Nabati Poets Society and Hezbullah. Iran Accepts Two-State Solution: Waiting for Likud. Illegal Cheeseheads of Palestine. On Lebanon and Iraq
"Al-Ahram (owned by Egyptian government) attributes to an informed government source that the goal of the Hezbullah plot in Egypt was not only to conduct terrorist operations, but also to prepare the ground for a revolution and disturbance as part of a grand plot to spead unrest. The newspaper quoted the official that Persian Iran, Qatar, and Syria were involved in the plot, with cooperation from Hezbullah, Hamas, and the Egyptian (opposition) Moslem Brotherhood..." al-Watan column by one of their usual incoherent columnists. He left out the Nabat Poets Society (Dewaniyat Shu'ara al-Nabat), who may or may not have been part of the plot- probably not since the official quoted probably has no idea who they are.So, they prepared a revolution with the goal of spreading unrest- unrest being the goal. Quite a logic here: only in Arabia. Lenin got it wrong in 1917, the goal should have been unrest rather than a revolution. Maybe Fanya Kaplan would not have had a cause to shoot him. Even the rulers of Qatar are involved, the very same country that takes an independent foreign policy line from the dominant petro-monarchy of the region, the same revolutionary Qatar that hosts the US Central Command.
"Lieberman (Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor, not Sen. Joe) says no peace with Palestinians until after Iran file is settled. Clinton says the two are related..." This is sort of like a husband telling his wife they will not buy new furniture until after fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. Obviously Israeli leaders have learned something from Arab leaders. They are copying the Arab oligarchs' long-standing argument against reform. They used to say that things will stay frozen until after the Palestinian issue is settled, now they argue that the status quo (states of emergency, dictatorship, etc) should continue until after both the Palestinian-Israeli issue and the terrorism threat are settled. Now they have two excuses.
"Iran will accept the two-state solution if the Palestinians do." President Ahmadinejad.
This is a new public position for him. But maybe he knows it is a win-win position, because Israeli prime minister Netanyahu and his foreign minister Lieberman oppose the two-state solution even while the United States stresses its support of it. But don't the Palestinians already publicly accept the two-state solution? Will Nejad finally agree with almost everybody else in the world that the Holocaust did indeed happen, that it was not something concocted by the Tzarist Okhrana as part of the Protocols of the Eleders of Zion?
Speaking of Israel. I was having feta cheese with breakfast today. It is an "Israeli" feta, the best available in our area. I wondered, loud of course, if the cheese is actually made by Palestinians, in the West Bank or in Israel proper. It is as good as the cheese I used to get in the Middle East- could it be because it is made in the Middle East?. I mentioned that maybe it is prepared by Palestinians, just as much of the food we get in the US is grown, harvested and probably prepared by illegal Mexican labor. Then I mused if the Palestinians can also be considered "illegal" aliens over there. Then I opined that it is not possible: how can one be illegal in his native country, in the country where he and his ancestors were born? Especially if we are talking about the West Bank. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I had no takers at breakfast today. Ergo, I decided to post this blog.
"Foreign money is flowing into Lebanon to influence the coming elections...Saudis are reported to have infused hundreds of millions of dollars in buying votes and candidates...." NYT and various Arab media. I am sure the Iranian mullahs are also pouring money into their own sectors of Lebanon, just as the Saudi oligarchs are doing in their sectors.
"Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi will join the defense team of US journalist Roxana Saberi...."
"Iranian film-maker Bahman Ghobadi calls in open letter for release of Roxana Saberi..."
"Jesse Jackson offers to go to Tehran..."
"Secretary Clinton flew to Lebanon to show support for free elections in Lebanon...." There are no "free" elections in Lebanon, anymorte tha there is a free lunch elsewhere. It costs a lot in 'foreign' money.
Watched a CNN show with various senators (Joe Lieberman, Diane Feinstein, and Lindsey Graham). All condemned recent escalation of terrorist suicide bombings in Iraq. All seemed to think that Iraqi prime minister al-Maliki needs to "step up to the plate" and do something that will ease tensions. WTF does stepping up to the plate mean in this context? I thought free elections later this year will be enough for "stepping up to th plate". That is how it is in the United States: Republicans don't get to seat 50 senators if only 40 of their party are elected. Or do they?
Cheers
mhg
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