Angry Arab t-shirt

My dear friend, Issa, in Jordan sent me this.

Zionism in China

Bejamin of EI sent me this (I post with his permission):  " came across some evidence of deliberate campaigns to expand Zionist influence and popularity in China.

If you remember, NGO Monitor campaigned against The Electronic Intifada a few years ago. Their US 501c3 organization was called Friends of NGO Monitor. More recently, the American organization changed its named to REPORT  and incorporated some other projects such as the Israel Research Fellowships and something called Dry Bones.

Dry Bones is a Zionist political cartoon. it's particularly blunt about calling Palestinians and solidarity activists anti-semitic. This cartoon is being translated into Chinese using funds from REPORT.

From the Dry Bones project, you can get a good idea of why Zionists are campaigning in China:

> History is being rewritten to portray Israel as a colonial State built on the lands of the indigenous people, the Palestinian Arabs. This willful erasing of 3,500 years of Israel's history has not yet infected the 1.3 billion Chinese.

(All three sentences are dripping with false history, Orientalism and racism against Arabs and Chinese.)

Obviously, not everything can be attributed to a political cartoon, but Israeli education institutions have in 2011 opened an Israel studies center at Sichuan International Studies University.

a tiny minisculre minority only

"About half a million settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, of whom a tiny minority engage in violent attacks on Palestinians." (thanks Michael)

How to buy a "revolution" to make sure it never turns into a revolution

"Qatar has spent as much as $3bn over the past two years supporting the rebellion in Syria"

"The small state with a gargantuan appetite is the biggest donor to the political opposition, providing generous refugee packages to defectors (one estimate puts it at $50,000 a year for a defector and
his family) and has provided vast amounts of humanitarian support."

for fellow swimmers out there

"A study of public pools done during last summer's swim season found that feces are frequently introduced into pool water by swimmers." "The study found that 58 percent of the pool filter samples tested were positive for E. coli, bacteria normally found in the human gut and feces. The E. coli is a marker for fecal contamination."

Now we know why Bashshar remains in power: it is all about "the world's reluctance"

"The troops have been bolstered by the world's reluctance to take forceful action to intervene in the fighting."  (thanks Nu`man)

Western (and Arab) liberal academics

Many of them privately criticize the Syrian "revolution" but are so scared and terrified to dare utter a word of criticism in public.  This is like Thomas Kuhn's notion of prevailing paradigm in his The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.  So according to this, once the "revolutionary" groups become universally condemned in Western government's circles and media, the academics will follow.  It happened before about the mujahedeen in Afghanistan.

HRW and the man-eating Syrian "revolutionary"

As expected, Human Rights Watch did issue a statement on the video showing a Syrian "revolutionary" commander eating the internal organs of a dead Syrian.  It said that this act does not qualify as a war crime and does not warrant an investigation because the man in question is not vegetarian.  Case closed.

danger of Shi`ites

"The Shias are more dangerous than naked [women]," MP Tharwat Attallah of the Salafist Nour Party said during the meeting." (thanks Basim)

Palestinian prisoners

"Palestinian Researcher, specialized in detainees' affairs, former detainee, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, stated that the Israeli army kidnapped nearly 9500 Palestinian children since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in late September 2000, until May 7 2013. Farawna said that statistics reveal that Israel kidnaps approximately 760 children a year, and added that there are currently 243 Palestinian children under the age of 18, including 42 children under the age of 16, who are still imprisoned by Israel. Farawna further stated that the army kidnapped 881 children in 2012, a %26 increase of the number of arrests targeting children in 2011. The researcher said that this year witnessed a sharp increase and escalation in the Israeli violations against Palestinian children, as the Israeli army and the police kidnapped 293 Palestinian children in the first quarter of 2013."

income gaps

"After taxes and transfers, the richest 10 per cent of the population in OECD countries earned 9.5 times the income of the poorest 10 per cent in 2010, up from 9 times in 2007. The gap is largest in Chile, Mexico, Turkey, the United States and Israel, and lowest in Iceland, Slovenia, Norway and Denmark." (thanks Amir)

This is what Muslim Brotherhood mean by Jihad (or Jeeeeeeehad, as it is pronounced in the US)

"We must differentiate between sincere feelings and emotions and political behavior and facts on the ground" (thanks Sultan)

Did I not tell you that the Free Syrian Army is a mere replica of the South Lebanon Army?

"Exclusive: Israeli special forces inside Syria" (thanks Yazan)

 PS Yazen wrote to me this comment:  "One comment, 

I do not think your distinction that the FSA is a replica of the SLA is correct though.The FSA is too disorganized, too mixed from, of course, the collaborators of the Zionists and the West, thuggish armed gangs, defected military personnel, to normal men from villages/towns/cities fighting the regime. One recent example that comes to mind is when Israel bombed Damascus, there were those in the FSA that celebrated the act. Those that condemned it and emphasized that after the idiotic Assad, Israel is next. We should keep that in mind no?"

Critique of Religion

I wrote this in Arabic and shall write here too: critique of clerics, priests, and rabbis is a national duty and obligation.  Remember that the clerics of Al-Azhar were partners with Sadat in his humiliating deal with Israel.  And the Lebanese Shi`ite cleric, Hasan Mushaymish, has been convicted of spying for Israel.  More than that: Karl Marx (may Engels be pleased with him) said in his introduction to A Contribution to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right that "and the criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism".

Who decides who gets journalism, literature, and arts awards in the Arab world? The man to the right.

Every year, Sheikh Mo (seen to the right) awards people in the Arab world in the various fields of arts, literature, and journalism.  He and his fellow polygamous oil and gas princes are the arbiters of standards in the Arab culture.  Here, he gives the award for best columnist to a writer in the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan, Al-Hayat. 

Hizbullah corruption

Yes, of course, corruption has also reached the ranks of Hizbullah members and leaders.  Take the Hizbullah Minister, Hajj Hasan.  He is an honest, competent, and modest man by any standards but his son has been enjoying positions and perks that he does not deserve and that he only receives due to his connection.   His son, in fact, got a job at MTC Touch in Lebanon without even being remotely qualified for it. 

Hamas corruption in Gaza

I have received detailed report on Hamas (financial) corruption in Gaza.  Apparently, only Isma`il Haniyyah is not corrupt among the leaders.  Hamas officials are distributing public lands (which used to be Israeli settlements) among themselves.

This is an actual headline in the New York Times: does it warrant a comment really?

"Israel Hints at New Strikes, Warning Syria Not to Hit Back"

Chris Stone

"Lebanese political science professor Asaad Abu Khalil described Stone via Facebook as a “model academic and a man who has dealt with Arabs and their causes with extreme respect, sensitivity, and support.”
Stone is a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and writes frequently against Zionism, Khalil added."

The convenience of Al-Qa`idah and Nusrah Front

It just occurred to me: by listing Nusrah Front as a terrorist organization, the US government has basically licensed all other Syrian armed groups to engage in all sorts of war crimes.  So all what an armed group has to do to get away with war crimes, is merely to fly the flag of Nusrah.  That is all what it takes.  So an armed group belonging to the Free Syrian Army umbrella, for example, can engage in a war crime, and then the next day issue a condemnation.  It is an unlimited license for war crimes.

Culture and its ministers in Lebanon

This is the text of the article for which Tariq Mitri (the Hariri former Minister of Culture) sued me fore--and won.

On Western fetishm with Arab fake feminism

Rasha Al-Atrash writes about a Lebanese fake feminist which the Western media are enamored with.

Egyptian men versus American men

"The US has one of the highest rates of rape. Actually, up to 20 percent of American women have been raped. This is in a country that has laws against sexual violence and many campaigns to push women to report sexual violence. However, we do not hear about American men being a “disgrace” for their nation, and surely, the US is never listed in any of those silly indexes on “the most dangerous places for women.” If a Western woman is a victim of sexual violence in an Arab country that does not legitimize a statement against Egyptian men that hyper-sexualizes and portrays them as sexually violent." (thanks "Ibn Rushd")

Hamas, as friend of the US

I am not making this up. A chief leader of the Syrian opposition in the US was attacked by Zionists for years for being an advocate for Hamas.  They even wanted him arrested.  Some things do change.

Let me translate this statement from Free Syrian Army: dear Mr. Kerry. We have received the last shipment of cash but we would like more cash, please

"The General Staff of the Free Syrian Army:  We hereby state that any act contrary to the values that the Syrian people have paid their blood and lost their homes to will not be tolerated, the abuser will be punished severely even if they are associated with the Free Syrian Army therefore The Leadership of the General Staff of the FSA have sent out instructions to the field commanders to begin a prompt investigation into the matter in which the perpetrator will be brought to justice or will face detention hence a fair trial in which we seek to establish if the accused is in fact a member of the Free Syrian Army or not."

abuse of maids in the Middle East

"A housemaid has been spared the threat of further abuse at the hands of her employer after her plea for help went viral on facebook.

Cristine Dumo was rescued from the house in Ras Al Khaimah by welfare workers on Tuesday night and is now in the care of the Philippines Consulate in Dubai.

An officer from the consulate told 7DAYS: “We received her at our centre for migrant workers last night. She is traumatised but stable. She is relieved to be safe and will not have to go back to her employer.”

The 23-year-old Filipina, who had been working for her employer for eight months, described how her boss tried to sexually assault her many times but she fought back. The officer said: “She said that he slapped her and tried to rape her. She managed to resist. She said she was scared to cry out for help because he threatened to send her to prison if she ever told anyone anything.”"

KFC through the Gaza tunnels

"For six years, Rafat Shororo longed for the taste of a KFC sandwich he had eaten in Egypt. This week, he got his finger lickin' fix at home in the Gaza Strip after a local delivery company managed to smuggle it from Egypt through underground tunnels." (thanks Laure)

in color

Visualizing Palestine

Bashshar Al-Asad made him eat internal organs: he used to eat chicken and kibbi prior to that

From Daniel:  "Radio France Internationale (RFI, aka, "eyri fiik") is cycling this story at the top of each hour, citing a "spokesman" for the Syrian opposition who declares his "indignation" for this "inhuman" behavior. They have backed off of the expanded version which included a phone interview with a reporter who previously interviewed the presumed organ eater and cites this "idealist" as speaking of a Syria "without weapons" where everyone gets along, and who blames his behavior on the "barbarous Assad regime"."

Zionism in China

A Saudi student studying in China tells me that Zionist influence is increasing there and that Israel is trying to gain a foothold on Chinese campuses.

UNRWA and the real map of Palestine

From Basim: UNRWA categorically rejects accusations in the media that the Agency is “erasing Israel from the map” because its officials and stakeholders stood next to a map which does not show Israel. The map in question is an embroidery depicting a pre-1948 map and therefore ante-dates the creation of the state of Israel. The allegations are therefore completely false. PS Here is a sleazy report of the story with photo by the Zionist outfit "Palestine Media Watch":

Christopher Stone is out of the hospital

Comrade Christopher Stone, who was stabbed in Cairo last week, is now out of the hospital and recovering. I just heard from him. 

Every day is Nakbah day until the liberation of Palestine--every square inch of Palestine

""Today is Nakba Day, the day on which Palestinians mourn the loss of their homeland in 1948. 65 years ago, in May of 1948, Ghatheyya Mifleh al-Khawalda was a carefree 15-year-old girl who lived with her mother and sister in the village of al-Qastina in Mandatory Palestine, when they were forced, along with the rest of their village, to flee in the face of imminent threat from Jewish militias." "Before that, there had been a British military camp nearby, but that year the British left and allowed the Jewish groups to take over. We were terrified of what they might do to us. They arrived, some of them in uniform and some in civilian clothes, and began shooting at people.""

Gaza, here I come

I have received an invitation to visit Gaza and give series of lectures there.  And I gladly accepted.  But I warned my host, comrade Jabr Wishah (who suffered for 14 years in Israeli jail): that I would become a river of tears once I step on Palestinian lands.

Serial sex offender and Israel open a bank in South Sudan

""Dominique Strauss-Kahn helped to open a new bank in the world's youngest nation, South Sudan, on Tuesday, a low-key return to the international stage for the former IMF chief brought down by a sex scandal." "Organizers of the bank's inauguration described it as a venture involving Israeli, Romanian and Sudanese partners, but gave no more details.""

"cheaper" brides among the Syrian refugees

""The only sign that one is still in Egypt is the sound of Egyptian men and their mothers, who flock every day in the hopes they can exploit the dashed hopes of the Syrian revolution. Too poor to take an Egyptian bride, the men have heard that Syrian refugees are cheaper, prettier, better cooks and easier to marry." "Men across the region are now seeking Syrian brides. In Turkey and Jordan, where refugee camps pepper the landscape, the desperation of the Syrians is far easier to spot as rich Persian Gulf men scour the camps to buy brides living in tents. Rape, child brides and temporary marriages are prevalent."" (thanks Amir)

How Aljazeera commerotes Al-Nakbah

"“We are looking for a unique angle with which to cover this and one we were thinking of was looking at the Nakba through Israeli eyes and competing Israeli perspectives. We would also like to have a Palestinian guest join us on set however, to balance things out. As you noted, it would be 3-4 Israelis and just the one Palestinian – but as I said, the Israeli’s will include those very critical of Israeli society on this issue. We certainly wont have anyone in the discussion who flat out denies the Nakba.”"

Palestinians of Yarmuk Camp

"The demonstrators were predominantly Syrian Palestinians, many from the Yarmouk district of Damascus who had fled when it was taken over by opposition forces eight months ago.

Some screamed at us: "Please tell the world the truth! We don't want the fighters here, we want the army to kill them!""

According to US media, 41,000 Shabbihah were killed in Syria, and they deserve to die

"At least 94,000 people have been killed during Syria's two-year conflict, but the death toll is likely to be as high as 120,000, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday. 

The group said that at least 41,000 of those confirmed killed were Alawites, the sect of President Bashar al-Assad."

Asian American Studies and BDS

""Be it resolved that the Association for Asian American Studies endorses and will honor the call of Palestinian civil society for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

Be it also resolved that the Association for Asian American Studies supports the protected rights of students and scholars everywhere to engage in research and public speaking about Israel-Palestine and in support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement." (thanks Nikolai)

That face of Syrian "revolutionaries": munching on body organs

Did you notice how defensive Western media are about that video? I note those reactions:
1) the New York Times as usual buries the story under a different story about crimes of the regime.
2) many news media reported that the guy is really upset because he saw crimes by the Syrian regime.
3) Some media actually quibbled with the facts: that he did not really eat the heart of the man but ate parts of the lung.
4) Many news media opted to totally ignore the story.
5) many media put the story in the context of war crimes in Syria where the regime is solely responsible.
6) Some media focused on the man, saying that he really is not representative.

Correction on Joseph Massad in the Daily Beast

"CORRECTION: This story mistakenly identified Joseph Massad as a Jewish critic of Zionism. The reference has been removed and we regret the error."  This shows you how informed this Zionist writer is.

Viva your Syrian "revolution"

Syrian "revolutionaries" minutes before publicly executing those three men who were accused of working against the "revolution".  You want to bet that neither the New York Times nor the Hariri office of Human Rights Watch in Beirut will cover this?

PS Nir Rosen quibbles with me and argues that the executed were members of the security forces who were "accused" of killing civilians.  Case close, I guess.

BDS and its agenda

This is my latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English.

BDSL

I propose that the movement adds one "L" to its name: it should be BDSL, "l" for liberation.

Angelina Jolie

I discovered this week, judging from the Western and Arabic media, that the breast of Angelina Jolie are more precious and more important than the Syrian people and the Palestinian people combined. 

When the Minister of Culture sues you

The former Lebanese Minister of Culture, Tariq Mitri, who had been bought off by the Hariri and Saudi families after 2005, sued me and won in a Lebanese court saying that I defamed him.  The court not only ruled in his favor but said that my words disturbed "public safety"--because public safety is overwhelming in Lebanon.

Obama reads his blog, Obama reads his blog

So this Lebanese blogger is besides himself.  He brags about his readership to As-Safir and says that Foreign Policy stated that Barak Obama reads his blog.  Of course, it is lie. Foreign Policy said no such thing.  One writer there merely posted recommendations of Middle East blogs for Obama.  Big difference.  Petty minds.

Saudi Arabia keen on minority rights

From Sultan: " You know you're in bad shape when Saudi insists that you protect minority rights 

"Riyadh is said to have promised increased support - but only if the opposition agreed to expand the coalition to include minorities."

Palestine

Palestine

Saudi surveillance project

" "Last week I was contacted by an agent of Mobily, one of two telecoms operating in Saudi Arabia, about a surveillance project that they’re working on in that country.""

Syrian rebels eating internal organs: Guardian versus the New York Times

Look how the Guardian reported it: " 'Anti-Assad fighter appears to eat internal organ of dead government soldier in horrific video':
"The figure in the video cuts the heart and liver out of the body and uses sectarian language to insult Alawites [Assad's minority sect]. At the end of the video [the man] is filmed putting the corpse's heart into his mouth, as if he is taking a bite out of it."

And now look Syrian "revolution" groupie, Anne Barnard, reports it and notice the title is about Syrian regime crime:
"One rebel commander recently filmed himself cutting out an organ of a dead pro-government fighter, biting it and promising the same fate to Alawites, members of Mr. Assad’s Shiite Muslim sect."

Nazis and Zionists

Comrade Joseph writes:  " The Nazis would not be an exception in this anti-Semitic chain of pro-Zionist enthusiasts. Indeed, the Zionists would strike a deal with the Nazis very early in their history. It was in 1933 that the infamous Transfer (Ha'avara) Agreement was signed between the Zionists and the Nazi government to facilitate the transfer of German Jews and their property to Palestine and which broke the international Jewish boycott of Nazi Germany started by American Jews. It was in this spirit that Zionist envoys were dispatched to Palestine to report on the successes of Jewish colonization of the country. Adolf Eichmann returned from his 1937 trip to Palestine full of fantastic stories about the achievements of the racially-separatist Ashkenazi Kibbutz, one of which he visited on Mount Carmel as a guest of the Zionists.

Despite the overwhelming opposition of most German Jews, it was the Zionist Federation of Germany that was the only Jewish group that supported the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, as they agreed with the Nazis that Jews and Aryans were separate and separable races. This was not a tactical support but one based on ideological similitude. The Nazis' Final Solution initially meant the expulsion of Germany's Jews to Madagascar. It is this shared goal of expelling Jews from Europe as a separate unassimilable race that created the affinity between Nazis and Zionists all along."

Notice how Western reporters only wax poetic when talking about Israel and Saudi-Qatari rebels in Syria

" including Syria's own rebels, now have the momentum and air of authenticity.". Can someone help me here? What does this sentence mean? What is the air of authenticity?  And this writer who cited Pew throughout ignored its finding about the unpopularity of Syrian rebels.

How reliable is this reporter?

How dare you pose this question when he documents his claims: " but Western and Arab officials told me".  Case closed.

Who speaks for the Arab people?

The answer: Western government officials and Western correspondents of course, as in: " but it now appears in the eyes of the Arab world".

Obama

Has there been one aspect of policy in which Obama has not been a disgrace??

Cambanis on Hizbullah

First it is rather hilarious that Cambanis speaks on behalf of all Arabs but that is a privilege that all Western reporters possess. "An untold number of Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Syria -- so many that the movement has stopped keeping the funerals secret and has even released videos of some of the martyrs. "We bury our martyrs in the open," Nasrallah said in his recent speech. "We are not ashamed of them.""  Our writer does not know Arabic and he totally distorts the section in the speech in which Nasrallah was saying that the number if those dead is bein highly exaggerated and that they don't hide the dead.  The videos are not released by the party but by members of March 14 on their phones.  But hell. Cambanis got the number exactly right: untold number.  Good work, Cambanis.  He then outrageously says this: "Hezbollah positions in Hermel were shelled on May 12" when even Saudi and Hariri media aired footage of schools and homes being hit but for Cambanis and his propaganda work they have to be turned into Hizbullah positions.  

From Foreign Policy magazine. 

Elderly Palestinians

Whenever I meet an elderly Palestinian living abroad I get the urge to hold him or her by the hand and to prevent him or her from dying in exile. 

Ferguson

So Niall Ferguson can't be racist because his "best friend" is gay and he is married to a bigot who was born in Somalia.

It is a revolution indeed

" A video of a Syrian rebel commander cutting the heart out of a soldier and biting into is emblematic of a civil war that has rapidly descended into sectarian hatred and revenge killings, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

The New York-based group said an amateur video posted on the Internet on Sunday shows Abu Sakkar, a founder of the rebel Farouq Brigade who is well known to journalists as an insurgent from Homs, cutting into the torso of a dead soldier.

The video has caused outrage among both supporters of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition figures.

"I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog," the man says to offscreen cheers of his comrades shouting "Allahu akbar (God is great)"."

Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Hezbollah

From Nidal: " I'm sure you're going to appreciate this:

Bulgarian police seize 350,000 ’fake’ ballots.
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/europe/2013/05/2013511165252491385.html

“Private BGNES news agency named the party as Borisov’s GERB, whose deputy leader Tsvetanov headed the interior ministry until GERB’s ousting from power in end-February.
The prosecution did not comment on this information.
The allegations come at an awkward time for Tsvetanov, already embroiled in late April in a scandal about alleged illegal wiretapping of the party’s opponents and businesspeople.”

You might remember that this Tsvetan Tsvetanov is the Interior minister that pretended to have “well-grounded reasons” to implicate Hezbollah in an attack against Israeli tourists:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/05/bulgaria-hezbollah-bus-bomb-attack
"We have well-grounded reasons to suggest that the two were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah," said Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Bulgaria's interior minister

So, with 2 major political scandals on the Tsvetanov, I would bet that the accusation against Hezbollah is now dead.

You can quote me."

A Saudfi student with a pressure cooker

" FBI agents were called to the Michigan home of a Saudi student who was spotted walking around with a pressure cooker — only to learn that he was using it to bring food to his friend's house.

Talal al Rouki told the Saudi daily Okaz he was visited by several FBI agents last Friday after a neighbor apparently called in to report his "bullet-colored" pressure cooker.

"They asked me about my major, when I arrived in the US and what I do in my spare time," al Rouki is quoted as saying.

He then showed the agents his cooker, which he had just used to cook kabsa, a traditional Saudi dish consisting of rice, meat, and vegetables.

Satisfied, the agents withdrew, but not before one of them told al Rouki to "be more careful moving around with such things.""

Only terrorists are welome in Canada

From Amir: Canada deported Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad, a 70-year-old Palestinian grandfather and former member of The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Lebanon.

"I was a freedom fighter – not a terrorist," said Mohammad, who was born in Palestine in 1943. "I was fighting Israel, the enemy of (his people)."

Canada welcomes with open arms Israeli, Lebanese Phalange and Iranian M.E.K. war-criminals and terrorists."

House of Saud rules

" A Lebanese man was sentenced to 300 lashes with a whip and six years in prison for his role in helping a Saudi woman convert to Christianity and flee the kingdom." (thanks Michele)

From Stuttgart to Wiesensteig

I moved from Stuttgart to the town of Wiesensteig. I interrogated famed Palestinian former prisoner, Jabr Wishah, about his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Israeli terrorist army. I found me more angry than he is about his experience.  I also solicited information about Wadi' Haddad from former PFLP leader, Salah Salah, who kept in secret contact with him for decades.  He told me that when Wadi' would stumble on a matter that required a solution, he would watch cartoons until he would come up with something.  Back tomorrow. 

Bahrain update

From Bahrain correspondent: " Some great news! Ali Abdelemam who went missing during the mass arrests in february/march 2011 has managed to escape Bahrain and has now been granted asylum in England. He was in hiding for the past few years and is our Khalid Saeed. He was the founder of Bahrain Online, an online political forum. It became so popular that even ministers would go on the sight to get their news. He was jailed in 2010 during a government crackdown and then was released shortly after the protests began while the regime was negotiating with the opposition. when the crackdown began and the saudis came in, he became one of the regime's primary targets. He went into hiding (many people thought he was kidnapped or dead) and now he has finally surfaced! Here is an article covering the story http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/10/bahrain-online-ali-abdulemam-escape "

Not in any media

A Lebanese man in Saudi Arabia faces a medieval sentence with lashes on charges of Christianization. And Nabih Birri' foreign minister belittles the matter. 

They want cash fast

" "Two senior rival militiamen have been assassinated in the last 10 days: Abu Awad of the Farouq Brigade, and, on Thursday, the head of the Ahfad al-Rasool, Abu al-Zein. In both cases the method was the same – three men in black and masks drove up to the victims' cars, shot them, then sped off. Some say it could be a leftover squad of Assad's Shabiha, but members of their militias point out both were known for support for a civil state, not an Islamic one." "After Assad falls, there will be a second revolution, against Jabhat al-Nusra," said Amar Abu Yasser, a battalion leader with the Farouq Brigade." (thanks Amir)

Bahrain King says that he is a mere servant to Western colonialism

King of Bahrain says that his father wanted British colonialism to stay on forever.