Lebanese war jokes August 31, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, Lebanon , add a commentHow can you not love the Lebanese people? Their humor, alone, is irresistible. Go read and enjoy.
My favs:
Three Hezbollah guerrillas run out of Beirut’s southern suburbs after Israeli raids, flashing the victory sign. Actually, no. They were really pointing out that there were only two buildings left standing.
Why did rents go up in Ain el-Rummaneh district overlooking the southern suburbs? Because it has sea view now!
Early one day, a man rushes desperately to the dentist. “Please take out my bridge, or the Israelis will bomb it!”
After Saudi Arabia decided to donate half a billion dollars to rebuild Lebanon, Egyptian President Mubarak ordered the capture of six Israeli soldiers at the border
An Israeli recently arrives at London’s Heathrow airport. As he fills out a form, the customs officer asks him: “Occupation?”
The Israeli promptly replies: “No, just visiting!
lol
Washington Post disgusts, again August 30, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, Islam/Arab Phobia, Washington Consensus, World, Lebanon , add a commentUpdate: CAIR has the transcript (pdf) [via AntiWar.com]
The two authors of the paper on the Israeli lobby that created such a fury last spring about all the usual zionista crowd in politics and the media - aka AIPAC assets - were in town this week. They spoke at an event hosted by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and was broadcast on c-span. It can be seen here. They basically reiterated their analysis of the destructive influence of the Israeli lobby in our politics and media and offered a full-fledged analysis of the Israeli onslaught on Lebanon - as a case in point. And… they named names, boy, did they ever, including Chris van Hollen, our poor excuse of a Rep. in the House - himself a proven AIPAC tool.
If you watch carefully, you’ll see this WaPo’s gossip scribe, squirming on the edge of his first row seat - clearly uncomfortable for some reason. If you read his nonsensical account of the event, you’ll know why: poor a-hole dude was sitting in a room full of Muslims, listening to criticism of Israeli influence in our policies and media! Yikes.
R.I.P. Naguib Mahfouz
Posted by Delilah in : General, Books, World , add a comment
A most wonderful writer and spirit. His voice will be sorely missed.
Wolcott slams Entourage - and how August 28, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, Entertainment , add a comment
Can’t say I disagree with him at this point. I thought the first two seasons were cute and somewhat funny (Ari’s anthics mostly, of course) but this last one was a real disappointment. The series dried out fast, basically:
Here’s Wolcott’s fine, oh so fine, commentary - unplugged.
Washington Post disgusts, again August 18, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, US, World, Lebanon , add a commentWaPo’s editorial board, not content to have supported and cheered on the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq, to have backed Israel’s savage aggression of Lebanon every step of the way, here it is, today, sinking to new pathetic lows:
- Here, WaPo gets on it soapbox and whines about the tone of this huge decision from a federal judge - having to do with civil liberties and possible violations of the 1st and 4th amemdments and a slew of other charges.
- Then, with ever more arrogance (and little knowledge, obviously), WaPo - who supported Israel’s aggression throughout - bitches about France’s hesitations regarding sending their troops to Lebanon, implying somehow that the French tricked USIsrael into a cessation of hostilities. As if Israel had a choice. At best, the talk of “disarming Hezbollah” was face saving device, a transparent one at that. With this pathetic lament, the WaPo is disingenous or, worse, simply naive.
ProIsrael warmongers pay respect to Hezbollah’s victory August 14, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, US, Lebanon , add a comment(via Billmon)
Glenn Greenwald has a delightful inventory.
The dichotomy of So-Called Democrats
Posted by Delilah in : General, Washington Consensus, So-called Democrats, US Congress , add a commentSo here you have this well respected (by the establishment) hawkish So-Called Democrat, J. Murtha (D-PA) who has been demanding a troop withdrawal from Iraq - after voting for it, of course, and - like most Americans - supporting a good long time ie as long as he thought the US could somehow “win” this one. Only when things went south did Murtha start screaming foul. Fine, be that as it may, at least, he is calling for withdrawal now.
So - today, he wants to draw a parallel between the US occupation of Iraq and the failed Israeli attempt at “dislodging” Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon or whatever the hell that criminal enterprise was. In so doing, Murtha only manages to point to the dichotomy and blind spot regarding Israel within the ranks of the So-Called Democrats.
Says Murtha:
The United States and virtually all other members of the United Nations Security Council continue to push for an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The lead taken by the United States to end the violence and to stop the loss of innocent lives has been applauded. The Bush Administration is moving with speed and deliberation to end the one war, but not the other. (emphasis mine)
See what I mean? Is this guy crazy or just another lying politician? On what planet does he live?
After watching the horrors imparted on Lebanon for the past month and the concerted obstruction to peace on the part of US so-called diplomats, how can anyone in their right frigging mind come to the throughly distorted conclusion that Murtha does? Who the hell is he trying to fool exactly?
Imperialists R’Us
Posted by Delilah in : General, World , add a comment
(pic dailymail.co.uk)
Beurk, gross me out. Fat and ugly but more than that, while his country deals with an alledgedly huge terrorist threat and, of course, while his policies continue to burn the Middle East - dude is out on some luxury vacation in the Caribean. hey.
Results based analysis, please August 13, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, Islam/Arab Phobia, World , add a commentThe Guardian (UK) is having a bit of a hissy fit in reaction to a letter sent to the British gvt by UK Muslims, signed by 3 Labour MPs, which drew a rather defensive response, I might add.
See, the Guardian pretty much agrees that the UK foreign policy stinks to high heaven:
There is indeed a plausible argument that military action in recent years has made Britain less, not more, secure.
As if that was the only issue. But, says the Guardian - in outrage, don’t go around thinking Britain means any harm to Muslims or Arabs, oh no:
But even within the bleakest possible analysis of Mr Blair’s foreign policy, it is still simply not true that the West is waging war on Islam.
In other words, we shouldn’t believe the death and destruction we see with our very own eyes, daily.
Excuse-me, Guardian. How about we stick to the results of “Mr. Blair’s foreign policy” : the numbers speak for themselves. Death and destruction are the bleakest reality of Muslims affected by your country’s war mongering, that’s a fact. Your whiny “analysis” in the face of it is quite irrelevant.
Even Jim Zogby is nauseated now August 11, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, Lebanon , add a commentI’ve always thought Jim Zogby’s - and the rest of that crowd - attitude rather milque-toast on the Middle East, the kind that really gets on my nerves. It seems, though, that Lebanon has basically done it, finally. Good. He now knows what he is dealing with.
Speaking of Arab Americans in Congress - I don’t have a link to it - but yesterday, on France 2 News broadcast, Darell Issa (R-CA) and horrid Israel supporter, visiting Lebanon “to report on the situation” (as if his word is worth more, maybe, than the UN, for exemple) was shown being thrown out by an old Lebanese woman telling him she “didn’t want anything from the US and Bush”. Dude pulled his head down and took to the door. Jerk.
The terrorism political drama August 10, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, Political Islam, Islam/Arab Phobia , add a commentI’m certainly happy cops everywhere are working hard to foil potential terrorist attacks but I don’t see how it is efficient for them to go around posturing on tv and trying to make political gain out of it. I find that pathetic.
So - Republicans are, once again, trying to say that only they can deal with “terra”, because, you know, they are “strong on national security” and pundits are wondering (almost wishing, it seems) that us poor idiot folks will keep on falling for the balloney.
Bullshit. From where I sit, the threat of terrorism is worse than it was a few years ago. What the hell have they been doing but stoking hate and war? Enough with the warmongering and arrogance. We, the civilians end up being the victims, be it in London, DC or Beirut. ENOUGH.
The plot thickens August 4, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, US, Lebanon , add a comment
Apparently, not only did these guys know what Israel was up to, they put it up to it. They figured that, if they were going to bomb Iran, they should prevent Iran’s retaliation via Hezbollah so they directed Israel to prevent-strike Lebanon. And they’ve been posturing ever since. wow.
That’s the allegation anyway, according to the Daily Mail and The New Stateman
Says the Daily Mail:
Dr Pike said he believed there was an agreement between Israel and the U.S. that Iranian nuclear plants would eventually - probably next year - have to be bombed to stop the development of a nuclear weapon. Once that bombing takes place, Iran will order Hezbollah to attack Israel. Thus, Dr Pike claimed, the U.S. and Israel agreed in secret that at some point before the attack on the Iranian nuclear sites, Hezbollah had to be disarmed and that as soon as a pretext became available, Israel should use force.
And The New Statesman:
Now, as Blair hides behind banalities about “good and evil” and the familiar, crude definitions of “terrorism”, his ministers look on helplessly. They talk openly to journalists - in the “you can print it, but just don’t name me” deal that is the coward’s life at Westminster - of Blair’s “Bush problem”. Shortly before MPs left for their summer break, one senior member of the cabinet accosted me in the corridors of the Commons, and asked: “How much further up their arses do you think we can go?” I suggested that this was more up to him than to me.
What an embarrassment.
Moroccan war criminal? August 3, 2006
Posted by Delilah in : General, Maroc, Lebanon , add a comment
From Haaretz:
Three Jewish Moroccans have submitted Rabat’s high court with a petition against Defense Minister Amir Peretz, accusing the Moroccan-born Israeli of war crimes.
Leftist activist Abraham Tsarfati, author Amran al-Malich and human rights group official Zion Asidon claim Peretz may be tried in their country due to his Moroccan citizenship.
“The criminal terrorist, Zionist Amir Peretz, has retained his Moroccan citizenship and is still registered in Morocco’s census,” the three told reporters during a press conference. “Moroccan law allows the trial of any Moroccan national who has committed war crimes in or out of the country.”
Here’s Morocco’s opportunity to show the world what a great system of justice if has or would US pressure just be too much?
War crimes indeed
Posted by Delilah in : General, Lebanon , add a comment
Manifesto, Picasso (thanks to DesignBoom)
Just like the US in Iraq, Israel is freaking out at Hezbollah’s remarkable triumph over its - it turns out - way overrated military might and doubling up on a bad bet, Human Rights Watch declares, after careful examination of what is obvious to anyone with half a brain watching tv, that, indeed, war crimes have been committed.
Says HRW:
Israeli forces have systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said in report released today. The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah practices. In some cases, these attacks constitute war crimes.
