Arab Politics, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Sectarian, Wahhabi

How All Arabs Elected Celebrity Prince Al-Waleed as their Media Spokesman………

      

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“If the negotiations don’t succeed — and clearly, Alwaleed sees no chance of success — then what? Anti-proliferation by force? I asked him if he thought the Arab states would actually back an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, if this terrible option should come to pass. “Publicly, they would be against it,” he said. “Privately, they would love it.” What about at the level of the so-called Arab street? “The Sunnis will love it,” he said, referring to the dominant branch of Islam, to which most Arab Muslims adhere. “The Sunni Muslim is very much anti-Shiite, and very much anti-, anti-, anti-Iran,” he said. You’re sure they loathe Iran more than they loathe Israel?……………..”

That other celebrity, that Kardashian celebrity chick could not have put it better than this celebrity prince. Or maybe she could. The Mufti Shaikh Al Al Shaikh himself could not have put it any better.
That is the problem with Western media: they like answers that they ‘like’ to hear. That is why they assume Wahhabi tribal Saudi princes speak for all Arabs, especially for all Sunni Arabs. That fits nicely with what they believe Arabs are, which most Arabs are not. Ask any Arab on the street (outside Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and their suburbs), ask from Baghdad to Cairo to Casablanca where the threat comes from, ask them what they think of Netanyahu (plus the Saudi princes) on one side and Rouhani on the other and the answer would shock any card-carrying AIPAC groupie member of the U.S. Congress (both chambers, both parties).
Saudi Arabia does not represent the Arabs, not even the Sunni Arabs, maybe just Wahhabi Arabs: it has only about 19 million citizens plus 9 million temporary foreign laborer and housemaids.
Al-Waleed is the prince who famously claimed that US support for Israel was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks and prompted Mayor Rudi Giuliani (NYC) to return his check. That was in 2011, and I suspect if the check was made out to Giuliani personally he would not have returned it).

Prince Al-Waleed is always listed on the Forbes Magazine list of the richest people in the world. Forbes lists the source of his wealth as “self-made”. That is exactly what the enemies of Ali Baba, the forty men of the famous cave, thought of the source of their wealth and they were actually right. A few months ago Al-Waleed was reportedly suing Forbes Magazine for publicly underestimating his wealth by a couple of billions (and thus insulting all Arabs by downgrading the wealth of their betters and looters).

Cheers
mhg

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Al-Qaeda, Arabian Peninsula, Jihadis, Syria

Holy Road to Liberation: Syrian Rebels Enter Maaloula, Capture Nuns………

      

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“The Syrian terrorists abducted 12 nuns from Mar Takla monastery, which lies in the historic town of Maaloula in Damascus, and moved them to the nearby town of Yabroud. The Papal ambassador to Damascus Mario Zinara said that the 12 nuns were obliged by the terrorists to leave the monastery in order to follow them to the nearby town of Yabroud. “I think that the twelve nuns are in Yabroud.” There is a fierce battle in Maaloula, and it is hard to determine the exact information,” he added, “We are not familiar with the reasons that pushed the terrorists to force the nuns to leave the monastery.” SANA confirmed that the militants, who belong to al-Nusra Front, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, entered the Orthodox monastery of Mar Takla in the center of Maaloula……………”

Maaloula has been a point of contention between regime forces and Jihadist rebels for months now. The various groups and militias of Syria’s rebels are predictable, be they simple plain Salafis or die-hard Wahhabi Takfiris. Their second instinct after capturing a village or hamlet or neighborhood is to round up people of other faiths, those who are not Wahhabis, and take them captive as war hostages. Some might add to that last sentence “if they are lucky”, and that ‘luck’ is related to their ‘first’ instinct. Be they Alawis (Alawites), Shia’s, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, or Vegans. They would also no doubt love to grab some Jews, who are still the Wahhabis’ preferable hostages (more prized than the Shi’as as hostages, but more elusive). I know some who would dispute this last assertion.

So, two years ago the putative liberators of Syria captured a bunch of Lebanese Shi’a pilgrims, anointed them Hezbollah and Quds Force fighters, and held them captive. Some months ago they got more ambitious, they captured and took hostage a couple of priests and an archbishop (presumably all Christians since neither Muslims nor Wahhabis have archbishops nor priests as far as I know, and I should know). Then last summer they captured an Italian priest (Father Paolo Dall’Oglio) who was trying to ‘talk to them’. Reports a month later claimed he was killed by the liberators, they probably Daniel Pearled him (most Western media ignored the story).
Now the Jihadis have  a bunch of nuns from an ancient held captive. Let us see how closer that brings them to the liberation and capture of Damascus promised by the unelected GCC potentates, the Arab League, and a gaggle of traveling U.S. senators.
Cheers
mhg

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AIPAC, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United Nations International Organizations, US Foreign Policy

International Tantrums: From UN to UNESCO, When Governments Don’t Get Their Way……..

          

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“UNESCO has suspended the voting rights of the United States and Israel, two years after both countries stopped paying dues to the U.N.’s cultural arm in protest over its granting full membership to the Palestinians. The U.S. decision to cancel its funding in October 2011 was blamed on U.S. laws that prohibit funding to any U.N. agency that implies recognition of the Palestinians’ demands for their own state. Israel also pulled its funding, objecting to what it called unilateral attempts by the Palestinians to gain recognition of statehood…………….”

Ref. my Saturday posting on Saudi Arabia.
I pointed to my Saudi source that her government is not unique in that respect, in getting upset and walking out screaming when it doesn’t get its way. I suggested the Al Saud may have learned this from Western governments in recent years. I reminded her of past threats to stop funding the UN and the decision to stop funding UNESCO if it upsets Israel and hence AIPAC, which it apparently did when it granted the Palestinians member status. I especially reminded her of the UNESCO episode and how the Obama administration now regrets losing its vote and influence in that organization after withdrawing funding (which they now realize means Israel losing its influence as Susan Rice hinted).

I also reminded her of Western media and thinkers and pundits complaining that sometime the international organizations seem to take into account the rest of the world, all 5-6 billion of it, more than the Western governments that represent about 600 million. I reminded her of the famous French pop-philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy who said earlier this year that a “bunch of gangsters control the UN Security Council”, that was when China and Russia and others refused to vote for military action in Syria. She agreed with me that it is likely the princes have learned a lesson from that on how to have an international tantrum when they don’t get their way.

I forgot to tell her that the Obama administration withdrew its funding of UNESCO in 2011, only about one year before the 2012 general elections (elections in the USA not in Israel). At that time, it seemed like a good idea, electorally if not from a principled point of view.

Cheers
mhg

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France, Israel

Pictorial Hollande and Netanyahu: the Socialist and the Right-Winger, the Red and the Black……

      

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                                                     Don’t they look sincere?

Here are some likely possible captions:

  • Is that a gun in your pocket or are you so glad to see me?
  • WTF? True Love? 
  • Hahaha, your gray roots are showing………
  • Ugh, snails and garlic again! Ugh, Gefilte fish again! 
  • Sarkozy and Obama both said you were an incurable serial liar. But then so was he. 
  • Here we are, all civilized surrounded by “them”.
  • And to think that if you fire in any direction you would drop a savage barbarian.
  • Worse, if you fire a missile in any direction…….. But then you know all about that, don’t you? Well, so do you, Algiers and all that……
  • Tell me. How much are the Saudis buying from you for blocking the nuclear deal?
  • How much are they paying you? We’re not French, we do it for Lebanon……
  • Fuck, get off my toe, you Right-Wing/Left-Wing oaf!

Cheers
mhg

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Finance, U.S. Politics

Right Wing Tycoon Takes Side on Gambling Online…….

      

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CNBC reports today that Sheldon Adelson, the American Likudnik businessman is trying to get the U.S. Congress to ban online gambling. I doubt that he owns the whole of Congress, so, no dice. Not even all the millions he wasted on Newt Gingrich last year can help him there.
But don’t misunderstand Adelson, there is no morality involved with him, at least not in this case. He is not against gambling, he owns huge gambling interests in Las Vegas. That is how he made his money. He just doesn’t like the online competition. I agree with him on this one, probably the only thing I agree with this right-winger on, but for different reasons since I have no gambling interests in Las Vegas. Come to think of it, I have no gambling interests anywhere. No wonder News Gingrich would not answer my calls.
Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Saudi Arabia, Syria

A Robber Prince with Chutzpah but Flawed Strategy…….

      

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“Last year, according to Saudi sources who’ve worked closely with Bandar, he told King Abdullah that he could solve the Syria situation in a matter of months. The previous intelligence chief, Abdullah’s half brother Prince Muqrin, had not been able to make much headway. But Bandar, as it turns out, has not been much of an improvement. “His job requires being able to work 18 hours a day and he cannot,” says a Saudi who has collaborated closely with Bandar. He is frustrated and angry and anxious to show off to the world his ability to achieve the seemingly impossible, as he did in the past. But as the same Saudi points out, “being angry is not good in the intelligence business.” And in today’s Middle East, chutzpah just isn’t enough……………”

Prince Bandar Bin Sultan (bin Bush bin Al Yamama) may have a complex. He probably thinks he is the smartest among the absolute Al Saud princes that own the country called Saudi Arabia. That doesn’t mean he is. Yet normally he will never be considered as a potential future king. He doesn’t have the requisite tribal blood connections that most of the other eligible princes have. I suspect this is the reason someone like his cousin Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is more into business than into competing for a future chance at the throne. That might explain why “he is frustrated and angry and anxious to show off to the world his ability to achieve……..“

Or he can always join the Peace Corps or Habitat for Humanity or some other worthy cause.
He can even volunteer for the Salvation Army and help outside Safeway or QFC during the Christmas season.
Cheers
mhg

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Iran, Israel, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

Israeli Polls Favor a War of Aggression if Victory is Guaranteed………

      

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“Nearly two thirds of Israeli Jews oppose a deal being reached between world powers and Iran on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, the results of a survey published on Friday said. The survey also showed 52.4 percent supported an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities in the event of a “bad deal” and if Tehran pursued its nuclear ambitions, while 26.8 percent said they would oppose such an attack. A strong majority of 68.8 percent said they believed the Israeli military was capable of going it alone in a strike on Iran. When asked: “Should Israel support or oppose the nuclear agreement being discussed with Iran?” 65.5 percent said they were against it………………..”

Israelis are supposed to be allegedly apparently the most educated people in the Middle East. Yet they are overwhelmingly against a potential nuclear deal that they know nothing about, yet. Except what their right-wing ‘leader’ tells them, and he doesn’t know much about it either. Which is not necessarily a sign of superior intelligence (self-claimed or otherwise), not necessarily.
 
Obviously a majority would support a war of aggression because they believe they can win it (which is also not necessarily a sign of superior intelligence either). On the other hand, why shouldn’t they? They have won every one of their wars against the Arabs, except the two against Lebanon and Hezbollah. Those two defeats (2000 and 2006) still rankle but, hey, it is not fun winning all the time. An occasional defeat can make things interesting.
Or maybe they know that Uncle Sam will intervene to help them once Ben Netanyahu starts his war of aggression and gets bogged down, big time. They know there are many in Washington who seem to have a strange proclivity for intervention and warring in Muslim lands. It is almost certain that many in the US Congress, possibly both Likud-nik houses, will assume these polls reflect their own American constituencies and vote for war. They almost have already.

Cheers
mhg

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Israel, Racism

Israel’s Bedouin: Lebensraum and Resettlement in the Negev……..

      

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“Jewish and Arab MKs exchanged fiery words during a special Knesset hearing on Wednesday to discuss the resettling of Bedouin communities, accusing each other of deliberately thwarting plans to solve the ongoing land ownership crises in Israel’s south. The hearing, led by Likud MK Miri Regev, was interrupted several times by MKs on both sides of the debate, leading to the removal of some participates from the Knesset hall. The “Bill on the Arrangement of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev,” on which debate was held during the hearing, is based on a plan drawn up by former Likud minister Benny Begin………… MK Dov Khenin of Hadash also expressed his concern about the law and said that it sets the stage for the evictions of entire communities on a nationalist basis.………..”

This sounds vaguely but eerily familiar. It evokes a terrible part of history, with words like Lebensraum, Resettlement, etc. Of course I am exaggerating here to make a point: the scale is tiny, the fate of the victims is not as dire, and the issue is being debated openly. But the victims are “selected”, and you see what I mean, or do you?

Cheers
mhg

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Jihadis, Syria, Wahhabi

Post-Mortem: Jihadist gets Beheaded by Mistake, Will he Go to Hell or Heaven?………

      

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“Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in Syria have admitted beheading a fellow rebel by mistake after believing him to be an Iraqi Shiite fighting alongside regime forces, a watchdog said on Friday. A video posted on the Internet on Wednesday showed two members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holding up a bearded man’s head before a crowd in Aleppo in northern Syria. They said he was an Iraqi Shiite who had been fighting among the ranks of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces……………….”

They did not chop his head off because they mistook him for a “Shi’a fighting with Bashar’s forces”. They chopped his head off because they just thought he was a “Shi’a”, period. Identity is enough for these Wahhabi terrorists to behead someone.
I need to ask a Salafi Wahhabi shaikh if this man will go to heaven for being a Salafi or will he go to hell for being killed as a suspected Shi’a. A mere technicality that only a Salafi cleric-lawyer can resolve. As for my special Salafi source, she tells me it is a toss-up now, the Jihadi shaikhs are debating his post-mortem fate.

Cheers
mhg

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Iran, Israel, Middle East Nuclear, US Foreign Policy

They are Back at the White House! Ben Netanyahu’s UN Nuclear Cartoons………

      

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“Thursday, Nov. 14, Israel sent the White House in Washington a confidential document outlining blow by blow how and when Iran will attain a nuclear weapon if the Obama-Kerry strategy for dealing with the issue goes through. The document was addressed to the National Security Council headed by Susan Rice, debkafile reports. Communications between the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem and the State Department have almost petered out since exchanges between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State John Kerry sharpened in tone. Our Washington sources report that Rice and the NSC have taken a critical stand against the State Department’s policies – not just on the Iranian nuclear question……… It confines itself to a dry account, step by step, of how the Iranian nuclear bomb program will continue to unfold if the administration’s secret proposition is accepted…………….”

If we are to believe this Israeli media story, Ben Netanyahu’s Looney Tunes nuclear cartoons that traced Iran’s nuclear path at the UN General Assembly last year are back in circulation. They are now at the White House, in the hands of Susan Rice, allegedly known as more strongly pro-Israel than others. She is apparently a true believer in their veracity, possibly adding her own embellishments, possibly in colorful crayons. Possibly shoving the carrot into Bugs Bunny’s hand. No doubt the reception of this Looney Tunes document in Washington is much warmer than the hilarity of world-wide reaction last year after their UN debut.

Cheers
mhg

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Multidisciplinary: Middle East, North Africa, Gulf, GCC, World, Cosmos…..