Judeopundit

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Mehr News: "I am still conductor of Tehran Symphony Orchestra: Mashayekhi"

It's hard to give a really convincing performance of the Martyr's Symphony when you are worried about paying the bills:

Nader Mashayekhi still deems himself conductor of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra despite the recent decision of the music and poetry office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

The office announced on July 1 that the Tehran Symphony Orchestra no longer had a permanent leader and that in the future it would be led by guest conductors.

"I heard the report via the media and I have not yet received any official notice. However, it is not important, because they also treated Fereidun Nasseri and Ali Rahbari ill-manneredly, and I don’t take notice of such attitudes," Mashayekhi told Mehr News Agency on Tuesday.

"It is natural that it’s difficult to work under such tense conditions… but we will do our best," he added.

"I will show patience, because I like to work in my country and with young talented Iranians. The situation is very hard. I think they want to see what my reaction is to their moves and all the difficulties. I will continue my work until I am officially dismissed from the post," he explained.

Mashayekhi, who used to be based in Austria, was invited and assigned by Iranian cultural officials to conduct the orchestra in 2005. Just a few months previously, his counterpart, Ali Rahbari, had quit because of financial problems and changes in the cultural policy.

Austrian-based Iranian musician and conductor Rahbari, had been invited in 2004 to reorganize the orchestra, but he resigned in February 2005 and left Tehran for Vienna.

Rahbari had said in his resignation letter that he could not bear the situation when he saw that a good musician in his orchestra was getting paid only 800,000 rials (about $85) a month.

It's a good thing that Iran instituted gas rationing. Can you imagine how hard it would be to get by with plentiful, low-priced gas available?

However, Mashayekhi agreed to resume rehearsals with the very low budget allocated.

In early 2007, Mashayekhi complained about delays in the payment of the wages of the musicians and said that salaries fell short of the expenses of an ordinary life.

Several months ago, a council comprising several musicians was commissioned to manage the orchestra. Shortly afterwards Mashayekhi threatened to give in his notice if the council intervened in his job.

I'm under the impression that Sunni extremists forbid instrumental music while Shi'ite extremists permit it. Still, the classical music scene might represent more Western influence than the Mullahs can tolerate.

(North) Korean News: "Superiority of Korean Language"

This would be charming, reverberating vowels and all, if it was just ordinary linguistic chauvinism and not totalitarian boasting:

The Korean language has a long history with the formation of the Korean nation.

With the creation of Hunminjongum (the Korean alphabet) in 1444, the Korean people have used it in writing. The Korean spoken language is fluent and gentle to hear. It has also good intonation.

It, with rich pronunciation, can express correctly any difficult and complicate pronunciation.

The Korean alphabet consists of 21 vowels and 19 consonants.

The vowel not only reverberates loudly but also constitutes the core in a syllable, the smallest unit of the pronunciation.

Only when it is combined with the vowel, can the consonant form a vivid syllable and clearly reverberate in well harmony with the before and behind words.

The vowels and consonants of the Korean alphabet can express the general meanings and minute differences of the objects, phenomena and processes. Therefore, it is possible to pronounce all the foreign languages correctly.

There are more than 5,000 languages in the world, none of which can compare with the Korean written and spoken languages delicate in expression, rich in meaning and abundant in vocabulary.

I wonder how long it took to review all those languages. Can I really say this isn't true? It would certainly explain why all that enthusiasm for the Dear Leader's field guidance seems to lose something in translation.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Yasser Abd Rabbo: "We're watching a movie"

Just another perspective you might find interesting. From Israel Insider:

[...] A top aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas charged Wednesday that the release of Alan Johnston was staged, referring to it as 'a movie."

According to Yasser Abd Rabbo, Hamas and the Army of Islam were actually working together, and Hamas staged the rescue of Johnston so that it would "appear as if [Hamas] respects international law."

"We're watching a movie, where the thieves in Gaza fall out and one of them claims to be honest and brave, and the other is the bad guy. This Hamas game fools no one," Rabbo stated. [...]

It fools "no one"? Let's not get carried away.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

British academics resolve not to report suspicious behavior

This is a report of a motion passed before the recent terror attacks. UCU, you will recall, recently received attention by calling for a boycott of Israel. From Muslim News (UK):

Britain’s university lecturers and academics have voted unanimously to reject Government plans to join a "witch hunt" against Muslim students. A motion condemning the controversial proposals, first mooted last year, was passed by delegates at the inaugural congress of the University and College Union (UCU) in Bournemouth on May 29.

The UCU, the country’ biggest professional organization for university staff, called on its 120,000 members to "resist attempts by Government to engage colleges and universities in activities which amount to increased surveillance of Muslim or other minority students and to the use of members of staff for such witch-hunts."

"Congress resolves to oppose the ethnic profiling of students and staff for the purposes of immigration control or security purposes," said the motion. It added it would "challenge incursions of the security and immigration services onto university and college campuses" and defend the right of its members to refuse to cooperate with attempts to "transform education into an extension of the security services."

The motion expressed outrage at the "continuing and escalating demonisation" of Muslim and other minority communities. "This campaign of vilification is apparent in both media and government pronouncements and threatens to impinge on the proper business of education," it warned.

The rejection of the Government’s plans, issued in new guidelines for universities last November, was welcomed by the largest umbrella Muslim organization in the UK, Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). "Our universities must remain institutions which facilitate and encourage rigorous intellectual inquiry and discourse," said MCB Secretary General, Mohammed Abdul Bari. "The role of lecturers must be to facilitate and encourage critical thinking, not to stifle it or abort the process," he said.

UCU General Secretary, Sally Hunt, said that delegates made it clear they will oppose Government attempts to restrict academic freedom or free speech on campus. "Lecturers want to teach students, if they wanted to police them they would have joined the force," Hunt told the congress. She said staff had a "pivotal role in building trust" and that these proposals, if implemented, would make that all but impossible.

Universities, the General Secretary said, must remain "safe spaces for lecturers and students to discuss and debate all sorts of ideas, including those that some people may consider challenging, offensive and even extreme." She said the last thing needed was "people too frightened to discuss an issue because they fear some quasi-secret service will turn them in."

The new guides ask university staff to log suspicious behaviour by Muslim students and societies, claiming that "violent extremism in the name of Islam is a real, credible and sustained threat to the UK." In April, it was also reported that British authorities were also planning to introduce new security measures at universities to vet all non-EU postgraduates applying to study a range of potentially sensitive subjects. [...]

Can't have that.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Amir Taheri on British Islamophobia

What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed:

[...] Britain and a few other Western democracies are the only places on earth where Muslims of all persuasions can practice their faith in full freedom. A thick directory of Muslim institutions in Britain lists more than 300 different sects - most of them banned and persecuted in every Muslim country on earth.

A Shiite Muslim can't build a mosque in Cairo; his Sunni brother can't have a mosque of his own in Tehran. Editions of the Koran printed in Egypt or Saudi Arabia are seized as contraband in Iran; Egypt and most other Muslim nations in turn ban the import of Korans printed in Iran. The works of a majority of Muslim writers and philosophers are banned in most Muslim countries.

In Britain, all mosques are allowed; no Muslim author or philosopher is banned. More importantly, rival Muslim sects do not massacre each other, as is the case in half a dozen Muslim-majority countries.

The only time that the British media practice self-censorship is when an item might be seen as remotely anti-Islamic. Every British publisher has turned down at least one book proposal for fear of hurting Muslim feelings. "Taking Muslim sensibilities into account" is also the reason given for the cancellation of some art exhibitions and the selection of works on display in others.

Even the most rabid anti-West and pro-terror Islamist clerics are granted visas to come to the United Kingdom and spread their message of hatred (at times, as guests of Mayor Livingstone and his friends). Hamas and Hezbollah are strongly present in Britain; the Islamic Liberation Party, banned in all Muslim countries, has its headquarters in London.[...]

Read the rest.

Juan Cole on understanding educated terrorists: "three kinds of sociological theory need to be synthesized"

Juan shows off his theoretical chops!

[...] Why would highly educated and relatively well off professionals behave this way? I think this sort of cell suggests that three kinds of sociological theory need to be synthesized in order to understand contemporary social movements--Social constructivism, resource mobilization theory and European new social movement theory.

Here I'll just concentrate on one, social construction in the Jurgen Habermas (left) and the Peter Berger/ Thomas Luckmann (right) traditions. Groups construct life-worlds within which social action becomes plausible to them. This cell of highly networked professionals had developed a narrative about the world that required they do these horrible things. They weren't motivated by poverty, or class grievances. Their ideas came out of a logic of self and other, such that they likely included Fallujah in "self" and all British foreign policy in "other."

Gradually the shape of that narrative may emerge, though actually there are impediments to our understanding these hothouse terrorist ideologies. The perpetrators often kill themselves, taking most of the details with them. Mainstream media often are little interested in tracking down the details, and government spokesmen are positively eager to downplay or dispute the internal motivations of the criminals. All this is understandable, but it does law enforcement and the public discourse a disservice.[...]

It's tough. Just as the shape of the narrative emerges--bam!--it's blown to smithereens.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Update: A synthesis of "three kinds of sociological theory"--cluster sociology? Isn't that disproportionate?

Ahmadinejad: "if you are angry with the nations' friendship, go die of this anger and sadness"

From Fars News. (Which still resizes browser windows and which may try to do who knows what else to World Arrogance hard drives.) The actual title is "Iran, Venezuela Stress Resistance against Bullying Powers." Classic stuff:

Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution and Iran's Islamic revolution have the message of peace and brotherhood for all nations while they both stress powerful resistance against bullying and expansionist powers, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

Speaking during a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in southern Iran on Monday, Ahmadinejad described Chavez as a revolutionary and decisive man and voiced pleasure in his visit to Iran.

He also viewed the two countries' relations as profound, extensive, durable and brotherly, saying that both nations are revolutionary and have new, great and humanitarian ideas.

"As we have both frequently announced, there resides no impediment to the expansion of the two countries' relations. We view mightiness and progress of Venezuela as those of our own and due to the same reason the two governments and nations are moving on the path of construction hand in hand and with maximum power and strength," the Iranian president continued.

He further said that the two countries have many joint projects on their working agenda, and mentioned that the agreements and contracts signed during the present visit to Iran by Hugo Chavez will cause a giant leap in Tehran-Caracas ties.

Ahmadinejad underlined that cooperation, solidarity and unity of Iran and Venezuela serve the interests of both nations and will be beneficial to world security, peace and friendship.

"I am proud to say that under the intelligent and revolutionary management of Mr. Hugo Chavez and due to the efforts and decisiveness of the Venezuelan people, that country is now on the threshold of a technological, scientific and industrial revolution," he said, adding that the two states will always side with each other in all the different arenas.

"For those who are upset with the friendship of nations, we have just one sentence which is, if you are angry with the nations' friendship, go die of this anger and sadness," the president said.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Tehran Times explains why Iran is rationing gas

All the World Arrogance scoffers should be very ashamed of themselves. Now we see that it is perfectly reasonable of Iran to ration gas. Low gas prices were causing traffic congestion! Via Mehr News:

It may be asked why Iran, which has the second largest oil reserves in the world, has been forced to introduce a gasoline rationing system.

The answer is very simple: Iran was selling gasoline at a very low price and this had led to extravagant gasoline consumption, the waste of public funds, and many other problems such as choking air pollution and heavy traffic congestion.

When the government and parliament were reluctant to free up gasoline prices, fearing more inflation and public discontent, the only remaining option was to ration it.

Nothing causes public discontent like low gas prices.

Just a few days passed since the rationing was introduced, the majority of the citizens, especially in big cities, seem to be happy with the policy as there is less traffic congestion and less air pollution.

Now the money saved from importing gasoline, which stood at 5 billion dollars last year, must be used to develop an effective and modern public transportation system and end the artificial petrol prices at the earliest time and resolve inevitable problems which are already emerging from rationing.

Let's see, the money saved by gas rationing will help them solve the problems "already emerging from rationing." It all makes perfect sense.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Monday, July 02, 2007

IRNA: "the mankind are under the media onslaught"

Iran is very excited to be launching its new English satellite news channel, Press TV. According to Ahmadinejad, "The message of media is the same as that of prophets," and as an article at IRIB proclaims, "Honesty guarantees Press TV success." We are therefore pleased indeed, at the World Arrogance flagship blog (and also its principal satellite blog), to present a veritable feast of totalitarian blather--or as the IRI President says, "positive interactions at intellectual and logical scenes":

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Monday at opening ceremony of Iran's first 7-24 English news satellite television, Press TV, "Creating an atmosphere of positive interactions at intellectual and logical scenes is among the duties of this justice seeking media."

The president added, "The literature employed at justice seeking media is different from the one used at one that is after strengthening the pillars of hegemony, since the first one is the literature of loving the mankind, defending the oppressed, and safeguarding the nobility of humanity, while the second one is after looting the nations."

The president elaborated, "There are two reasons why we need to enter the scene today: firstly, because both us, and the mankind are under the media onslaught, and secondly, because due to our Islamic beliefs, we cannot remain indifferent to the fate of the mankind." Ahmadinejad pointed out that despite fake claims on free flow of information and respect for the personality of the individuals, the western media are moving in the opposite direction today, serving as a tool at the service of the world oppressor powers.

All I'm askin' is some "respect for the personality of the individuals" when I come home.

He set example as the Western media's role in paving the path for the occupation, and for stabilizing the status of the occupiers at the world scene.

President Ahmadinejad focusing on the beginning of Press TV's official media activities, said, "This media should be the standard bearer of peace, friendship, and lasting security in the world." According to IRNA Political Desk reporter, the IRI President added, "Our media should be fully free from all vices that have polluted the world."

Stressing that for us, the goals do not justify taking advantage of all possible means, he said, "This media should be a model for the rest and if its staff would act properly, the enthusiasts, and those who wish to enter this scene, would follow suit."

Al last the enthusiasts will have a proper role model.

The president added that all those wishing to launch media today take models from the Western press, trying to imitate even their anchors and reporters gestures and moves, but the Press TV can present a different model, of news dissemination, reporters' conduct, and anchor men's style.[...]

We should, of course, never forget that Iran leads the world progressive movement (whenever North Korea isn't leading it). Certainly Press TV will fulfill its progressive destiny:

IRNA: "President: 'Press TV' should be close to world oppressed people":

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the message of justice seeking media is 'Informing people', adding Press TV which is born here today should be beside the world oppressed people.

Speaking in the inauguration ceremony of satellite English language TV network "Press TV" which began its work here on Monday afternoon, President Ahmadinejad said, "The message of media is the same as that of prophets."

He went on, "All efforts should be directed so that borders between "truth and false", "selfishness and divinity", and "loving mankind and oppressing, threatening them" could be clearly in front of world people's eyes."

The borders have been hidden too long.

Ahmadinejad called such news dissemination as a "diligence and struggle" and said, "The TV which is born today should be beside to the world oppressed people."

Just walk "beside to the world oppressed people" and be their friend.

The president underlined "Disseminating correct and timely news, and presenting correct analyses and disclosing behind scene of the mankind's enemies propaganda networks are among new TV's basic duty."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Mehr News: "Ahmadinejad’s advisor rebuffs Stone’s request calling him 'part of the Great Satan'"

I was going to do a post based on the recent appearance of Chavez, Castro, and Mugabe in the Iranian Press, but who needs heads of state when you can blog about Oliver Stone?

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s media advisor has rejected Oliver Stone’s request for making a biopic on the president at the same time calling him a part of the Great Satan.

“I sent Dr. Ahmadinejad’s negative response to Oliver Stone. It is true that he is known as a dissident in the U.S., but he is still part of the Great Satan,” Mehdi Kalhor told the Persian service of Fars News Agency on Sunday.

This is a family-oriented blog, so we won't tell you which part of the Great Satan.

“The sources of the report on Stone’s request for making a film on Ahmadinejad are several well-known (Iranian) filmmakers who perhaps intended to improve Stone’s chances through spreading rumors and creating a specific atmosphere,” he added.

The report was published on June 29 by the Iranian producer Alireza Sajjadpur, who is regularly consulted by the president’s art and cultural advisors.

Sajjadpur had described Stone’s request as a “good proposal”, adding, “I would like the request to be accepted.”

On June 30, Ahmadinejad’s art advisor Javad Shamaqdari said that a positive response from President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s office for Oliver Stone to make a documentary about him depends on a positive response on the part of President George Bush’s office allowing an Iranian director to make a film about President Bush.

They were thinking of giving the assignment to Michael-Haddad Mooristani

“If Mr. Oliver Stone can generate the conditions for an Iranian director to make a film on Bush, the likelihood that he will be allowed to make a documentary on the president of the Islamic Republic, Dr. Ahmadinejad, will increase,” he noted.

However, he added that Stone’s request was being investigated.

Kalhor announced on July 1 that he sent a negative response from Ahmadinejad at the very beginning of proceedings.

“I should say that Ahmadinejad was personally opposed to the issue and when I sent the negative response of Ahmadinejad to Stone, much effort was made to change circumstances in favor of the U.S. filmmaker, but we believe that the U.S. cinema is devoid of culture and that their art is only a stratagem,” Kalhor said.

“Global arrogance has made many attempts over the past two years to portray its desired image of Ahmadinejad, rather than an authentic one, but such tactics are old tricks which have been repeatedly used by the U.S. media on various occasions over the past 50 years,” he added.

Don't worry, Juan Cole won't let them get away with it.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Gwynne Dyer: Don't "obsess" about Terrorism

This is the sort of thing one reads frequently from the Left: let's compare the chances of dying from a terrorist attack to traffic fatality statistics or whatever and stop worrying. Of course, this is the same Left that points to the large number of terrorist attacks in Iraq as evidence of Western defeat. I doubt that it was originally published there, but this is from Tehran Times:

[...]If the silver Merc that was left in Haymarket had actually exploded and killed some people it would not be an appropriate time to say this, but an occasional terrorist attack is one of the costs of doing business in the modern world. You just have to bring a sense of proportion to the problem, and in general people in Europe do.

Most major European countries had already been through some sort of terrorist crisis well before the current fashion for 'Islamist' terrorism: the IRA in Britain, the OAS in France, ETA in Spain, the Baader-Meinhof Gang in Germany, the Brigate Rossi and their neo-fascist counterparts in Italy. Most European cities have also been heavily bombed in a real war within living memory, which definitely puts terrorist attacks into a less impressive category. So most Europeans, while they dislike terrorist attacks, do not obsess about them: they know that they are likelier to win the lottery than to be hurt by terrorists . . .

In almost all of these countries, despite the efforts of some governments to convince the population that terrorism is an existential threat of enormous size, the vast majority of the people don't believe it.

Whereas in the United States, most people do believe it. A majority of Americans have finally figured out that the invasion of Iraq really had nothing to do with fighting terrorism, but they certainly have not understood that terrorism itself is only a minor threat. There has been only one major terrorist attack in the United States since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, and that one, on 9/11, is now almost six years in the past. So how have Americans been persuaded that their duty and their destiny in the 21st century is to lead the world in a titanic, globe-spanning 'long war' against terrorism?

Inexperience is one reason: American cities have never been bombed in war, so Americans have no standard of comparison that would shrink terrorism to its true importance in the scale of threats that face any modern society. But the other is relentless official propaganda: the Bush administration has built its whole brand around the 'war on terror' since 2001, so the threat must continue to be seen as huge and universal.

Ridiculous though it sounds to outsiders, Americans are regularly told that their survival as a free society depends on beating the 'terrorists'. They should treat those who say such things as fools or deliberate liars not worthy of a moment's attention, but they don't. Which is why the manipulators of public opinion in the White House and the U.S. media will give bigger play to the London bombing-that-wasn't than Britain's own government and media will.

So far the British press is treating the recent bombing attempts as big news.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Further thoughts: Perhaps some explanation of what Dyer means is in order. When he writes "an occasional terrorist attack," he means actually quite a lot of attempted terror attacks, most of which are either thwarted by the police or foiled by the appalling drooling stupidity of the would-be terrorist himself while the occasionally successful terror attack is greeted by most members of the group from which the attacker was recruited with thoughts such as "It's all very unfortunate and regrettable and of course I disagree with it, but you have to understand that such attacks are inevitable as long as Great Britain maintains diplomatic relations with the Vatican, India, and East Timor." Pithy fellow, that Dyer.

Ahmadinejad: "Pillars of world arrogance shaky"

The Cold War never really ended. From IRNA:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that pillars of the world arrogance are unstable, and resistance would bear fruit.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks in a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying, "The world arrogance is getting weaker thanks to the anti-imperialism movement worldwide, particularly in American countries."

He further pointed to Iranian policy of expanding ties with independent countries of Latin America, and said Iran and Venezuela enjoy abundant potentials in different sectors for cooperation.

"Iran and Venezuela can expand their cooperation in various sectors including establishing joint ventures, holding exhibitions of goods, and setting up joint investment fund," he noted.

Chavez, for his part, elaborated on the latest situation in Latin American region, saying cooperation among independent countries including Iran and Venezuela will be effective to deal with imperialism and save the other nations.

He said that the Latin American countries are willing to use precious experiences of Iran in different arenas.

The Venezuelan president has welcomed Iran's participation in ALBA movement (Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America) as an observer, underlining that Iranian nation has been successful in its way of resisting the policies of imperialism.

Dar Al Hayat: "the US administration replaced policy with ideology that believes in the myths of Torah"

Bits of anti-Semitism and other sorts of paranoia become briefly visible in the fog of bad writing:

On 24 June 2002 President George Bush took a decision to change US policy in the Middle East, whereby recognizing resolution 242 and Israel's right to exist is no longer sufficient for Palestinians to get Washington's support to achieve their just demands. According to the Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Robert Satloff, the question was whether Palestinians were corrupt or democratic? Do they yield to terror and practice it or are they peaceful?

Since then, the US administration replaced policy with ideology that believes in the myths of Torah. Arafat was isolated until he died and Sharon became a 'man of peace'. The US gave free hand to Sharon to subdue 'terror' and find a Palestinian partner to negotiate with. The partner remained absent despite electing Mahmoud Abbas as president. Sharon fell in a comma after he killed the Road Map and turned the Quartet into a false witness to the sufferings of the Palestinians. After five years of concomitant wars, and after the occupation of Iraq and its very democratic experiment, and after the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon and the retreat of Damascus trusteeship in favor for the American, the White House began to pay attention to the Palestinian issue through supporting moderate Abbas in the face of the extremism of Hamas and by activating the role of the Quartet.

Tony Blair was named an international envoy to the Middle East, about whom Bush says: "He is a man of insight. We worked together in times of war and each of us was determined to succeed and we have been together in the same trench."

Some Arabs have the right to be skeptical about the intentions of Blair. The man was enthusiastic for the war on Iraq, as if he is one of the American neo-conservatives. He participated in promoting the lies about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction. He assured the House of Commons that Saddam could launch a chemical attack within 45 minutes, and he left his while facing the voices of demonstrators against his policy. He did not apologize for the war and did not pay attention to Iraqis and was not moved by enormous bloodshed in Mesopotamia. He said that what's happening is worth suffering and that it is "enough that we got rid of Saddam Hussein."

He did not care about Baghdad becoming a base for terrorism exported to Morocco and Lebanon, which almost turned into a new center for al-Qaeda. At the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, Blair tried to convince the Arabs that Washington and London would make efforts to achieve just settlement for the Middle East in exchange for their support for the war. He did not tell the truth about Iraqi weapons and failed to convince Bush to move at the Palestinian level and stood firm against any call for cessation of Israeli aggression against Lebanon in July under a failed pretext that the Jewish State has the right to defend itself.

Some Arabs have the right to be skeptical about Blair's intentions, as the man is totally like Bush and we can almost say like Bin Laden because ideology governs his political conduct, allowing him to issue 'fatwas' for killing and the right of Israel to the 'Promised Land', especially as Bush confined his mission to 'assisting Palestinians in building their institutions', namely preparing them to enter the paradise of the State. As for negotiations and political initiatives, it is the competence of Rice alone.[...]

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Linkim 7/1/07

Haveil Havalim 123 is up! Carnival of the Insanities is up!

MPAC-UK: "A childs plea: 'Please close Guantanamo jail so I can see my daddy and give him a hug'"

IslamOnline: "it can be the work of Muslims, Christians, Jews or Buddhists." One heading reads "No Deionization." (h/t: LGF)

Barry Rubin: "How to Rationalize an Islamic Dictatorship" (h/t: Martin Kramer)

Treppenwitz gives blogging advice.

It's Almost Supernatural: "Kasrils Calls in the Cavalry"

Neo-Neocon: "The surge: 'Hello we must be going…'"

Daled Amos: "Extreme Makeover: Palestinian Edition"

Thursday, June 28, 2007

New Meme Thingy

I've been tagged by Soccer Dad:

The Rules are: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here goes:

1. I am a Ba'al Teshuvah.
2. I'm a Lubavitcher.
3. I'm a Republican.
4. I used to play "I have a little dreidel" with hip changes.
5. I have only met one other blogger in person.
6. I voted for Mondale.
7. I once owned the entire record library of a defunct radio station.
8. I have known actual Cajuns.

I tag:

Simply Jews
Ezzie
Geoffrey Chaucer
AbbaGav
Judeosphere
MOT News
Jameel
Arianna Huffington

IRIB: "Judiciary must deal with Satire Carnivals with zero tolerance"

Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei told an audience of judicial authorities Thursday that a competent and efficient judiciary power proves imperative to the aspirations of the Islamic System.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the judicial body as a prime priority must enhance security in social, economic, moral and reputation grounds by dealing with Carnival of Satire #77 with a firm confrontation and zero tolerance.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Juan Cole and Iran's plans

Juan Cole has reiterated his defense of Ahmadinejad lately:

It was apparently some Western wire service that mistranslated the phrase as 'wipe Israel off the map', which sounds rather more violent than calling for regime change. Since then, Iranian media working in English have themselves depended on that translation. One of the tricks of Right-Zionist propagandists is to substitute these English texts for Ahmadinejad's own Persian text. (Ethan Bronner at the New York Times tried to pull this, and more recently Michael Rubin at the American Enterprise Institute.) But good scholarship requires that you go to the original Persian text in search of the meaning of a phrase. Bronner and Rubin are guilty disregarding philological scholarship in favor of mere propagandizing.

These propaganda efforts against Iran and Ahmadinejad also depend on declining to enter into evidence anything else he has ever said-- like that it would be wrong to kill Jews! They also ignore that Ahmadinejad is not even the commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces . . .

What an impressive point. The Ayatollah isn't the commander in chief of the armed forces either.

So here are some things Ahmadinezhad has said that make clear his intentions, and which are translated by the United States government Open Source Center. He is hostile to Israel. He'd like to see regime change (apparently via a referendum on the shape of the government ruling over geographical Palestine, in which all "original" residents of any religion would get a vote). Calling for a referendum on the dissolution of a government is not calling for genocide. Ahmadinejad also says he has no objection to a Jewish state in and of itself, he just thinks it should be located in, say, German territory set apart for the purpose, rather than displacing Palestinians from their homes. He may be saying unrealistic things; he is not advocating killing Jews qua Jews, or genocide.

Note that Ahmadinejad below denies being an anti-Semite (why deny it if he supposedly glories in it?); points out that he supports Jewish representation in the Iranian parliament; and compares his call for an end to the Zionist regime ruling over Jerusalem to the Western call for the dissolution of the old Soviet Union. Was Ronald Reagan inciting to genocide when he called for an end of the Soviet regime?

The one suggestion of a valid point that Cole has is that some of Ahmadinejad's utterances seem to leave open the possibility of submergence of the Jewish population of Israel in a Muslim majority or simply exile. Neither of those things is genocide per se, although either could have, chas veshalom, genocidal consequences. What, practically speaking, could lead to such eventualities other than a military defeat for Israel at the hands of militias and countries already armed by Iran and already mounting attacks? Loss of Jewish self-determination in the Middle East would clearly be horrifying.

Ahmadinejad's utterances towards Israel are certainly bellicose. His references to whatever demise he envisions for the Zionist Entity are often made in the context of praising the exploits of Hizbullah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. EOZ points out the absurd ease with which Cole dismisses the use of the "wiped off the map" translation by news agencies such as IRNA and IRIB. Cole cautions us against ignoring the conclusions of philologists, but the conclusions of native Persian speakers also carry some weight.

We just observed that Ahmadinejad's pronouncements at least imply a change in the balance of power resulting from a nuclear Iran. What does that mean in regards to Ahmadinejad's references to Israel's destruction? It certainly means that Iran, safely hiding behind its nukes, could more openly and extensively arm the enemies of the Big and Little Satan. And then there is the possibility of Iran's giving nuclear weapons to terrorists.

Did Ahmadinejad actually state somewhere that he would fire the first nuclear missile that came into his possession at the Fake Regime? Maybe not, but the apocalyptic streak in his thinking is not reassuring.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Press TV (Iran): "Iran's enemies unable to attack"

This seems like a fairly straightforward admission, and not the first one, that Iran's nuclear program is military. Why would "equations" relating to attacks by "enemies" change because of a peaceful nuclear program?

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said even Iran's most powerful enemies are unable to launch any form of attack against the country.

“The enemies of the Iranian nation will be given such a heavy blow they would not even consider attacking Iran,” he said on Wednesday addressing a group of martyr's families killed in a bomb blast by the Mujahideen Khalq Organization in 1981.

“All relations and equations will change in our favor once Iran is stabilized as a nuclear nation,” he added.

Ahmadinejad said the enemies of Iran are unable to stand against the will of the Iranian nation, noting the country has made remarkable progress with the effort of its scientists and experts.

“Iran's nuclear issue is one of the world's main topics of discussion,” he said adding “Our enemies are well aware that Iran's victorious achievements will be in the interest of other nations as well”.

“Our enemies have reached a deadlock and as their last resort they intend to use biased media propaganda and impose further political pressure on Iran,” he continued.

“Iranians will be the victorious if they resist and successfully pass this stage,” he concluded.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

SFChronicle: "Getting up close and personal with Hamas"

I'm not sure all the work of this author (Joel Brinkley) merits endorsement, but this is a timely and brutally frank look at Hamas:

[...] I know the leaders of Hamas. And I am certain they will be the last people on earth to realize that their coup has backfired. During three decades in daily journalism, working in more than 50 nations around the world, I have never met as determined a group of dogmatic ideologues. During a reporting trip in Gaza a few years ago, I set out to meet and interview each of the five major Hamas leaders. I got to four of them . . .

Hamas is an acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. For Hamas' nihilist leaders, resistance is not a strategy toward an end. Carnage is the goal. Last week, Zahar suggested that Hamas might attack Fatah in the West Bank with suicide bombs.

More than a year in power has changed them not at all. They have proved themselves incapable of looking beyond their dogma.

Read the rest.

(Hat Tip: Martin Kramer)

Contrasting coverage: Headline plus first sentence

IRIB: "13 martyred in Zionist raid on Gaza":

Thirteen innocent Palestinians were martyred on Wednesday as the Zionist regime savagely launched twin atatcks in the Gaza Strip.

Gulf News: "Israel kills 10 Palestinian militants in Gaza":

Gaza: Israeli forces killed at least 10 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, on Wednesday in their biggest raid in the Gaza Strip since Hamas Islamists took over the territory two weeks ago, medical workers and residents said.

USA Today: "Israeli troops kill 10 Palestinians in Gaza":

Israeli army incursions into the Gaza Strip killed at least 10 Palestinians on Wednesday, including eight gunmen and a 12-year-old boy, in the bloodiest fighting Gaza has seen since Hamas took control there two weeks ago.

Al Jazeera: "Israel launches deadly Gaza raids":

At least 12 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes and artillery fire in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials have said.

Arab News: "Israel Kills 12-Year-Old Boy in Deadly Gaza Raid":

Israeli forces yesterday killed over a dozen Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy in the deadliest raid in the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control of the territory, local medics said.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Good point

This is from an Arab News editorial entitled "How Summits Fail to Treat the Root Cause of Mideast Confrontation." The whole thing is interesting, and the following is well said:

[...]Olmert and the international community assume that the release of frozen funds and the flow of financial donations will be instrumental in achieving prosperity in the Palestinian territories, and that the prosperity will have a moderating influence on young Palestinians. This assumes that improvement in living conditions can change perceptions, while in actual fact the opposite is true.

International donations saved the Palestinian people from starvation and made some leaders wealthy, but they do not serve to change the cultures and beliefs of “hotheads”.[...]

One lone rage boy

Listen children to a story, very steep of learning curve
'bout (PBUH) Hazrat Mohammed, and kuffars with a lot of nerve
Folks in Denmark held a party, a sort-of scarecrow barbecue
They didn't learn their boycott lesson, the thing that you should never do

Go ahead and poke the Ummah, burn their guy in effigy
Do it in the name of freedom, without responsibility
Won't be no McDonald's open, come the judgment day
on the bloody morning after, one lone rage boy limps away

So the infidels of Denmark made a man of cloth and straw
Took a match and lit its turban, soon the flames went down its maw
The Islamophobic bloggers braced themselves for what would be
Rushdie hoped 'twould be diverting: "Maybe they'll forget about me."

Go ahead and poke the Ummah, burn their guy in effigy
Do it in the name of freedom, without responsibility
Won't be no McDonald's open, come the judgment day
on the bloody morning after, one lone rage boy limps away

Now the Ummah seethed with anger: mount a protest, scream with rage,
Hold a violent demonstration, push the goons to center stage
Now they stood beside the figure on the mountain, dark and red,
Raised it up and viewed its name-tag: "Carlsberg Beer" was all it said.

Go ahead and poke the Ummah, burn their guy in effigy
Do it in the name of freedom, without responsibility
Won't be no McDonald's open, come the judgment day
on the bloody morning after, one lone rage boy limps away

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

PLO: Worker's Party of Korea "invincible party of unity and cohesion with solid mass foundation"

Progressivism has its little ups and downs:

[...] The director for Higher Education of the Palestine Liberation Organization in a statement on June 19 noted that for more than four decades since Kim Jong Il's start of work at the WPK Central Committee the WPK has been steadily strengthened into the party of President Kim Il Sung, an invincible party of unity and cohesion with solid mass foundation.

The DPRK's national strength and its might of single-minded unity are the precious fruition of Kim Jong Il's Songun leadership, he said, praising his Songun politics as an invincible treasured sword giving confidence in victory and courage to the world progressive people.

These comments are remarkably similar to those of the "Brazil-Korea Friendship Association" bulletin, which states that Kim Jong Il "strengthened the WPK into a party of invincible unity and cohesion, a party with solid mass foundation." The only thing preventing the complete victory of the forces of progressivism is Marx's loss of "currency" in "new China."

Imperialist Crosspost on Soccer Dad

Monday, June 25, 2007

Finkelstein "a mammoth of moral rectitude"

A Mammoth? Yea, a Woolly Mammoth! From Tehran Times via Mehr News:

[...]Like Carter, Finkelstein surrendered to his conscience and decided to swim against the political tides. He criticized Israel for its brutal treatment of the stateless Palestinians. In his scholarly research he also exposed how the Zionists have exploited “anti-Semitism” (a real racist phenomenon) to camouflage the atrocities committed by Israel and how the holocaust tragedy has been exploited and turned into a “lucrative industry”.[...]

In response to the news of his denial of tenure, he unapologetically reiterated his principled, indeed inspirational stand by saying: “They can deny me tenure, deny me the right to teach. But they will never stop me from saying what I believe.”

In an era when intellectual freedom is routinely suppressed, and at a time when people of good character and moral integrity have become the unprotected endangered species, here comes Finkelstein walking self-assuredly like a mammoth of moral rectitude.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Dar Al Hayat: "America's Axe and Iran's Arrogance"

This takes the alarmed tone about Iran expressed in some Arab news sources to new levels--probably appropriately:

Does Iran know how sensitive the current circumstances in the region are? Does it know that the scenario of what happened in Iraq during the era of the deposed, executed President Saddam Hussein is about to be repeated on the "noble" Iranian people, thanks to the policy of Ahmadinejad, who is "undiplomatically motivated"!

Ahmadinejad, the man of blind surprises and atrocious offensive statements, is leading his people today to a new suffering and a stricter siege than ever before, through his intransigence and adoption of a policy of setting fire in all directions. This is because Britain proposed a new draft resolution which is to impose new international sanctions on Iran, including denying Iran Airlines access to world airports or flying through international airspaces. The draft resolution also suggests preventing Iranian ships from using world ports or navigating in international waters, in addition to freezing assets and transfers to at least one Iranian bank. It is known that once a resolution is passed by the Security Council, the international community would be capable of implementing it by the force of law before the military force, and implementing this resolution against Iran would only require international cooperation in isolating Tehran.

Iran's practices in the region have become widespread, disturbing some 'stable' Middle East countries. Tehran has become like a snake besieged in a corner, failing to find a way out to escape, so it started to spit out its venom in all directions.

Kuwait complains of an assault on one its diplomats by Iranian elements. Information confirms Iranian security forces were involved in beating him. Cairo announced its discontent with the practices of Tehran, and accused it of encouraging Hamas to carry out a coup against the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip, considering this a threat to the Egyptian security, since Gaza is at a stone's throw from Egypt. France expelled an Iranian student, due to his connection with the Iranian nuclear program and accused him of spying for the regime in Tehran. Tehran is procrastinating the extradition of Saudi prisoners in Iran to Riyadh, discarding the security agreement signed between the two countries.

In Sudan, Sudanese Islamic groups warned of a great scheme led by Iran, as entire villages have become Shiites and Hussainiyahs are spreading in Khartoum. This forced these groups to launch a campaign against the pro-Iran ideology in Sudan.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah constitutes a state within a state due to Iranian support. Iraq is the perfect hotbed of Iran, where it manages its war with the US and buys itself the adequate time and space to complete its nuclear programs. Chief of the Iraqi Accord Front Adnan al-Dulaimi accused Tehran of supporting extremist Shiites and Sunnis, saying it played a big role in this field. It provides everyone with funding, weapons and information in order to thwart the political process, bearing in mind that this is the first time Iran is accused by a Sunni political figure of backing Sunni extremists. All previous charges against Tehran were about its support of Shiite militias in Iraq. Al-Dulaimi also accused Tehran of continuing to be the most active terrorism-sponsoring State in the world, charging the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) forces, the intelligence and security of "direct involvement in planning and supporting terrorist acts."

In statements to a British newspaper earlier, Military Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Shamkhani threatened Arab Gulf countries to shower them with a barrage of rockets that would not only target American bases, but would also include oil refineries and power plants in the Gulf States.

How much venom is spitted out by Iran in a 'feverish' and 'exhausted' region that cannot endure any dangerous games from Iran or others! Ahmadinejad's behavior today is like a 'balloon' that is getting inflated and then disappears in the air with a violent wind. It seems that Ahmadinejad's behavior is like a desperate man, who reached the stage when he tells himself "I will not go down alone, I'll take my enemies with me." Ahmadinejad is spitting out venom that will kill him after he crushes the desires of an innocent people. Where are the sages of the Iranian policy? Iran is at the brink of a new military strike next fall. Can anything be done before it is too late, before the Iraq scenario reoccurs in Iran, because of the 'arrogance' of Ahmadinejad's policy and those who stand behind his government!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

All around the Axis

Hamas, Hamas, it's a wild world:

Hamas rules Gaza now, but the Palestinian Islamists must be on guard against the new plots of the enemies of Islam.

Say it isn't so!

Arab media can often be mistaken for an arm of the Pentagon press, with glib reports describing Iraqi resistance to the occupation as “insurgency” or “terrorism”. . .

Syria, "base for steadfastness":

The Egyptian weekly Newspaper Al-Osboa has underlined that Syria is still constitute a base for resistance, steadfastness and adherence to the firm pan-Arab stances as she rejects the US-Israeli hegemony and domination schemes, calling on all Arab to stand by Syria in the face of the pressures against her . . .

The paper added that "those who are antagonizing Syria must feel ashamed of themselves after their role become only to prepare the Lebanese arena for a civil war and harm the resistance and open the door in front of the foreign forces to impose its protection on Lebanon and beat the national resistance through a big conspiracy against Syria and Lebanon.

Castro on the length dilemma:

While writing a brief reflection is helpful, in that the hundred and twelve accredited foreign newspapers and press agencies in our country that receive it in advance can publish important parts of its text, long reflections allow me to expound, as extensively as I wish, on concepts I deem important and which provide our people, the main protagonist against any potential aggression, as well as countries facing similar circumstances, the required information to form their own judgment. This dilemma is, for me, a headache.

Kim's bad, he's world-wide:

Round-table talks, lecture, reading session, film show and photo exhibition were held in the Czech Republic, South Africa and Ethiopia from June 7 to 13 on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of Kim Jong Il's start of work at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the 7th anniversary of the publication of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration . . .

Tatek Kassa, chairperson of the Addis Ababa Youth Association of Ethiopia, at the reading session stressed that Korea's reunification is sure to be accomplished in the future thanks to the Songun policy of Kim Jong Il.

The participants of the film show watched Korean film "Brilliant History of Great Leadership."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

(North) Korean News: "Japan's Foolish Attempt Blasted"

Those Japanese--when will they ever learn?

The Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently created a "measure committee for election studies" led by its minister in a bid to hold responsible posts at international organizations. This is nothing but a foolish attempt.

Rodong Sinmun Friday observes this in a signed commentary.

It goes on:

It is ridiculous for Japan to give itself airs though it is not qualified for those posts and has an inglorious past behind it.

It was reported that the objective of the above-said "committee" is to win the elections to be held at international organizations.

It is the foolish calculation of the Japanese authorities that if Japan or Japanese holds responsible posts at international organizations including UN, this will help the country emerge a "country enjoying respect from world community" in name and reality.

They are of the view that Japan fails to obtain the above-said posts at international organizations due to its shrinking contributions to them and the dwindling amount of government development aid to other countries. They seem to contend that money decides everything. This is the most vivid expression of the economic animal's way of thinking.

Responsible posts at international organizations including the UN are not something to be bought or sold and one cannot hold such post as one pleases. What matters is whether one is qualified for such post. It is in this context that Japan can never be a "country enjoying such respect." Japan should, above all, win confidence from the international community. In other words, Japan should fulfill such commitments as admitting its past crimes and compensating for them. This is the assertion of the unbiased world public opinion, the commentary concludes.

Want more?

Fuller Play to Revolutionary Soldier Spirit Called for:

The revolutionary soldier spirit is the most vivid manifestation of the working-class consciousness which the servicepersons and people of the DPRK should possess, says a signed article of Rodong Sinmun today says.

It goes on:

The People's Army is invincible revolutionary ranks devotedly protecting the Party, the revolution, the country and the people with arms from the formidable imperialist enemy and its revolutionary soldier spirit serves as a powerful weapon for a class struggle.

A high degree of working-class awareness to firmly protect the socialist homeland and revolutionary gains serves as a source of strength encouraging the servicepersons to dedicate their youth and lives to the Party, the leader, the country and the revolution in a do-or-die spirit and courageously pull through any trials.

The last more than decade has been a period in which the political, ideological and military potentials of the Korean revolution have been fully demonstrated thanks to the leading and pivotal role played by servicepersons in defending the country and building socialism. It is the servicepersons who have performed heroic exploits on the forefront of confrontation with the U.S., a struggle decisive of life and death, and taken the lead in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation. They are a mainstay and sentinels for the country and the revolution.

The revolutionary spirit, the revolutionary soldier spirit displayed by them is the most vivid expression of working-class consciousness, the noble spirit of the times which the people of our times should learn from as it is based on the high working-class awareness.

The KPA is ready to counter the enemy's hard-line policy with the toughest stand and return artillery fire for his rifle fire. This transparent working-class consciousness, the staunch spirit of defending the country fully represents the revolutionary soldier spirit.

It is the pride of the servicepersons and people of the DPRK to have such treasured sword for the class struggle as the revolutionary soldier spirit the vitality of which has been fully proved in revolutionary practice.

If only Japan could be like that.

Khaleej Times: "16 camels killed as lightning strikes"

This story just struck my fancy. I hope this finds all your camels safe and healthy:

ABU DHABI — Sixteen camels were killed when lightning hit them near a farmland off Ghayathi in the Western Region yesterday.

The herd owned by Mohammed A’sheer Al Mazroui was stationed atop a sand dune behind his farmland 20 kilometres away from Ghayathi.

Al Khaleej Arabic daily quoted Al Mazroui as saying that the camels were grazing when the sky suddenly became cloudy. Soon it started to rain and a small group of camels broke off from the herd climbing up the sand dune nearby. The lightening and the accompanying thunder virtually shook the whole area and the 16 camels staying atop the dune fell down dead.

Al Mazroui said that the herdsman and the remaining camels in the farmland just few metres from the dune escaped unhurt. He requested all to keep themselves and their animals away from highlands at times of thunder showers.

Good idea.

The Western Region continues to be cloudy. Met sources in Abu Dhabi forecast sporadic rains in the Eastern Region today.

BBC: "BBC man 'seen in explosives belt'"

This story is exquisitely illustrative. The BBC was always something of a hostage to terrorist interests. It is somewhat embarrassing for Hamas, but nothing that a little empty posturing won't remedy. More importantly, what about the ability of an Al-Qaeda affiliate to operate freely? Israel should probably reoccupy Gaza.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has said the kidnappers of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston have made a new video showing him wearing an explosives belt.

"In the past they showed him in an orange uniform. Today they showed him with an explosives belt round his waist," Mr Haniya said in Gaza.

The video recording has not been seen in public.

The BBC says it is aware of the reports and is investigating. Alan Johnston was kidnapped in Gaza on 12 March.

Hamas has set a deadline of Monday for the kidnappers to release him.

"We will not allow the continuation of the abduction of the British journalist. The issue of Alan Johnston must end," Mr Haniya said in a speech to his supporters.

He did not explain in what circumstances he had seen the video.

The British Foreign Office said it deplored such footage.[...]

The reporter was abducted by a group calling itself The Army of Islam.

A video was released on 1 June by the previously unknown radical Islamist group, in which Alan Johnston said he was in good health and was being treated well.

The Army of Islam has demanded the release of Abu Qatada, a Palestinian-born Islamic cleric who is suspected of having close links with al-Qaeda and is held by the UK government as a threat to national security.[...]

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Linkim 6/24/07

Haveil Havalim 122 is up! Carnival of the Insanities is up!

Michael Freund: "Take back Gaza now."

EOZ: "The West believes in PalArabs more than Arabs do"

Martin Kramer says, "Reread this speech five years later."

Steyn: "We've replaced Rushdie in hiding"

Israel Matzav: "'A Mighty Heart' sent away with a whimper"

Seraphic Secret: "Mighty Jihad Propaganda"

Daled Amos alerts us to "Name Abuse"

BobFromBrockley examines "Provocation"

Jew-ish on Florence Foster Jenkins

Saturday, June 23, 2007

IRIB: "Muslims condemn Btitish [sic] heinous move"

Great title. Great picture. Great typo.

Religious groups in Pakistan staged rallies across the country on Friday to protest over the Britain's heinous decision to decorate Salman Rushdie with knighthood.

Demonstrators in some parts burnt effigies of Rushdie and British flags.

Some protesters called on the government to expel the British high commissioner, and some even called for breaking diplomatic ties if the British government did not withdraw the title.

The speakers said Britain has hurt the religious sentiments of more than one billion Muslims.

Muslims are really into this billion business, aren't they?

Traders in Lahore announced a reward of 15 million rupees for anyone who kills Salman Rushdie.

The announcement was made during a protest by traders at Press Club.

In Karachi hundreds of political activists, traders and students rallied against the British government's move.

The Chief Minister of southern province of Sindh, Arbab Ghulamrahim, on Thursday announced returning of medals won by his grandfather and other relatives to the British high commission.

Rallies were also staged in major cities Quetta, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Multan, Fisalabad, Rawalpindi and Dera Ismail Khan.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani National Assembly on Friday passed its second resolution to condemn the move.

"The British government has not withdrawn the title which has not only disappointed the entire Pakistani nation but has also hurt it," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi told the Assembly.

I am always interested in the word "hurt" in these contexts. Is the desire to put someone in his place called "hurt"?

"This house again calls on the British government and its Prime Minister Tony Blair to immediately withdraw the title... and tender an apology to the Muslim world."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Friday, June 22, 2007

Arab News: "Middle East Peace: Don’t Pin Hopes on Peres"

A lurch in the direction of extremism and dropped definite articles. Is this the new face of Arab News?

Betraying their total ignorance of the colonial mindset of the Israeli leaders in general, some Arab politicians have welcomed the victory of Shimon Peres in the recent presidential election in Israel. An invariable feature of the Israeli decision-making is that only policies that serve the expansionist and colonial interests of Zionism are adopted and implemented by their leaders whether they are described as hawkish or dovish as in the case of Peres.

The office of president in Israel is ornamental. It does not have any role in the running of the government.

A basic qualification of a successful leader in Israel, seemingly, is that the blood of hundreds of innocent Palestinians or other Arabs should be on his hands. This description would be quite fitting to leaders such as Pinhas Lavon, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert.

Despite several attempts Shimon Peres could not become Israel’s prime minister except for once. This was because he did not meet the above specifications as this Polish immigrant lacked a military background. He contested for the post of prime minister from 1977 to 1996 but succeeded only once in 1984 — that too only for two years on a rotational basis. The second time he was promoted to the post after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995.

But this does not mean that Peres is an avowed pacifist as he has been portrayed in the media. He has been shifting between the doves and hawks in Israeli politics. His political leaning was determined by the direction of the political trends in the country.

Peres was one of the masterminds of the aggression against Egypt in 1956 and he supported the Israeli aggression against Lebanon in 1982, though shortly after that he joined the ranks of the “Peace Now” movement condemning the Israeli incursion into Lebanon. While he was a major partner in the Oslo peace agreement in 1993 and 1995, he was also the spiritual father of the settlements in the West Bank. And not to be missed is the fact that Peres subscribed to the idea of a security zone in South Lebanon in the 1980s and 1990s. He was also reported to be a participant in the notorious Qana massacres.

Peres and Gen. Moshe Dayan take the credit for kicking off a nuclear race in the Middle East and placing the region in the shadow of a nuclear war. It was after Peres was named the deputy director general of the defense department in 1952 that he took steps to build a nuclear reactor in Israel. Ignoring opposition from various quarters he started designing an atomic reactor in utmost secrecy.

Despite the fact that he was instrumental in making Israel the sole nuclear power of the region with hundreds of weapons of mass destruction, Peres was defeated in several elections. The last was in 2000 when he ran for president. In that election Likud Party’s Moshe Katsov was elected. However Peres became the deputy prime minister in 2007 after his rival withdrew from the election fray. Afterward he also became the president of Israel.

Though international Zionist movement, which established a Jewish homeland in the midst of the Arabs, declares publicly that it upholds the international values of freedom and human rights, it violates every one of them when dealing with the Palestinians and Israel’s other Arab neighbors.

Including the right to definite articles.

On the one hand, while the Zionist movement protects the Western interests in the region, it orders the political leaders in Israel to achieve the basic Zionist goals of territorial expansion to annex all the lands mentioned in their mythologies. It is because of this reason every government in Israel, Labor, Likud, or a coalition of various parties, always surrenders to the uncompromising dictates of the international Zionism. That is why it is stupid to believe that peace will return to the Middle East if Peres becomes the head of state in Israel.

Of course, this English is probably better than the State Department's Arabic.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Tehran Times: Souls lacerated on complicity rocks

The author of this thing is one Jason Miller, and he's Iran's kind of guy. Via Mehr News:

Each day untold millions of U.S. Americans unwittingly immerse themselves in an intellectual, social, cultural, economic, political and spiritual cesspool so rancid and toxic that even microbes with the most voracious appetites for human waste, vomit, and inanimate flesh would shun this infinitely repulsive sewer.

Daily Kos?

Many highly qualified and intelligent researchers, analysts, and authors have written books, essays, and reports documenting the astounding multitude and variety of crimes committed by the United States throughout its history. Since a nation is an entity comprised of numerous elements and dynamics, we can’t simply blame the government, the Republicans, the Religious Right, the Democrats, George Bush, Bill Clinton, or any one particular component.

Right, and the components keep trying to fob the blame off on the elements and dynamics.

Therefore, nearly all U.S. Americans bear a degree of responsibility. Obviously, some (i.e. Bush and Cheney) are far more culpable than others because they wield such tremendous power and act with a conscienceless, cynical awareness of the suffering they are inflicting on the Earth and its sentient inhabitants.

So? Nobody likes smart-aleck sentient inhabitants.

Since only about 4% of the population shares Bush’s sociopathic inability to experience empathy or guilt, what is this powerful siren call that motivates so many inherently decent human beings to repeatedly lacerate their souls upon the jagged rocks of complicity in acts that inflict unnecessary suffering upon billions of humans and animals?

How did we become a statistical aberration to the extent that we are a nation of resource-rich, technologically-advanced, mean-spirited, intellectually-stunted moral barbarians where a significant percentage of the population behaves as sociopaths by directly supporting or apathetically ignoring the evils in which they are complicit?

Listening to John Denver records?

Is it something in our water? Are we genetic misfits? Does our population represent the vanguard of the next step in humanity’s moral “evolution”?

Sarcasm aside, the underlying cause of our depravity is our false, skewed and fractured consciousness which our malignant system begins hammering into our minds as we draw our first breath. This relentless psychological assault persists until we take our final gasp of air.[...]

Capitalism, which has evolved into its utterly reprehensible advanced stages here in the United States, is intellectually buttressed by the ridiculous notion that people acting on two of the most despicable traits of humanity, greed and selfishness, will enhance the commonweal. The current state of affairs in the United States demonstrates otherwise. Despite the slight doses of socialism which have mitigated the abject suffering inflicted by relatively unfettered capitalism during the Gilded Age, and despite the fact that we are the wealthiest nation in the history of humanity, there are still over a million homeless human beings, millions experience hunger and food insecurity, nearly fifty million lack a viable means to obtain our outrageously expensive medical care, our leading indicators of health are amongst the lowest of industrialized nations, urban public school systems are in a state of crisis and decay, and, as Katrina so clearly indicated, we are content to spend most of our hard-earned tax dollars on industrialized murder, blame victims, and leave the suffering to die, even here at home.[...]

(North) Korean News: "U. S. Moves to Stifle Syria under Fire"

It's a wonderful day for an Axis-hood:

The situation has become very tense in Lebanon due to the clashes between the government troops and radical Palestinian armed forces. The Bush forces are asserting that Syria is supporting the Palestinian armed forces linked with "Al Qaeda".

Rodong Sinmun Thursday observes in a signed commentary: The pressure put by the U.S. upon Syria over the issue of the current Lebanese situation is aimed at branding Syria as a "terrorism-sponsor" to internationally isolate it and, furthermore, overthrow its state system.

Citing facts to prove that the U.S. has long been keen to bring down anti-imperialist independent Syria, regarding it as a thorn in its flesh, the commentary goes on:

Availing itself of the crisis, the U.S. is working hard to make the pro-Syrian forces as weak as possible in a bid to completely free Lebanon of the influence of Syria and link this country with "terrorism" and thus stamp out the international forces supporting it.

The public opinion warns that the deteriorating situation in Lebanon and the U.S. pressure put upon Syria, taking advantage of it, send a danger signal that a war may break out in the region.

The Arab countries including Syria are denouncing the U.S. for frantically escalating its pressure upon Syria under the pretext of the Lebanese problem and heightening their vigilance against it.

With nothing can the U.S. justify its anti-Syria moves and evade its responsibility for the crisis in Lebanon.

Gitmo Poetry Preview II

Our sampling of the anxiously-awaited Guantanamo Anthology continues with one of the more paradoxical portraits of Gitmo itself. Buoyed up by a sense of literary triumph over Neocon-induced adversity, the poet pictures the prison as a "happy hoosegow place" and even a "blessed cage":

This poet warehouse, this abode of bards,
Of literary plowshares, lately swords,
Semtex quatrains, martyrdom denied,
This fortress built by Cheney for himself
That he might better wield the hand of war,
This happy hoosegow place, this little world,
This holstered sidearm worn with green fatigues
A prop for UN oratory bursts
To bang the lectern with and wave around
And thus dispel the vile Imperialist plots--
This blessed cage, this hole, this clink, this Gitmo

Indeed, many of the tear-stained letters of the inmates have expressed this sense of joyful literary triumph overcoming the misery of unjust incarceration. The inmates spend their time in lively aesthetic discussions. (And if you don't think that's impressive, you try convincing a Takfirist that Alexandrine couplets went out with Chapman.) The Al-Buraq Bard Brigade Anthology will undoubtedly require multiple volumes since many of the more ambitious poetic projects were not completed in time for Volume One. One epic poem, reportedly, began "Arms and the Muhjadeen I sing . . ."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Gitmo Poetry Preview!

Undoubtedly a number of bloggers have gone into action since news broke of the impending release of of a poetry anthology composed by Guantanamo Bay residents. It is hard to imagine that any of the more industrious bloggers have even gone to sleep now that the rush is on to get imaginary satiric examples into existence as quickly as possible. I'm not such a devoted or industrious blogger that I will pass up a good night's sleep, but I humbly offer the following:

Whenas in niqab Fullah goes
Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows
The Fard effacement
of her nose

When next I spy
th'accoutrement
All of a sudden bravely rent
I sigh, "Alas, work accident."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

What's so funny . . .

As I walk through
The Dar al-Harb
Searchin' for an end to the Zionist entity
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Are there only schemes and plots and conspiracies?
And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout Semtex, Qassams & Hudna?
What's so funny 'bout Semtex, Qassams & Hudna?
And as I walk on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the Unity?
Ummah Unity
'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry
What's so funny 'bout Semtex, Qassams & Hudna?
What's so funny 'bout Semtex, Qassams & Hudna?
So Hamas is strong
And Fatah is trusted
But where is the Unity?
Ummah Unity
'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry
What's so funny 'bout Semtex, Qassams & Hudna?
What's so funny 'bout Semtex, Qassams & Hudna?
What's so funny 'bout Semtex, Qassams & Hudna?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad