tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54823662011-04-21T23:44:05.712+02:00Occasional reflections & musings on what is really said on the mythical "Arab street", by someone who lives there..Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18340530612671959204noreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1109749209867874142005-03-02T08:42:00.000+02:002005-03-02T09:46:50.540+02:00

Issandr Al Amrani has some good commentary about the recent political developments in Egypt.Personally, I am extremely sceptical of what is happening, and I feel that those in Egypt who are very optimistic about what is happening will recognise this for a farce as soon as Mubarak is "re-elected", probably with 99.5% of the vote. If that doesn't happen then Egyptians will get the "next best thing"

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1108160378805895162005-02-12T00:01:00.000+02:002005-02-12T00:19:38.806+02:00

The World Tribune has this article up which claims that two Syrian fighters were downed by Israeli jets in September 2004, while giving details of an air-to-air engagement that according to prior reports, actually occurred in September 2001!According to this article published by the Air Combat Information Group in 2003, the engagement occurred on September 14 2001, three days after the strikes on

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1104030491348554822004-12-26T05:07:00.000+02:002004-12-26T05:09:59.160+02:00

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1094156220662880512004-09-02T23:14:00.000+03:002004-09-02T23:30:32.716+03:00

I wish that I could personally strangle each and every one of the worm-like vermin that have taken little children hostage in North Ossetia. Islamic terrorism? Most of the children they are threatening to murder are muslims!

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1091663100425307802004-08-05T02:28:00.000+03:002004-08-05T02:45:00.426+03:00

Egypt is in the midst of a tourist boom, the likes of which it hasn't seen for quite a few years. Hotels in Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada are booked out, and charter flights are streaming in like crazy. Flights are streaming in from unheard-of places like Lisbon, London, Amsterdam, and even Belgrade. It seems like forever that people have been afraid to come to Egypt, perhaps the stigma of the

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1090199283159442692004-07-19T03:14:00.000+03:002004-07-19T04:08:03.160+03:00

The most common subject of conversation one encounters these days over dinner is, of course, the supposedly imminent succession of President Mubarak by his son Gamal. The President's recent illness, and the replacement of the stupid Prime Minister and a whole bunch of stupid ministers with a new gang of stupids, has everyone assuming that major change is about to happen.   I've heard wild claims,

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1086299569861065702004-06-04T00:45:00.000+03:002004-06-04T00:52:49.863+03:00

While watching ebari speak on CNN's "countdown to handover", you may want to contemplate what the dictionary says about the word "sovereignty": sov·er·eign·ty Pronunciation Key (svr-n-t, svrn-) n. pl. sov·er·eign·ties 1. Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state. 2. Royal rank, authority, or power. 3. Complete independence and self-government. 4. A

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1086260357629231732004-06-03T13:43:00.000+03:002004-07-14T03:35:53.140+03:00

Scaled Composites has announced plans to launch the world's first privately funded manned spaceflight, on June 21st. Their little spaceplane, "Spaceship One", has already flown at mach 2.5, at over 200,000 feet, and the June 21st flight will be at 100km altitude. Looks like Burt Rutan will win the X-prize after all. And I had such hopes for Armadillo Aerospace. I am starting a space agency. I

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1086130327680667182004-06-02T01:39:00.000+03:002004-06-02T01:52:07.680+03:00

Raed Jarrar had some thoughts on secular Islam: Islam for me, as a secular leftist, is more than a mere religion Islam is my cultural heritage that I will protect and maintain until the last moment of my existence. Islam is the small ornaments in my architecture, the small details of the doors of Al-Mustansiryya school in Baghdad, the arches of the Abbasi palace, the domes of Al-Kathum shrine

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1085693935436868462004-05-28T00:04:00.000+03:002004-05-28T00:38:55.436+03:00

I've gotten some criticism from readers who say I neglected the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, while giving attention to the case of Nicholas Berg. Sometimes it takes a while to be able to put a thought into coherent words, sometimes it's impossible. The goings on at Abu Ghraib is a strong example. I simply am speechless regarding this story. While I am naturally furious at those who created

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1084407652791929232004-05-13T02:40:00.000+03:002004-05-13T03:20:52.790+03:00

I just watched the video of Nick Berg's death. It was brutal and shocking, and reminded me of the equally horrible footage of Daniel Pearl's murder. The animals who carried out this killing were cowardly, hiding behind their ski masks, clutching automatic weapons while their boss read out some standard extremist drivel. Needless to say, every one of those people will have their skins burned off

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1082767934819333992004-04-24T02:52:00.000+02:002004-04-24T02:55:14.840+02:00

Among the many comments posted in the recent flurry of visitors, I found these fascinating links: Bill's Blog has got some fascinating analysis of military activity in Iraq (he calls it "random thoughts", but I find little randomness in his posts). Very concise, and Bill seems very knowledgable in military matters. Some good stuff, and I hope he keeps it up. Kathryn Cramer's blog is a veritable

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1082686905969151622004-04-23T04:21:00.000+02:002004-04-23T04:25:14.996+02:00

I came across this blog which claims to be Egyptian, and after reading through it with some suprise I decided to write my (probably unwanted) opinion of his work. Please keep in mind that according to Zeyad (see below), I am a "typical example of the brainwashed Arab masses", so you are free to completely disregard my opinion if you so please. As we say in Egypt, "TOZ". Anyway, Mr. GM of Big

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1082683112705331332004-04-23T03:18:00.000+02:002004-04-23T04:26:54.233+02:00

Thanks to Zeyad, for linking to this blog and directing more traffic to it in 3 days than there was in the last 6 months. His assessment of me is as follows: "If you want an example of the intelligent yet brain washed masses in the Arab world, this blog is the one for you" :)

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1080340036083610252004-03-27T00:27:00.000+02:002004-03-27T00:47:05.826+02:00

I recently had a conversation with a system administrator of a major Egyptian ISP, and an official of a certain government body responsible for "policing" the Egyptian information superhighway. The government employee was boasting about the level of control available to him and his colleagues, saying that it was impossible for anyone to do anything illegal on the Internet in Egypt without being

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1079964174350309592004-03-22T16:02:00.000+02:002004-03-22T16:08:34.373+02:00

Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, the founder and leader of Hamas, was assassinated today by IAF helicopter pilots. The thing that really gets to me is that the Hamas leader was on the brink of death anyway. His killing will only serve to stir up more hatred and violence, and will in no way "weaken" the Palestinian resistance as is claimed by the Zionists. Click for more information

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1075249191645379002004-01-28T02:19:00.000+02:002004-01-28T02:21:24.983+02:00

... have been greatly exaggerated. Hmm, I guess a five-week hiatus is more than enough, so now, how about some new beginnings for 2004? The Blogspeak comments system is dead. Very sad, I must say, but it was nice to find that my account with all its comments was rescued by Haloscan! How fortunate. I am alive, healthy, and haven't forgotten my loyal readers. Yes, all three of you can count on me

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1072005811739986812003-12-21T13:23:00.000+02:002003-12-21T13:26:01.106+02:00

"After waiting for a handshake for over an hour, the visitor decided all Earthlings are very rude and departed"

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-107107806384103982003-12-10T19:41:00.000+02:002004-05-13T13:46:45.003+03:00

My God, this story is totally infuriating! Not only has the Iraqi health ministry been told to stop counting civilian deaths during the war, it has been given a general order to "move far away from this subject"! BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraq's Health Ministry has ordered a halt to a count of civilians killed during the war and told its statistics department not to release figures compiled so far,

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1070472823095604072003-12-03T19:33:00.000+02:002003-12-03T19:34:21.623+02:00

Salam Pax's page formally carried the title "Where is Raed", Raed being a friend of Salam's who was difficult to find. Well, he's been found, and he's still got his password to the blog, and frankly he's a lot more interesting than Salam..

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1070455830367892862003-12-03T14:50:00.000+02:002003-12-03T15:38:09.140+02:00

Whether writing on little blogs like this one, or participating in online or live discussions, It can be very difficult for Arabs and westerners to find common ground, even though in their hearts they might actually share the same opinions. I've found that this is due to slight differences in language used by both sides to describe concepts, which leads to one or the other becoming infuriated at

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1070119937649260342003-11-29T17:32:00.000+02:002003-12-03T18:53:30.640+02:00

Riverbend has posted an article about Eid and the sorrows of war in Iraq. Very depressing. Oh, and she also gives us her viewpoint of the American president's visit to Iraq. The Angry Arab also has some nice words to say about Bush's touch-and-go landing in Baghdad airport. I just noticed that my favourite Egyptian journalist, Ahmed Amr has put on his writing hat again and resurrected the

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1069284089539152872003-11-20T01:21:00.000+02:002003-11-20T01:29:29.013+02:00

While delivering his regular review on Egyptian foreign policy, our noble President fainted in parliament today. Not knowing what else to do, the TV networks cut transmission, hence depriving the population of the long-awaited sight of his unconscious majesty being carried out by his ever-present bodyguard-thugs. Drat and double-drat, I wish I could have seen that one. Imagine that, the

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1068935578852716972003-11-16T00:32:00.000+02:002004-05-13T13:50:06.140+03:00

In the early days of the balkan conflict, there was an atmosphere of hopelessness among Croatians who were seeing their dreams of independance dashed by a Serbian leadership that was prepared to use the full might of the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) to grab as much Croatian territory as possible and perhaps prevent the breakup of Yugoslavia altogether. Lightly armed Croatian militia on the front

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1068805846383718172003-11-14T12:30:00.000+02:002003-11-15T13:25:37.200+02:00

(updated) I just found This excellent site, by university of Michigan history professor Juan Cole. He's got a great site going, with possibly the most up-to-date and thorough digest of terror-war news that I've seen. For his own opinion on various issues you should see his essays. And on Brian's site I saw a link to another cool page, The Angry Arab. Now why didn't I think of that name?

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1068252471190467302003-11-08T02:47:00.000+02:002003-11-08T02:51:20.506+02:00

This article on Al-Jazeera reports the death by torture of Saad Sayyid Muhammad Qutb, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The presently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood is one of Egypt's oldest political parties, having existed since 1928. It is very popular and represents the only real threat to the Mubarak Mafia, and hence has been banned and had many members jailed and tortured. Some brotherhood

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1068249653796787722003-11-08T02:00:00.000+02:002003-11-08T02:06:56.276+02:00

Umar's chronicles has this excellent article about zakah, the obligatory charity that Muslims are required to pay. My favourite part is how it is the holders of capital that are required to pay zakah, whereas the poor and indebted are free from obligation. So those who have inherited "old money" can't stash their money in family trusts and live opulent, tax-free lifesyles.

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1068245727590195662003-11-08T00:55:00.000+02:002003-11-08T01:10:14.740+02:00

Another imperial chopper has been destroyed with six occupation force soldiers killed. The unfortunate aircraft in question this time is a UH-60 Black Hawk transport. Coming on the heels of Sunday's downing of CH-47 Chinook with 16 fatalities, this attack has American commanders talking about helicopter pilots being told to use special evasive tactics even on routine missions. The pattern of

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1067773219821305332003-11-02T13:40:00.000+02:002003-11-02T14:25:50.796+02:00

(updated) Iraqi rebels have shot down a huge American CH-47 Chinook helicopter while it was carrying occupation force soldiers to "R&R". According to Al Jazeera, there were at least 13 American killed and 20 injured as the aircraft crashed in flames. The CH-47 is an ideal target for resistance fighters, since it is large, slow, unarmed, and usually carries large numbers of troops, guaranteeing

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1067379863148280902003-10-29T00:24:00.000+02:002003-10-29T00:24:22.460+02:00

Blogspeak has misplaced thousands of comments accross its system, among them some of the more recent comments on this site. So if your comment is missing, rest assured I probably didn't delete it :)

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1067216341106464142003-10-27T02:59:00.000+02:002003-10-27T03:02:49.410+02:00

Being busy recently with that obscure sport called "work", I've not been blogging at all, to the point that I didn't (until today) even notice Issandr's vociferous condemnation of my post below about the plight of Egypt's unfortunate gay population, and their ongoing persecution by police. While I can understand how my usage of words such as "bum-slappers" may be portrayed by some as "

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1066262837585660542003-10-16T02:07:00.000+02:002003-10-16T02:07:17.636+02:00

I'm sorry for not posting recently, rumors of my death have been greatly exagerrated, and I'm alive and well (thanks to those who asked!). I've simply been caught up with work and some personal schtuff which is eating up my blogging time. I will try to post something of more substance soon. My congratulations to the people of China, for their country's successful manned space mission! What's

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1064630891415565792003-09-27T04:48:00.000+02:002003-09-27T05:03:17.983+02:00

This news is actually almost a month old, but it was mentioned on Issandr's site so I thought I'd add my two piasters... 62 (allegedly gay) men were arrested on August 28th by police during a surprise swoop on Qasr El Nil Bridge which lies close to Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. The bridge is a popular cruising area for young arse-bandits on the prowl for some man-on-man action. The police set

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1064509566736622362003-09-25T20:06:00.000+03:002003-09-25T20:06:55.353+03:00

I was very sad today to read about this on Beta Blogger's site. Edward Said has died, of cancer. For decades, Mr. Said has been a voice of reason, respected by all. When such a voice falls silent, The human race as a whole suffers.

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1064451396826233562003-09-25T03:56:00.000+03:002003-09-25T04:51:47.723+03:00

As the killing and mayhem continues in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine, as the lies of Little Bush and his cronies are exposed to the world, and as more and more Americans begin to be vaguely aware of the depth of their deception, the present American regime will inevitably fall. With sadness I predict, that out of the ashes of the ultimately doomed administration of Little Bush, will rise a new

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1064275309168446192003-09-23T03:01:00.000+03:002003-09-23T03:01:49.276+03:00

I've been laid out sick with a cold for the past several days, and been too zonked out to do anything productive. Instead I've been lying on my couch, aimlessly surfing the net and watching much too much television. I know I should be sleeping or reading a good book but neither activity seems to be working for me. As if on cue, TV Land is showing CSI from the very beginning, which is fun, but

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1064078187250953352003-09-20T20:16:00.000+03:002003-09-20T20:16:27.143+03:00

CENTCOM Briefing: 20:32, 09/18/03 General John Abizaid met with Journalists today to report on the latest American casualties in Iraq. "I am sad to report that one Army corporal stubbed his toe and a female private cracked a fingernail while the two were on a routine ice-cream buying mission near Khalidiya. Apparently the two were ambushed by RPG-wielding supporters of the former regime. " -

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1064016554430584972003-09-20T03:09:00.000+03:002003-09-21T01:17:18.670+03:00

If it wasn't for this late night re-run I would have missed the first episode of Survivor 7 (shock, horror). The first episode is always fun; the initial pathetic running around, excited squealing, strutting, flirting, and bitching of the disoriented players always amuses me, despite my moral and ideological misgivings about the show and reality shows like it. Yep, even Survivor doesn't escape

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063928623975932892003-09-19T02:43:00.000+03:002003-09-19T03:42:11.170+03:00

As Isabel ravages the Eastern United States, it is perhaps fitting that a "hurricane" of Iraqi resistance attacks has produced up to 16 American KIA or more on thursday. First, up to eight American soldiers or even more were killed when their convoy was caught in a sophisticated, multi-stage Iraqi ambush near Khalidiya. A Humvee troop transport truck in the convoy was destroyed by a mine and

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063915643042635982003-09-18T23:07:00.000+03:002003-09-19T00:03:05.650+03:00

What should we Arab peasants say to our sharmoota governments when, not only do they accept the American occupational puppet regime in Iraq into the Arab League, they try to get it accepted into OPEC, only to be rejected, not as would be expected by the Arab nations, but by Venezuela, on the grounds that the Iraqi government represented a "foreign occupier"?!!!!!! I mean, has someone in the Arab

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063849490396359542003-09-18T04:44:00.000+03:002003-09-18T05:04:28.270+03:00

Tomorrow, Hurricane Isabel will land on the east coast of the United States. I've often wondered what is it about that area of the world that is so attractive to hurricanes and tornadoes. If you don't know what a hurricane can do let me share my personal experience: In June 1998, I was in Moscow, Russia, when there occured a freak hurricane which lasted about half an hour, killing 9 people and

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063812258477195582003-09-17T18:24:00.000+03:002003-09-17T18:29:22.600+03:00

Jesse Avraham's detailed analysis of one hour of CNN programming demonstrates quite well how little real news actually reaches viewers of the major American networks. A tantalysing blurb: "Our enemy is not terror, it is not Islam, it is not the radical suicide bomber, it is the threat to our society that ignorance poses to our nation. America has become a nation of misinformed radical flag wavers

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063761308933732872003-09-17T04:15:00.000+03:002003-09-17T04:34:07.496+03:00

Apparently, no less that SIX Americans and 2 Britons have been detained in Iraq on suspicion of participating in paramilitary attacks on American forces. Officials of the US occupation forces are withholding details of their identities so far. I will update as more information becomes available. For some reason the major news websites are not running this yet. UPDATE: The eight prisoners have

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063592094318277742003-09-15T05:14:00.000+03:002003-09-15T05:14:54.346+03:00

Thanks to button for pointing me in the direction of Issandr El Amrani's excellent blog. The latest post about Al-Arabi's recent article talking about the horrible corruption in the Egyptian government and urging the President to transfer power to the public is pretty intense stuff. Issandr El Amrani is (among other things) the former editor of the Cairo Times.

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063500456325022152003-09-14T03:47:00.000+03:002003-09-14T03:48:38.646+03:00

Courtesy of Blog Speak I can enjoy your feedback again. This system actually allows me to delete insulting and rude comments (without having to break the bank). Sorry to everyone that posted comments when I was using Backblog, there's no way for me to restore them. Let's hope Blog Speak works out fine.

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063497751663025272003-09-14T03:02:00.000+03:002003-09-14T10:18:06.243+03:00

I've been trying to formulate in my mind a nice and concise commentary on this issue, but without success, so I'm just going to go ahead with the "stream of thought' method and just think aloud. I apologise if it turns out to be incomprehensible. Here goes: A lot of attention has been paid to what will happen to Yasser Arafat, ranging from morbid neocon and zionist calls for his murder, to calls

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063412037608851042003-09-13T03:13:00.000+03:002003-09-13T03:18:42.323+03:00

Today I received an email from Amazon.com which (incomprehensibly), after analyzing my past purchases decided that I absolutely must buy the books listed below. Honestly, does anyone think that my Amazon purchase history could conceivably cause their customer analysis engine to decide that I wanted to read these retarded propaganda manuals? Welcome to Ama-Zion.com. "The Case For Israel",

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063199045023501072003-09-10T16:04:00.000+03:002003-09-15T05:18:44.646+03:00

I suppose some may have noticed that I haven't really been faithful to the declared purpose of this site, namely to provide an insight into the mind of the typical Arab Joe in light of constantly developing world events. I guess that I am a little individualistic and perhaps egoistic to be faithfully representative of any society, let alone my own. In the interests of clearing up any questions

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1063195834598116152003-09-10T15:10:00.000+03:002003-09-15T06:47:12.633+03:00

This is probably one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in recent memory. As I am writing this, there are 3,267,308 users logged onto Kazaa, and 5300 Terabytes of files are being shared by users across the globe, 99% of which are movies and MP3's, and here we have the Trillion-dollar recording industry taking a little 12-year old to court and even actually intimidating her mother into

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1062985124088406302003-09-08T04:38:00.000+03:002003-09-08T04:38:44.070+03:00

What a load of poop. Virulent poison dripping from a lying imperialist tongue. I can only hope that a sizeable portion of Americans will notice his avoidance of topics such as American casualties in Iraq, the failure to find WMD in Iraq, and chafe at Bush's promise to spend 87 billion dollars on the continuation of his war. What did I expect? That Bush would confess to provoking the whole

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1062980567074493162003-09-08T03:22:00.000+03:002003-09-08T03:22:47.180+03:00

The latest post by Riverbend is shocking and heartbreaking, and literally had me in tears. Her words defy description, so all I can say is go read it now. I don't want to sound overly judgemental but the comparison is unavoidable: Salam Pax, with his (self-hating?) pandering to western readers and his incomprehensible sympathy for American soldiers (even as they brutalised his family and

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1062886791614997252003-09-07T01:19:00.000+03:002003-09-07T01:32:37.136+03:00

Sharon's gang is wasting no time in exploiting the latest "cease-peace". Just as the zionists claim that Palestinians exploit cease-fires to regroup and re-arm, the Israelis can always be relied upon to exploit crises, executing massive settlement actions and sending the IDF on orgies of death and destruction in the occupied territories. It seems that the zionists want this crisis to last. Today

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1062879976402567982003-09-06T23:26:00.000+03:002003-09-06T23:44:13.043+03:00

I've removed the comments for now, due to the mindless trolling of a certain severely retarded and primitive individual. I will install a comments system as soon as I can find one that allows me to filter out the noise..

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1062325768975121872003-08-31T13:29:00.000+03:002003-08-31T22:27:23.770+03:00

Ever since the first gulf war, I've been hearing and reading plenty of propaganda condemning the USA for its use of uranium-238 ammunition in Iraq. Undoubtedly, the release of hundreds of thousands if not millions of depleted uranium rounds in Iraq represents a great tragedy for the Iraqi people and the Middle East in general. There is undeniable evidence that traces of uranium-238 which can be

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1061471753442855032003-08-21T16:15:00.000+03:002003-08-21T16:15:53.490+03:00

The perpetrators of the UN building attack in Baghdad are probably very excited to learn that not only is the UN withdrawing from Baghdad, but so are the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Furthermore, Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf is expected to fail to receive parliamentary support for the deployment of Pak peacekeepers to Iraq. While on the outside this appears to be bad for Iraq, at

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1061393325317261222003-08-20T18:28:00.000+03:002003-08-20T18:35:43.800+03:00

If the intention of those responsible for yesterday's bombing of the UN in Iraq was to force the UN to withdraw, then they can rejoice - the UN is evacuating its entire staff and closing its mission in Baghdad. I say hooray, because after all it has "done for Iraq", the UN had no business to be there. Here in the Arab world, the UN is not viewed as a benevolent, impartial organisation acting in

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1061313090227121352003-08-19T20:11:00.000+03:002003-08-19T20:20:57.546+03:00

Although I most definately count myself among the many admirers of Salam Pax, and applauded his resilience in maintaining his blog before and during the American invasion of Iraq, I have to say that his recent posts are, well, to use one of his favourite words, SHIT! Salam has demonstrated passable writing skills in the past, but unfortunately he seems to have recently developed a liking for

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1059405465867201762003-07-28T18:17:00.000+03:002003-07-28T18:17:45.883+03:00

I haven't been posting much recently because quite a lot has been happening that infuriates me, and I tend to lose focus when I'm mad. One of these events was the apparent deaths of Odai and Qusai Hussein. The manner of their deaths completely dispelled a number of media-created myths about them and challenged the credibility of many others. According to commonly accepted knowledge, Odai and

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1058586576985589162003-07-19T06:49:00.000+03:002003-08-03T01:44:27.566+03:00

Once, not so long ago, there was a war in a certain country in Europe. I was drawn to this war for personal and moral reasons. At the tender age of 18, I travelled to the above-mentioned European country and volunteered for frontline service. I saw and did many things. After one year had passed, I decided that I had seen and done enough things, and asked to be discharged as was my right after a

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1058475227262799602003-07-17T23:53:00.000+03:002003-07-17T23:57:18.296+03:00

I'm sitting here trying to peacefully code a small software utility (in C of course), but someone switched on BBC world and I got treated to the sight of Tony Blair addressing the US congress. Just yesterday he was being laughed at and abused by his entire parliament, and here he is today telling jokes, shedding crocodile tears, and waxing love about America and everything American. I almost

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1057958242897093932003-07-12T00:17:00.000+03:002003-07-12T01:22:52.610+03:00

Wondering what is the hot topic of discussion in the coffee shops in Egypt? The latest bombings and diplomatic intrigues in Palestine? The growing anti-American guerilla resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan? Guantanamo Bay prison? The sudden suspension of free trade agreement (FTA) talks between Egypt and the USA? Nope, none of these topics are currently of any interest to most Egyptian armchair

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1057500250168302272003-07-06T17:04:00.000+03:002003-07-11T22:40:24.223+03:00

OK, this has nothing at all to do with the Middle East, but it's my blog and since it's an Arab blog, it can't be a democracy, can it? Anyway, Ever wondered where Neo and Trinity learned their hacking skills? From Phrack magazine, of course! Phrack is releasing issue #61 on July 18 or soon thereafter. I can't wait. And this time they even posted a teaser, with links to some of the most vital

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1057456841072178372003-07-06T05:00:00.000+03:002003-07-06T18:12:02.406+03:00

A couple of days ago, President Bush dared Iraqi guerillas to attack American forces. "Bring 'em on", he said, and went on to say that the USA has sufficient forces to crush any resistance. I wonder what US soldiers in Iraq think about Bush's challenge. Stan Goff, formerly of the US Army special forces, was wondering the same thing, and wrote some words: In 1970, when I arrived at my unit,

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1057253217938171752003-07-03T20:26:00.000+03:002003-07-03T22:16:12.380+03:00

This story is actually a few months old, however I just remembered it now and thought it would be worth ranting about here. After the terrible Luxor tourist massacre in 1997, the wise and illustrious GOE (gov. of Egypt) undertook a wide scope of security measures across the country. GOE officials, being the evil, money-grubbing sweetheart economists that they all are, naturally had to find some

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1057159239869573412003-07-02T18:20:00.000+03:002003-07-02T18:24:11.923+03:00

Just in time for all the diplomatic shenanigans going on, The Hamas (Palestine Info) website is back online, with multiple servers in different countries, serving the site in an Al-Qaeda-esque array of languages (Persian, Urdu, Arabic, Malawi, Russian, and English). I wonder if American & Israeli script-kiddies will be able to take the site(s) down with DOS attacks this time. The site has

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1057157349634608982003-07-02T17:49:00.000+03:002003-07-02T17:58:25.343+03:00

I've never really warmed to Ramzy Baroud's over-emotional scribblings, but his latest rant over at Palestine Chronicles is almost OK. I wish he'd develop a more proud and steeled patriot's attitude, like that of Ahmed Amr (who unfortunately stopped writing last year). Baroud comes off to me as a bit of a sissy, with his endless wailing about Palestinian and Arab tragedies, without any proud

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1057018288761571812003-07-01T03:11:00.000+03:002003-07-04T02:07:12.546+03:00

This text from the Moscow Times is so amazing that I quoted the whole thing ad-verbatim. Kind of a new take on the Nuremburg defense: Errand Boy - God Personally Told Bush To Invade Iraq By Chris Floyd The Moscow Times.com 6-30-3 "God told me to strike at al-Qaida and I struck them, and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1056833643083304442003-06-28T23:54:00.000+03:002003-06-29T01:07:51.396+03:00

Salam Pax announced today that an Iraqi woman called Zainab has started her own blog, and by his endorsement instantly propelled her to fame and misfortune. I say misfortune because Zainab's first post started with the probably heartfelt, yet rather inflammatory words:"I know that one day there will be a great revolution against the Americans and now we have the first seeds of that revolution"I'm

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1056586302405491962003-06-26T03:11:00.000+03:002003-06-26T03:14:58.080+03:00

Stratfor, June 25 Volte-Face for Hamas? The Jerusalem Post reported June 25 that Hamas has indicated a willingness to accept Israel's right to exist. However, Hamas sources speaking to Stratfor have categorically denied any such statement, while also rejecting the notion that Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad has struck a cease-fire deal with Israel. These contradictory statements either could

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1056067228709718822003-06-20T03:00:00.000+03:002003-06-20T03:01:32.383+03:00

Baghdad is still very far from being a safe place to be. Read Salam's story of how he thought a later-than-usual taxi ride might have easily ended in firy death: I think I was in a car with a loony-suicide-fucker last night. I wanted to ask why he wanted to hide a hand grenade in his car but I was really really scared. He just might decide to stick the hand grenade down my throat, because it is

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1055984689050941022003-06-19T04:04:00.000+03:002003-06-19T04:09:16.236+03:00

Let's not beat around the bush. The United States is involved in a guerilla war in the Sunni areas of Iraq. Since May 1, American soldiers have fallen to guerilla attacks on almost a daily basis, and more than 50 have been killed. A large proportion of these deaths have been the result of sniper attacks, especially in Baghdad. Even kevlar chest plates and helmets haven't saved American soldiers

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1055815725438052462003-06-17T05:08:00.000+03:002003-06-17T05:21:17.083+03:00

As an unofficial but nevertheless loudmouthed representative of the "Arab Street", I demand that the Egyptian censorship board immediately revoke its unjust banning of the film "The Matrix Reloaded". It's pointless anyway, since everyone will find a way to watch the movie somehow, and the banning has probably generated more public interest now. In olden times, when our all-wise, all-seeing

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1055812664404678022003-06-17T04:17:00.000+03:002003-06-17T04:19:51.410+03:00

When this girl was killed by an Israeli bulldozer I was amazed at how certain over-zealous Israel-supporters rushed to defame her as much as possible. She certainly wasn't as historic a figure as Che, but as a person who was martyred for her beliefs it was fitting that she be so honored in death. Rachel Corrie Spotted with Che and Mumia on Muslim Wakeup

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1055809497305259432003-06-17T03:24:00.000+03:002003-06-17T04:37:18.163+03:00

Here we have a motley crew of negotiators involved in complicated shenanigans with unfathomable motives: The head of Egyptian intelligence went to Israel, supposedly to make the Israelis talk with Hamas. Today it surfaces that he took along a radical Egyptian preacher (Qaradawi), known in Egypt for his anti-government stance and for his firy performances on Al-Jazeera (One of the reasons

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1055767206925172912003-06-16T15:40:00.000+03:002003-06-16T15:40:52.823+03:00

(Stratfor) 1145 GMT - Hamas could agree to a cease-fire as early as June 17, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath says. The announcement came after Egyptian officials met June 16 with Palestinian officials, including Minister for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan. The Egyptian delegation met with Hamas leaders on June 15. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that Israel would reject

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1055729447268883722003-06-16T05:10:00.000+03:002003-06-16T05:10:47.270+03:00

Last night, in Mecca of all places, members of a terrorist cell evaded a police checkpoint, got into a high-speed, guns-blazing car chase, and finally had an all-night shootout with the police from their hideout. When the smoke settled, at least 10 people were dead from both sides, and the surviving militants had been captured. The fact that this happened in Mecca was the subject of some

Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482366.post-1055719417811292352003-06-16T02:23:00.000+03:002003-06-16T02:59:15.673+03:00

I can hear the sirens already. I can envision the mukhabarat officers knocking on my door at any moment to take me away to wherever it is they take anti-government suspects. I haven't even written anything yet, but nevertheless they could probably knock together a solid case for prosecution against me in a military tribunal, on the basis of thought-crime, which would be publicised in the

Bloggernoreply@blogger.com