor like Jumblat: not when he was a stooge of Syria, nor when he was a stooge of U.S., and not in his recent re-transformation). Jumblat can't fool anybody--except Hizbullah of course.

"After the meeting, Mr. Saakashvili pronounced his visit “one of the most successful visits during my presidency,” and said he did not know of any other leader of a small country with the access to the administration that he had."

"Ma'aden's $5.5 billion endeavor promises to make the kingdom the world's largest exporter of diammonium phosphate, a fertilizer. The company is also finalizing a $10.5 billion deal with Rio Tinto Alcan (RTP) to mine bauxite and build a refinery, smelter, and power station to become a major aluminum exporter." (thanks Nabeel)

"On Sunday, approximately 100 SLA soldiers and their family members demonstrated opposite the David Gate at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv."

Privileges of puppets. "It emerged on Sunday that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni may have helped the daughter of senior Palestinian peace negotiator Ahmed Qureia obtain a blue identification card, which promises her rights afforded by Israel to very few Palestinians." (thanks Zaki)

"The Supreme Court reversed Sunday a previous ruling by the Beersheba District Court and determined that the three Jewish settlers from the south Mount Hebron area who are accused of kidnapping and beating a Palestinian will be placed under house arrest." Let me predict: they will be released in a day and then they will run for the Knesset (and they will win.)

"But a careful reader quickly learns from perusing the next several paragraphs that this official assertion is actually based on nothing more than speculation. It is just another propaganda blast in the guise of an intelligence briefing. Hess, writing from Washington, describes her source as "senior U.S. military intelligence officer in Baghdad" who "spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence." That is the first misleading statement in the piece. The story later reveals that the anonymous officer told her quite explicitly that the story was being released for the U.S. command's own political objectives." (thanks Sellam)

Comrade Khalid on Lebanese scapegoating.

"A PALESTINIAN man's 35-year legal fight to prevent a Jewish settler group from taking his home in occupied East Jerusalem enters a critical phase this week when an Israeli court decides whether to keep him in jail for disobeying orders to vacate the property." (thanks Olivia)

The Americans and the Europeans and the Israeli will never tire from their attempt to impose "leaders" on the Palestinian people. But in the case of Sari Nusseibeh, this is the best description of him that I have read: Ayalon's guy. "Is Sari Nusseibeh, the secular Palestinian, the symbol of moderation, Ayalon's guy, burying the two-state solution?" (thanks Kamal)

""Usually the Americans are never injured," he said. "It's the Iraqis who get hurt."" (thanks Nabeel)

"I reassured my Homeland Security interrogator that I did not make any connections with Hezbollah or with anyone I knew to be associated with such an organization. I am not a member of any terrorist group. In fact, my visit to Syria had been so apolitical and touristy that I felt an embarrassing affinity with the pastel-shirted families waiting by the Air France baggage carousels in the distance, whom I knew I would eventually join." (thanks Ali)

My article on Mahmud Darwish for Electronic Intifada.