Monthly Archives: January 2015

Arab Revolutions, Saudi Arabia

Sorcerers Beware: New King Inaugurates his Reign with a Beheading……..

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“An alleged rapist was executed Monday but many Saudis believe the case against him was shaky. A Saudi man accused of raping young girls was beheaded on Monday in the first execution under the administration of Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman. Teacher Moussa al-Zahrani, 45, was beheaded in the western city of Jeddah…………..”

So the new king continues in the progressive liberal reformist tradition of his predecessor, the late King Abdullah. European leaders are like most Arab journalists, hungry for Saudi money and contracts. They have flocked to Riyadh and firmly anointed the late Abdullah as a progressive liberal reformer. Those fine traits were evidenced by his military crushing of the Bahrain uprising, his financing of the restoration of the old Egyptian military regime, and the continued flogging of dissidents and the beheading of witches and sorcerers, among other feats.
The new monarch has big shoes to fill…..
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Caliphate, Japan, Jordan, Terrorism

Western Delusions about Kenji Goto, Al Rishawi, and Jordan……….

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“The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) demanded the release of a woman being held in Jordan for allegedly attempting to carry out a series of terrorist attacks in 2005, Reuters news agency reported. In a broadcast carried by the Al-Bayan radio, which transmits in areas the group controls, ISIS described Sajida al-Rishawi as “our sister” asking for her release in exchange for the freedom of Kenji Goto, a Japanese hostage held by the militants. Rishawi is a would-be Iraqi female suicide bomber on death row in Jordan in connection with triple hotel bomb attacks in Amman that killed 60 people…………….”

Sometimes Western pundits and media experts seem delusional about the Middle East. Take the example of the remaining Japanese hostage held by ISIS, Kenji Goto. There is serious talk among Western ‘experts’ that perhaps the humorless Kingdom of Jordan might release an Iraqi terrorist in exchange for him, as the terrorists have demanded. They mean an Iraqi woman, Sajida Al-Rishwai, who participated in bombings in Amman hotels that killed tens of people during the days of Al-Zarqawi. She claims she was coerced by her husband, which is very likely, although she failed to detonate it in the end.
They actually think that Jordan could release the woman, Rishawi, as ISIS is demanding in exchange for the Japanese man. I have some bad news for them.
Can you imagine the uproar in Jordan if the woman is released in order to free a Japanese hostage in Syria? At a time when ISIS is holding a Jordanian Air Force pilot who was shot down over Syria? If the Jordanian pilot is indeed a hostage and not just a defector from the humorless Jordanian Air Force. Which reminds me: we have not read much about how he happened to end up in the hands of ISIS.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Human Right, Nazism

Arabian Reich: Arbeit Macht Frei, Public Flogging Macht Frei, Tear Gas Macht Frei………

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It is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The Nazi concentration-death camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army as it swept across Poland toward Germany in January 1945.

Sometimes I think the 1960s terms used by JFK “Let them come to Berlin“, “Ich bin ein ‘Berliner'(?)” must have sounded naive and absurd to an average Russian in Leningrad or Stalingrad or to anyone in any Soviet village east of Poland. Barely 15 years after WWII and the horrors of Operation Barbarossa. By the 1980s, however, Reagan’s “Tear down this wall…..” sounded more reasonable and plausible.

Anyway, my focus is the Middle East. The Nazis posted a cruel slogan at the entrance to their concentration camps, which housed mostly Jews but also dissidents, leftists, and other undesirables. The absurd slogan was “Arbeit Macht Frei“, something the cotton plantation owners never thought of in Old Dixie. In the Middle East, one can imagine new slogans based on that one. The Saudi princes can erect “Public Flogging Macht Frei“, or “Absolute monarchy Macht Frei“. The Egyptian regime can erect “Bullets Macht Frei“. The Bahrain rulers can erect “Tear Gas Macht Frei“, or “Kleptocrats Macht Frei“. They and the rulers of UAE can both quite reasonably erect “Foreign Mercenaries Macht Frei“. The caliphate of ISIS might put up “Concubines Macht Frei”. Tony Blair might add to his letterhead “Oil Oligarchs Macht Frei”. No irony intended………..

BTW: did you read that the British Ministry of Justice “is hoping to profit from selling its expertise to the prison service in Saudi Arabia, a country notorious for public beheadings, floggings, amputations and courts that regularly violate human rights.…………”?

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Culture, Muslims, Names

American Education: from Czechoslovakia to Houthi……….

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Poor American public. They had thought Ahmadinejad was a tough one to pronounce. Was just beginning to get comfortable with him, if that is possible, when our region provided new distractions. They had to learn how (not) to say Shi’a (or Shi’ite) and how to spell AlZarqawi and Abu Bakr Al Samarrai. Now with Yemen in the headlines they have been hit with how to pronounce ‘Houthi‘, which makes any American feel like they have a sore throat and maybe streptococcus (only if they say it the correct way).

But that is okay. A people that weathered Dzhugashvili (remember Joe?) and Czechoslovakia (phew, that one is over) and Shevardnadze (so is he) and Brzezinski and Gronkowski (of the losing team of upcoming Super Bowl XLIX) can learn to spell and pronounce anything, especially simpler Muslim names like mine and ours……….
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Politics, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Hyperbole Arabica: Saudi-Egyptian Ties to Last Until the Dinosaurs Return…….

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Egypt’s Shorouk News quotes the Saudi ambassador in Cairo making a strange statement. Supposedly a prescient statement. He is quoted as saying that Saudi Arabian policy towards Egypt will not change until the Judgement day (or End of Time).
He might have added: until the regime changes or until the dinosaurs return……….

After that, all bets are apparently of.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Cairo, Egypt

Bloody Tahrir: A Tale of Two Murdered Women……….

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KuwaitCox2   Shaimaa El Sabbagh                                                                     Shaimaa dying in the New Egypt…..

Remember in 2009, during the Iranian protests after the disputed re-election of former president Ahmadinejad? A young woman named Neda Agha Sultan was shot dead on the street. Western media, especially in the USA, covered her death extensively. She was headlined in cable television and printed media and social media, and rightly so. Oddly some guy who claimed to be her fiance was even shown in Israeli media meeting with president Shimon Peres.

Now back to 2015 (and the photo up there). Just before the anniversary of the January 25, 2011 attempted revolution in Egypt. A known female activist named Shimaa El Sabagh was shot dead by Al Sisi security agents. She died in her husband’s arms. I don’t see her anywhere on the usual cable TV networks. Nor have I seen any of the many thousands who were killed by the current military regime in Egypt………

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Cuba, Human Right, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Foreign Policy

From Cuba to the Arab World: America and the Dissidents…….

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Reports tell us that American diplomats in Cuba met with Cuban dissidents yesterday. They shared a meal together and talked. That is in Communist undemocratic repressive Cuba. The Cuba that restricts its people from coming to the USA even more than the USA restricts its people from going to Cuba.

Now to U.S. allies, non-communist anti-democratic allies:
A few months ago an American undersecretary of state was kicked out of Bahrain because he talked with some opposition leaders. Three years earlier another American diplomat was hounded out of Bahrain because he talked about human rights.
Can an American delegation meet and talk with local dissidents of whom there are many (in and out of prison) in Saudi Arabia? Or in the United Arab Emirates? Or even in Egypt? Would they dare?

Of course it is possible that because Cuba is in the Western Hemisphere, geographically and culturally, we should expect more of her. Which is like saying that Arabs (and Muslims) either do not deserve or don’t want democracy and freedom of expression. Which may not be as bigoted as it sounds. I know that, based on painful experience, most Arabs (outside Lebanon) are wary of the freedom of expression: mostly it gets you prison, torture, premature death, exile, or a combination of the above.

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Barack Obama, Chickenshit, Israel, U.S. Congress

A Tale of Two Sieges: Obama in Sana’a on the Potomac……..

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It is tempting this week to compare two cities, two governments, and two countries. On the face of it no two countries can be more different than the United States of America and Yemen. No two cities can be as different as Washington DC and Sana’a. But I shall try to blur the sharp differences:
Months ago Houthi rebels swept from the north and took over the capital of Yemen, Sana’a. They had president Generalissimo Abd Rabu Hadi under a friendly siege for several months as they maneuvered to bend the regime to their will. This week the Houthis seem to have succeeded, for now, in taking complete control of the governance of (North) Yemen. For now: Yemen is not easy to tame. Some in neighboring Arab countries claim that the Houthis depended on Iranian support in their confrontation with the regime. They are also reported to depend on Iranian money. A plausible claim, but then a clever skeptic can say that Generalissimo President Hadi and his corrupt supporters depended on Saudi and UAE money.
Two months ago the very conservative Republicans in the U.S. finished their complete control of both houses of the United States Congress, in Washington DC. They tightened their siege of President Obama, hoping to eventually depose him and replace him with one of their own tribe by 2016. There is no need for anyone to claim that the Republicans in DC depend on the Israeli Likud in their confrontation with Obama. That is not necessary. This week we learned that they have secretly invited the head of Likud, Netanyahu, to come to Washington to officially anoint them as true leaders of the city, just as they will officially anoint him the new war president of America when he makes his speech in Washington in February. He, the alleged chickenshit, will get more standing ovations than Obama can even dream of. More than Abe Lincoln would get. That goes for both parties since nobody dares to be seen to rebuff Netanyahu or be tepid about him for the sake of a mere U.S. president.

Many of these congressmen, of both parties, also depend on pro-Likud money encouraged through AIPAC blessings or directly from Likudnik rich tycoons like Adelson.
I know, I know, there are some major differences with Yemen. But the recent similarities are almost shocking when you think about them.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Al Aqeda, Arabian Peninsula, U.S. Foreign Policy, Yemen

American Friends, American Enemies: from Syrians to Al Qaeda to Houthis……….

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Strange state of American foreign policy these days. There are cases and situations where allies and foes can be exchanged:

  • The current leader of America’s allegedly closest ally (Israel) and the U.S. president intensely dislike each other. It is obvious they have little respect for each other. Mr. Obama knows that Benyamin Netanyahu bears him ill will, besides being a habitual liar who can’t be trusted (imagine, a politician lying to another politician!). Most Western European leaders also believe the same. Mr. Netanyahu clearly believes that the U.S. president is a weakling who is not willing to launch an attack on Iran on Israel’s behalf. In fairness nor did George W Bush, but Netanyahu would never dare openly defy Bush.
  • Mr. Obama believes that a nuclear deal with Iran is better than yet another American war waged against yet another Muslim country. Especially given the doubtful outcome, the cost-benefit of that war. America’s closest allies outside Europe, the Israelis, and the ruling potentates and princes of some Persian Gulf states, strongly object to almost any feasible deal.
  • The Republican leader of the U.S. Congress has invited Mr. Netanyahu to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress, just after President Obama’s State of the Union Speech. Basically they are inviting  a foreign leader to respond to the U.S. president. Inside the U.S Congress! Unheard of anywhere in the world.
  • Mr. Obama also now has problems with some of his Arab allies regarding Syria. He and his advisers and most the American foreign policy establishment have revised their position on the Syrian civil war. Most have realized in the past year or so the real danger in Syria now is not the survival of Bashar Al Assad, but what will come afterwards. They were hoodwinked by Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari potentates into betting on the Free Syrian Army, which also did a good job of selling itself to some gullible and jingoistic American senators like McCain and Graham and the not-so-dearly-departed Lieberman. The Free Syrian Army soon morphed, most of it, into Al Nusra Front and ISIS and other groups of kidnappers and cutthroats. 
  • The Americans and the Syrians and Hezbollah and the Iranians are now fighting the same enemy, the Jihadis. For now. Eventually, the Americans would like for Al Assad and Iran and Hezbollah to go away (I am not sure where they can go since they live in the region). Eventually the Syrians and Iranians and Hezbollah would like for the Americans to go away (also not feasible any time soon).
  • To complicate matters, there pops up Yemen, hardly felix now. In Yemen, the United States is trying hard to stem and roll back the regional Al Qaeda branch (AQAP) mainly by bombing its Saudi and Yemeni leadership. So are the new power wielders in Yemen, the Houthis who now control the capital. Yet the Gulf states, especially the Saudi princes and the UAE potentates, don’t approve of the Houthis. Besides their faith which is an offshoot of Shi’ism, they are also suspected of being too close to the Iranian regime. You can’t get any more heretical than that from a Wahhabi point of view. The Houthis do sport some silly Iranian-like anti-American slogans on posters in Sanaa, but it is not clear (to me) if their heart is in it. Nor where they stand ideologically regarding an Iran-style theocracy.
  • So the Houthis fight Al Qaeda. The Houthis are reported to be supplied by Iran, although they don’t seem to carry advanced weapons, unlike Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Americans fight Al Qaeda. Both Houthis and Al Qaeda fight the previous dominant tribal oligarchs of Yemen. Al Qaeda also as usual kidnaps and/or kills any Westerners (or Shi’as) they can get their hands on. Then there are the separatists of South Yemen who would like to regain the independence they lost in 1990. Complicated? Just hang on, it is going to get even more complicated in the coming weeks.
  • Then there is Lebanon, a place the Israeli military seem unable to stay away from. Once I likened it to the moth unable to resist the light and the fire, and cleverly if I may say so. We shall leave Lebanon, and Iraq, and North Africa for another day.

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Israel, U.S. Congress, U.S. Foreign Policy

A Superpower with a Banana Republic Foreign Policy………

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The Republican leader of the U.S. Congress, John Boehner, has invited Mr. Netanyahu to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress, just after President Obama’s State of the Union Speech. Basically they are inviting  a foreign leader to respond to the U.S. president. Inside the U.S Congress! Unheard of anywhere in the world.
Two foreign policies in the same capital, in Washington. This is the ‘stuff’ of banana republics. Not all banana republics, some of them. It is something you see these day in Yemen. And it is happening in Washington, still capital of the only superpower. it hasn’t moved to Tel Aviv yet.

Here is how I responded yesterday: “Apparently the Republican Congress have invited him, again, to respond to Obama’s State of the Union speech. And his groupies in Washington are trying to help him in the March Israeli elections. Sheldon Adelson and his money be praised!…….”
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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