“Egypt's top Islamic cleric on Monday denounced Shiite houses of worship in an usual outburst against the Muslim sect, telling Iran's envoy in Cairo that the husseiniyas promoted "instability." Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the imam of the prestigious Sunni Al-Azhar institute, met with the envoy a day after scholars from Al-Azhar and Islamist groups issued a statement condemning what they said were attempts to spread Shiism in Egypt......"
Egypt was a tolerant society until about the time Hosni Mubarak took over. This discrimination against Shi’as and their faith has been rising in Egypt under the Mubarak dictatorship. That was mainly because the Mubarak regime was a follower of the Saudi......Ahmed al-Tayyeb, used to be a functionary of Mubarak’s NPD party until the dictator appointed him to lead the Azhar. I recall that he started his first week on his........ << MORE >>

“South Africa has angered Benjamin Netanyahu's government by announcing a planned ban on importing goods marked as being "made in Israel" when they are actually produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In a further sign of growing momentum behind international pressure for clear identification of........"
When Netahyahu and Lieberman (Avigdor not Joe) call South Africans racists, then that is the time to invoke the pot and the kettle comparison……....<< MORE >>

“An acute shortage of cement is delaying most commercial and residential projects in Makkah, according to sources in the contracting sector. Amid an unprecedented construction boom featuring the implementation of several multibillion riyal projects in the central Haram area and other areas in Makkah, the worsening cement crisis is likely to affect nearly 70 percent of the projects....."
I have written often about how Salafi Wahhabi doctrine and greed have destroyed historic Mecca. Here is what I said only last March: "This piece does not cover all factors behind the crime of destruction of historical Mecca. I have written more than once on this subject, as have others. It is not all Wahhabi ideology that doomed the monuments of Mecca. Historical Mecca was destroyed by a combination of Wahhabi Salafi dogma against history and the greed of the princes and developers.......<< MORE >>

“Women's Rights during the Glorious Era of HM King Hamad……. In every society, the situation of women is the main criterion of its interaction with the requirements of modern life, including democratic values, respect of citizenship and support for human rights issues. This report, taken from the book of “Bahraini Women in the Era of Hamad"..........."
Ironic: Bahrain’s women have been at the forefront of the revolution of the past 15 months. Unlike any other Arab uprising except the Tunisian and the Egyptian. Many of the women have been arrested, tear-gassed, tortured, assaulted, imprisoned, fired from their jobs. Doctors, nurses, teachers, journalists, students, politicians, and many other.......As for the Constitution of 1973, the al-Khalifa clan abrogated it in 1975, after they tricked the people into......<< MORE >>

“Israel inches closer to compromise on Iran uranium enrichment, officials say. Ehud Barak issued statement that Israel would consent to Iran's continuing enrichment of uranium to a low level of 3.5 percent…….. With the second round of nuclear talks between Iran and the six major powers due to begin in Tehran........"
Sometimes, I almost think Netanyahu is the one who coined the word “chutzpah”, considering how he postures and repeats the stale mantra of the past several years. Here is a man who doesn't have enough respect for the Nuclear........<< MORE >>

"The logo now appears with the words "University of Haifa" in Hebrew and English only, whereas the previous university logo included the words in Arabic as well. Several lecturers noticed the missing Arabic script in the new logo, which now appears on official university documents. Arabic and Hebrew are both official languages of the State of Israel. On May 10, the dean of the university's Faculty of Humanities........"
Haifa used to be a largely Arab town to the north of Jewish Tel Aviv. Arabic is still one of the official languages. I don’t think that many people have moved from San Fernando Valley or Brooklyn to make English........<< MORE >>

“Fifteen months into their uprising, Bahrainis balk at both the proposed union with Riyadh and statements reviving the Iranian claim to their country. Tensions are running high between the two coasts of the Persian Gulf........... The escalation was triggered by the announcement of Saudi Arabia’s plans to merge with Bahrain under the guise of forming a Gulf union, and fuelled by Iranian statements that were made in response. Some of these went as far as reviving Iran’s former claim to Bahrain........."
The people of Bahrain do not consider themselves Iranians, they consider themselves Arabs. They are not eager to join Iran, nor are they eager to adopt an Iranian-style theocracy. Nor are they eager to join Wahhabi Saudi Arabia in any form of union (most Bahrainis feel that their country is under Saudi occupation..........<< MORE >>

Dr. Safwat Hegazi, an Islamist preacher has called last week for a complete Islamization of Egypt. He said the parliament and government and president should all be Islamist (this may actually happen this summer). He added that they also want an Islamist sewage system. This last one directed my.............<< MORE >>

"From Riyadh's perspective, Bahrain is an obvious place to start building the stronger alliance. For over a year, Bahrain's Sunni royal family, with substantial Saudi assistance, has struggled to suppress an uprising by the country's Shiite majority.......... Although the leaders undoubtedly fear revolution and Iran, for the moment they fear the House of Saud even more. ............"
Of course they fear the House of Saud more than they fear Iran. The Gulf rulers talk up the Iranian "threat", maybe to humor the Saudi princes, or to humor the American protectors. But their heart is not in it: they know the history of the region. Iran is across the Persian-American Gulf, on the other side of the mighty American navy and other Western....... the Saudis can't even defend themselves. They couldn't even handle a group of lightly-armed Yemeni tribesmen ......<< MORE >>

“This meeting took place in a two-story house in the city of Grozny; on the top floor was a family of Gamsakhurdia, the Georgian president, who then was kicked out of his country. We met on the bottom floor; Osama lived in the same building,” Yashar said. According to the former CIA agent, he personally knew Bin Laden’s three Chechen bodyguards, who had protected him until his death and witnessed his death on June 26, 2006......."
The fate of Bin Laden will probably become one of those issues where most people know what happened but a minority will always come up with “alternative” narratives. Like the assassination of JFK or even the attack on the Twin Towers.......... I "know" Osama Bin Laden is dead, that he died last year during an American attack on his ISI retirement home in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Muslims, not just Salafis, take death seriously, and would not hide or cover up someone's death. There are certain.............<< MORE >>

"If it continues to deteriorate, it could complicate efforts for the West and others to get behind the opposition. Fifteen months into the uprising, Syria's opposition is still struggling to overcome infighting and inexperience, preventing the movement from presenting a credible alternative to Assad………….”
Mr. Ghalioun, the “acceptable” figurehead leader of the predominantly Islamist “opposition” in Syria has decided to resign his figurehead post as soon as the “opposition” find a replacement for him. Clearly the “opposition” is fractured between secularists and Islamists, Salafi Islamists and Muslim Brothers, military men and non-military men, former Ba'athists (like Khaddam) and long-time opponents.........The Syrian opposition has huge support that, on paper, should lead it to victory; on paper. It has some support inside Syria, it has the support of the whole Western alliance (NATO, EU) and Turkey and it has the huge financial.......<< MORE >>