Category Archives: Arab Revolutions

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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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…….

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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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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Al Aqeda, Arab Revolutions, Cairo, Media, Muslims, Saudi Arabia

Friedman Dumps Faithful Abdo for Two Saudi Intellectuals…….

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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“Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, one of the most respected Arab journalists, wrote Monday in his column in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: “Protests against the recent terrorist attacks in France should have been held in Muslim capitals, rather than Paris, because, in this case, it is Muslims who are involved in this crisis and stand accused. … The story of extremism begins in Muslim societies, and it is with their support and silence that extremism has grown into terrorism that is harming people. It is of no value that the French people, who are the victims here, take to the streets………….. “Muslims need to ‘upgrade their software,’ which is programmed mainly by our schools, television and mosques — especially small mosques that trade in what is forbidden,” Egyptian intellectual Mamoun Fandy wrote in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat…………”

Friedman has finally dumped his all-wise Arab taxi driver. Abdo in Cairo, Abed in Beirut, Abul-Abed in humorless Jordan have all been ditched in favor of something new (at least new to me). Something he considers loftier (I disagree on this one). Friedman has settled on the prototype of great Arab thinker and intellectuals. And where did he find both? In a newspaper owned by Saudi Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Yep, in Prince Salman’s Asharq Alawsat. That font of intellectual power.

Al-Rashed, who is “one of the most-respected Arab journalists” but only in Riyadh and the Gulf states. He used to be the editor in chief of Asharq Alawsat, and is now general manager of Saudi semi-official Alarabiya network but also moonlights in Asharq Alawsat. Both parts of the vast Saudi royal media that spans the Middle East and Europe. Mr. Fandy is ‘very close’ to the Saudis. I remember him mainly for ranting during the late Mubarak months, maybe 2010 0r 2009, about the Muslim Brotherhood members of the tame parliament being Iranian agents and that they should not be allowed in the puppet Mubarak parliament. Apparently he thought that parliament was not puppet enough (the next one will surely be puppet enough). I mean, you can’t get any more intellectual than that.
Now one of them wants a million-man Arab march, but of course a march not in Saudi Arabia, the incubator of Wahhabism. I recall last time a million Arabs marched was in Cairo in 2011. They were eventually betrayed and the old Mubarak regime is back in power, even more beholden to Saudi and UAE money.

Besides, it is impossible to get any prominent Arabs, besides Mahmoud Abbas, to publicly claim that “Je suis Charlie”. Almost universally Arabs believe that Charlie Hebdo blasphemed the Prophet, which it did of course (the French are deep into blaspheming, and not just against Islam). Unless Friedman and his “intellectual” pals can get Generalissimo Al Sisi and a certain ailing old king to set the tone by joining the march. The palace muftis can also tag along for the ride.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Mercenaries, Persian-American Gulf, UAE, United Arab Emirates

Gulf of Mercenaries: OMG, the British are Coming Back……….

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seem to be in a race to see which one can establish more foreign military bases and which one can hire more foreign mercenaries. I once suggested that the Persian-American Gulf should be renamed the Gulf of Mercenaries, mainly because of these two countries’ penchant for importing foreign mercenaries to crush dissent and help stifle reform.

The British were in Bahrain for a long time as colonial masters. They had military bases on the island, and they helped the Al Khalifa ruling family and their tribal allies keep absolute political control and enabled them to continue looting the country. They left at the beginning of the 1970s although their bureaucrats continued to call the shots in many local institutions.

The U.S. naval base is a more recent development in Manama and it is largely considered a ‘non-political’ presence. It is a port of convenience and has no internal role. The Saudi military presence is an even more recent development, and it is a totally political and domestic security presence. The Saudi forces entered the country to help the Al Khalifa crush the “Arab Spring” popular uprising of 2011. They are now in the country as a permanent presence.

Then there is the huge contingent of foreign mercenaries imported from such humorless places as Pakistan and Jordan and Syria. They are definitely a political presence.

The British government has done its best to support the repression in Bahrain, it has even sent its unemployed princes and princesses on occasional visits to Bahrain. Just to enhance the ‘legitimacy’ of the ruling sectarian elites. Even as it has called for sanctions, nay even war, against the Syrian regime.
Now the British are reported to be in the process of re-establishing a new foreign military base on the island. That seems like a purely political presence, since Bahrain does not face any external threat other than from the foreign mercenaries imported by its regime.

Sovereign countries have the right to allow foreign bases on their soil: nothing unusual about that. Especially if they face external threats. Provided these bases do not interfere in domestic politics. But will the small island sink under the weight of all these foreign bases and imported mercenaries?………
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Castration, GCC

Decapitations in Bahrain: a Policy of Political Castration………

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“The State Department has expressed deep concern over the detention of the Bahraini opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman, warning the arrest could lead to more tensions in the island kingdom. Sheikh Salman, head of the al-Wefaq Islamic Society, was arrested on Sunday after leading a protest rally against elections in November which his party boycotted. He was remanded in custody for a further week on Tuesday. “Opposition parties that peacefully voice criticism of the government play a vital role in inclusive, pluralistic states and societies,” the State Department said………….”

The Al Khalifa family that rule and loot Bahrain have ushered in this new year predictably. They have arrested more opposition leaders and other dissidents. This time they arrested Shaikh Ali Salman, leader of the largest peaceful opposition Al Wefaq Society (Shi’a). The ruling gangsters have been focusing on arresting leaders of various opposition and reform groups, a clear policy of decapitating all sources of opposition and independence on the captive island nation of Bahrain. They have failed to completely crush the uprising that started in 2011, even with thousands of Saudi occupation forces and imported Asian and Arab mercenaries.

Like their Saudi masters across the Persian Gulf, these rulers are deep into a policy of decapitation as well. But unlike the Saudis, they do not chop human heads, they mostly chop political heads, with the goal of a politically castrated country composed of yes-men and yes-women.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Caliphate, Humor, Jordan, Syria

Humorless Caliphate Captures a Jordanian Pilot………

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KuwaitCox2     ChristmasPeanuts

Have Yourself a Merry Little——-> Kenny G. Christmas 

Al-Manar (the favorite Lebanese network of Mr. Netanyahu) reports that Ban Ki-Moon (Moony of the UN) has asked the Caliphate of ISIS (ISIL, DAESH, WTF) to treat the downed Jordanian pilot humanely. The pilot, from humorless Jordan, was downed while bombing or trying to bomb the hell out of the humorless ISIS terrorists. So, even if the terrorists have enough sense of humor to appreciate this very ‘Christian’ request, it is highly unlikely they will comply. What was odd was the Obama administration condemning ISIS for the capture of the pilot. I am not happy about his capture either, but what were they supposed to do? Give him a medal of the First Class Order of Caliph Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi?

Moony asks them to treat the pilot humanely. He might as well ask them to give up their captured slave girls (all non-Wahhabis) and become monogamists and maybe convert and join a meg-buck church in the USA. Or maybe migrate en masse to some ashram in Auroville, India. Besides, it is not clear if the pilot had clearance from the Syrians to bomb the terrorists in their country, or if he was freelancing like the Israeli IAF often does at will.
Unfortunately, and unless the cutthroats are hard-up for ransom cash in these days of low oil prices, the only humanitarian gesture they will likely offer will be a sharp sword. Unless the pilot can convince them that he is a true Wahhabi.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Baath Party, Jihadis, Syria

Jihadist Revolutionary Council in Syria Adopts Old Baathist Jargon……….

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“Seventy-two Syrian rebel groups on Saturday announced a new coalition to battle the government of President Bashar Assad. But hopes that moderate rebels would dominate the meeting were dashed when extremists gained more of the 17 executive positions than had been expected. Col. Muhammad Hallak, who represented a moderate faction attending the three-day organizational meeting, accused Islamists, especially Ahrar al Sham, which is known to work closely with al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, of capturing more positions than its influence in the rebellion deserved. A review of the names by McClatchy indicated that moderates hold only six or seven of the 17 executive positions. Hallak also expressed skepticism toward the October document on which the new group, the Revolutionary Command Council…………..”

Revolutionary Command Council: now that is a blast from the lousy Arab Baathist past. It was a common term in the old days, before the Wahhabi oil princes and shaikhs, with their tribal ideology and money, took control of Arab destiny. Before the fate of much of the Arab east from the Persian Gulf to Libya became hostage to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi (with some exceptions).

Whenever a few Baathist (or other Arab) officers staged a military coup and took power, they would immediately establish a Revolutionary Command Council. That was how it went. These Jihadis are merely using a term with which many Arabs, especially in Syria and Iraq are quite familiar.

Then there are the so-called ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels who believe in freedom, human rights, and representative government. As well as other aspects of the American way of life, except perhaps for changing attire in a phone booth. These rebels will reportedly be trained in such bastions of human freedom and representative government as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and possibly the UAE.

I haven’t decided which one is funnier, yet……..
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Egypt

R.I.P: Egypt Finally, Officially, and ‘Legally’ Buries the Tahrir Uprising………..

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Over the holiday here, an Egyptian court in Cairo and absolved former dictator Hosni Mubarak of charges in the killings of thousands of Egyptian civilians. The court also absolved the minister of interior, the man who hired and gave orders to the police, security agents, the goons, and assorted torturers and killers who pulled the trigger and wielded other instruments of pain and death. Not counting some of the military.

Egypt‘s Al Sisi, “elected” with almost 98% of the vote in restricted and sparsely-attended elections, said he “accepts” the decision by “his” court, which ends legal action against the former dictator. He joked that Egypt must look to the future and not the past.

Thus the cruel comedy, the thin masquerade that a successful uprising, a revolution, occurred in Egypt, is put to rest. The royal Arab princes and potentates will not be disappointed by this development which they fully expected because they have already paid its price in billions of petroleum money. Media photos showed minions of some Gulf potentates celebrating the final absolute death of the Tahrir Uprising in the court room.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, GCC, Jordan, Morocco, Uncategorized

GCC and Distant Kingdoms: from Promised Membership to Strategic Partnership to LOL……..

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The GCC leaders have apparently kissed (literally) and made out up. Qatar and its Saudi and Emirati (UAE) unbrotherly sisters have decided to sweep some of their serious foreign policy differences under the rug, for the time being.

On a less serious note: there are reports that the next GCC summit in December (Doha, Qatar) will discuss something they now call “strategic partnership” with the kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco. Apparently the summit will finally be held in Qatar, as originally scheduled. That is the plan for now, until the Saudi princes and Abu Dhabi shaikhs decide otherwise in a new fit of tantrums against the brotherly Al Thani.

Remember when the Saudi king surprised everyone by inviting Jordan and Morocco to “join” the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2011? That also surprised other GCC leaders who started wondering privately what the king had been smoking. But they went along with the idea anyway, perhaps knowing that, as I opined later, it was D.O.A. I opined succinctly at the time that “it ain’t gonna happen“, which almost certainly is what all the other potentates thought, although they would not express it so eloquently.

Later I wrote that they will find some limited alternative to membership for these two relatively faraway countries. And voila! But I will tell you there will be no real ‘strategic partnership’ as such either. There will be some mechanism to increase GCC aid to humorless Jordan and mellow Morocco, and perhaps some increased cooperation in “security” matters. Jordan already cooperates quite extensively in “security” and matters of repression, sending thousand of mercenaries and goons and “humorless interrogators” to Bahrain and the UAE.

As for Morocco, it is the last remaining Arab monarchy west of Jordan. It has become the favorite hangout (outside Europe) and hunting ground (you interpret that) for Saudi princes and other Gulf potentates. But it does not follow the Saudi and UAE absolute tribal family model: it has elections. Which may complicate any ‘partnership’ with these families.

So, what the summit will do is to authorize the GCC bureaucracy to ‘study’ this idea of a ‘strategic partnership’ that has been borrowed from the West. It does sound impressive and thoughtful, and that is probably about it in this case. Then they will form a committee of ‘experts’……………..
Then it might be just more LOL……….

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

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