To Drone or Not to Drone

11 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by Zak in Caricature of the day, The rest of the world, World

Tags

Dimona, Hezbollah, Hezbollah Drones, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Unmanned aerial vehicle

When Benjamin Netanyahu called for an enforcement of a red line in regards to Iran’s nuclear project, he didn’t think the line could be as close to him as 25km, or indeed this close to Dimona nuclear site. The downing of the unidentified drone over Israel last Saturday marked that red line. It occurred less than two weeks after Iran’s announcement of the deployment of a domestic-built reconnaissance drone with a 24-hour flight capability.

Israeli Hate Culture

18 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Zak in World, MicroBlogs, MB Culture, LB Politics, The rest of the world, Media Monitoring, Press

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Terrorism, Press, Israel, Photo, Humanity, West Bank, Middle East, Propaganda, Yedioth Ahronoth, Hate Culture

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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.

The Arab Spring is the Black Swan Moment of the Middle East

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by Zak in Arab Spring, Arab World, Politics

≈ 1 Comment

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arab spring, Arab Spring is a Black Swan Moment, Black Swan, Black swan theory, Citation, Huffington Post, Middle East, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Nassim Taleb

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The Arab Spring has been described and associated with such a wide variety of symbolic designations that at times, the term chosen to describe the series of protests that have swept across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region may indicate a person’s political position on the wide and highly polarized spectrum. The term ‘Arab Spring’ has even been criticized by some who support the pro-democracy (or anti-regime) protests, citing this description as being Orientalist and therefore inappropriate.

The Lebanese Tourist “Swim and Ski on Same Day” Claim

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by Zak in Lebanon, LB Culture, Media Monitoring, Social Media

≈ 8 Comments

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lebanon, Beirut, Satire, Middle East, Propaganda, Lebanon beaches, Middle East Airlines, Ski, Lebanon Ski, Holiday, Mediterranean Sea, Travel

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I can’t believe we still preach this tourist propaganda in 2012: “Lebanon is the only country in the world, where you can ski on the mountains in the morning and swim in the Mediterranean in the afternoon”.

Caricature(s) Of The Day: Israel’s Democracy And UN Mission In Syria

19 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by Zak in Caricature of the day, MB Politics, MicroBlogs

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Al-Hayat, Arab League, Benjamin Netanyahu, Democracy in the Middle East, Israel, Middle East, syria

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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”.

The Rise and Fall Of Hezbollah

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by Zak in LB Politics, Lebanon

≈ 3 Comments

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Citation, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, Huffington Post, Iran, lebanon, Middle East, syria, The Rise and Fall of Hezbollah

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A cut version of this piece was published in The Huffington Post on 3rd April 2012. This is an extended version, which I chose to publish here. I hope they convey the same message!

Once considered to be one of the strongest non-state military factions in the entire Middle East, we are now witnessing the decline of Hezbollah. Though it may seem to be at the peak of its career of might, in reality the popularity of Hezbollah in the Arab world — the bedrock of its legitimacy outside its Shiite core — is at an all-time low.