July 2012
64 posts
4 tags
Joan Juliet Buck: My Vogue Interview With Syria’s... →
Arguably the most vile Orientalism I have read in a long time: “Sheherazade took me through Damascus; in the dark early-evening streets, I felt uneasy. Mustached men stood in our path, wearing shoes from the 1980s and curiously ill-fitting leather jackets over thick sweaters.” My biggest fear is that the fashion writer’s aesthetic sensibilities were insulted by the poor...
2 tags
Hezbollah’s Iran Money Trail: It’s Complicated
My latest article for Akhbar English here: “Hezbollah’s Iran Money Trail: Its Complicated”.
The party’s direct financial relationship with Khamenei explains why it remains largely unaffected by changes of government in Iran – regardless of which president assumes office and the political faction he represents, the Faqih’s financial assistance to the party continues unabated. By...
9 tags
Les Politiques: 'Divisions Among The Arab Left... →
Comrade Sophia who blogs at Les Politiques has kindly translated this article from Le Monde Diplomatique which talks about the divided state of the Arab left over Syria. I am also quoted in the article. Sophia’s full article is reproduced below.
‘Divisions Among The Arab Left regarding The Syria Crisis’
This is a rough translation of an article appearing in Le Monde...
4 tags
Israel's president Peres receives letter from... →
If this was the result of a genuine intifada in Egypt (and no it wasn’t a CIA colour-coded revolution in Egypt) then it doesn’t take a giant leap of the imagination to envisage what a post-Assad Syria would look like:
President Shimon Peres received today (Tuesday, 31 July 2012) a first official letter from Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy. In his letter, President Morsy writes: “It...
4 tags
Iran warns Turkey against Syria attack: media | Al... →
Al-Akhbar English quotes al-Watan newspaper here:
Iran has warned neighbor Turkey that it will meet a harsh response should Ankara carry out any strikes inside Syrian territory, a pro-Damascus daily reported on Monday.
“Any attack on Syrian territory will meet with a harsh response, and the Iranian-Syrian mutual defense agreement will be activated,” the Al-Watannewspaper said.
...
2 tags
Iran offers Syria loan →
Mayadeen Tv: Iran has offered Syria a one billion dollar loan (see Facebook link here ).
Me: So much for MSM reports about Iran distancing itself from the Syrian government and preparing for a post-Assad phase!
5 tags
Book: Julian Assange Held Back Wikileaks About... →
From Infowars here
“People on both sides of the argument have been quick to rush to judgement on the motivations of Wikileaks’ Julian Assange. Moral crusader or compromised egotist? In a new book about Assange written by the Guardian journalists with whom he worked closely, Assange is quoted as saying that negative cables concerning the United States & Israel were deliberately...
7 tags
“When revolution, alternative media, leftist intellectuals and hacktivism are...”
Officer: IDF didn’t need Hezbollah video to draw... →
“Colonel Dror Platin, who was deputy chief of IDF Galilee Division during kidnapping of reservists Goldwasser and Regev, says abduction video was ‘hard to watch’: “The video (allegedly) showing the kidnapping is part Hezbollah’s psychological warfare. We didn’t need the documentation to learn the lessons we have already learned (from the war),” said...
5 tags
Muslim Brotherhood's rise in Egypt could push... →
Very disturbing yet unsubstantiated Haaretz report about Hamas offering to provide intel to Washington on the Syrian army’s movements (assuming it has such info), among other concessions. Not sure how accurate the cited Rose al-Yussuf story is, but if true, then it looks like there is no going back for Hamas, and it’s unlikely the movement won’t break into two or more factions in...
Olympics: Lebanese team refuses to train near... →
Awesome. That’s right, we can build separation walls too:
“We started to practice. They came and they saw us – they didn’t like it and they went to the organizers,” Feraro told Reuters. “They put up some kind of wall between us. Everyone went on and there was no interaction between us.”
4 tags
The unbearable ease of the kidnapping
A lot of distortion of reality and other rubbish in this article but Israel is clearly very embarrassed by how seemingly ”easy” Hizbullah’s abduction of the two IDF soldiers in July 2006 was. See full Haaretz article here and below:
The video clip released by Hezbollah on Friday, which documents the kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser,...
6 tags
Mood: Syria may be worse after Assad | Al Akhbar... →
But Mood warned that Assad’s fall may not lead to the end of the conflict, hinting that the country could be drawn further into a civil war.
“Many think that if Bashar al-Assad falls or that if he is given an honorable exit… the problem will be solved. That is an over-simplification one should be wary of. The situation could even get worse,” Mood told a news conference.
5 tags
Turkish opposition party leader: Israel sole... →
Over and above the CHP’s opposition on these grounds and the Turkish Communist Party’s opposition to the AKP’s Syria policy, is the fact that over two-thirds of Turks polled last month by a local think tank, oppose Turkish intervention in Syria, while a majority (including the AKP’s own supporters) believe Turkey should play a more neutral role in the Syrian crisis.
Here...
6 tags
Palestinians in Syria
So apparently, the Palestinian refugees in Syria are overwhelmingly anti-regime. I have actually been hearing this from quite a few pro-regime friends. Here are excerpts from the AP report:
“On July 11, the bodies of 15 soldiers from the Palestinian Liberation Army, a branch of the Syrian armed forces, were found outside of Aleppo, the country’s largest city. There were conflicting...
9 tags
The moral logic of Angry Arab
And just when you thought Angry Arab’s analysis on Syria couldn’t get any sillier, he surprises you with more simplistic and infantile analysis here. He argues:
-“Hezbollah has decided that his enemies (US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel) have basically took over the cause of ridding Syrians of the Assad regime from the Syrian armed and unarmed opposition.”
Really? Hizbullah...
5 tags
Ahmadinejad urges UN to step into Britain unrest →
Ahmadinejad uses the White Man’s discourse against him:
“Such brutal actions are in no way acceptable, and the officials of the country should listen to the voice of their people and allow them to participate in the major affairs of the country,” he noted. The system based on which the world’s affairs have been managed over the past century is one of the worst in history and is even...
4 tags
Iran's fiery rhetoric on Syria
So much for all those pundits who misread Iran’s intent to broker talks between the Syrian government and opposition as a policy shift. This week alone, Iranian officials have unusually fiery statements. First, was Masoud Jazayeri’s, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, threat here that any foreign powers intervening in Syria would suffer “decisive blows”,...
5 tags
‘Don’t be duped by Western humanitarian rhetoric... →
Yes I know Russia’s Syria policy is motivated by geostrategic interests but their officials make such gutsy statements like Vitaly Churkin here: “The problem is the dialogue has not started yet. The opposition groups refuse to enter into dialogue with the Syrian government, which says it is prepared for dialogue. They should try that offer of the Syrian government to enter into...
6 tags
U.S. to Focus on Forcibly Toppling Syrian... →
Talk about political bankruptcy. The NY Times believes it had made headline news out of….nothing new. The article begins with this sensationalist lead paragraph: “The Obama administration has for now abandoned efforts for a diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Syria, and instead it is increasing aid to the rebels and redoubling efforts to rally a coalition of like-minded countries...
8 tags
When justifying imperialist intervention "goes...
An excellent piece by Mazda Majidi. Indeed since when were “popular” and progressive/revolutionary synonymous? When analyzing an opposition movement anywhere in the world, this is the first question that needs to be asked. Just because part of the population of a given country comes to the streets or takes up arms does not mean that they are revolutionary or progressive. This is so...
5 tags
Why the Assad government and Hizbullah are not...
The composition of a government or movement is never sufficient grounds for branding it “sectarian”. There can be no denying that various [security-related] branches of the Assad government are largely, though by no means exclusively, Alawite (a useful analogy is Saddam Hussein’s reliance on fellow Sunni clansmen from Takrit, though his regime did not carry a Sunni agenda) or...
5 tags
“Erm, what’s that scientific word again for people who rejoice in the...”
7 tags
The real Asef Shawkat
Ibrahim al-Amine reveals the resistance role of Asef Shawkat here:
There have been incessant attempts to demonize Shawkat, which can invariably be traced to the US, Israel and their clients in the region. But there was also a side to him that was hidden, for reasons related both to his position, and the nature of the tasks he undertook, far from the prying eyes of friends and foes alike.
Asef...
3 tags
UN head of mission in Syria, General Mood's...
Very interesting statement from head of UN mission in Syria, General Mood as he makes his departure from Syria. Last paragraph is just as applicable to rebels as it is to government:
“I extend my profound condolences and my heartfelt sympathies to the families of all the victims and to the wounded in Wednesday’s bombings. I expressed my condemnation of the attack yesterday to the...
4 tags
Excerpts from Nasrallah's speech yesterday-- Manar... →
The first goal was to crush the Resistance, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that the Israelis wanted Syria to be next.
“If the resistance was to be crushed, the war was aimed then at Syria on the pretext that Syria helped the resistance. The second goal was to overthrow the Assad regime and subject it to the American-Israeli scheme.”
“They sought after the July war to destroy the...
10 tags
“The gloves are off. The Syrian Information Minister says Qatar, Saudi Arabia,...”
6 tags
“Remember when they assassinated Hizbullah’s military commander and...”
4 tags
“Whoever thinks that the killing of the Syrian Defense Minister and Security...”
6 tags
Anonymous Syria hardly a credible source of email...
So much for the authenticity of Wikileaks’ Syria Files e-mails. They were provided to Wikileaks by none other than the clearly pro-opposition Anonymous Syria and I have written about their inherent bias on my blog here. Also, here is a tweet of theirs delighting in the Twitter account that impersonates me. That isn’t to dismiss all the emails outright, especially since many were...
4 tags
Syrian and Palestinian sources deny massacre in...
Syrian oppositionists have fabricated yet another massacre, this time in the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk. According to their fabricated claims, Syrian government forces had massacred Palestinians in a the Falouja School in the Yarmouk refugee camp. However, a widely followed Arabic language Yarmouk Camp News page on Facebook recently carried this announcement here , which denied the massacre had...
7 tags
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood won't lift blockade on...
So much for Hamas’ excitement about the ascendance of the Muslim Brotherhood. While Syria, Hizbullah and Iran have supported the movement and fiercely criticized Mubarak’s Egypt for its stranglehold over Gaza in Israel’s onslaught in 2008/2009 —and let us not forget how Hizbullah operatives were detained by the Mubarak regime for smuggling weapons and supplies to Hamas via...
5 tags
Will Israel attack Syria?
A very important piece here by al-Akhbar’s editor-in-chief, Ibrahim al-Amine. Ibrhaim is always very well informed and is not prone to sensationalizing or exaggerating news. If Israel does indeed carry out its threats to invade or attack Syria, it will be interesting to see how colonized and treasonous the Syrian “revolutionaries” have become. Will they welcome their Zionist...
8 tags
Syrian oppositionists on Twitter ignore...
I have noticed a recent and very disturbing trend on twitter among supporters of the Syrian opposition whereby they ignore mainstream media (yes, their own media) accounts of events that contradict their own narrative. In so doing, they brazenly distort and falsify reality despite a media consensus on these events.
Last week alone, these tweeps claimed that the 17 Palestinians in Syria who were...
Disclaimer: Fake account in my name on Twitter
Disclaimer: Please note that I am not the Amal Saad-Ghorayeb on twitter under the handle @AmalTheResistor shown here.
This fake account uses my real name and is an impersonation of me in violation of Twitter’s policy on parody since my actual name is used. I have reported the incident to Twitter and hopefully the account will be shut and the name modified so as to avoid confusion.
On...
3 tags
Russian parliament adopts NGO 'foreign agents'...
Very interesting precedent that other countries should consider following. Story from the BBC here :
Russia’s lower house of parliament has adopted a controversial bill that labels foreign-funded non-governmental organisations as “foreign agents”.
The upper house and President Vladimir Putin are now expected to turn the bill into law.
Approval in the largely pro-Putin Duma (lower...
3 tags
“Five articles later, this is my conclusion in the debate with the Third Way: To...”
5 tags
Has Third Wayism become an intellectual safe haven...
I am starting to realize that Third-Wayism is a misnomer for many of those who identify themselves as such or who are considered as belonging to this camp. Some of them— and I don’t say all, but some— read like closet interventionists. In other cases, like Max Blumenthal’s (example #3), they sound like closet Israel legitimizers. In effect, Third Wayism is being used as an...
5 tags
Hamas slams killing of Palestinian troops in Syria... →
Zionist collaborationist FSA thugs massacre Palestinian fighters in Syria, as reported by Akhbar here. Ironic that Hamas is condemning the side it has [indirectly] aligned itself with:
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas issued a strongly worded statement on Thursday condemning “the ugly killing of 17 PLA soldiers” by suspected rebels in Syria.
The head of the Palestine Liberation...
4 tags
Syria massacre dead mostly rebels, activists say →
Strangely, AFP and NOWLebanon carried this report today about the Treimseh massacre, which contradicts the mainstream narrative that AFP had published earlier in the day:
Most of the people killed in the Treimsa violence in central Syria were rebel fighters, an activist said on Friday, adding the bloodbath followed a Free Syrian Army attack on an army convoy.
“At this stage, though we do...
5 tags
The Syrian opposition: who's doing the talking? →
Hands down the most diligently researched and comprehensive article on the Syrian opposition in the Guardian. Brilliant stuff: ‘This is the story of the Syrian war, but there is another story to be told. A tale less bloody, but nevertheless important. This is a story about the storytellers: the spokespeople, the “experts on Syria”, the “democracy activists”. The...
4 tags
Pro-opposition Anonymous are source of Syria...
So now material provided by a group which has openly aligned itself with one party to the Syrian conflict, and which initially offered the material to the main sponsor of that party (al-Jazeera) supposedly constitutes ”evidence”. I am sure if al-Manar tv for example, hacked mails belonging to the Syrian opposition and this would be viewed as the unadulterated truth and counted as...
6 tags
Fighting the Bigger Oppressor First | Al Akhbar... →
My latest piece for al-Akhbar here on why resisting imperialism takes precedence over rebelling against authoritarianism. Some excerpts:
” The very equivalence between imperialism and authoritarianism is an intellectually flawed one that is rooted in a liberal-leftist tradition that conceives of all deployments of power as being equally coercive and oppressive, irrespective of the global...
7 tags
A critique of my work on Third Wayism: "Asad... →
A former editor at al-Akhbar offers a leftist critique of my own Marxist critiques of Third Wayism. Apparently, I am an Assad “apologist” who doesn’t understand Lenin and who is not a fan of the great anti-colonial thinker, Frantz Fanon. Incidentally, I had already quoted Fanon for my next piece which will appear in Akhbar later this week. I have also quoted Fanon in the past...
2 tags
“Nothing is more amusing than explaining to your blonde-haired, fair-skinned...”
6 tags
The Arab Spring: de-democratization of the region
In the final analysis, the “democracy” that the “Arab Spring” has ushered in has only served Empire’s long-standing stratagem of divide-and-rule. Any democratic reforms which occur in a highly polarized and sectarian environment that has been stripped of all Arab nationalist identity—and with it, the preeminent status the liberation of Palestine once...
