The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

The real victim in the Syrian conflict is really the White Man: I read it in the New York Times

2013-05-25T19:02:00.002-07:00

"His wife, a jewelry designer, is from the Caucasus and lives in Nairobi; they have not seen each other in two months." Syrians are living in tents, many have lost loved ones, but this story of this guy moved the correspondent to tears.

Anne Barnard and the clashes in Tripoli

2013-05-25T18:55:00.003-07:00

There is no mystery at all about the triggers to the clashes of Tripoli. You can even tell by two factors: 1) the clashes ALWAYS occur when the Salafites of Tripoli are upset over one reason or another (and this week they were upset upon the news of the offensive against Qusayr). 2) `Alawites in Tripoli are a mere 5% of the population and they are surrounded from all sides, and it is just impossible that they would instigate a fight, especially that they have been evicted from Tripoli and their businesses all stolen and set on fire. But Anne Barnard does not note any of that: "Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, a retired senior security official from Tripoli, said Hezbollah, through Mr. Eid, started the fight to keep Sunnis from flocking to Qusayr after it realized its hope of taking the city in 24 hours was “delusional.” She did not say the rest of the talk of Mr. Rifi, and did not say that he is a functionary of Hariri who started his career as a bodyguard for Rafiq Hariri, and who sits on the board of the Prince Nayif University for Security Studies. She made him sound like an neutral observer. She said that both sides in Tripoli blame the other, but only offered one side's account, without even mentioning that he represents one side. Of course, the dominant view in Lebanon is that when the news of the offensive reached Tripoli, the Salafite thugs there started doing what they always do when they are angry: they started shelling Jabal Muhsin. Even the official Hariri mouthpiece website reported that Tripoli was shelling Jabal Muhsin (see citation below). And the theory of Rifi is dumb: as if Tripoli is the only place that supplies Salafite fighters for Syrian armed movement.

""استمرار الاشتباكات والقذائف الصاروخية من باب التبانة باتجاه جبل محسن

And this is outrageous because the US would never ever do such a thing to Iran

2013-05-25T14:06:00.001-07:00

" American officials and corporate security experts examining a new wave of potentially destructive computer attacks striking American corporations, especially energy firms, say they have tracked the attacks back to Iran."

Sen. Kerry calls on Iran to emulate the electoral freedoms of Saudi Arabia

2013-05-25T14:00:00.001-07:00

" He said that the election would hardly be one that was free and fair and that it was not likely to represent the desire of the Iranian people for change."

It is resistance to Israel, Ms. Barnard

2013-05-25T13:40:00.001-07:00

" of opposition to Israel". This is even a distortion of Sulayman's own words. He said resistance. Were you afraid of offending Zionist readers?

Anne Barnard yet again justfies the killing of civilians by Fee Syrian Army

2013-05-25T13:34:00.001-07:00

" Syrian rebel shelling has already killed civilians in Hezbollah-controlled areas of the Bekaa Valley." What does Hizbullah-controlled mean? Those are areas that voluntarily support Amal and Hizbullah. Do I live in a Democrat-controlled area in Californian?

Hear ye, hear ye. Anne Barnard mentions Lebanese Sunni Salafites fighting in Syria--in passing naturlich

2013-05-25T13:28:00.001-07:00

" riling Lebanon’s Sunni militants, some of whom are fighting alongside rebels in Qusayr."

Where do they get this trash from?

2013-05-25T12:58:00.001-07:00

" Mr. Navasky spends a good deal of time discussing the work of the valiant cartoonists at work in Muslim countries, where satire can still lead to beatings, imprisonment or worse.". In fact, political cartoonists in Egypt and Lebanon have been celebrated for over a century and Bashshar Al-Asad felt the need to befriend Ali Farzat who only became vocally critical of the Asad dictatorship when Bashshar ended the friendship.

There is an Arabic proberb about this: "he hit me and he cried, and preempted me and complained"

2013-05-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

""Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, filed a complaint to the Security Council against Syria after the Syrian Army opened fire, several days ago, at an Israeli military vehicle in the occupied Golan Heights. Prosor said that targeting the Israeli military vehicle is a "direct violation to the 1974 agreement that ended armed confrontation between Syria and Israel." ""

Israeli calculations in Syria

2013-05-25T11:14:00.001-07:00

""The model that Israel had been using, the predictions we had been making, were based on far more defections from the Assad regime, and more fighting prowess and organization from the rebels," said one Israeli military official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because of Israel's strict military censorship laws." "If Syria is going to fight, and if they are going to fight with deadly weapons, better they busy themselves fighting each other than fighting us.""

Citing Hizbullah "sources" in Western media

2013-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks, Western media were full of reports about the war in Qusayr in which Western reported cited "Hizbullah fighters" or "Hizbullah sources" or "sources close to Hizbullah" or in the case of Nicholas Blanford "every singe fighter of Hizbullah who reveals secrets to me because I am so beloved by them", etc. Not a single Western media mentioned that the head of the information department at Hizbullah, Ibrahim Musawi, said this week that all those citations are fabricated. Is that to embarrassing to concede?

Those foreign fighters in Syria don't get the attention of Western reporters

2013-05-25T11:10:00.001-07:00

"A total of 12 fighters from Chechnya were killed Friday in Syria's central Hama province, activists said. The fighters were killed when two rockets landed in the al- Hamra village in the eastern countryside of Hama, the Britain- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said."

"The government in Dushanbe says three Tajiks fighting on the side of Islamist rebels in Syria were recently killed." "Officials in neighboring Kyrgyzstan meanwhile said the following day that two Kyrgyz men who were fighting with Islamist rebels were brought back from Syria by Kyrgyz security officers this week." (thanks Amir)

a two-child limit for Muslim families

2013-05-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

"Authorities in Myanmar's western Rakhine state have imposed a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists in the area and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of sectarian violence." (thanks Richard)

Nasrallah's speech

2013-05-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Much to be said but not enough time, especially that I have written a few comments on twitter and Facebook. I realized today after receiving avalanche of attacks from Hizbullah supporters in cyberspace what I know first hand: supporters of Hizbullah are far thin skinned than Nasrallah, who can handle criticisms even to his face (I know that from my experience). Anyway, I felt that Nasrallah did not say really much about Syria: as if he felt obliged to speak about it but did not want to, for one reason or another. But what bothered me about the speech is that he said that the fall of Syria (by which he clearly meant the regime) would result in the "loss of Palestine" among other disasters. But Palestine is not a wallet to be lost. It will never be lost, no matter. If the cause survived the fall of the Nasser regime, it can easily survive the fall of the lousy Asad dynasty.

Reuters changes its tune on Syria

2013-05-25T10:32:00.003-07:00

From Nidal: "About Reuters pretending to talk to a Hezbollah fighter in Qusayr, I just noticed that Reuters has changed its text.

For instance, here you have the original version:

which links, as it's source, to the original Reuters website:

But now, the Reuters website simply writes:
“An official close to Hezbollah told Reuters that the fighters' advances in Qusair were happening at a very slow pace.”

You also have an intermediate version, like here:
that states:
“A fighter from Hezbollah forces in Qusair told Reuters that advances were happening at a very slow pace.”
(It's still a fighter in Qusair, but not by telephone.)

So, the “information” is just the same (“very slow place” according to Hezbollah), but the source and the means has changed (from “a Hezbollah fighter in Qusayr by telephone” to “an official close to Hezbollah”) . This is professional reporting at it's best."

I don't like flags, and I don't like nationalisms, but...

2013-05-25T08:26:00.002-07:00

...for Palestine and the Palestinians, everything and anything. (thanks "Ibn Rushd")

Hizbullah fighters manage to call in (to Western reporters) to brief them about Qusayr: is that not nice?

2013-05-25T08:18:00.002-07:00

From Mick: "I could just see this conversation:
Hizballah fighter: Reuters, is this you?
Reuters: Yes, who is this?
Hizballah fighter: I am Hizballah fighter in Al Qusayr and I really relish the Western press and their unbiased reporting in the region so I am calling in the middle of a battle to inform you of our progress.
Reuters: Thank You. We work hard to be honest brokers...

"A fighter from Hezbollah forces in Qusair told Reuters by telephone that advances were happening at a very slow pace."

Abraham Foxman defines anti-Semitism

2013-05-24T10:16:00.001-07:00

On the day of the final examination one of my students gave me a gift: the book the Deadliest Lies by Abraham Foxman. She said she suffered through the book for a paper she wrote and wanted me to suffer like her. Kid you not. Started reading. Here is his definition of anti-Semitism: "criticism of Israel that is intensely biased, unfair, and illogical."(p. 174). Only a brilliant mind can vomit such pearls.

A vulgar and crude shabbih of the Syrian regime joins the "revolution.". Please enjoy him.

2013-05-24T08:41:00.001-07:00

I saw on the station of king Fahd's brother-in-law, al-arabiyya, that one of the worst propagandists of the Syrian regime, Yahya al-Aridi, who attended Georgetown university with me, and who was a propagandist of Syrian regime TV and dean of the journalism school at Damascus university, has defected. My memories of the man.

Turkey Shawarma? Is that true? Can somebody verify it was turkey and not lamb or beef or chicken?

2013-05-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

"Mr. Kerry chatted with the owner and chomped on a turkey shawarma sandwich."

PS Palestinians are confirming to me that indeed Ramallah offers this delicacy--if you want to call it that. I want eggplant shawarma in every town and city.

Future of Syria

2013-05-24T06:11:00.001-07:00

"What about Alawites?

Allah knows what will happen to them. There is a difference between the basic kuffar [infidels] and those who converted from Islam. If the latter, we must punish them. Alawites are included. Even Sunnis who want democracy are kuffar as are all Shia. It's not about who is loyal and who isn't to the regime; it's about their religion. Sharia says there can be no punishment of the innocent and there must be punishment of the bad; that's what we follow.""

defining terrorism

2013-05-24T06:08:00.001-07:00

"Can it really be the case that when western nations continuously kill Muslim civilians, that's not "terrorism", but when Muslims kill western soldiers, that is terrorism?" (thanks Amir)

If he were a Muslim

2013-05-24T06:07:00.001-07:00

""AK-47-Wielding Gunman Fires 37 Times at Shocked Cops During Routine Traffic Stop"". (thanks Krim)

It is not terrorism if the victim is Muslim

2013-05-24T05:59:00.002-07:00

""A 75-year-old man stabbed to death yards from his home may have been targeted in a racially motivated attack, according to police. Mohammed Saleem, who used a walking stick, was stabbed three times in the back as he returned home from prayers at his local mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham, on Monday night. The blows were struck with such violence they penetrated to the front of his body.""

believers versus unbelievers in Syria

2013-05-24T05:58:00.002-07:00

"Syria has long been known for its sectarian diversity. How do you view the other sects?

The other sects are protected by the Islamic state. Muhammad, peace be upon him, had a Jewish neighbour, for example, and he was always good to him. But the power and authority must be with the believers [Sunnis], not the unbelievers." (tahnks Moheammad)