Political Pigh

2007-03-25T20:22:00.000+02:00

Lebanon - The Free Patriotic Movement official site / tayyar.org Photo Gallery - March 24, 2007 FPM Women

It is clear that the majority are Christians. Stop claiming that tayyar is a secular group. In all the pictures, only one woman appears with a group.

2007-03-13T00:50:00.000+01:00

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Lebanon war image causes controversy
The story behind: "Winner of the World Press Photo. By Spencer Platt (Getty Images)"

2007-03-08T00:09:00.000+01:00

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel, Iran top 'negative list':

"Israel, of course, has long provoked sharp international reactions, and last year was involved in a controversial war in Lebanon."

2007-03-08T00:01:00.000+01:00

Switzerland: Trial in Denial of Armenian Genocide - New York Times:

"Dogu Perincek, the head of the nationalist Turkish Workers’ Party, went on trial in Lausanne on a charge that he denied the 1915 Armenian genocide during a speech in the city in 2005, when he called the genocide “an international lie.” A 1995 Swiss law bars denying, belittling or justifying any genocide."

2007-02-26T14:37:00.000+01:00

Israeli Troops Place Curfew on West Bank City - New York Times:

"JERUSALEM, Feb. 25 — The Israeli Army put the large West Bank city of Nablus under curfew on Sunday in one of the biggest military operations there in two years..."

This is the first time I read the news from International Herald Tribune before learning about the event from some Middle Eastern source. It felt like thanking the Israeli forces for what they are doing there. It is amazing how the news get crafted in a manner that Israel appears to be the "good guy", hiding all the details of the brutality, savagery, criminality and injustice of the event.

2007-02-17T13:54:00.000+01:00

Naharnet News Desk

"Iran and Lebanon are limbs of the same body, but unfortunately the Lebanese part of it is wounded," Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling outgoing Lebanese ambassador to Tehran Adnan Mansour on Friday.

2007-02-12T23:41:00.001+01:00

Its_about_time Lebanon.mpg - Google Video

2007-02-11T01:43:00.000+01:00

Naharnet News Desk - U.S. Photographer Wins Award for Shot of Bombed-Out Beirut

The chairman of the jury, Michele McNally of the New York Times, described the shot as
"a picture you can keep looking at."

2007-01-13T13:34:00.000+01:00

Lebanon - The Free Patriotic Movement official site / tayyar.org Photo Gallery - January 2007, Justice Palace/DSC00257 I don't find this picture normal. It is most abnormal!

2006-12-11T10:18:00.000+01:00

As Crowd Demands Change, Lebanese Premier Is Puzzled - New York Times:

The front of the convention center was filled with Range Rovers, Jaguars and Mercedes-Benzes.
...
“Everyone is afraid,” said Michel Khoury, a former governor of the central bank, as he left the memorial, a shiny new cellphone pressed to his ear...

Reporting what? Film festival?

2006-12-09T13:03:00.000+01:00

angryarab.blogspot.com

2006-12-08T14:23:00.000+01:00

He receives more support!

www.tayyar.org

2006-12-06T23:47:00.000+01:00

LoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooL
Fatfatism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Fatfatism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Fatfatism (in Arabic, الفتفتية) refers to the parodic ideology tied to the person of the Minister of the Interior in Lebanon, Ahmad Fatfat. This ideology, which has come to refer to a certain 'Moderate' breed of political behavior in the Middle East, can be explained, according to Dr. As'ad Abu Khalil, the intellectual who coined the term, as such:

'...it requires no commitment to principles; it merely adjusts to the interests of the political status of Ahmad Fatfat. The ideology contains contradictions: it speaks of democracy and 'liberalism' and yet cultivates support among Bin Laden supporters in North Lebanon and serves as a client for Saudi Wahhabism; it speaks in favor of 'sovereignty' and 'independence' while it faithfully represented the interests of the tyrannical Syrian regime, and now represents the external patrons of Sanyurah. The ideology of Fatfatism believes that the most effective way for fighting foreign occupation is serving tea to the occupation soldiers. While it is widely believed that Fatfatism is a Lebanese phenomenon, it is now noticed that Fatfatism is spreading in countries in the Middle East and well beyond the Middle East.'

The December protests in Beirut, Lebanon in 2006 included chants which echoed a wide-spread understand

angryarab.blogspot.com
tayyar.org
al-akhbar.com
wa3ad.org

2006-12-06T19:20:00.000+01:00

The Iraq Study Group Report -- page 28:

Several Iraqi, U.S., and international ofﬁcials commented to us that Iraqi opposition to the United States—and support for Sadr—spiked in the aftermath of Israel’s bombing campaign in Lebanon.

2006-12-02T18:08:00.000+01:00

As the Christians refused to topple the Christian president by street demonstrations, the Sunnis will refuse to topple the Sunni prime minister by street demonstrations. It was General Aoun who refused to topple the president by demonstrations, and pointed to the parliament as the proper place for that. Now he is requesting the prime minister to resign by street protests, and the prime minister is pointing at the parliament as the proper place for that.

General Aoun also claimed that his supporters won the majority in the student elections of American University of Beirut (AUB). The reality was that his supporters, allied with Hosballa supporters failed to win any majority.

2006-12-02T15:47:00.000+01:00

Jaja is out (of jail)
Aoun returned (from France)
Sanyoura became greedy (became prime minister)
Lahoud is staying (as president)
I am traveling
& the car is for sale.

2006-12-02T14:47:00.000+01:00

I love Lebanon!
Irrespective of the politics.

Picture from yesterday's demonstration.

2006-10-28T19:21:00.000+02:00

Rice presses for Hezbollah's disarmament - Yahoo! News: BEIRUT, Lebanon - Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice stepped up international pressure on Hezbollah to disarm, saying the guerrilla group must surrender its weapons if it wants to remain part of Lebanon's political process.
"If Hezbollah wants to be in politics... Hezbollah should be disarmed. You cannot have one foot in terror and the use of violence and the other foot in politics. It just doesn't work that way," Rice said.
"Hezbollah has to decide whether it's going to maintain its terrorist wing and remain a terrorist organization or whether it's going to ... be part the political process," she added.

OK. Lebanese were looking for someone who decides who can be part of Lebanon's political process and who cannont. Now they found!

2006-10-21T13:26:00.000+02:00

2006-09-23T22:45:00.000+02:00

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todaysheadlines/
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
Saturday, September 23, 2006
'Not a single army in the world will be able to dismantle our resistance. No army in the world will be able to make us drop the weapons from our hands.'
HASSAN NASRALLAH, the leader of Hezbollah, at a mass rally in Beirut.

2006-09-23T13:25:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

Bush today said that he asked his secretary of state to reactivate the 'peace process.' O people of the Middle East: get to the bomb shelters, FAST.

2006-09-19T19:57:00.000+02:00

Central bank governor of the year 2006: Riad Salamé, Banque du Liban -- Euromoney Magazine

2006-09-14T18:51:00.000+02:00

Welcome to Lebanon

2006-09-12T12:02:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

The BBC used to be a fine news service. Look at it now. It is on the level of Fox News--'fair and balanced,' I mean. Look at this Ian Pannel. He might as well be a press assistant for Tony Blair. Look at this passage: 'Most of the demonstrators were probably pro-Hezbollah. The militant Islamic group called for its supporters to leave the bomb-damaged southern suburbs to join the protest. They have a habit of doing what they are asked, as do Hezbollah cabinet ministers, two of whom boycotted a meeting with Mr Blair.' Oh, Mr. Detective reporter, Ian Pannel. How did you know that they were 'probably pro-Hezbollah'. Let us face it. You don't know Arabic. Because if you knew Arabic you would have seen the flags and banners of the Lebanese Communist Party, the Maradah party, the SSNP, Harakt Ash-Sha`b among others. It is amazing how this reporter was writing with the intention of softening the PR blow to the prime minister of not-great-at-all Britain. I want my readers in the Arab world to read this piece it will really help to disabuse them of any notions of Western media 'professionalism' or 'objectivity.' (thanks David)

2006-08-31T18:35:00.000+02:00

Lift Blockade of Lebanon, Annan Urges - New York Times: "Hezbollah had violated the cease-fire four times, while Israel had done so nearly 70 times. “Hezbollah is showing incredible discipline,” Mr. Annan said."

2006-08-29T11:42:00.000+02:00

وليد جنبلاط: مع وضد* | جريدة الأخبار

2006-08-28T11:23:00.000+02:00

Economy-class Saudi royals cramp Marbella’s style - Sunday Times - Times Online

THE Saudi Arabian royal family arrived for their annual visit to a palace in Marbella last week, bringing with them a new — and unwelcome — spirit of frugality.

King Abdullah, the new ruler, stayed away, but 14 princesses were among a party of 1,500 assorted royals and courtiers at the Palacio El Rocio, accompanying the late King Fahd’s widow Jawhara al-Ibrahim and Abdullah’s brother Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz.

On their first day at the resort, the princesses were reported to have spent £676,000 on a single diamond pendant. Their fruit bill was put at £2,000 a day and fresh orchids every day cost £1,000. A retinue of 300 local servants has been hired, ranging from chauffeurs and butlers to hairdressers and nannies.

Fahd spent £75m on doing up the Palacio El Rocio, which is modelled on the White House. It has its own private clinic, mosque and sports complex.

On his final visit to Marbella, the king and 3,000 family members, friends and staff arrived in a fleet of jumbo jets. He spent a reputed £600,000 a year to keep a suite at a nearby private hospital free in case of emergencies. Some 300 five-star hotel rooms were booked and more than 100 Mercedes were shipped in from Germany.

2006-08-25T11:02:00.000+02:00

Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs - New York Times:

A Congressional investigation after Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon found that Israel had used the weapons against civilian areas in violation of the agreements. In response, the Reagan administration imposed a six-year ban on further sales of cluster weapons to Israel.

Israeli officials acknowledged soon after their offensive began last month that they were using cluster munitions against rocket sites and other military targets. While Hezbollah positions were frequently hidden in civilian areas, Israeli officials said their intention was to use cluster bombs in open terrain.

2006-08-24T10:59:00.000+02:00

Human Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes - New York Times:

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 23 — Amnesty International accused Israel on Wednesday of war crimes in its monthlong battle with Hezbollah, saying its bombing campaign amounted to indiscriminate attacks on Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure and population.
“Many of the violations examined in this report are war crimes that give rise to individual criminal responsibility,” Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, said in a report on the Israeli campaign. “They include directly attacking civilian objects and carrying out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.”

2006-08-23T14:38:00.000+02:00

Lebanon: Deliberate destruction or "collateral damage"? Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure - Amnesty International

One hospital, alleged by Israel to be a Hizbullah headquarters, was directly attacked. On 2 August, Israeli commandos in helicopters, supported by fighter planes and drones, raided al-Hikmah hospital in Baalbak in the eastern Bekaa valley. The Israeli army said they captured five Hizbullah members there. However, according to local residents, the five were not captured at the hospital but in the home of one of them.(28) They added that one of those seized local merchant Hassan Nasrallah, had been confused with the Hizbullah leader who has the same name. Reuters reported that the supporting air strikes killed 19 people, including four children. A statement from the IDF said that 'Hezbollah weapons, computers, computer storage media, and a large amount of vital intelligence materials were seized. Ten terrorists were killed during the operation and five others were captured by Israeli forces. There were no IDF or civilian casualties.'

2006-08-23T14:28:00.000+02:00

Lebanon: Deliberate destruction or "collateral damage"? Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure - Amnesty International

Israel has asserted that Hizbullah fighters have enmeshed themselves in the civilian population for the purpose of creating 'human shields'. While the use of civilians to shield a combatant from attack is a war crime, under international humanitarian law such use does not release the opposing party from its obligations towards the protection of the civilian population.

The Israeli army seemed to have used every type of munition in its arsenal, with air-delivered munitions, artillery shelling and cluster bomb damage in evidence.

In the village of Tebnine, in South Lebanon, only hours before the ceasefire came into effect on 14 August, Israeli forces fired cluster bombs all around the government hospital, where hundreds of civilians were sheltering,

2006-08-17T16:26:00.000+02:00

2006-08-16T10:48:00.000+02:00

Bush Said to Be Frustrated by Level of Public Support in Iraq - New York Times

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 — President Bush made clear in a private meeting this week that he was concerned about the lack of progress in Iraq and frustrated that the new Iraqi government — and the Iraqi people — had not shown greater public support for the American mission

2006-08-15T15:15:00.000+02:00

New Leb BLOG: Can not disarm Hizbollah... Immitate them

I think one of the missing things in dealing with the current situation with Hizbollah is that every body is sitting back and criticizing their current stand on issues.

I suggest the following:
1- The government should start having its own poltical plan, vision, paper and agenda...The seven points of Siniora are among the first after-Syria foreign policy attempts of Lebanon. Similar but more powerful attempts should be made.
2- On the social level: The government should not accept that Hizbollah support 15,000 homes explecitly declaring that the government can't fo that. All necessary funds should be made available and a full reconstruction/transparent/quick plan should be done soon.
3- The army should work towards the creation of a special force: 'maghawir eljanoub'
i- get the needed training for atleast 1000 army man with special hizbollah -like training.
ii-get the necessary weapons for that team (Similar to Hizbollah's arms)
iii-get the required resources for the establishment, enhancment and organizing such a force that should be the corner stone for the Lebanese army's defence strategy against Israel/Syria be it our direct neighbors.
iv-This force can later on ask to get exclusivity of weapons and membership where the resistance will be redundant.

Alternatively, if this is not doable. The government entities should form a para-military coalition to create a national resistance with the direct support of the government. They can distribute the areas of the south between them or run all as one entity. National resistance or Hizbollah and Lebanese resistance.

This will result in a political change, social trust and defence strategy.

2006-08-14T20:29:00.000+02:00

New Leb BLOG: One month after the war...

Now after things 'might' settle down a little bit (eight hours before the promised cease fire).

I have the following obseervations:

1- Hizbollah won their war over Israel
2- Israel lost the war
3- Lebanon lost the war done on his land without knowledge/consent/approval
4- Lebanon has a chance to fix many of its pending issues and problems
5- the army is too weak to go to the south, as proved by the 350 joint forces that were captured by Israel and insulted by them, before they were evacuated and some of them killed.
6- Hizbollah took/can take any decision at any time to launch any kind of war on any target...
7- Hassan Nasrallah's self control, leadership, honesty and power is really beyond any Arab leader... I am impressed from his performance.
8- We have the most two oweful neighbors: Syria of Assassinations and Israel of Massacres.

2006-08-14T01:15:00.000+02:00

Sabbah’s Blog » Blog Archive » Palestine is still the Issue: "Palestine is still the Issue "

2006-08-14T01:14:00.000+02:00

Sabbah’s Blog » Blog Archive » Video Israel Doesn’t Want You to See: "Video Israel Doesn’t Want You to See "

2006-08-13T13:21:00.000+02:00

Israel’s Wounded Describe Surprisingly Fierce, Well-Organized and Elusive Enemy - New York Times

After a month of fighting, some 10,000 Israeli soldiers are still waging daily firefights in towns and villages that are five miles or less from the border. In fact, the fighting has sometimes been visible from the Israeli side of the frontier.

2006-08-10T18:43:00.000+02:00

B'Tselem - Human Shields - 20 July 2006: Israeli Soldiers use civilians as Human Shields in Beit Hanun

B'Tselem's initial investigation indicates that, during an incursion by Israeli forces into Beit Hanun, in the northern Gaza Strip, on 17 July 2006, soldiers seized control of two buildings in the town and used residents as human shield.

After seizing control of the buildings, the soldiers held six residents, two of them minors, on the staircases of the two buildings, at the entrance to rooms in which the soldiers positioned themselves, for some twelve hours. During this time, there were intense exchanges of gunfire between the soldiers and armed Palestinians. The soldiers also demanded that one of the occupants walk in front of them during a search of all the apartments in one of the buildings, after which they released her.

2006-08-09T14:19:00.000+02:00

Sabbah’s Blog » Blog Archive » Galloway: ‘The Violence Will Go On’
Watch

2006-08-08T16:12:00.000+02:00

2006-08-07T08:52:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

Above, Israeli military displays a massive arsenal captured from Hizbullah bunkers (I am not making this up). Notice the kitchen knives.

2006-08-05T12:32:00.000+02:00

Roger Assaf: Adjusting the Heroic Commando Raid Story

News announcers of TVs, it's with great sorrow that I announce to you the death of Nesrine Salloum, eight months pregnant, a victim of the heroic mission of a worthy Israeli commando on terrorist grounds.

2006-08-04T11:22:00.000+02:00

12 Israelis Die; Sheik Threatens to Bomb Tel Aviv - New York Times

“If you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity,” he [Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah] said on Lebanese television. “We will bomb Tel Aviv.” But he also offered to halt Hezbollah’s missile barrage into Israel if it stopped bombing Lebanon.

2006-08-04T00:12:00.000+02:00

Lebanon 4 Ever

2006-08-04T00:09:00.000+02:00

LEBANON UNDER SIEGE

2006-08-03T22:16:00.000+02:00

Sabbah’s Blog » Blog Archive » If you Strike Beirut, we’ll Sstrike Tel Aviv
Listen to Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

2006-08-02T19:36:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: "Hasan Dib Nasrallah is now in Israeli custody. So you heard about that brilliant Israeli special forces' operation in Ba`albak. So Israeli Orientalists as you all know think that there is one Mahmud Husayn in the entire Arab world, and one Muhammad `Ali. New TV just explained the 'daring' Israeli operation at a hospital, HOSPITAL, in Ba`albak. So Israel 'was told' that there is a certain Hasan Nasrallah at the hospital. The very commander of the airforce was put in charge to plan this daring kidnapping of Hasan Nasrallah. Well, it was a civilian by the name of Hasan Dib Nasrallah. They kidnapped other civilians along with him. Of course, the Nation magazine gives Israel the right for those kidnapping because it is all part of 'its right to self-defense.' Hasan Dib Nasrallah is now in Israeli custody wondering why he was kidnapped. In that 'daring raid' Israeli occupation soldiers also kidnapped Muhammad Nasrallah, a shepherd, but later released him. He was 14. Israeli Orientalists thought that Hasan Nasrallah is a bit older. Later, to cover the fiasco, the Israeli army claimed that they kidnapped 'members of Hizbullah.' Even that claim was a lie, says New TV which investigated the story and interviewed the family members. The"

2006-07-31T18:32:00.000+02:00

Middle East Report Online:: "Hizballah: A Primer"

2006-07-31T12:08:00.000+02:00

Bolton asks "How do you get a ceasefire with terrorists?"

Qana Massacre II

2006-07-28T11:13:00.000+02:00

Tide of Arab Opinion Turns to Support for Hezbollah - New York Times

Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements.

An outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings have showered praise on Hezbollah while attacking the United States and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for trumpeting American plans for a “new Middle East” that they say has led only to violence and repression.

“People are praying for him as they walk in the street, because we were made to feel oppressed, weak and handicapped,” Mr. Negm said in an interview. “I asked the man who sweeps the street under my building what he thought, and he said: ‘Uncle Ahmed, he has awakened the dead man inside me! May God make him triumphant!’ ”

2006-07-28T10:13:00.000+02:00

2006-07-28T10:12:00.000+02:00

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | 'It seems we and Uncle Sam think that shooting people is a good idea'

· Oliver Miles, former British ambassador to Greece and Libya

'I think until yesterday there was not a particular British policy to the crisis but now there is. It seems we and Uncle Sam think that shooting people is a good idea. I think it is quite monstrous and I think many of my [former] colleagues share that view. The idea you can't have a ceasefire until you have a full agreement is the tearing up of the way in which conflicts have been resolved since the Old Testament. It is a coded way of saying we hope that Israel will win.

· Robin Kealy, former British ambassador to Tunisia and former consul-general to Jerusalem
"What I see is Israel potentially getting itself into a right mess ... Their good friends should be giving them some pertinent advice on the issue of proportionality and counterproductiveness. Most people think it is not proportionate and not productive. I am one of those ...

2006-07-28T10:08:00.000+02:00

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Only Hizbullah can defend against an Israeli invasion

every new day of Israel's air strikes on the south lessens the force of the argument that it is all Hizbullah's fault.

Since the Israeli attacks Aoun has been one of Hizbullah's most vocal defenders.

In one sense Israel created Hizbullah. Its occupation of Lebanon after 1982 turned a group of suicide bombers into a resistance movement like Europe's second world war partisans. Expecting foreigners to remove Hizbullah's weapons is a non-starter. Israel is taking heavy casualties in attempting it. How would other foreign occupiers have more success?

The latest two weeks of Israeli attacks have reinforced Hizbullah's argument that it cannot disarm until the Lebanese army is stronger.

2006-07-27T19:02:00.000+02:00

Hezbollah Proves a Formidable Foe -- washingtonpost.com

Military analysts, former senior Israeli officers and soldiers say the mounting casualties in a still-small ground war are rooted in Israel's scant battlefield intelligence, the challenge of operating in civilian areas and the skill of Hezbollah fighters armed with weapons far more advanced than anything many young soldiers here have seen. For example, they said, Hezbollah has been using laser-guided antitank missiles.

Thirty-three Israeli soldiers have been killed since the conflict began, nearly all of them in ground combat focused in a roughly 15-square-mile border region.

"Obviously it's more difficult than what was anticipated," said Yossi Alpher, a former official of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, who once ran the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. "I dare say, based on what we've seen so far, these may be the best Arab troops we've ever faced."

2006-07-27T18:29:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

Lies of Israeli propaganda II (from NYT, the official mouthpiece of Israeli propaganda): 'Israel said it had killed the Hezbollah leader in the area, Abu Jaafer.' Is this not hilarious? So Israel can't get to Hizbullah leaders, so they just invent one. Abu Jaafer? And what is Abu Jaafer. Is that supposed to be Abu Ja`far? And who is Abu Ja`far? In other news, Israel claims that they are now zeroing in on top Hizbullah leaders: Abu Potato, Abu Eggplants, and the most dangerous foe is of course that militia leader known as Abu Chicken Fried Rice. My message to Arab readers is this: you really should read Israeli newspapers, and Israeli propaganda outlets (like NYT), and listen to Israeli analysts. Their stupidity is good for the self-esteem for every Arab, especially during those times.

2006-07-27T10:53:00.000+02:00

For Israeli Unit, Hezbollah Lair Is Ambush Site - New York Times

But when Israel sent in its elite Golani Infantry Brigade to secure the town before dawn on Wednesday, hundreds of soldiers were quickly pinned down by a Hezbollah ambush. Eight soldiers were killed almost immediately, and it took until early afternoon to move the dead and wounded two miles under heavy fire to a safe spot where they were picked up by helicopter and flown to a hospital in Haifa.

“It was a tough day,” said Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, who heads Israel’s Northern Command and is leading operations in Lebanon along with Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz, chief of the ground offensive. General Adam, who met reporters in a pine forest at dusk, acknowledged that after two days of bitter combat that had left 10 soldiers dead, Bint Jbail was still not under Israeli control.

2006-07-27T10:42:00.000+02:00

AFP - The News
Security Council fails to agree statement on UN observer deaths
27/07/2006 06h57

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council failed to agree a statement condemning the killing of four UN observers in Lebanon after the United States rejected any criticism of the Israeli attack, diplomats said.

2006-07-27T10:01:00.000+02:00

AFP - The News
Deadly Lebanon battles rage as talks fail to agree truce
27/07/2006 02h24

Lebanese showed strong support for the militia with two-thirds approving of Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers that sparked the offensive and over 85 percent believing the group is right to fight Israel, a poll said.

Eight soldiers were killed as they battled Hezbollah militants to move deeper inside the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil as the Jewish state pressed on with its ground advance in southern Lebanon.

A ninth was killed in the nearby village of Marun al-Ras, which Israel said it captured a the weekend.

2006-07-26T11:31:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

He did not mention that Israelis are still dancing in the streets for the ability of the mighty Israeli army to occupy the village of 12 houses--Marun Ar-Ras--in 14 days. Come to think of it: with all that money and weapons that US tax payers send to Israel, should that army not be able to take it in 12 days? It is Marun Ar-Ras, for potato's sake.

2006-07-26T09:51:00.000+02:00

"We cannot accept any condition humiliating to our country, our people or our resistance"

2006-07-26T09:47:00.000+02:00

Aljazeera.Net - Israeli strike kills four UN soldiers:

'One aerial bomb directly impacted the building and shelter in the base of the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon in the area of Khiam,' said Milos Strugar, a United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) spokesman.

In 1996, during Israel's Grapes of Wrath campaign in Lebanon, an Israeli jet bombed a UNIFIL compound in the southern village of Qana, killing 106 civilians sheltering inside.

2006-07-24T23:00:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: "srael's False Assumptions about Lebanon: Israeli Miscalculations. "

2006-07-24T22:58:00.000+02:00

The Australian: Peace prize winner 'could kill' Bush [ 25jul06 ]: "'I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence', because I don't believe that I am non-violent,' said Ms Williams, 64.

'Right now, I would love to kill George Bush.' Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.

'I don't know how I ever got a Nobel Peace Prize, because when I see children die the anger in me is just beyond belief. It's our duty as human beings, whatever age we are, to become the protectors of human life.'

Ms Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 30 years ago, when she circulated a petition to end violence in Northern Ireland after witnessing British soldiers shoot dead an IRA member who was driving a car. He veered on to the footpath, killing two children from one family instantly and fatally injuring a third."

2006-07-24T02:08:00.000+02:00

Updates on the aggression against lebanon: "Updates on the aggression against lebanon

News updates from Lebanon. Unless stated otherwise, these are headline items from NewTV, one of the main Lebanese television stations"

2006-07-24T02:07:00.000+02:00

Relief Center - Sanayeh, Beirut, Lebanon: "Relief Center - Sanayeh, Beirut, Lebanon

Updates from a grassroots group working with refugees in central Beirut. In coordination with the media center in Beirut DC. 'The Sanayeh Relief Center is composed of groups who were on the ground on the first day of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon. We are coordinating between humanitarian aid and the displacement centers in Beirut, providing information, and organizing political action against the complicity of the “international community”.'"

2006-07-24T01:56:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

Given some (or many) emails that I have received from readers in the last week, and given that many Arabs have been forwarding an article (or more) by Patrick Buchanan (who is in my diciontary a fanatical right-wing anti-Semite whose support I reject) I feel obligated to repost a previous post from a few days ago:
A Note of Caution. It is very important that we don't turn this conflict into an Arab-Jewish conflict, which it is not, and it has never been, and it should never be. I say this not only due to my stiff opposition to anti-Semitism since I got active in the Palestinian cause in my teens, but also because this is partly an Arab-Arab conflict. I mean, there are American and European Jews I know who are more supportive of the Palestinians and their struggle than many Arabs--certainly more than Arab regimes and their paid 'intellectuals' and propagandists. So at a time like this, with emotions running high on 'our' side, it is important that we don't allow anti-Semitic kooks to infiltrate the ranks of Palestinian struggle, here or there. This is a conflict between Zionism and Arab reactionary forces on one side, and those who are opposed on the other side.Those of us on the left should also not forget our progressive ideals and leftist goals, but Israel is now bombing not fundamentalism or reaction, but the whole of Lebanon. And you should remember--as leftists--that the mother/father of Islamic fundamentalist fanaticism (the House of Saud) is on the side of Israel in this conflict.

2006-07-22T11:51:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

Riad, a friend in California, sent me this: 'Fox news has found a new way to counteract the effect of all those pictures of dead and dismembered children. They were showing scenes of destruction on both sides (their usual 'fair and balanced' reporting-I don't know why I watch Fox news every now and then, it always makes me so angry, now I now know how a fly feels when attracted to shit). They showed the usual scenes of demolished buildings in Lebanon (no dead bodies) and then switched to scenes from Haifa. At first it looked like a shot of charred and mutilated bodies, but as the camera got closer, there it was. Burnt and torn vegetables and fruits. Lettuce, potatoes, carrots, melons, you name it. A Hezbollah rocket had hit a fruit stand in Haifa. Needless to say, I cried myself to sleep that night, grieved by the death of more than 300 vegetables. Contrary to what our math teachers said about adding apples and oranges, we should add apples, oranges, lettuce and carrots to the death toll, which makes it (so far): Lebanon: 330, Israel: 329. One more watermelon and the war would have been really fair and balanced!!!'

2006-07-21T15:12:00.000+02:00

I was not able to understand how can the west, members of UN, responsible for respecting human rights through the UN and their “humanitarian” organizations, remain indifferent to the massacres committed by the Israeli army in Lebanon, using American bombs.

But now I understand.

I was walking in my university building in Switzerland, when I saw a pregnant woman crashed into the closed glass door, fell on the ground, and started bleeding. The door of one of the offices opened, a guy came out, checked what that sound was, he saw the woman on the ground bleeding, and went back in. He was busy working.

From Israel To Lebanon

2006-07-21T12:35:00.000+02:00

From Israel To Lebanon
FROM LEBANESE PEOPLE TO THE SO CALLED "CIVILIZED" WEST

THANK YOU

2006-07-21T11:56:00.000+02:00

Stavrotoons - Opinion archive

2006-07-21T11:53:00.000+02:00

View Cartoons . Abu Mahjoob Creative Productions Company.

2006-07-21T11:46:00.000+02:00

Step to Peace ??????? Ohhh Shoot me!

In Mideast Strife, Bush Sees a Step To Peace

Robert Malley, who handled Middle East issues on the National Security Council staff for President Bill Clinton, voiced skepticism about whether the current course would pay off for either Israel or the United States. 'It may not succeed with all the time in the world, and Hezbollah could emerge with its dignity intact and much of its political and military arsenal still available,' said Malley, who monitors the region for the International Crisis Group. 'What will you have gained?'

Fred S. Zeidman, a Texas venture capitalist who is active in Jewish affairs and has been close to the president for years, said the current crisis shows the depth of the president's support for Israel. "He will not bow to international pressure to pressure Israel," Zeidman said. "I have never seen a man more committed to Israel."

2006-07-21T11:40:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

Beirut: destroyed by Israeli bombing 'in self-defense."

2006-07-21T01:56:00.000+02:00

2006-07-20T21:11:00.000+02:00

Israel: Relations with Spain hurt by PM's accusation of 'abusive force' - Haaretz - Israel News:

Israel's envoy to Spain said on Thursday the two countries' relations had been damaged after the Spanish prime minister accused Israel of using 'abusive force' during an event at which he also wore a Palestinian scarf.

As-Safir Newspaper - Israeli Aggression

2006-07-20T21:10:00.000+02:00

As-Safir Newspaper - Israeli Aggression

2006-07-20T18:45:00.000+02:00

CNN.com QuickVote

Created: Thursday, July 13, 2006, at 03:55:19 EDT

Do you think the Israeli military response inside Lebanon is justified?

Yes	44%	403993 votes

No	56%	514286 votes
Total: 918279 votes

This QuickVote is not scientific and reflects the opinions of only those Internet users who have chosen to participate. The results cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of Internet users in general, nor the public as a whole. The QuickVote sponsor is not responsible for content, functionality or the opinions expressed therein.

2006-07-20T18:41:00.000+02:00

AP Reveals Israeli Censorship, Says It Will Abide By Rules

All these topics are subject to review by Israel's chief military censor, who has -- in her own words -- 'extraordinary power.' She can silence a broadcaster, block information and put journalists in jail.

'I can, for example, publish an order that no material can be published. I can close a newspaper or shut down a station. I can do almost anything,' Col. Sima Vaknin said Wednesday.

The Associated Press has agreed, like other organizations, to abide by the rules of the censor, which is a condition for receiving permission to operate as a media organization in Israel.

2006-07-20T18:37:00.000+02:00

Independent Online Edition > Robert Fisk:

The child lies like a rag doll - a symbol of the latest Lebanon war
By Robert Fisk in Beirut
Published: 20 July 2006

How soon must we use the words 'war crime'? How many children must be scattered in the rubble of Israeli air attacks before we reject the obscene phrase 'collateral damage' and start talking about prosecution for crimes against humanity?

The child whose dead body lies like a rag doll beside the cars which were supposedly taking her and her family to safety is a symbol of the latest Lebanon war; she was hurled from the vehicle in which she and her family were travelling in southern Lebanon as they fled their village - on Israel's own instructions. Because her parents were apparently killed in the same Israeli air attack, her name is still unknown. Not an unknown warrior, but an unknown child.

2006-07-20T17:55:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

Humanity of Israeli society. I have had those pictures (and tens of people have sent them to me) for several days now. I hesitated before posting them. I wanted to verify the source--AP. I could not believe--call me naive--that they would let Israeli children write messages on bombs. Well, yes. Israeli children are made to write messages on bombs that kill Lebanese children. And they dare to speak in the name of 'peace'?

2006-07-19T17:18:00.000+02:00

Aljazeera.Net - 'Lebanon crisis an international conspiracy':

And Israel has not been sitting idly by since its partial withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2000. It has not only continued to occupy parts of South Lebanon, but also has been violating Lebanese sovereignty, by air, sea, and land.

Israel has also been kidnapping innocent Lebanese citizens: fishermen and shepherds. And one fisherman from Tyre - my hometown - is still missing, and at least one shepherd was killed last year.

Furthermore, Israel has adamantly refused to give to Lebanon a map of the more than 400,000 land mines that it left behind in South Lebanon, and which continue to kill Lebanese children in the region.

2006-07-19T12:14:00.000+02:00

حركة اليسار الديمقراطي : قاتلوا إذن معنا:منى فياض

2006-07-18T20:23:00.001+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

From the latest Israeli massacre in Rumaylah.

2006-07-18T20:23:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

These are 8 dead bodies from one of the latest Israeli massacres in Rumaylah. All 8 were proven 'enemies of peace.'

2006-07-18T17:09:00.000+02:00

CNN.com QuickVote

Created: Thursday, July 13, 2006, at 03:55:19 EDT

Do you think the Israeli military response inside Lebanon is justified?

Yes	47%	308756 votes

No	53%	344438 votes
Total: 653194 votes

2006-07-18T10:00:00.000+02:00

Unsuspecting Bush provides glimpse into his Mideast views - Haaretz - Israel News:

Bush expressed his vision of geopolitics in more earthy terms: 'See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over.'

2006-07-17T18:29:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

These are the victims of the Israeli massacre in Marwahin in South Lebanon. US newspapers will not produce those pictures: they are filled instead with pictures covering the 'anguish' of Israeli citizens.

The Observer | World | Children die in convoy attack as Israel widens Lebanon assault

2006-07-17T18:26:00.000+02:00

The Observer | World | Children die in convoy attack as Israel widens Lebanon assault:

InigoGilmore in Nahariyah, Patrick Wintour in St Petersburg and Tracy McVeigh

Sunday July 16, 2006
The Observer

Israel steeply escalated its military campaign against Hizbollah in Lebanon yesterday with a series of air strikes that left more than 35 civilians dead, including a single strike on a convoy of families fleeing the fighting in a village near Tyre in the south of the country that killed more than 20 people, most of them children.

The intensification of the conflict, in which Hizbollah fired missiles deep intoIsrael, came as international leaders appeared to be deeply split over how to respond to a crisis that threatens to spill over into a full-scale war involving Syria and Iran as well as Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. Last night the Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, declared the country in a 'state of catastrophe'.

According to witnesses and photographs from the scene of the worst incident, an Israeli missile incinerated a car and a small truck full of families leaving their Lebanese border village of Marwaheen near Tyre after the Israeli army used loudhailers to tell residents they had just hours to go. Pictures showed charred bodies of children strewn across the road.

UN peacekeepers recovered the bodies. Half the passengers were children or teenagers, according to medical sources. It was the deadliest single strike since Israel started an air campaign against Lebanon after two of its soldiers were captured by Hizbollah on Wednesday.
Relatives gathered at a hospital to identify the dead said they came from two families - Abdallah and Ghanem.
Around 100 residents sought shelter at a nearby UN base, but left after officials were unable to confirm the warning by Israel, a UN spokesman said.
Other residents had tried later to leave and were killed in the missile strike, the spokesman said, adding that the Lebanese authorities had asked the UN to help evacuate about 160 people remaining in Marwaheen. They would be relocated in the morning. Relatives blamed the UN for the deaths, pelting peacekeepers with stones when they arrived with the bodies after the strike.
"If they had taken people in to begin with then they would never have died," said Mohammed Oqla, who was at the hospital.
Last night an Israeli military spokeswoman said they were still investigating the reports of the incident.
Other air strikes flattened Hizbollah's headquarters in Beirut and attacked roads, bridges and petrol stations in the north, east and south of Lebanon, cutting the country off from the outside world and hitting Hizbollah strongholds including the leader Hassan Nasrallah's home and office. The northern port of Tripoli was also attacked, the deepest strike yet into Lebanese territory.
Israel's campaign has so far killed at least 100 people, all but three of them civilians, and choked off Lebanon's economy, including its growing tourism industry.
On a separate front, Israeli troops also yesterday fired several missiles at targets in Gaza, killing at least two.
Hizbollah fired dozens of rockets into Israel, some reaching Tiberias, 22 miles inside the border, the furthest Hizbollah missiles have so far reached. They killed two Israeli civilians and injured several.
One Katyusha rocket hit the roof of a seven-floor apartment building in the Shmuel neighbourhood of Tiberias, a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, damaging several homes.
There were furious political exchanges throughout the region, with Israel accusing Iran of supplying increasingly sophisticated weapons to Hizbollah. Israel claims that the device that damaged one of its naval ships off the Lebanese coast on Friday, killing four sailors, was an Iranian-made guided missile.
Tension grew when Israeli warplanes fired four rockets at a border crossing point between Lebanon and Syria yesterday - Iran has threatened Israel that it will respond ferociously if there is any incursion into Syrian territory. But Syria swiftly announced that there had been no attacks within its borders.
There is a growing chasm in the international community. President George Bush yesterday angrily rounded on Hizbollah for starting the violence and demanded Syria intervene.
At a joint press conference with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, at the G8 summit in St Petersburg, he said: 'In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place.' Bush, visibly angry, added: 'And that's because Hizbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel and because Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. The best way to stop the violence is for Hizbollah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking. And therefore, I call on Syria to exert influence over Hizbollah.'
But in keeping with Russia's traditional role as a counterweight to the US in the Middle East, President Putin added: 'We believe that the use of force must be balanced. But in any case the bloodshed must be stopped as soon as possible.'
The European Union has asked Israel to show restraint and Britain was yesterday trying desperately tried to straddle the divide between America and other world leaders at the G8 summit, by saying it would not become involved in the 'blame game', or 'finger pointing'.
Number 10 instead focused on trying to find what it described as a 'mechanism' to de-escalate the crisis.
The EU, France and Russia have all condemned the Israeli air strikes as 'disproportionate' but Tony Blair's spokesman, speaking on the way to the G8 summit, refused to condemn the Israeli actions. Instead he said it was essential for the captured Israeli soldiers to be released 'and for all sides to act with constraint'.

2006-07-17T11:08:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

Hanady Salman, a friend and editor at As-Safir in Beirut, sent a batch of pictures (some above) and this message:
'Dear friends and colleagues
The list is longer toady .the pictures are from everywhere . The scope of shelling was terrible today. They're hitting everywhere, killing everywhere. Apologies if it turns out to be inconveniant and many thanks to all of you who responded and offered to help.
Hanady Salman'

2006-07-17T11:04:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

American Diplomatic Intervention in Lebanon. Once, ONLY ONCE, the US intervened with Israel during the days of savage Israeli aggression. After an urgent call from Fu`ad Laval Sanyurah, the US ambassador asked Israel to allow Hariri Inc and former prime minister Najib Miqati to fly their private planes out of Beirut airport. Once that was arranged, Israel was asked to resume its bombing.

2006-07-16T04:07:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

I have just received these pictures from Hanady Salman, an editor at As-Safir, with this message:
'Dear friends and colleagues ,
You will all have to excuse me for sending this. It's pictures of the bodies of babies killed by the israelis in South lebanon. They are all burnt. I need your help. I am almost certain these pictures won't be published in the West, although they are associated press pictures. I need your help exposing them if you can. The problem is these are people who were asked to leave
their village , Ter Hafra , this morning , within two hours , or else. ... So those who were able to flee went to the closer UN base where they were asked to leave. I think that after the Qana massacres in 1996 when civilians were bombed after they took chelter in UN headquarters , the UN does not want to be responssible for the lives of civilians.A FEW MINUTES AGO , the
Israeli asked the people of Al Bustan village in the south to evacuate their homes. I am afraid massacares will keep happening as long as Israeli actions are uncheked. Please help us if you can
Hanady Salman'

2006-07-13T18:47:00.000+02:00

Israeli Air Strikes In Lebanon:

Bassam Aridi, a reporter with the Lebanese TV station NEW TV, receives medical attention in Al Najda hospital in Nabatieh, south Lebanon July 12, 2006, following Israeli air strikes. (LEBANON)"

2006-07-13T17:48:00.000+02:00

Bush defends Israel, EU, Russia condemn attacks | Reuters.com:

PARIS (Reuters) - Russia and the European Union condemned Israel's strikes in Lebanon on Thursday as a dangerous escalation of the Middle East conflict but the United States said Israel had the right to self defense.

"Israel has the right to defend herself," Bush told a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
His comments contrasted with comments from Russia and the European Union, which said there could be no justification for Israel's air and sea blockade on Lebanon.
"Actions, which are contrary to international humanitarian law, can only aggravate the vicious circle of violence and retribution," the EU presidency said in a statement.

2006-07-12T21:31:00.000+02:00

Hizbollah seizes two Israeli soldiers, kills 7 | Reuters.com:

QASMIYEH, Lebanon (Reuters) - Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed at least seven on Wednesday, drawing a wave of Israeli air strikes deep into Lebanon that hit 10 bridges and killed two civilians.

Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the soldiers had been seized to force Israel to release prisoners.

2006-07-09T17:52:00.000+02:00

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب:

There is more Western outrage over the North Korean 'testing' of missiles than there is over the actual use of missiles by Israel against a civilian population.

2006-07-04T19:05:00.000+02:00

Ex-G.I. Held in 4 Slayings and Rape in Iraq - New York Times:

WASHINGTON, July 3 — A recently discharged Army private has been arrested on charges of raping an Iraqi woman and killing her and three family members four months ago in their house, federal prosecutors said Monday."
...
A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said: "The president has full confidence in the military to investigate alleged crimes and to punish anyone convicted of abhorrent behavior that dishonors the proud traditions of our military. He will not comment on ongoing investigations so as not to prejudice the outcome; however, he believes that 99.9 percent of our men and women in uniform are performing their jobs honorably and skillfully and they deserve our full appreciation and gratitude."

2006-06-29T19:37:00.000+02:00

Ultra-Orthodox Jews attack Christian tourists in Jerusalem - Haaretz - Israel News:

Ultra-Orthodox Jews attack Christian tourists in Jerusalem
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent

A group of 50 pro-Israel Christian tourists came under attack Wednesday from some 100 residents of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea She'arim in Jerusalem.

Three of the tourists and a police officer were wounded in the attack. They received treatment at the scene.

The tourists arrived at Mea She'arim wearing orange T-shirts with the words 'Love your neighbor as yourself' printed across them.

As they neared one of the squares, the local residents apparently identified them as Christians and began to hit them.

Police forces in the area stepped in to stop the violence, but did not make any arrests.

Police say they are waiting for the tourists to file official complaints.

2006-06-29T19:19:00.000+02:00

Angry Arab News Service - Comments:

ORWELL WOULD BE SO PROUD

Palestinian “Terror:”

· Palestinians attacking an Israeli military outpost.
· Palestinians taking an Israeli soldier as a prisoner of war.
· Palestinians saying that the prisoner is being cared for.
· Palestinians offering a prisoner exchange, to free imprisoned Palestinian women and children.

Israeli “Counter-Terror:”

· Total Israeli economic and financial blockade, cutting off food and medicine, to 3.5 million Palestinians.
· Israeli military attacks that destroyed the major bridges in Gaza.
· Israeli air strikes that destroyed the main electrical power station in Gaza; as a result over a million people will be without electricity for months.
· Israeli air strikes that destroyed water pumping stations in Gaza; as a result clean drinking water will not be available for most people. With the summer heat and no electricity, this means epidemic diseases and high infant mortality.
· Raids in the middle of the night to kidnap and disappear any Palestinian Israel chooses, regardless of age. Since the beginning of the year over 1,700 Palestinians have disappeared into Israeli prisons. Many of them, never charged with anything.
· Keeping over 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, many of them for over 20 years, with no charges.
· Keeping 360 Palestinian children (under 1 and more than 200 women in Israeli jails, subject to torture and abuse.
· Killing over 40 Palestinian civilians, this month alone. In one attack alone an entire family was wiped out, including children and infants.
· Open threats to assassinate Palestinian leaders including political leaders recently elected to office.

Not just Orwell, but Joseph Goebbels would be very proud.
Tony Sayegh (Heil Bush) | 06.28.06 - 11:04 am |

2006-06-12T09:59:00.000+02:00