Middle East Focus-Arabia Deserta

Where the Cheneys Are, a Snidely Whiplash Smile..............

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T17:58:00Z

Whatever happened to Les Cheneys ( père et fille)?
Father and daughter have been sniping at Obama regularly, each from his/her undisclosed location. Yet we have not heard from Dick in nearly two weeks, and have not heard from Liz in almost a week. I doubt they have given up. He must be still under the bridge, waiting to grab someone’s ankle and drag him down into the bog. As for her: probably plotting some new schoolyard taunt that would excite the base base. Or maybe she is busy writing a new treatise extolling the unparalleled virtues of some Middle East oligarchs and their commitment to freedom (from accountability).
I prefer Dick, he is more entertaining, especially when on TV, with that Snidely Whiplash smile.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

My Fatwa: It’s Late Saturday Night, China Playing Hard to Get, Russia Needs a Date But……....

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T17:44:00Z

“US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, seeking to win the support of the United States' closest ally in the Persian Gulf on tough sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Gates met with King Abdullah and the Saudi crown prince as part of the US administration's diplomatic push for new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Iran. "We are certainly hopeful that the Saudis will use whatever influence they have which is considerable in this region and throughout the world to try and help us in our efforts at the UN so we can get meaningful sanctions enacted against Iran," US press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters on Wednesday.……” Press TV (Iran)

The Iranians seem confident that Brazil (a current Security Council member) will vote against new sanctions. Turkey and Lebanon certainly will vote against. They are right in that assessment, but they think the US is trying to get the Saudis to press China to agree to new sanctions. Saudis have the petroleum leverage, as does Iran, and their foreign minister has been to China recently. But China is highly unlikely to be pressured by that, at least partly because then everyone will know that China has been pressured by Saudi oil.
My fatwa today is that China will not support any serious tightening of sanctions, which means they will veto if they have to. As for Russia: Russia has more weak points than China, It maybe perhaps likely possibly can make a deal, with limits. But Russia is also a neighbor of Iran.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Petro-Muscles: Is Middle East Internet Censorship Going Global?..........

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T16:54:00Z

Is this my imagination or are certain websites hacked, blocked, and forced offline? Two offshore Saudi websites, one claims to espouse reform and the other supports regime change, have gone offline over the past two weeks. One of them claims regime interference, and notes that videoclips posted on You-tube were blocked by the service. The Arab oligarchs block local sites and throw bloggers in prison routinely, but is their reach going global now? Is it all my imagination or are the oligarchs flexing their petro-muscles with the likes of Google and other huge corporations that dominate the internet now?
Even if I don’t agree with some of their content, by instinct I like websites that piss off the Middle East oligarchies. I hope they thrive and proliferate.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

What Likud is Teaching Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, China, Chavez, Burma……..

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T16:14:00Z

“What can Obama do to respond to Israel's slap at Biden?. President Barack Obama faces what may be the biggest test to date of his credibility in the Middle East after Israel greeted Vice President Joe Biden with an announcement that it will construct 1,600 new homes in disputed East Jerusalem, diplomats and analysts said Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said the announcement's timing wasn't intentional. However, Netanyahu also appears to be betting that he'll get little pushback from a U.S. president who's avoided public confrontation with Israel and is concentrating on building Democratic support on domestic issues such as health care. What an Israeli newspaper called "The Slap Heard 'Round the World" brought sharp condemnation from Biden, who met Palestinians leaders in the West Bank on Wednesday. ………” McClatchy News

“The slap heard round the world”. The writer in Israel’s Haaretz was right. It was a sharp slap and it will reverberate around the world.
If the us vice president can’t get a little bit of respect from Israel, a country that has depended on the USA for its survival, then how can you expect respect from other nations? If Israeli right-wing officials can insult the American president with impunity, then how do you think others, regional rivals, will behave? What do you think the likes of Ahmadinejad and many others will learn from this lesson?
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Spooky Cooperation: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan…………..

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T15:02:00Z

“Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad paid an official visit to Kabul, the Afghan capital, and disclosed the help that Iran received to arrest Abdolmalek Rigi, the commander of the Jundollah guerrilla group which seeks independence for the Baluchi minority. Mr Rigi was captured about two weeks ago in an operation outside Iran’s borders. During a press conference in Kabul with Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad acknowledged the role of his neighbours in this operation, and “in particular Afghanistan”. Jundollah has killed dozens of members of Iran’s security forces, beheading one policeman in front of a television camera. Its violent campaign was centred on the Iran’s south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan….…”

Could the Afghans cooperate with the Eye-ranians without US acquiescence, or at least knowledge? I have strong doubts. But that is okay, these Jundullah are murderous Salafi thugs. They stopped buses, took people out, and slit their throats.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

New Jewish Tribe Found in Africa, Palestinians Declared as Lost Tribe………

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T14:54:00Z

They don't look it, I do......

“Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe' .The Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa may look like their compatriots, but they follow a very different set of customs and traditions. They do not eat pork, they practise male circumcision, they ritually slaughter their animals, some of their men wear skull caps and they put the Star of David on their gravestones. Their oral traditions claim that their ancestors were Jews who fled the Holy Land about 2,500 years ago. It may sound like another myth of a lost tribe of Israel, but British scientists have carried out DNA tests which have confirmed their Semitic origin. These tests back up the group's belief that a group of perhaps seven men married African women and settled on the continent. The Lemba, who number perhaps 80,000, live in central Zimbabwe and the north of South Africa…….”

Not another one!
With all the new tribes being discovered these days, there won’t be much land left for the Arabs in the West Bank, or maybe even in Gaza. First there were reports of the Pashtuns being lost Jews (that may explain their fundamentalist leanings), then Yemenis and other Africans. There was even talk of some Chinese ethnic group.
I have a suggestion: why not declare the Palestinian Arabs another lost Jewish tribe? Many of them surely have a lot of Jewish blood in them, and they definitely are lost. I am sure if you give the DNA test to Abu Mazen, Dahlan, or Haniya…….
That way they can all live in one big Jewish state- end of the story.
Think about it.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Saudis Arrest the Village People and Log Cabin GOP…………

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T14:46:00Z

“Saudi officials have reportedly arrested the star of a video that shows a young man flirting and dancing while wearing a police uniform. The video, which became a viral hit on YouTube, shows the man posing as a police officer. He asks the cameraman for his driver's license and registration, before saying both are expired. He then says the cameraman must give him "comfort" instead of paying the fine. Police First Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq told Arab News that the 27-year-old man star of the clip had been arrested along with another man. "He is facing three charges: One is for homosexuality; the other for general security; and the third is for impersonating a police officer," said Al-Bouq…...…”

The Village People can now forget about having a concert in Riyadh, or a tour of the Hejaz.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Shaikh Tantawi as a Democratic Senator: a Liberal and a Stooge…………..

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-11T14:39:00Z

“Was Egypt's Sheikh Tantawi a liberal or a stooge? For some, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the head of Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning, was a bravely outspoken liberal; for others, a mouthpiece of the Egyptian state. Sheikh Tantawi, who has died of a heart attack at the age of 81 while on a trip to Saudi Arabia, was not afraid of controversy. Since his appointment in 1996 as head of al-Azhar - Egypt's 1,000-year-old mosque and university - he sparked almost constant debate because of his outspoken views…….”

He was both a stooge and a relative liberal. Relatively liberal compared to Salafis or Saudi Shaikhs, and compared to all clerics in our Persian-American Gulf. And a stooge of the government that did its bidding. In being a stooge for the regime he was like all muftis in the Arab countries.
Which made him sort of like many Democrats in the United States Senate: liberals in one sense, but also stooges of the banking industry, health insurance industry, etc.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Good Advice from Bahrain for Geithner, Goldman Sachs, AIG, et al?……….

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T22:17:00Z

“Bahrain's finance minister said adherence to strict Islamic rules helped his country escape the worst of the global recession. Finance Minister Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed al Khalifa predicts growth of four percent for Bahrain's economy this year, saying "long-term consistent growth" is the kingdom's goal.…… Asked how the kingdom avoided some of the riskier assets that ended up crippling other economies, the minister said: "Looking at Islamic finances and industry, because they are barred by their own rules from some of the creative products, they were able to stay away from those industries…."……Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy with an elected legislative assembly….....”

Now the US Congress needs a bill that takes that into account. But will Pelosi be able to corral enough votes to pass it in the face of fierce lobbyists opposition?
Actually the assembly is only half elected (at most), the other half is appointed by the king.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Iraqi and Saudi Relations…….

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T22:09:00Z

“For the first time: Saudi Arabia opens all channels of cooperation with Iraq!.......”

Thus screamed the headline in the website of the ruling “State of Law” coalition of Iraq’s PM al-Maliki. Riyadh has not yet appointed an ambassador to Baghdad, something they promised several years ago. Perhaps they were waiting for a coup or a prime minister with the right inclination. Now they realize that Iraq has changed, that there will be no coup anytime soon, that they will have to deal with a Shi’a (Shi’ite) leader among those of the other tiles of the Iraqi mosaic.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

In Egypt: Good Fundamentalists and Evil Women…………

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T20:05:00Z

“Egypt's chilling conservatism. A new religious conservatism is on the march in Egypt, with women the biggest losers. Walk into any bookstore or newsstand selling books on religion. Almost all the books are about women, such as how to be a good wife or how to please your husband or how to cook tasty food for your husband. There is an entire field called "women's fatwas" that goes to unbelievable lengths to debate the legality of praying and fasting during menstruation and pregnancy, the dos and don'ts of sex and proper Islamic attire for respectable women. All over the streets, university campuses and on public transportation, there are posters depicting what women should and should not wear, with a big red X on anything other than a loose-fitting jilbab. Some female professors in Alexandria University's faculty of medicine have gone so far as to refuse to admit girls wearing trousers to oral exams. Any conversation with a taxi driver is bound to turn to how "all women are whores these days" and how they're "tempting us with their bodies". Sermons for men at mosques encourage them to teach "our women" the proper behavior of a Muslim woman, relentlessly reminding men of the alleged hadith of Prophet Muhammad that the greatest fitna (assumed to mean temptation) of the Muslim ummah is that of women…………”

Perhaps nowhere in the Middle East have women lost so much ground in the past two decades as in Egypt. Salafism has been on the march in Egypt, and it has infiltrated institutions and society in general. Salafi ideology now nearly determines what is “proper” in Egyptian public life, and as is the usual Salafi Wahhabi obsession, it has to do with women. One can see it in the proliferation of the niqab and burq’a, unknown in Cairo and Alexandria a few decades ago.
I probably know the secret behind that: almost any woman is smarter than almost any Salafi man (with all their nearly useless Shari’a degrees). And both sides know it.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

American Right Sides with Likud Against Biden…….

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T18:38:00Z

“Joe Biden's blast at Israel's plan for new housing units will only make the Obama team more unpopular in Jerusalem. Reihan Salam on America's waning influence abroad……”

Someone tell this rightist writer that being unpopular in Israel can sometimes mean being very popular in many other places. In some quarters it can mean being popular, with some influence waxing rather than waning. Sometimes that is the case, unfortunately, for the wrong reasons- but it happens. Besides, after George W Bush, no American president can be as popular in Israel. Certainly not a black president, not with an extreme right-wing coalition in power.
Perhaps if Sarah Palin can get in……..
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Glimmer of Hope for US Student Hostages in Iran?................

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T17:26:00Z

“Three American citizens being held in Iran on charges of illegal entry have phoned their families for the first time since they were taken into custody. According to a report by "Free the Hikers" a support group based in New York, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have called their families from their detention center in Tehran. "It was a tremendous relief to hear their voices at last and know that Shane, Sarah and Josh are keeping well and staying strong," a joint statement from the hikers' families said on Wednesday. The "Free the Hikers" statement added that the calls were "positive signal that their long detention may soon be over" for the new Iranian year starting March 21………” Press TV (Iran)
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Allawi Threatens Civil War, Shimon Perez of Iraq……….

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T16:03:00Z

“The candidates were disqualified on election eve by a commission empowered to ban government officials perceived to be loyal to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party. Most of the 55 disqualified candidates belonged to the Iraqiya list of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, which appeared to have drawn strong support from secular and Sunni communities in Sunday's election, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Annulling votes for the banned candidates could lead the Iraqiya coalition to allege vote-rigging by rival politicians, including some in the Shiite-led camp of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Allawi told The Post Tuesday. "It will be a very violent reaction," said Allawi, who is a Shiite. "A lot of violence will take place, and God knows how this will end."……”

Iyad Allawi is now threatening civil war if his coalition of former and current and closet Baathists is not given power after losing the election. I still stick by my last fatwa: that he will never become prime minister of Iraq.
They keep calling him the “former prime minister”. The true title would be the former “appointed” prime minister. Allawi is like Israel’s Shimon Perez: he was never elected to the job, and was appointed to it once for a short time only. Except Perez would never threaten civil war when he lost.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Franco-Arab Frenching, Singing Kumbaya in Paris………….

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T15:26:00Z

“Saudi women, who are undergoing the process of emancipation, will be the French Senate’s honored guests on Thursday, the 11th of March, during a first-of-its-kind seminar themed “A Look at the Saudi Society.” The seminar, which will be coupled with a conference and a ceremony at the Arab World Institute (IMA), is a part of a Saudi charm offensive, and will be conducted in the presence of the governor of Makkah Province, Prince Khalid al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. Prince Khalid, whose passion for culture earned him the title of the "emir of thought and poetry, will present "development projects in his region," said a press release issued by the conference’s organizers: the “France-Saudi Arabia-Gulf Countries Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group”, chaired by Senator Philippe Marini, and the “Strategies for Cultural Development Institute (ISDC),” chaired by Senator Laurence Selin.……..”

Before all the Frenching ensues:
“France-Saudi Arabia-Gulf Countries Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group”. But don’t you need elected parliaments for that? Okay, maybe I am uncharacteristically naive, but.....
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Joe Biden Ambushed by Israeli Rightists, Needs Dental Work.......

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T15:17:00Z

“Biden went to the Mideast to kick off negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and reassured the latter of undying US support for them. On Chris Matthews' Hardball, Biden explained that when you marry someone, you tell them you love them, but that does not remove the obligation to keep saying it years later. Apparently, however, Washington is henpecked by Tel Aviv to the point almost of being a battered spouse. In response to Biden's loyal support for Israel over decades, the Likud-led government kicked him in the teeth. Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai abruptly announced that he would build 1600 new households (for 8,000 people?) in a part of the Occupied West Bank that the Israeli government had annexed to Jerusalem District……” Informed Comment (3/10)

And he is such a nice guy: hard to believe he belonged to the same senate club with such Neanderthals as Mitch McConnell, Jon Kyl, etc.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Back from the Future: a Yemeni Bride…………..

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T14:54:00Z

“Nujood Ali captured the world's attention in 2008 when she showed up in at a Sanaa courthouse demanding a divorce from her thirty-something husband, thrusting the 10-year-old into the spotlight as the face of child brides in Yemen……… Two years later, things are looking up for Nujood: the bestselling book she co-wrote with French journalist Delphine Minoui was this week released in English, and the royalties are paying for her family's new home and business, as well as private school for Nujood and her little sister, Haifa…….”

In the moderate New Middle East, the bulwark of (Western) civilization against the radical horde.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Plutocrats of Mecca, a Sinai Madness, a Taxing Prophet…………

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T14:47:00Z

“A “controversial” Egyptian writer has suggested that Egypt should build a new Kaaba in Sinai for all religions, where people of all faiths can go on pilgrimage, with the goal reducing the importance of Mecca. Alaraya daily of Qatar reports the writer claims his proposal will earn the Egyptian treasury about 40 billion Egyptian pounds a year. The daily reports that he has claimed in the past that the world hates “us” because of Islam and that Islam ended with the death of the Prophet Mohammed……….”

I replaced the term they had with “controversial”. Even then, it is an understatement. I am surprised he is still breathing somewhere in the Middle East. Or maybe he is not in the Middle East.
I believe the Egyptian man is unbalanced (impolite people would call him crazy), even if we allow for something like a First Amendment, which does not exist anywhere in the region.
The whole idea of a new Kaaba is absurd. But my economics-trained mind can’t help but explore the impact on all the oligarchs and plutocrats who own all the five-star hotels crowding out the House of God in Mecca. The Prophet himself was a believer in a form of “market socialism”, with taxes and all that (tea-baggers not welcome). He would be outraged at all the new idols surrounding the Kaaba, a bare fourteen centuries after he destroyed the original idols of Mecca. The plutocrats of Mecca have always made money off pilgrims, since long before Islam.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Disgruntled Camels, Disgruntled People, a Trail of Victims…………

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T14:38:00Z

The people of Saudi Arabia may be calm and complacent, downright conformists, but their camels are spirited.
Reports say that a camel east of Hafr al-Batin attacked its Sudanese herder and killed him with its bare…. hoofs. Another report is about a disgruntled camel that chased and attacked two teen-age daughters of its owner and sent them both to the hospital with serious wounds.
I like camels, always have respected them. I feel sorry for the dead and wounded in these cases. But it is interesting to see someone, anyone, being publicly and loudly disgruntled in Saudi Arabia. I like to see publicly disgruntled peoples and camels. That is why I was pleased when there were many loudly disgruntled people on the streets of Tehran last summer and autumn. In the Middle East, the more disgruntled people I see in the street, the happier I am. Barring that, I am also happy with unruly disgruntled camels: they are the next best thing.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email

Jihad Jane, Jihad Joe, Falafel Jane, Deli Joe………

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com (Mohammed Haider Ghuloum PhD) — 2010-03-10T14:26:00Z

“A suburban Philadelphia woman "desperate to do something" to help suffering Muslims has been charged with using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas, even agreeing to move to Europe to try to kill someone, prosecutors said Tuesday. Authorities said the case shows how terror groups are looking to recruit Americans to carry out their goals. A federal indictment charges that Colleen R. LaRose, who called herself JihadJane online, agreed to kill a Swedish citizen on orders from the unnamed terrorists and traveled to Europe to carry out the killing. It doesn't say whether the Swede was killed, but LaRose was not charged with murder. A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman wouldn't confirm the case is related to a group of people arrested in Ireland earlier Tuesday on suspicion of plotting against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. But a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said LaRose had targeted the Swedish cartoonist and had online discussions about her plans with at least one of the suspects apprehended……”

Jihad Jane: too much time, too much wine, not enough Jihad Joe……. who knows?
But plotting terrorism online these days is about as smart as plotting terrorism in a falafel joint (Arab joint not Israeli joint) or at a Sunni mosque. Which is about as smart as plotting it openly at a Starbucks or at a Jewish deli in New York City. And if the lady wanted to " help suffering Muslims", she should think of "meeting" their leaders, not some Swedish schmuck.
Is diminished mental ability a defense anymore?
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email