Thursday, August 31, 2006

Egypt's Greatest Writer


Naguib Mahfouz died yesterday. He was one of the world's great writers. Here's what the late Edward Said wrote about him on www.counterpunch.org back in December, 2001.


...Mahfouz has the intellectual and literary means to convey in a manner entirely his own--powerful, direct, subtle. Like his characters (who are always described right away, as soon as they appear), Mahfouz comes straight at you, immerses you in a thick narrative flow, then lets you swim in it, all the while directing the currents, eddies, and waves of his characters' lives, Egypt's history under prime ministers like Saad Zaghlul and Mustafa El-Nahhas, and dozens of other details of political parties, family histories, and the like, with extraordinary skill. Realism, yes, but something else as well: a vision that aspires to a sort of all-encompassing view not unlike Dante's in its twinning of earthly actuality with the eternal...

Edward Said

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Smile


...see post below...

"Wag the Dog"



Examples Of Media Bias In Favor Of Israel
By Thomas Keyes

Recently I posted an article on the statistics of pro-Israel media bias, which was obviously beyond the comprehension of some of UK’s know-nothings, one of whom challenged me to produce examples. This, of course, was unreasoning obstinacy probably born of the slavish devotion to television that is America’s real religion. Nonetheless, let me run my fool’s errand by citing examples, knowing in advance that this blind contributor will merely say he sees no bias in them.

Here is one of the endless stream of pro-Israel articles that emanate from National Review Online, edited by Jonah Goldberg. Apparently, Israel should be considered Lebanon’s benefactor:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2ZiMTE4ODM3MmRmZjY4YTE1ZThhYjQ1NDc0NTQyOGQ

Here is an article by Charles Krauthammer, himself Jewish, of the Washington Post, operated by Jews since 1930. This man is the most audacious and transparent liar imaginable. Here he denies the disproportionateness of Israel’s assault on Lebanon. What would he have said about Kristallnacht, the night in 1938 when Germans looted Jewish businesses and temples, killing 200, in response to the Jewish assassination of a single German official? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/27/AR2006072701725.html?sub=AR

Here’s one by David Limbaugh of World Net Daily, a slick Christian fundamentalist rag run by Joseph Farah, a New Jersey Christian and pro-Israel sycophant. Here Limbaugh, disingenuously denies a pro-Israel media bias, then goes on to justify it anyway, with a lot of sanctimonious claptrap, including references to divine promises: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27148

Here is an article by New York City’s Jewish ex-mayor, Edwin Koch, claiming to trace the present conflict back to the killing of two Israeli soldiers in 2006. Apparently, he’s forgotten about the establishment of Israel on Arab land in 1948. He didn’t mention the recent shooting of eight Palestinians on a beach in Gaza either: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0706/koch.php3

George Will, a Gentile pro-Israel journalist for the Washington Post, sings the same old refrain, praising George W. Bush for not criticizing Israel, and pretending that the war against Lebanon began when Lebanon started firing rockets without provocation. Go to the sixth paragraph: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701152.html

Here is a specimen of the shameless bigotry of Victor David Hanson, of National Review Online, who denounces acts of terrorism committed by Arabs, but overlooks the ones committed by Jews, like Menachem Begin’s hotel explosion, the Lavon affair, the attack on the USS Liberty and others. But Jonah Goldberg signs his paycheck. Hanson is a Californian who inherited a huge farm in San Joaquيn valley, hardly the man to understand the desperation of the displaced:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDBhMzg5Mzk4NjQ5MjM5OTJhZjRjMWQ4OWMzNDhmMzk

there are endless of other examples on the net...



The pro-Israel media lobby. Who are they?

"...On Capitol Hill, the pro-Israel political lobby is considered one of the Beltway's most powerful, steadfast support for Israel remains the norm..."

"...For reasons of religion, politics, history and genuine conviction, the debate of the Middle East in America is dominated by people who cannot imagine criticizing Israel... You know who they are: William Safire of the New York Times; George Will, Charles Krauthammer and Michael Kelly at the Washington Post; Lally Weymouth of Newsweek; Martin Peretz of the New Republic; Daniel Pipes and Andrea Peyser at the New York Post; Peggy Noonan and Robert Bartley at the Wall Street Journal; William Kristol of the Weekly Standard; Mortimer Zuckerman at U.S. News and World Report; Morton Kondracke, Fred Barnes, Brit Hume and Tony Snow at Fox News; and William Bennett, a paid CNN contributor, just to name a few."



A pro-Israel media "war room" in Washington

A group of American business and political leaders are building a pro-Israel media "war room" in Washington, D.C. The group will be called "Emet"-which in Hebrew means "truth."

Emet will try to address biased media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and also make the case that the conflict, while serious and important, pales in comparison to the larger geo-strategic threat posed to the United States and the West by Iran and Iraq, both of whom are trying to build and/or acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Funding Emet is Leonard Abramson; he sold U.S. Healthcare to Aetna in the mid-1990s for $8.9 billion. Abramson has recruited a powerful board of directors, including Bernie Marcus, founder of Home Depot; Les Wexner, founder of The Limited; Edgar Bronfman Sr., who once owned Seagram's; and Lou Ranieri, a major Wall Street player who now co-owns one of Israel's largest banks. Also joining the board are Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and Jack Kemp.



...Here's my take on this. Is the tail really in control? This critical issue is the cornerstone to the raging middle east. As long as the USA is the lone "superpower", the voters here must be informed, must be informed fairly, and must inform themselves. They must realize their votes do not only represent this nation, but are affecting the entire world. It should be their duty to read between the lines. They have to see the bigger picture. I don't ask they support fanaticism, and murder. I ask they investigate why these things occur. I ask they see both sides to a debate. I ask why is it that after decades of so called "peace talks" the conflict continues? This day and age, with the world being as small as it is, you cannot allow "ignorance to be your bliss"...

Monday, August 28, 2006

Farayya, Lebanon


...on top of the world...

Money talks...

From www.haaretz.com

Touring the Katyusha trail
By Irit Rosenblum

Burned fields and forests and blackened mountainsides are still visible in the Upper Galilee. A group of tour guides from the North and center will be organizing trips to the area on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week. The tours, arranged by Vacation in the Clouds, will include stops at the following sites: the Katyusha-damaged Pa'ar cave; the Arab village of Gush Halav (Jish), home to Maronites, Catholics and Muslims; the Dalton plateau, which overlooks the Circassian village of Rihaniya; and the Kfar Giladi memorial for fallen reserve paratroopers. The tour will end in Kiryat Shmona, where participants will meet with local residents. There may be slight changes to the schedule. Price: NIS 125 per person, including a NIS 50 down payment. Tours must be reserved in advance by phone: (04) 698-8699. Additional contacts: for the Jerusalem area, Naftali Raz at (054) 549-4172; for the Tel Aviv area, Henya Arieli at (054) 211-0667; and for the Haifa area, Eli Safran at (050) 551-1868
Advertisement
The Gonen resort offers a tour of Moshav Avivim, overlooking the Lebanese village Maroun al-Ras, and Kibbutz Malkiya, overlooking the entire region. The trip includes a ride along the northern border, from where neighboring villages on the Lebanese side (Hula, Taibeh, Markaba, etc.) can be seen, as well as an explanation of the border's history. The tour will also pass by Kibbutz Manara and will include a visit to the Kfar Giladi cemetery, the local shelter, a house hit by a Katyusha and the indigenous woods next to the kibbutz. The tour will also pass through private homes in Kiryat Shmona, and will include a meeting with a Magen David Adom representative. Price of the tour: NIS 100 per car. Phone for reservations: (04) 695-5220; www.nofgo.co.ilThe Havayot tour company offers all-terrain vehicle trips to the Ramim ridge; visits to Moshav Avivim, Moshav Margaliyot and Metula; a view of Har Dov and the Shaba Farms. The tours are for groups. Phone for reservations: (09) 749-3311


...Do they know how to make a buck or what!
Let's head north boys and mourn the burnt fileds of the Galilee. If you have the stomach for it, we can take you all the way to the border, there we will show you decaying bodies of Southern Lebanon. The views are spectacular, especially with the latest in binocular technology shipped straight from overseas.
Please note meals will not be provided on all tours...

Sunday, August 27, 2006

When the levee broke...


...before the spill


and, after the splatter...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4134490.html

What do you make of the tar balls?

...would they share their story with the good neighbors? would they grant the Lebanese the publicity they so rightly deserved? would they haunt them for years to come, as they have grown accustomed to sweeping dust under the carpet in Beirut? or maybe, they would just drown, and with that, their problems would just disappear...

Friday, August 25, 2006

They come in clusters...

a cluster bomb...



...and its devastating result

1) What is a cluster bomb?

Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground launched shells that eject multiple small submunitions (bomblets). Their primary purpose is to kill enemy soldiers.

2) What is the law on cluster munitions?

Although covered by the general rules of international humanitarian law, cluster munitions are not currently covered by any specific international legal instrument. So far Belgium is the only country to have issued a ban on the use (carrying), transportation, export, stockpiling, trade and production of cluster munitions. However, several countries, including Austria, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have seen considerable parliamentary activity on cluster munitions. In some of these countries, there are ongoing discussions concerning draft legislation banning cluster munitions, along the lines of the legislation adopted in Belgium. Norway has also committed itself to an international ban on cluster munitions and recently announced a moratorium on the weapon.

"It's not illegal to use against soldiers or your enemy, but according to Geneva Conventions it's illegal to use them (cluster bombs) in civilian areas," said Dalya Farran, spokeswoman for the UN Mine Action Coordination Center, which has an office in the southern port city of Tyre. "But it's not up to us to decide if it's illegal - I'm just giving facts and letting others do analysis."

3) Did the IDF use cluster munitions in Lebanon?

"We've heard the allegations that these munitions were used in Lebanon and we're looking into it," a state department spokesman said yesterday. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has previously bought M-26 rockets and US-made cluster artillery shells, and CBU-26 aerial bombs. Bomblets from all three have been found by UN investigators in southern Lebanon. The IDF said all weapons used were "legal under international law and their use conforms with international standards".


Pallets of 155mm artillery projectiles including DPICM cluster munitions (center and right with yellow diamonds) in the arsenal of an IDF artillery unit on July 23 in northern Israel. Each DPICM shell contains 88 sub-munitions, which have a dud rate of up to 14 percent. © Human Rights Watch 2006

Thousands of cluster munitions cover the grounds of Lebanon especially south of the Littani river. Each of the submunitions has the power of an antipersonnel land mine upon detonation. Twelve civilians have been killed and fifty injured since the cease fire from unexploded cluster submunitions. Sadly, more lay in wait for innocent Lebanese children...



Thursday, August 24, 2006

For you



stand like the cedar tree
strong and majestic
stretched by the tempest
yet assertive and unyielding

for you

will not sway
listen to the wind
over foothills it howls
as generations return and bear fruit

for you

are an experiment thought to be
a rendezvous of coexistence at one table
where the east broke,
bread with west

for you

will not be led astray
be the experiment that stands
a distinguished identity
just like your cedar tree

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

The Cedars, Lebanon



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