Middle East News

Israel: “Mistakes Made” In Flotilla Raid

8:51 am EST July 13th, 2010 | World | 50 Comments

Clearly the Israeli government is guilty of anti-semitism, because according to the right wing media, anything negative about Israel smells of anti-semitism.

The investigation, which was headed by Maj. Gen. (Reserves) Giora Eiland, found that while high-level officials had committed errors in judgment, no one in the military had behaved negligently. The report avoids recommendations that would have led to the demotion of military personnel or other strong actions.

‘We found that there were some professional mistakes regarding both the intelligence and the decision-making process and some operational mistakes,’ Eiland said.

Topic: ,

 

Chuck Schumer: Strangle Gaza

7:40 pm EST June 11th, 2010 | Foreign Policy | 15 Comments

chuck schumerAmazingly offensive world view from Sen. Chuck Schumer:

SCHUMER: The Palestinian people still don’t believe in the Jewish state, in a two-state solution. More do than before, but a majority still do not. Their fundamental view is, the Europeans treated the Jews badly and gave them our land — this is Palestinian thinking [...] They don’t believe in the Torah, in David [...] You have to force them to say Israel is here to stay. The boycott of Gaza to me has another purpose — obviously the first purpose is to prevent Hamas from getting weapons by which they will use to hurt Israel — but the second is actually to show the Palestinians that when there’s some moderation and cooperation, they can have an economic advancement. When there’s total war against Israel, which Hamas wages, they’re going to get nowhere. And to me, since the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas, while certainly there should be humanitarian aid and people not starving to death, to strangle them economically until they see that’s not the way to go, makes sense.

One of the biggest obstacles to any progress in the middle east is the kneejerk, blind to any objective fact support that is given to everything Israel is done by members of congress. The stupidity cuts across party, and it ends up undercutting presidential efforts to broker things. Furthermore, regardless of what you think of the leaders and terror elements in the Gaza strip, there are actual human beings there.

Sick.

Topic: , , ,

 

Israel Playing Games With American Lives

6:48 pm EST March 11th, 2010 | Foreign Policy | 18 Comments

The idea that they’re still pushing settlements now is amazingly ludicrous. Thankfully the vice president apparently made that clear.

People who heard what Biden said were stunned. ‘This is starting to get dangerous for us,’ Biden castigated his interlocutors. ‘What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.’

The vice president told his Israeli hosts that since many people in the Muslim world perceived a connection between Israel’s actions and US policy, any decision about construction that undermines Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem could have an impact on the personal safety of American troops fighting against Islamic terrorism.

Both sides in this conflict seem to have a vested interest in keeping it going rather than engaging in any move towards something resembling peace. I can’t wait for the day when we can tell both sides to go to hell.

More: Israel, Joe Biden

Topic: , , , ,

 

Biden Condemns Israeli Government For Building New Settlements

3:22 pm EST March 9th, 2010 | Foreign Policy | 13 Comments

For Immediate Release

March 9, 2010

Statement by Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Jerusalem

“I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem. The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel. We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them. This announcement underscores the need to get negotiations under way that can resolve all the outstanding issues of the conflict. The United States recognizes that Jerusalem is a deeply important issue for Israelis and Palestinians and for Jews, Muslims and Christians. We believe that through good faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem and safeguards its status for people around the world. Unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations on permanent status issues. As George Mitchell said in announcing the proximity talks, “we encourage the parties and all concerned to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks.”"

###

Topic: , ,

 

Oprah: Ambassador Of Middle East Peace?

11:06 pm EST February 8th, 2010 | News | 4 Comments

The queen of all talk shows seems to be extending her power to middle eastern understanding.

In a region where people overwhelmingly disapprove of American policy toward the Arab world, Oprah has quietly emerged as a better cultural ambassador than any public diplomacy effort in recent memory. As the months passed, I heard more from fans of Oprah. They are women representing a spectrum of class and religious orientation — conservative women, veiled women, liberal women and even women who don’t speak much English but read the Arabic subtitles.

Topic:

 

Saudi Journalist Sentenced To 60 Lashes

11:22 am EST October 24th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Saudi Arabia once again helps the middle east to knock one out of the park in the “What Century Is This, You Backwards Asses” international competition.

A Saudi court on Saturday convicted a female journalist for her involvement in a TV show, in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex, and sentenced her to 60 lashes.

Rozanna al-Yami is believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment. The charges against her included involvement in the preparation of the program and advertising the segment on the Internet.

Topic:

 

Our New Face To The World

10:17 pm EST January 26th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 14 Comments

President Obama gives an interview to Arabic station Al-Arabiya. Frankly based on what I’ve read about what actually gets watched in the middle east, he should have gone on Al Jazeera. But any step is a good one here.

MORE:

In his first formal interview since taking office, the president spoke with the Dubai-based station Al Arabiya on topics pertinent to the Arab and Muslim worlds. Much of the interview was spent defining the new approach that the United States would implement in that region: respectfulness over divisiveness, listening over dictating, engagement over militarism. But the president drew the line when it came to terrorist organizations.

“Their ideas are bankrupt,” he told host Hisham Melhem, when asked to respond to recent audio clips from al Qaeda leadership calling him various epithets. “There’s no actions that they’ve taken that say a child in the Muslim world is getting a better education because of them, or has better health care because of them.”

Pressed later in the interview to comment on Bush’s use of the term ‘War On Terror,’ and the implications that the phrase held, Obama once again distanced himself from his White House predecessor.

“I think that you’re making a very important point. And that is that the language we use matters,” he said, according to a transcript provided by the White House. “We cannot paint with a broad brush a faith as a consequence of the violence that is done in that faith’s name. I cannot respect terrorist organizations that would kill innocent civilians and we will hunt them down. But to the broader Muslim world what we are going to be offering is a hand of friendship.”

Woot.

Topic: , ,

 

Really Annoyed

2:44 am EST December 31st, 2008 | Uncategorized | 17 Comments

I’m really annoyed by the people on the right who simply accept everything Israel has said and done without a hint of skepticism. I’m equally annoyed by people on the left side who excuse away Hamas’ actions and pile on Israel.

But then, I’m on the disengage with the Middle east faction, so maybe I see things differently.

Topic:

 

Gaza

12:40 pm EST December 28th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 108 Comments

It’s our land!
No, it’s our land!
Ceasefire.
Suicide bombing, rocket attack.
Retalliatory rocket attack.
Condemn!
U.S. negotiated ceasefire.
Rinse, lather, repeat.

The sooner we get off oil the sooner we can leave the yahoos in Israel and in the Palestinian/Arab world to their own devices, free to blow each other to smithereens.

Topic: