25 Thursday Oct 2012
Posted in LB Culture, Lebanon, MB Culture, Media Monitoring, MicroBlogs, Press, Social Media
Tags
annahar, arab spring, Citation, Lebanese Blogging, Lebanese Blogosphere, Lebanese people, lebanon
Today Lebanon Spring blog has been featured in the Lebanese daily Annahar. You can check Reine Abu Moussa’s post on this blog here. So thanks to her.
Also, I have an article in Arabic that was published with a title “Muddling The Arab Spring”. I plan to publish an English translation of it, but you can check the current Annahar version here.
23 Sunday Sep 2012
Posted in Caricature of the day, LB Social, Lebanon, MB Social, MicroBlogs
Tags
Jabal Mohsen, Lebanese government, Lebanese people, Lebanese Politics, lebanon, Politics of Lebanon, Satire, YouTube
1 – This is how Lebanese government resolves all the country’s problems.
11 Wednesday Jul 2012
Posted in Lebanon, MB Culture, MB Social, MicroBlogs
Just a quick post when I couldn’t help but to stop, laugh out loud and take this photo of that woman, who thought to exploit the broken water pipe to wash her car! Continue reading »
10 Tuesday Jul 2012
Posted in MB Culture, MicroBlogs
This is a main thing that keeps me away from blogging: holidaying in Lebanon!
You might have noticed this blog has been on hiatus for the past couple of weeks and more likely to stay like that for another week or so.
Reasons are the usual ones; seeing the family and friends full-time, attending every wedding possible within a 20km radius, chilling on the beach (yes, funding the mafia), and digesting the mechawi, kebbeneh nayyieh, arak and the rest of it.
Did I mention there was no Internet anyway to blog? At the moment, I am avoiding all tyres possible…Yalla, blog later.
18 Monday Jun 2012
Posted in World, MicroBlogs, MB Culture, LB Politics, The rest of the world, Media Monitoring, Press
Tags
Terrorism, Press, Israel, Photo, Humanity, West Bank, Middle East, Propaganda, Yedioth Ahronoth, Hate Culture
I am convinced the violence that historically plagued the Middle East is rooted in the culture of hate that is widely spread and established in the region. We see it in form of sectarianism, religious or ultra-nationalist forms, but we – rightly – beat ourselves for having this disease, while Israel claims to be a democracy and peace-loving country.
Israel continuously fear-mongers about the ‘savage Arabs’ that live around them who want to throw them in the sea, and use children in their militant activities – which is no doubt the worse type of all.
A main differentiation of existence of the hate culture in Israel is its promotion on the ‘state’ level, and not on the level of some rogue elements or parties in the society. Israel is as worse as, if not way ahead of, its neighbourhood in this respect. Israel is the place where militancy and war-readiness is seeded in their children minds.
15 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in MB Social, MicroBlogs, USA, World
07 Thursday Jun 2012
Posted in LB Politics, LB Social, Lebanon, MB Social, MicroBlogs
Tags
Angry Lebanese, Beirut, Hezbollah, Ikhtak Malla Balad, Lebanese government, Lebanese people, lebanon, Satire, YouTube
I want to introduce to you Mr. Sodico, an angry bird – sorry Lebanese – speaking about his country and the resistance in it in the below video. The video is in the Lebanese slang, so apologies for non-Arabic readers.
30 Wednesday May 2012
Posted in LB Politics, MB Politics, Media Monitoring, MicroBlogs, Politics, Press
Ana Maria Luca from NOW Lebanon wrote an interesting article ‘The Sunni Streets’, following up on the clashes that took place last week in Tarik Al-Jadideh in Beirut. She interviewed me about the events and quoted me in her piece.
16 Wednesday May 2012
Posted in World, MicroBlogs, MB Social, USA, The rest of the world, Media Monitoring, TV
Tags
Tv, Israel, Iran, Foreign Policy, North Korea, Pakistan, BBC World Service, GlobeScan, Program on International Policy Attitudes, European Union
Can you compile a list of the top four and bottom four countries which had respectively positive and negative influence over the world?
Of course, I have my own list in mind, but funnily enough I have a similar one here compiled from a recent 22-county poll conducted by GlobeScan (an international opinion research consultancy) and the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland – Program on International Policy Attitudes.
21 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted in Arab Spring, Arab World, Caricature of the day, MB Politics, MicroBlogs, Politics
Tags
Al Khalifa family, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit, Bernie Ecclestone, F1, Formula One, Grand Prix, Peter Brooks
Bernie Ecclestone does not see what the fuss is about with the formula One Grand Prix tomorrow in Bahrain, insisting that the unrest in the country “has nothing to do with them“.
Of course, it’s related to the regime crackdown on the uprising, and the widespread human right violations attached to it. A massive protest took place yesterday against the F1 event.
19 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Caricature of the day, MB Politics, MicroBlogs
Tags
Al-Hayat, Arab League, Benjamin Netanyahu, Democracy in the Middle East, Israel, Middle East, syria
It’s been a while that I have not posted selected caricatures from the press, so I decided to post two today!
The first is from the London-based daily Al-Hayat, commenting on Netanyahu’s statement of Israel being “the only democracy in the Middle East”.
12 Monday Mar 2012
Posted in Arab World, MB Culture, MicroBlogs, Other Arab issues
And you thought there was nothing to blog about President Michel Sleiman’s visit to Qatar last week?
23 Thursday Feb 2012
Posted in MB Culture, Media Monitoring, MicroBlogs, TV, USA, World
Tags
Fox News, Iran, Propaganda, Tucker Carlson, Tv, United States
Apart from Fox News Channel, who else employs crap minds like that? This is Fox‘s Tucker Carlson calling for an Iranian holocaust:
We (America) are the only country with moral authority sufficient to do that (launch a war on Iran), …I do think Iran deserves to be annihilated. They are lunatics, I think they are evil.
02 Thursday Feb 2012
Posted in MB Politics, MicroBlogs, USA, World
Is this some idiot, or is this really how CIA recruit bloggers? may be, they have nothing to lose; just ask the question, plain and simple.
I am still trying to comprehend this email I received last month asking me some favours. Someone is apparently looking for the confession (and other information) of William Buckley, the ex-CIA Station in Beirut in 1985, who was kidnapped and then killed in the sad kidnappings wave at the time in Lebanon.
Continue reading »
25 Wednesday Jan 2012
Posted in LB Social, Lebanon, MB Social, MicroBlogs
In reference to the recent collapsed building in Achrafiyeh in Beirut, and frenzy over Jal al-Dib bridge in northern suburb of Beirut, Stephen Dockery wrote a good story in The Daily Star about Lebanon’s collapsing structures. Stephen quoted me in his article.
I told Stephen:
I wouldn’t say Jal al-Dib is bad in its structure or design, it just wasn’t followed with maintenance.
We desperately need routine maintenance regimes in place for public assets, rather than reactionary plans. Moreover, construction projects, which could have adverse impact on the nearby structures, should go through rigorous approval procedures, not only for their permanent designs but for their temporary designs that serve them for the duration of the construction period.
The aim of any law should be protecting public and private assets, and maintaining the public health and safety – which are really low on the Lebanese agenda.
Please click here to read the full story in The Daily Star.
27 Tuesday Dec 2011
Posted in Arab Spring, MB Politics
Tags
Posted by Nabeel Rajab, the president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, this photo gives you an idea of how journalists (or someone with a camera!) are treated in Bahrain, in the forgotten revolution.
Isn’t this person being ‘terrorised’?
17 Saturday Dec 2011
Posted in Arab Spring, MB Politics, Politics, USA
Tags
arab spring, Egypt, Human rights, Humanity, SCAF, Tantawi, YouTube
Today, the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forced (SCAF) of Egypt was helping Israel in its continuous never ending war against the Palestinians, with all the moral support they can give; just like any other Arab regime repressing its people.
Discuss.
Reminder: I believe 2011 was the best year yet for the American arms and crowd control weapons trades.
08 Thursday Dec 2011
Posted in Arab Spring, Caricature of the day, MB Politics, Politics, Syria
Tags
ABC, annahar, arab spring, Barbara Walters, Bashar Al-Assad, Libya, syria, Tv, YouTube
I wanted to post the same interview of the Syrian President Bashar Assad as a ‘caricature of the day’! But then I came across Annahar’s Armand Homsi’s caricature which I thought is convenient enough.
The interview was done by Barbara Walters of ABC, and aired last night on the American channel. You can watch its “highlights” below, but basically it seems Bashar Assad has defected from the Syrian presidency.
Continue reading »
02 Friday Dec 2011
Posted in Arab Spring, MB Social, Syria
Tags
You wonder what kind reforms are possible by a Syrian regime, or what kind of ‘terrorism’ they are fighting, when they see the iPhone as a dangerous device!
Below is a copy of a memo issued by the General Directorate of Customs of the Syrian Ministry of Finance; “iPhone is outlawed due to its banned features as per the watchdog regulations”.
With the ongoing popular uprising in Syria, it’s enough for any tourist or guest visiting now Syria to possess a smartphone to be potentially a spy suspect! But not if they have Samsung, HTC or other brands! That’s in addition to the usual confiscation of all the activists ‘facebooks’ they can get their hands on…
Good Steve Jobs didn’t manage to see this during his lifetime; his iconic device being banned in his ‘home country’.
05 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in LB Politics, Lebanon, MB Politics, MicroBlogs, Politics, USA, World
Tags
Credit when credit is due; this time the credit goes to former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who said - commenting on the U.S. stopping its funding to UNESCO-:
“This U.S. decision is totally unacceptable [...] It is also a clear message sent by America to the people of the region and the world and the Palestinian people that it stands against peoples’ right to freedom and independence, and that it is still unable to play the role of an honest broker”
02 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in Arab World, MB Politics, MicroBlogs, Other Arab issues, USA, World
Tags
Foreign Policy, Israel, Palestine, UNESCO, United States, YouTube
So in UNESCO now, Palestine is IN, United States is OUT. That’s the situation after the U.S. stopped the funding for the organisation, as a protest reaction to the vote on the admittance of Palestine as a new member. It’s not only unconvincing, but could be one of the most shameful decisions Uncle Sam has ever made.
You can check how countries voted on the decision here, but you MUST watch the below video when a brave journalist interrogated the State Department Spokeswoman; I really felt-ish for Victoria Nuland at some point. This decision shows how the American pro-Israel policies are based on a weak alibi.
Continue reading »
17 Monday Oct 2011
Posted in Arab Spring, Arab World, Caricature of the day, MB Culture, MicroBlogs, Politics, Syria
Tags
Al-Hayat, arab spring, Bashar Al-Assad, Caricature, Press, Sudan, syria
I followed political caricaturists in the Lebanese press for years now, and I can say I have two favourites. They are Armand Homsi in Annahar newspaper and Saad Hajo in Assafir newspaper.
I like Armand Homsi’s caricatures as they are spot on in summarizing explicitly the political situation or position(s) of different players, while Saad Hajo (a Syrian) does just that but in a very very abstract way or implicitly if you want. Hajo gives no hints or indication (in words), but he leaves the reader to ‘imagine’ what he is trying to say. I always loved it…try to follow him, he is very different! He has been with Assafir for the past16 years.
The below caricature showed up in Assafir by Hajo on 15.10.2011. I am sure you see how this applies to any dictator’s ‘ruling chair’ with some ‘medical context’, and it gets more applicable as you get closer in your thinking to your home country. But hey, Saad Hajo didn’t say anything, did he? For God’s sake, it’s just a red chair!
03 Monday Oct 2011
Posted in Arab World, MB Politics, MicroBlogs, Other Arab issues, Politics
In the wake of today’s attack on a mosque by suspected Jewish extremists in northern Israel, the above picture can probably give you a good explanation to the background of similar attacks, and to the spread of this mental corruption, the “Price Tag” policy.
The photo is for armed Jewish settlers in the West Bank hosting some foreigner comrades, who are part of the Jewish Defence League aiming to defend the settlements against ‘Palestinian violence’. They, in fact, ignore the fact that their presence where they are in the first place is considered an occupation and aggression by the Palestinians, United Nations and the international law.
Continue reading »
28 Wednesday Sep 2011
Posted in Arab World, MB Social, MicroBlogs, Other Arab issues, The rest of the world, World
I love these charts, especially when they tell you something you already know! or when they put something in a graphical systematic mathematical geeky way for something you vaguely know…
The relation in this chart is straightforward: when democracy is down, gender inequality is up. No wonder Middle East is at the bottom…oh, sorry, at the top on this chart.
24 Saturday Sep 2011
Posted in MB Politics, MB Social, MicroBlogs, Politics, USA, World
Tags
“A Crime File”
Date of sentence: 23rd Sept 2011
Verdict: guilty
Culprits: 10 Muslim students (Irvine 11).
Jury: Orange County jury, California
Crime: Practising the American First Amendment of the Bill of Rights
Method of crime: protest in a form of heckling
Location of crime: University of California, UCI
Date of crime: 8th February 2010
Subject of protest: Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren
Aim of protest: highlight the Israeli occupation to Palestine & its crimes
Evidence: below video…
Academic performance of UCI: note towards the end of protest @5:20, how apparently an orthodox bearded ‘teacher’, happened to have a Jewish cap on, was telling them ‘you are failing your exams’.
Question1: what would the verdict be if the students were of a different religion?
Question2: what would the verdict be if the Ambassador was not an Israeli person?
Question3: has the ‘teacher’ been disciplined?
“propagating murder is not an expression of free speech”
