Arab nationalism

To those who believe that Arab nationalism is dead.

Poverty in Lebanon

"The causes of poverty are because of that – because you are part of a marginalised or excluded group or you live in an excluded or marginalised area."

Demonstration today, Egyptian Embassy, London

It begins at around 1600. There were people on my facebook posting photos of the ongoing massacre against the people demonstrating in Egypt, even this morning. There are witnesses saying that the police is aiming for people's eyes.

Joseph Masaad speaks about the defeat of the Syrian revolution

His article in Alakhbar:

"إنّ من يرى عملية الاختطاف التي تعرض لها النضال الشعبي السوري من أجل الديموقراطية من قبل هذه القوى الإمبريالية والقوى الموالية لها داخل سوريا وخارجها، يدرك أنّ استمرار الانتفاضة السورية بعد اليوم لن يؤدي إلا إلى نتيجة واحدة، وهي نتيجة غير ديموقراطية، تتمثل في نظام بديل أكثر طواعية وقمعاً، ستفرضه الولايات المتحدة على غرار ما فعلت في العراق وليبيا. إذا كان هذا هو ما يناضل المنتفضون السوريون من أجله، فليس عليهم سوى أن يواصلوا انتفاضتهم. أما إذا لم يكن هذا هدفهم، فيتعيّن عليهم مواجهة الحقيقة الشديدة المرارة، وهي أنّهم وانتفاضتهم قد تعرضوا لهزيمة كاسحة، ولكن ليس على يد نظامهم الديكتاتوري وقمعه الوحشي الذي قاوموه ببسالة، بل على أيدي القوى الدولية التي تريد أن تحرم الشعب السوري، شأنها في ذلك شأن النظام السوري نفسه، من الديموقراطية التي يستحقها. فمن غير المستبعد، في ضوء الخطوة الأخيرة التي اتخذتها جامعة الدول العربية والولايات المتحدة وأوروبا، أن ينجح مشروع إسقاط نظام الأسد، ولكن من المؤكد أن النضال من أجل إحلال نظام ديموقراطي مكانه في سوريا قد هُزِم تماماً".
My translation:

Those who have realized that the Syrian people's struggle for democracy has been appropriated by the imperial powers and its allies inside and outside Syria, will come to the conclusion that the continuation of the Syrian Intifada will only reach one result. This result is one where there is no democracy, it is one which will be more lenient [towards the West] and more oppressive. It is one that will be imposed by the US which parallels what it did in Iraq and Libya. If that is what the Syrian demonstrators want, then all they need to do is to continue their demonstrations. However, if that is not what they want, then they will have to face the extremely painful fact that they and their intifada have reached an unwinding defeat. But, this defeat did not come at the hands of their dictatorial regime and its monstrous oppression of which they most courageously defied. Rather, this defeat comes at the hands of the world powers which do not want to see democracy in Syria. In light of the latest decision taken up by the Arab League, Europe and the US, the Asad regime will fall but the struggle for democracy has been defeated as well.

I am sure it is a multimillion industry

The tunnels are Gaza's only survival vessels. Although this article says it is a million dollar industry, when I was in Gaza and with the owners and workers (who are mostly students) it was said to be much more.

Amazing night in Tahrir yesterday continues today

This is a brief account in Arabic on Shorouk News. Two activists were killed, in Tahrir and in Alexandria.

Sectarian Democracy in Lebanon

...at its best. The talk show episode that has made headlines in Lebanon.

More on Normalization

I really apprciate this attempt on behal of comrades in PACBI to define normalization thoroughly:"It is helpful to think of normalization as a “colonization of the mind,” whereby the oppressed subject comes to believe that the oppressor’s reality is the only “normal” reality that must be subscribed to, and that the oppression is a fact of life that must be coped with. Those who engage in normalization either ignore this oppression, or accept it as the status quo that can be lived with. In an attempt to whitewash its violations of international law and human rights, Israel attempts to re-brand [1] itself, or present itself as normal -- even “enlightened” -- through an intricate array of relations and activities encompassing hi-tech, cultural, legal, LGBT and other realms."

Angry Arab writes about the oppositions in the Arab world

"It should be stated at the outset that no Arab regime deserves support – all of them lack electoral legitimacy, and all have violated the rights of their people. And all have failed in the larger issue of standing up to Israel and its occupation and war crimes. Furthermore, not a single Arab regime is free of corruption. But opposition to all Arab regimes without exception, should not lead one to endorse all Arab opposition groups without exception."

Review of Anonymous

This is a review of the 2011 movie Anonymous starring my all time favorite, Vanessa Redgrave. She is unforgettable for her courage against the mainstream Zionist discourse.

Zionist crimes against humanity 27Oct-2Nov

12 Palestinian resistance activists were killed and 5 others were wounded by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip. 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded by IOF in the Gaza Strip. Israeli war planes launched 17 air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. A country house, a room and two containers were destroyed and a number of houses, shops and fields were damaged. IOF have continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian civilian was wounded. Dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation. The Israeli Navy has continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip. Israeli naval troops arrested two Palestinian fishermen. IOF conducted 56 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested 8 Palestinians. IOF used a dog to attack a Palestinian civilian. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.Israeli soldiers arrested 5 Palestinian civilians, including a child, at various checkpoints in the West Bank. Israel has continued measures aimed at creating a Jewish majority in East Jerusalem. The Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem exerts pressure to accelerate the establishment of a biblical park in Silwan village. IOF demolished 3 houses in al-Khan al-Ahmar area.IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers while cropping olives in the West Bank. An old woman was injured near Ramallah.
Source: PCHR week of October 27- November 2 2011

they even appropriated the Oud!

"Despite the peoples’ revolutions that are shaking the thrones of tyranny and striving for democracy, freedom, dignity, and social justice in the Arab World, and in the midst of the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons and detention centers, we are surprised to hear that a number of Palestinian artists are participating in Israel’s “Oud Festival,” a Zionist propaganda festival that embodies what the late Edward Said termed “cultural imperialism” and that aims to appropriate our cultural heritage, just as it has done to our land and history."

Th creative community for occupation and apartheid

"One of CCFP’s founders, Steve Schnur, wants artists to know “what Israel is really about – the freedom, the democracy and equal rights”, but CCFP does not acknowledge that more than 30 laws racially discriminate against Palestinians and anyone the state does not deem to be “Jewish”. CCFP wishes to make the claim that “art transcends politics” but is engaged heavily in political propaganda on behalf of an apartheid state. The only artist known to be included in CCFP’s advisory board is Idan Raichel, a self-proclaimed cultural ambassador who stated: “We certainly see ourselves as ambassadors of Israel in the world, cultural ambassadors, hasbara ambassadors, also in regards to the political conflict.”