Neck of the woods
“The number of Syrians in Jordan has passed 140,000, according to relief agencies, as officials scramble to expand overcrowded transit facilities. According to interior ministry statistics quoted by the UN, over 140,000 Syrians have crossed into Jordan legally and illegally since Damascus’ launch of a military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in March 2011, a number the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says is rising by some 300 per day. Of the total, some 26,000 have registered as refugees — a number expected to hit 30,000 by the end of the month — in yet another sign that displaced Syrians are preparing for an extended stay in the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the influx of Syrian refugees has pushed so-called transit facilities “beyond capacity”, local relief agencies say, prompting authorities to establish the fourth holding centre in less than six months…….”
When Iraq was going through its min civil war, only Jordan and Syria opened their doors to the inevitable refugees. Other countries: Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, talked loudly about the plight of Iraqis but they did not open their doors. Syria and Jordan did: this almost makes up for these two countries’ lack of a sense of humor, almost. Now Syria is in turmoil, and it is Jordan as the only Arab country that is receiving most of the refugees. The other Arabs claim support for the Syrian people, but they don’t want them anywhere nearby. (The one odd exception may be a twist in Bahrain: the regime is importing many Syrians with experience in crowd control, interrogation, and torture to help it crush the uprising of the Bahrain people). This Jordanian stand deserves some praise, given the country’s limited resources. It should shame countries like Saudi Arabia that is the loudest in support of the opposition and provides arms and volunteers but would not allow refugees. Assuming Syrian refugees want to go to the grim Wahhabi kingdom. It goes to show you: humor is not everything during a period of turmoil. Cheers
mhg [email protected]
Neck of the woods “Is it the fate of Arabs to keep getting liberated by their former masters?” Nobody else
“The Guardian witnessed the transfer of weapons in early June near the Turkish frontier. Five men dressed in the style of Gulf Arabs arrived in a police station in the border village of Altima in Syria and finalised a transfer from the Turkish town of Reyhanli of around 50 boxes of rifles and ammunition, as well as a large shipment of medicines. The men were treated with deference by local FSA leaders and were carrying large bundles of cash. They also received two prisoners held by rebels, who were allegedly members of the pro-regime militia, the Shabiha. The influx of weapons has reinvigorated the insurrection in northern Syria, which less than six weeks ago was on the verge of being crushed. The move to pay the guerrilla forces’ salaries is seen as a chance to capitalise on the sense of renewed confidence, as well as provide a strong incentive for soldiers and officers to defect. The value of the Syrian pound has fallen sharply in value since the anti-regime revolt started 16 months ago, leading to a dramatic fall in purchasing power. The plan centres on paying the FSA in either US dollars or euros, meaning their salaries would be restored to their pre-revolution levels, or possibly increased. The US senator Joe Lieberman, who is actively supporting the Syrian opposition, discussed the issue of FSA salaries during a recent trip to Lebanon and Saudi Arabia…………..”
Qatari money is buying chunks of France England already. It may soon own a chunk of the “new” Egypt, (including Islamic shaikhs, generals, and politicians) the chunk that is not owned by the al-Saud princes. Qatari and Saudi money are certainly aiming at buying Syria, with a down-payment paid now to the Free Syrian Army until the Baathist al-Assad regime falls. Once the regime falls, Qatari money and Saudi money will be fighting it out for the soul of the “new” Syria as well. Neither of them will win. Which brings me to Joe Lieberman. Joe has two major issues that are close to his heart. The first one is the interests of the giant insurance corporations who contributed money to his past campaigns and are certain to offer him a lucrative salary when his term expires next year. The second one is the interests of Israel, as he perceives them. Joe doesn’t care about the Syrian people, any more than he cares about the Iranian or Saudi or Egyptian peoples. In fact, Joe probably doesn’t give a figabout any of these people. The main Middle East variable, the only “dependent variable” or “target variable” in the regional equation is Israel. In fairness to Joe Lieberman: do you think he is any different from many Arab leaders in not giving a fig about the Arab peoples? Is it the fate of some Arabs to keep getting liberated by their former masters? By the West and now Turkey? Cheers
mhg [email protected]
Neck of the woods
“The message sent by the military council that rules Egypt was simple: “Don’t mess with Egypt’s armed forces.” The message received by the activists who flooded Tahrir Square 18 months ago: “Egypt’s revolution, which began with a bang, is ending with a whimper.” With several decrees, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces — a body of 20 generals – moved to neuter civilian authority and give itself unprecedented powers. It got some help from the Supreme Constitutional Court. The timing was hardly coincidental. The candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood was running strongly in the final round of the presidential election against a former Egyptian Air Force general. [Read more about the candidates]. What many observers are calling a “constitutional coup” has serious implications not only for the prospect of democracy in Egypt, but also for the future of the Arab world and for the close relationship between Washington and Cairo……….”
That is not the true message: it is that democracy is never given. It is taken. Egypt’s SCAF military junta (aka the Zombies) is following a soft version of the Algerian model. It closed the elected parliament (just like the Algerian regime did in 1991) but MAY allow an opposition president to be elected to a weakened office. Maybe. Why
the pretended surprise about the SCAF coup? We have known that since last year: the coup has been happening since Mubarak was deposed. A gradual coup that was designed to keep Tahrir Square empty even as it aborted the revolution, gutted it of any meaning. And it was allowed to happen because the Egyptian people did not want to anger the military enough to have it abort the “revolution”. Even though everybody knew that was exactly what the military was doing. Delaying publishing the election results is also part of this coup. The military may surprise us all and announce the victory of Mohammed Morsi against their own favorite candidate, General Ahmad Shafiq. A Pyrrhic victory they hope will keep Egypt effectively under military rule for another generation or two. That may explain why Omar Suleiman, Mubarak’s chief spook and only vice president, and his family have departed for the United Arab Emirates this week. Either
way, the military may win its victory for a while. The next revolution, whenever it comes, may be a real one, not a remake of the old regime. Cheers
mhg [email protected]
“And the storybook comes to a close.
Gone are the ribbons and bows.
Things to remember, places to go,
Pretty maids all in a row………..”The Eagles
“The Kenyan government has barred its citizens from becoming domestic workers in the Middle East, notably the Gulf region, after an increasing number of reports of violence and abuse have been reported. Women from the country have returned to Kenya with horror stories of sexual violence at the hands of the employers, mainly in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates……. Until the new rules are ready, Kenyan citizens are barred from seeking work in the Middle East as domestic workers. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia sent a team to Kenya to discuss the issue. The Saudi government insisted their laws protect foreign workers. Maids from across the globe often complain of horrible treatment in the Gulf, singling out Saudi Arabia as the main culprit of violations, including rape and sexual abuse……….”
As I posted here atan earlier date:Indonesia stopped sending housemaids to Saudi Arabia because some of them have been beheaded over there and there are many others on death row waiting for their heads to be chopped off. There have also been cases of foreign housemaids being tortured and killed by their employees. Apparently the Saudis can’t do without foreign housemaids, even though local unemployment is in the double digits (and over 30% for young adults). Their national motto seems to be borrowed from an old American campaign slogan: “Two cars and two maids in every house“. They also can’t do without beheading people. I have also posted on this issue this past year: Here, as well as Here, and Here, and other dates.
“Allah Akbar. Voilà, the truth has emerged and the untruth has perished” Nobody else
The situation in Libya is deteriorating rapidly. Early on after the fall and death of Muammar Qaddafi last year, there were signs of division and turf-building among opposition armed groups across the country. Now this has worsened to almost continuous multiparty battles across the country: in cities and in rural areas. The conflicts are inter-tribal, inter-ethnic (Arab and Berber or Amazigh) as well as inter-religious and ideological, among others. Inserted into this mix are some groups that are apparently still loyal to the deposed Qaddafi regime. There have also been notable assassinations of senior figures of the new order (often they also served the old regime). Another disturbing early post-Qaddafi development is that Libya seems to be following Qaddafi policies on several fronts. Maybe that is so because most its current elites were Qaddafi bureaucrats and thugs in the past. That is not just in terms of human rights violations and abuse of prisoners. Libya is reported to have been shipping weapons and fighters to Syria for some time now. According to media reports a good portion of imported Arab fighters in Syria are Libyans. Libya also has a strong strain of Salafi Jihadists who are making life hard for others. A portion of al-Qaeda personnel are now also Libyans (al-Libi or El-Libi who was or was not killed two weeks ago by a U.S. drone is obviously one of them). No doubt there is some intersection between these two facts in Syria.
French pop-philosopher Bernard–Henri Lévy, when asked his advise as a former liberator of Libya, merely shrugged in a Gallic way and said: “Let’s invade and liberate Syria, before worrying about Iran”. Salafis and Muslim Brothers around the region, especially on the Gulf, cheered him heartily with loud chants of: “Allahu Akbar. Voilà, the truth has emerged and the untruth has perished”. Cheers
mhg [email protected]
Neck of the woods “Turkey said its air force jet that disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea on Friday was shot down by Syria, in an action likely to worsen already strained relations between the neighboring countries. A statement following a two-hour security meeting led by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the warplane that went missing near Syria was downed by Syrian forces and that the two Turkish pilots remain missing. It said Turkey “will determinedly take necessary steps” in response, without saying what they would be…………”
The reason the Turks are being cautious in their reaction could be that it was the Russian defenses around the Russian naval base at Tartous that shot down the F-4. Al-Quds Al-Arabi from London hints that is a possibility, that there is speculation the Turks may have tried to test Russian and Syrian reaction on behalf of NATO. Either way the Syrian most likely had the green light from Moscow to take action. They would not have dared shoot at it unless it had penetrated their territory. It also notes that Russia has supplied Syria with the S-300 air defense missiles, the same type that it canceled for Iran two years ago under Western pressure. No doubt the Turks are being cautious because of the Russian angle, given that the Syrian regime itself has little leverage internationally, is up the proverbial creek internationally. Cheers
mhg [email protected]
Neck of the woods “A celebrated Algerian novelist was given a top French literary prize on Thursday in a ceremony that was marred by the withdrawal of its Arab sponsors. Boualem Sansal had been due to receive the Editions Gallimard Arabic Novel prize for his book “Rue Darwin” [Darwin Street] earlier in June. The 15,000 euro prize was to be given by the Paris-based Arab Ambassador’s Council, which founded the award in 2008. But between being nominated and being awarded his prize, Sansal attended the Jerusalem Writers Festival in May – as guest of honour. Militant Palestinian Islamist group Hamas called it, “an act of treason against the Palestinian people.” By the time the writer was due to receive his award, the Ambassadors Council had permanently withdrawn its support for the award………… Speaking on France Inter radio on Friday, Sansal said it was “completely unacceptable” that the ambassadors should interfere with their own jury’s decision ………..”
This is a strange case, not an easy one, involving politics and literary merit. If his book was good and deserved the prize in April, what has changed in the book to make it undeserving in June? Did he revise the book to make it less deserving during that period? Regardless of what you think of his visit to Jerusalem. Perceptions of the man’s work changed in some ways because of his visit, but the criteria for the award would be the same. Now he won’t have the 15,000 euro to spend in Paris. That is a shame, a big fat dommage: I can think of no better place to spend 15,000 euro than Paris (the one in France not the one in Texas, assuming this guy is not into giving to charities). All they did was to make his novel better known: I shall order a copy for my iPad or Kindle this afternoon.
Neck of the woods Bahrain regime mercenary forces severely beat some leaders of al-Wefaq opposition group today during a march. They also beat up a lot of other people, but that is something they have been doing every day for the past year and a half. So Ali Salman the leader of al-Wefaq tweets asking God to forgive them, saying that “forgive them Lord, for they know not what they are doing”. Typical al-Wefaq thing. They certainly know, the regime, what they are doing. If it was me, I’d say “Lord, kick their corrupt fat royal asses and smite them and their Goddamned foreign mercenaries….”
Neck of the woods Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz died in Switzerland where he had gone for medical treatment. He was also minister of interior and his son was deputy minister of interior. Previous Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz had died eight months earlier while abroad for medical treatment. He was also minister of defense and his son Khalid was deputy minister of defense while his other son Bandar was chief of National Security. Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz is the new Crown Prince and Minister of Defense, one of his sons runs the Saudi daily Asharq Alawsat for him. Look for other sons of his to rise in the hierarchy. King Abdullah was lucky in that he did not go abroad for medical treatment while crown prince (I believe he went as king which apparently makes a difference). Salman was overseas in Europe when Nayef died and had to rush back home. I bet Salman will never go overseas for medical treatment, not until after the mandatory dangerous first eight months have passed.
This is all a warm up, the foreplay for the real engagement to come. That is when all the older sons of Abdulaziz have died off and the next generation of these thousands of princes face off over who gets to control the money and the power (sorry, no glory there). Cheers
mhg [email protected]
Neck of the woods
“An American teen was unable to shop at an Apple store simply because she was speaking Farsi with her uncle. What seems to be a clear-cut case of ethnic profiling turns out to be in line with official company policy. Sabah Sabet, a 19-year old US citizen of Iranian extraction, and a student of the University of Georgia, took her uncle to buy an iPhone and an iPad at an Apple store in a mall in Alpharetta, Georgia, local news channel WSBTV reports. But she was in for a shocker, as the store clerk refused to sell them the devices after he found out Sabet and her uncle were speaking Farsi. “When we said ‘Farsi, I’m from Iran,’ he said, ‘I just can’t sell this to you. Our countries have bad relations,’” Sabet recounted. Sabet said the incident, which she describes as “discrimination” and “racial profiling,” …………..”
“However, U.S. sanctions laws do not prohibit the sale of products to Iranian Americans or Iranian visa-holders in the United States. Yet, multiple Apple Stores have refused service to both American citizens and Iranian students legally residing in the United States solely on the basis of their ethnicity. In particular, Apple Stores at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia and at Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, Georgia have beenimplicated in this practice .………..” The United States is the least xenophobic country and society in the world, yet there are pockets of it around. It is definitely racism (a Russian news agency called it iRacism). These products are made in CHINA, by CHINESE workers, and how stupid can you get for F-sake! I think that is just some parts of Georgia being Georgian. Next time these Iranian-Americans are asked what language they are speaking they ought to say (heaven forgive me for suggesting that someone lie) Hebrew. No problem, piece of cake. Cheers
mhg [email protected]
Multidisciplinary: Middle East, North Africa, Gulf, GCC, World, Cosmos…..
