Picture of Hosni Mubarak held up at a recent demo, labeled “Israel’s ambassador to Egypt”:
Via Elijah and his Flickr account.
Month: August 2006
Kudos to Turkey
Finally, some politicians in the region care more about principles than money:
ANKARA – Reacting to recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Palestine 215 parliamentarians have resigned from Turkey-Israel Interparliamentary Friendship Group so far.
The group has a total of 263 members.
A $500 million arms deal was also cancelled by the Turkish government.
Campaign of civil resistance in Lebanon
Have received this:
Lebanon: An Open Country for Civil Resistance Beirut August 7, 2006
On August 12, at 7 am, Lebanese from throughout the country and international supporters who have come to Lebanon to express solidarity will gather in Martyr’s Square in Beirut to form a civilian convoy to the south of Lebanon. Hundreds of Lebanese and international civilians will express their solidarity with the inhabitants of the heavily destroyed south who have been bravely withstanding the assault of the Israeli military. This campaign is endorsed by more than 200 Lebanese and international organizations. This growing coalition of national and international non-governmental organizations hereby launches a campaign of civil resistance for the purpose of challenging the cruel and ruthless use of massive military force by Israel, the regional superpower, upon the people of Lebanon.
Win some, lose some
Thrilled to see that Joe Lieberman lost the democratic nomination, but sad to see Cynthia McKinney lose.
The first race shows that the establishment, pro-Israel candidate, even with tons of cash, doesn’t necessarily always win (and should be taken on aggressively) while the second shows, once again, the nefarious impact of out-of-state donors to pro-Israel candidates. See Billmon on this for more.
Update: Read this Billmon post.
Young: A looming civil war in Lebanon?
Michael Young of the Daily Star worries how a triumphalist Hizbullah could spark a new civil war in post-conflict Lebanon. Let’s hope he’s wrong.
Bernard Lewis: Armegeddon in two weeks
Darling of neo-cons Bernard Lewis, writing in the Wall Street Journal, pinpoints the precise date of the Iranian destruction of Israel and the end of times:
In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time — Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This was at first reported as “by the end of August,” but Mr. Ahmadinejad’s statement was more precise.
What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to “the farthest mosque,” usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.
It really seems that while dealing with a complex and multi-dimensioned foreign policy issues, all the neo-cons want to do is what they did with Iraq: clutch at straws, invent bogeymen and fabricate lies. That Bernard Lewis, a man still appreciated even by his political enemies as a scholar of some note, has sunk to scare-mongering in lieu of policy advocacy is sad and scary.
No middle ground
Great little piece meanwhile in Canada’s flag-ship daily, the Globe and Mail, that implies that domestic calls (from former Minister of Foreign Affairs and now interim leader of the opposition Bill Graham) for a balanced approach to the current fracas in Lebanon are a vote pandering effort to find a ‘“squishy� middle ground.�’
The government’s position (laid out by current Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Mackay), that “It is not a difficult choice between a democratic state [Israel] that was attacked by terrorists and cold-blooded killers,� is meanwhile characterized as a flowing from a “willingness to make moral distinctions.�
Shudder.
Canada, as nobody in the outside world has yet noticed, is being run by a creepy right-wing sock-puppet backed up by a Karl Rove wanna-be from a third string prairie university (check out The Walrus, October 2004 for a profile of Tom Flanagan that will make your skin crawl). By all accounts the pair of them have been busily preparing Canada for the New American Century by making it as attractive and easy a target for unnoticed assimilation as possible, efforts which have involved whole-hearted support for Israel’s current Lebanese misadventure.
And they seem to have friends in the press.
If you read the whole thing, be sure to check out not only pundit Reg Whitaker’s sound bite (“There is no middle ground�), but his qualifications. He may have a covert sideline in Middle East politics (in which case I will offer humble apologies), but a quick Google only shows a long and distinguished career of studying our (justly) world-famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
From Mansoura to Montana
11 Egyptian students from Mansoura University on an exchange program to Montana have disappeared:
(AP) WASHINGTON Eleven Egyptian students who arrived in the United States last month are being sought by authorities after failing to turn up for an exchange program at Montana State University.
The Egyptian men were among a group of 17 students who arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from Cairo on July 29 with valid visas, according to U.S. authorities and university officials.
While a terrorist threat is certainly nothing to overlook, I bet they’re finding undeclared jobs (an incredible number of cab drivers in New York appear to be Egyptian) and having a great time. In other words, pursuing the immigrant to America’s dream for the past 200 years.
Fisk on the UN’s draft resolution on Lebanon
Robert Fisk on how the draft resolution is essentially an Israeli one:
You could almost hear the Lebanese groan at this draft resolution, a document of such bias and mendacity that a close Lebanese friend read carefully through it yesterday, cursed and uttered the immortal question: “Don’t these bastards learn anything from history?”
The Nation on AIPAC
The Nation on AIPAC:
On July 18, the Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution “condemning Hamas and Hezbollah and their state sponsors and supporting Israel’s exercise of its right to self-defense.” After House majority leader John Boehner removed language from the bill urging “all sides to protect innocent civilian life and infrastructure,” the House version passed by a landslide, 410 to 8.
AIPAC not only lobbied for the resolution; it had written it. “They [Congress] were given a resolution by AIPAC,” said former Carter Administration National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who addressed the House Democratic Caucus on July 19. “They didn’t prepare one.”
Other choice quotes:
“When it comes to the Israeli-Arab conflict, the terms of debate are so influenced by organized Jewish groups, like AIPAC, that to be critical of Israel is to deny oneself the ability to succeed in American politics.“
. . .
Former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross addressed a packed AIPAC-sponsored luncheon on the Hill, where, according to one aide present, Ross told the room: “This is all about Syria and Iran…we shouldn’t be condemning Israel now.”
. . .Ironically, during the 2004 campaign Dean called on the United States to be an “evenhanded” broker in the Middle East. That position enraged party leaders such as House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, who signed a letter attacking his remarks. “It was designed to send a message: No one ever does this again,” says M.J. Rosenberg of the center-left Israel Policy Forum. “And no one has. The only safe thing to say is: I support Israel.”
. . .
By blindly following AIPAC, Congress reinforces a hard-line consensus: Criticizing Israeli actions, even in the best of faith, is anti-Israel and possibly anti-Semitic; enthusiastically backing whatever military action Israel undertakes is the only acceptable stance.
There’s a problem here.
Related:
To Israel with love (Economist)