National Updates

The Sectarian Card

2011-04-22T12:54:00.001-04:00

It is sad to see that very few people make any attempt to view events in Syria away from divisive trends. And it is increasingly unfortunate that the “revolutionists” and their media supporters have proven to be much more sectarian and divisive than the regime. I have not heard president Assad or any official from the government even once mention the different sects in Syria or try to use it for political exploitation, whereas the “revolutionists” and media “analysts” (I’m using the term analyst very loosely here) have not missed a single opportunity to raise the sectarian issue and use all means and efforts to create and highlight divisions in Syrian society. Such attempts have become so vulgar that even President Bashar al Assad’s reform measures are described in such a repugnantly divisive way as to undermine them altogether and continue to incite Syrians to anger and violence.

When President Assad passed a bill granting undocumented people in Hassakeh Syrian citizenship, it was described as a way to take the Kurds out of the equation, implying that it’s a mere sinister plot by Assad to divide the Syrian opposition. This is both inaccurate and dangerous. It is inaccurate because the fact is that granting undocumented residents of Hassakeh was something that various groups had been discussing with the regime and encouraging Assad to adopt as an important measure to ensure equality among all Syrians. President Assad heeded those calls and did what should be recognized as the right thing. However, continued efforts to undermine and undercut such reforms were being made and thus certain sides felt it would be important to continue to incite Kurds, as well as other Syrians, making them believe that all this is just to shut them up.

When President Assad met with various representatives of different sectors in Syrian society, “analysts” continued to interpret such steps as mere attempts to appease this side or placate that side, only in order to sabotage this great “revolution”. Certain sectarian and ethnic terms continued to be emphasized in order to make sure that divisions in Syrian society are highlighted and strengthened. President Assad’s seriousness about reforms continued to be questioned, with many doubting that he would really put an end to the state of emergency in Syria, which was allegedly a key demand by the protesters. Once the state of emergency was lifted, again it was dismissed as “too little too late” by certain sides that have an interest in sustaining the current chaos and instability. Why exactly it is “too late” remains a mystery. Somehow a month ago it was a key demand but in one month it magically became too late. Yet again a key reform measure was dismissed and the divisions in Syrian society continued to be stressed as a means of continued incitement. The vulgar Robert Fisk, who is a Hariri paid propagandist, insists that the regime in Syria is a “Alawi” regime and therefore a “Shiite” regime, stocking the flames of Sunni-Shiite sectarianism.

All this has made it clear that there is indeed a conspiracy and a sinister plot against Syria, aimed at dividing it and weakening it so that the last state in the Arab world resisting US-”Israeli” hegemony is brought down and resistance against occupation is weakened.

The Shallowness of the Angry Arab

2011-04-18T18:00:00.002-04:00

In his usual shallow and sarcastic way, As'ad Abu Khalil, on his blog "Then Angry Arab," posted the following comment:

So Bashshar Al-Asad in his last speech said that Syria needs a new law governing demonstrations because there is no law dealing with demonstrations. He then said that when his reforms are implemented, there would no reason for demonstrations at all. I kid you not. So I say: why formulate a new law for demonstrations then? Huh?

This is typical of Abu Khalil's silly and irresponsible responses to events seriously affecting the nation. Of course, Abu Khalil does not wish to objectively and comprehensively analyze the important speech given by President Bashar al Assad on Saturday, as this would require actual analytical thinking of an important event, something that does not interest the Angry Arab. Instead, he has a score to settle and a grudge to satisfy with the Syrian regime, which leads him to limit his response to the most recent events in Syria to mere sarcastic nonsense and peddling of US/"Israeli"/Saudi propaganda. The actual full quote of the portion addressing the right to demonstrate from Assad's speech is the following:

"أن القانون الأخير الذي اقترح ضمن حزمة القوانين التي اقترحتها اللجنة هو قانون السماح بالتظاهر لأن الدستور السوري يسمح بالتظاهر ولكن لا يوجد لدينا قانون لكي ينظم عملية التظاهر.. وهذا الإجراء عملياً.. هو تحد لأن الشرطة لم تهيأ في سورية لمثل هذه المواضيع فلابد من تهيئة جهاز الشرطة بشكل أساسي ودعمه بالعناصر والمعدات وربما بالهيكلية.. إعادة النظر بالهيكلية لكي تتماشى مع الإصلاحات الجديدة فمن مهام الشرطة أن تقوم بحماية المتظاهرين وبنفس الوقت حماية الأشخاص الآخرين والاملاك الخاصة والعامة من أي محاولة للتخريب أو للعبث بأمن المواطنين. "

Translate: The next law among the package of laws recommended by the committee is the law permitting demonstrations because the Syrian constition allows demonstrations but we do not have a law that organizes the process of demonstrating, which is a practical procedure. It is a challenge because the police in Syria is not equipped for such matters. The police service must therefore be essentially prepared and supported with personnel, equipment and perhaps structure. [There must be] a review of the structure such that it compliments the new reforms, for it is the duty of the police to protect the demonstrators and at the same time protect other persons and private and public property from any attempt at destruction or undermining the security of the citizens.

President Assad then goes on to say:

طبعاً عندما تصدر هذه الحزمة لا يعود هناك حجة لتنظيم التظاهرات في سورية والمطلوب مباشرة من قبل الأجهزة المعنية وخاصة وزارة الداخلية أن تطبق القوانين بحزم كامل ولا يوجد أي تساهل مع أي عملية تخريب.

Translate: Of course after this package [of laws] is issued there will no longer be an excuse for the organization of the demonstrations in Syria and what is directly required is for the relevant agencies, especially the Ministry of Interior, to apply the laws fully and firmly without there being any leniency toward acts of destruction.

A proper reading of the above is that President Assad is tying these new laws to the situation on the ground today. He explains the need to have a proper system that can organize demonstrations, so that demonstrations in the way they are taking place today would no longer be needed. Thus, the second part should be understood as saying that once we pass these new laws, there will no longer be an excuse to organize demonstrations in the manner they are being organized during these latest events. And in that way we can properly separate between demands for reform and acts of destruction. However, because there currently is no law or system organizing the process of demonstrations, people are forced to go out on their own and demonstrate without obtaining permits and without being able to rely on proper agencies to protect and secure the demonstrations. Once a new procedure for demonstrating is introduced, there will no longer be a justification for hasty, chaotic demonstrations where it becomes difficult to differentiate between genuine, peaceful protesters, and those seeking solely to cause trouble and engage in destructive behavior.

Comment on Sham (Syrian Arab Republic)

2011-04-13T12:43:00.002-04:00

The following is a comment I made on Prof. Joshua Landis' Syria Comment blog, in response to an inquiry by another participant regarding my posting of articles and reports from state media in Sham:

Dear OTW:

You should know very well that I am very critical of the regime in Syria and of its oppressive and repressive methods since the arrival of the Baath to power in 1963 (even though oppression in Syria did not begin with the Baath but continued after their ascension to power). I also believe that its propaganda is quite crude, bombastic, and just plain dumb, so I do not really subscribe to it in general. And this whole charade of people chanting “bel rou7 bel dam” or “allah, souriya, bashar w bass” is to me a display of reactionary rhetoric, backwards thinking, and ignorance. Moreover, I have repeated numerously that ultimately the regime should be held accountable for what transpires in Syria, as the situation is not forever sustainable and its failure to implement real and serious reforms is going to lead to consequences that the regime is responsible for.

My criticism of the regime, however, does not blind me to what is being cooked up for Syria. I do not operate from the springboard of hatred and spite such that I would rather destroy the country than see the regime survive another day. I have made clear on several occasions that I want what is best for Syria, not what is worst for the regime. What is taking place today in Syria is not a revolution by any stretch of the imagination. Although it started out with some protests here and there, most of these protests were very small and limited to specific areas and groups. There was never a clear presence on the street by the masses in rejection of their government, as was the case in Egypt. In addition, I found many of the protests to be repulsive and not representative of the Syria I’d like to see, specifically those calling for the end of mixed-sex schools and chanting slogans against Shiites, Iran, and Hizballah, which to me has nothing to do with demands for freedom and reform, but is rather an expression of the most vulgar form of sectarianism.

What we then witnessed was the steady descension of these protests into acts of violence and destruction combined with the most crude forms of vulgar propaganda, aimed not merely at opposing government repression, but rather at inciting people to violence by appealing to their base emotions, using hate-mongering and sectarian incitement. The videos, pictures, and stories that were being spread were intended to create a reaction stemming from pure hatred, which is always a dangerous reaction that is most likely to lead to chaos and division, rather than one based on rational thought. Videos of unknown and unverified “killings” and “massacres” allegedly by the regime against unarmed protesters were being spread in conjunction with filthy sectarian terms, such as “the Nusairi regime”, “Alawi regime,” “minority rule,” etc. which can lead to nothing but increased divisiveness in society.

What’s more is that most media organizations, both western and Arab, were peddling this propaganda and participating in attempting to incite Syrians through sectarian agitation. We kept reading time and again articles reminding everyone that Syria was a country of a “sunni majority” “ruled by a Alawite minority.” Over and over terms of “Alawite”, “Sunni”, “minority”, “majority”, “Shiite”, “Iran”, “Hizballah”, etc. were drilled into our heads in an apparent attempt to ensure that these divisive terms are imprinted in the minds of Syrians, so that all actions they take would be based on them and not on a feeling of true national consciousness. This was combined with the fact that the presence of armed groups spreading terror and chaos became increasingly evident, calling into question this entire movement from its core.

All this made it clear to me that there was a sinister agenda at play here, which was completely detached from the rightful demands of the majority of Syrians for genuine reforms. It was clear that there is a plan in place to take Syria from a state of stability to a state of chaos and confusion, as such a state is likely to do nothing but further weaken and disable a country. I saw that these foreign media outlets were active participants in this agenda in the way they reported the news and in their providing of platforms for reactionary individuals to spread their vulgar ideas, as was the case with Al-Jazeera and the debased Yousef al-Qardawi.

Therefore, I found it most critical that first and foremost we put a stop to the spreading of this destructive propaganda which can lead nowhere but to the descent of the country into violence and chaos. The only websites and news outlets that were carrying reports and articles rebutting these pieces of propaganda were unfortunately what people regard as “regime” or “pro-regime” sources. I found many of these reports and articles to be much more credible and believable than the hateful propaganda being spread by the so-called “revolutionists” with the aid of the so-called “free” international media, which has proven time and again to be anything but “free.” Hence, I chose to post them and distribute them. This in no way means that I subscribe to all regime propaganda, much of which I find to be distasteful and downright stupid (such as the hours and hours of phone calls supporting “Bashar” we are subjected to).

I have been very clear that my aim is not to overthrow the regime just for the sake of overthrowing it, regardless of what replaces it. I do not believe in satisfying grudges and settling scores as a basis of bringing about changes for the benefit of the country. I have particular disdain for uncontroled chaos and violence and destructive behavior. Moreover, I know for a fact that many Syrians on the ground have struggled and sacrificed, in a constructive manner, for the sake of improving their country, and they have been witnessing some of the fruits of their struggle, only to witness some destructive elements attempt to throw it all in the dumpster for the sake of narrow interests and service of foreign agendas. Finally, I am quite confident that President Bashar al-Assad is indeed serious about bringing about changes and implementing serious reforms that are going to change the political landscape in Syria, and to put a stake in the heart of this move toward reform for the sake of chaos and destruction, seems to me to be utterly counterproductive.

It's NOT the Joulan, Stupid!

2010-05-17T18:32:00.004-04:00

It is getting quite tiring to see all the talk from Shami (Syrian Arab Republic) circles about "peace with Israel" and the return of the Joulan, whether fully or partially, or whether with sovereignty but without possession, as if now the only problem a Shami has with the Jewish entity is the Joulan. Once it is returned, this problem will be solved. This of course is a nonsensical position and is a result of the divisions the west was able to create and enforce in our nation, such that now Lebanon has its own problems, as does Sham, as does Palestine, as does Iraq, etc. And no two issues should be mixed or conflated because each entity should be looking after its own interests as an "independent", "sovereign" state.

The fact is that the Syrian nation has a single national cause and a single interest in life, such that any and all threats to any part of the nation are a threat to the nation as a whole. And any occupation of any part of its homeland is an occupation that affects the homeland in its entirety. To fragment and divide our cause is what gives the Jewish occupation the biggest service of all, as it causes us to lose sight of the nature of the struggle and renders us paralyzed before the enemy's assault on the nation. Unfortunately, however, Syrians continue to fall victim to the deception and trickery of "Israel" by going along with its continuous aim to divide our will and make us too fragmented and dispersed to mount an effective campaign against its usurpation of our land and its violation of our national rights.

Every inch of Syrian territory (including every inch of occupied Palestine) belongs to the Syrian nation (as a whole, in all its generations, and not as a group of individuals) and only the Syrians have the right to control and possess it. Therefore, the issue is not that the Joulan is occupied Shami territory that must be returned to the Shami entity in exchange for "peace" with the usurping entity. Rather, the issue is that the Jewish entity in its very nature is a threat to all of Syria and is a violation of Syrian national rights, and as such its very existence should be combated as no nation can reasonably accept a racist, cancerous entity within its body.

Obama's Basic Message: Recognize "Israel" and do as we tell you, and we won't kill you

2009-06-05T12:16:00.004-04:00

The ecstasy with which President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo has been received by many circles in the Arab World is truly befuddling. Nothing in the speech was a cause for celebration or even reassurance. The entire speech sounded more like a scolding of our position toward the usurping entity and the United States for the crimes they have committed against our people. He stood in Cairo and told the Arab World that the United States' relationship with "Israel" is "unbreakable," that Jewish suffering is more important than the suffering of your people, that you must recognize the "legitimate right" of "Israel" to exist as a Jewish state, and that you must stop opposing US imperial agendas. And if you do all that , o Arab World, then perhaps we will not kill you. This was the essence of the speech and this was its central, deeply offensive, message.

President Obama took a few minutes to lecture us about Jewish suffering in Europe and about the holocaust, as if this issue has anything to do with us. He implied that because the Jews were killed and oppressed in Europe, that we must then allow them to take our land and kill our people. Not one mention was made of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land, and the deep psychological trauma this has caused to an entire people. Not one mention was made of the brutal, gruesome massacres committed by Jewish Zionist gangs against innocent civilians during their terror campaign to found a racist, exclusive state for Jews only. Therefore, the clear implication of his words is that while we will continue to recognize and mourn Jewish suffering throughout the ages, and demand that you do the same, we will not ever mention your suffering and will deny that any wrong was done unto you. In other words, we believe that the lives of Jews are more valuable and precious than the lives of Palestinians.

Then Obama tied the suffering of Jews in Europe to the requirement that we recognize the "legitimate right" of "Israel" to exist as a Jewish state. He said it is "deeply wrong" to call for the destruction of "Israel," and implied that such language was comparable to a crime of genocide. It is of course quite outlandish to claim that the demand to dismantle what is a racist, cancerous, illegal entity that has brought about nothing but pain and suffering to an entire people is akin to committing genocide against innocent populations. Moreover, Obama failed to denounce genocidal language used by the other side, when that language is actually followed by actions on the ground. It is of no concern to him that an "Israeli" minister would threaten the Palestinians of Gaza with a "holocaust" or that the war minister would promise that Lebanon would be burned from north to south. Both actions and threats of destruction of other countries by "Israel" are not considered "deeply wrong" by Obama, while he is so greatly offended by the notion that someone would demand the dismantlement of an inherently racist system.

He then went on to specifically identify "Israeli" "victimization" at the hands of Palestinians. He denounced Palestinian armed resistance and blasted Palestinians telling them that it is "not courageous to fire missiles at innocent children or to blow up elderly women on buses." Such a vile statement reeks of utter hypocrisy and callousness. It has not been five months since "Israel" brutally and mercilessly massacred over 1400 civilians in Gaza, and yet Obama finds it appropriate to lecture Palestinians on the proper means of struggle. He has the nerve to demand that Palestinians renounce violence and abandon violent resistance, while "Israel" is allowed to continue using savage violence against an innocent population whose only crime was living on a land desired by others.

But Obama did not forget the Palestinians. He gave them token recognition when he said that they have "suffered in their pursuit of a homeland." Apparently, the Palestinians have been pursuing a homeland and it is this pursuit that has caused them great suffering. It is such a general and broad statement that you would think the Palestinians have been suffering from some mysterious phenomenon, or maybe natural disasters, while traversing the globe searching for a homeland. This is of course a completely warped view of the Palestinian struggle and anything but "truth-telling" as Obama likes to brag he does. The Palestinians were never "in pursuit" of a homeland. They have a homeland, and it was stolen from them by Jewish zionists aided by western colonial powers. They were forcefully evicted from their land through massacres, ethnic cleansing, and terror campaigns, and were turned into refugees on their own land as well as in other countries. But President Obama conveniently skips over all the crimes committed against the Palestinians and reduces the cause of their suffering to some unfortunate circumstances.

Obama then proceeded to find an ostensible solution to the Palestinian struggle. His solution was that each side had to recognize the "legitimate aspirations" of the other. In other words, we are required to recognize the "legitimate aspirations" of "Israel" to build and maintain a state exclusively for Jews on land we live in. What a difference a political career makes. Here, I would like to quote from Obama's book "Dreams From My Father," where he was reciting a speech he gave in college at an event in support of the struggle of the African National Congress against Apartheid rule in South Africa. His words were:

"It's happening an ocean away. But it's a struggle that touches each and every one of us. Whether we know it or not. Whether we want it or not. A struggle that demands we choose sides. Not between black and white. Not between rich and poor. No--it's a harder choice than that. It's a choice between dignity and servitude. Between fairness and injustice. Between commitment and indifference. A choice between right and wrong..."

If those words were used by President Obama in his position on the Palestinian struggle, then I would have accepted and believed his claimed commitment to "truth-telling." Unfortunately, however, as President of the United States, it is politically too risky for Mr. Obama to utter such truly expressive words in support of the Palestinians' legitimate struggle against opprression.

Egypt: From "Mother of the World" to Joke of the World

2009-04-14T10:55:00.004-04:00

With every further action that the Egyptian regime takes against Hizballah it digs itself a deeper hole. It is becoming ever more clear that Egypt is a puppet of the west and a collaborator against Palestinians and the Palestinian cause. According to Egyptian calculations, Hizballah aiding besieged Palestinians in Egypt is a violation of Egyptian sovereignty and a threat to Egyptian security, but "Israel" attacking the Sinai side of the Rafah border and forbidding Egypt from increasing its security presence in the Sinai does not in any way affect Egyptian sovereignty or security.

What has become clear is that Egypt is actively participating in the war against our people in Palestine. Egypt has become a lackey and a tool of "Israel" to be used against our people in the Jewish state's continuing attempt to subjugate us for the purpose of expanding their racist entity. After all, it is the foreign minister of this very state who threatened to "break the legs" of any Palestinian who dared cross the Rafah border crossing. No amount of empty rhetoric or baseless propaganda will now change this image of Egypt.

The regime's attempt to accuse Hizballah of engaging in "Shiitization" is laughable to say the least, and only adds to the utter patheticness of this collaborative dictatorship. To think that a few Hizballah operatives aiding Palestinians from the Gaza-Sinai border are going to carry out mass conversions of millions of Egyptians is of unsurpassed ridiculousness and is merely a smokescreen to attempt to distract people from the true nature of the Egyptian regime and the role it is playing today as puppet and collaborator.

Egypt has for sometime now been actively working to prevent any and all supplies from entering Gaza in order to aid "Israel" in its siege of the Palestinian civilians living in the Strip. Egypt has done its part in closing and sealing the border and in attempting to destroy all smuggling tunnels going from Sinai to Gaza. What it has been having a hard time with, however, is controlling the Bedouins of the Sinai, who have been admirably and courageously aiding the Palestinian resistance in anyway they can.

These Bedouins of course are not of Egyptian origin and have no loyalty to the Egyptian state. Rather, they feel that the Palestinian cause is their cause because they are of the same people. Egyptian security forces have been doing all they can to go after these Bedouins of the Sinai but have been reluctant to confront them as they don't want to create any unnecessary problems for themselves.

The Arab World in general, and the Syrian nation in particular, now see Egypt as nothing more than a tool in the hands of foreign occupiers. Egypt has been at the forefront of the war against the Resistance and has done all it can to deny our people their right to resist foreign aggression and occupation.

Moreover, the Egyptian regime has done nothing to improve the situation of its people, while it continues to beg foreign powers for economic assistance in order to sustain its disastrous hold on power. Mubarak has unleashed a security force of a million and a half in order to control 80 million Egyptians, most of whom are living in poverty. The state's infrastructure has been completely neglected and utter corruption is pervasive all across the government, such that the people's wealth is being stolen by a destructive regime. It is for this reason that Egypt has been trying to serve the US and "Israel" loyally, hoping to continue to obtain economic aid which it deems wholly necessary for the continued survival of the regime. And of course the US has no problem with a corrupt, totalitarian regime so long as it serves the US's interests in a slave-like manner.

In a previous time, Egypt was referred to by many in the Arab World as "mother of the world," an endearing term they used to describe what they saw as a large, rich, powerful country with tremendous potential. I have always disagreed with this characterization of Egypt, but nevertheless Egypt definitely had its admirers. Today, however, Egypt has relegated itself to "joke of the world" as it has reinforced its role as slave and puppet to western colonial powers.

"Not a Mirage" (ليس سراباً)

2009-03-25T19:36:00.002-04:00

I recently watched the entire 32-episode Syrian series called "Not a Mirage," or ليس سراباً in Arabic (pronounced laysa saraban). The series tackles several important and controversial issues present in our society, the most important of which is sectarianism and religious fundamentalism, but also includes such prominent topics as women's rights, civil society (or absence thereof), honor killings, and love relationships. The story revolves around a divorced single "Christian" mother, Hanan, who happens to fall in love with a divorced "Muslim" father of two, Jalal, and the ensuing relationship that arises out of this love. But the prevalent social attitudes prevent the couple from making their relationship public, and create a host of obstacles and problems that keep them from leading normal lives together. Their obligation to keep the relationship secret, due to the social ills from which our people suffer, is a clear recipe for disaster.

The series does a good job of addressing controversial topics and breaking taboos in a courageous and thought-provoking manner. Our society's attitude toward women is expressed and demonstrated by the roles to which most members of our society believe women should be confined. A prime example is the attitude of Hanan's father toward her being a divorced woman, which he views with utter disgust and disdain, even though Hanan's ex-husband was a corrupt figure who regularly abused his wife physically and psychologically. The position of the father was that many things happen between a man and a woman that should remain inside their home. That his daughter was being beaten, and that her dignity and honor were being stepped on, is of no concern to him, as it is more important that his daughter resort to her natural role of the obedient wife. This is a mentality that is quite pervasive in our society, as women are viewed, to a large extent, as servants of their husbands who are required and expected to obey their husbands and remain under their control, irrespective of how they are treated.

The series also ponders the proper role of religion; whether it is to be a pure spiritual and moral guide being completely separate from matters involving the state and the political system, or whether it should govern all aspects of our lives, including political and judicial national matters. Michel, the owner and publisher of a controversial magazine prints an article in his publication criticizing the role that religious institutions have played in involving themselves in issues that are outside the natural role of religion, calling for the inception of a secular system. His article becomes the target of ire and revulsion from members of all religious sects in our nation, as they all view it as an attack on religion, rather than a mere criticism of the contribution of religious institutions to sectarianism, religious fundamentalism, and the absence of the civil society.

This leads to another article printed by Michel's magazine that addresses the absence of the civil society, as our laws, especially those dealing with family and personal status, are governed by religious jurisprudence and institutions. As such, citizens are not treated as members of a single nation with equal rights and duties, but are rather subjected to different rules and procedures depending upon their confessional background. This article again draws intense anger from members of society, as they see it as a blasphemous call for secularism. The feeling is such that, Jalal's son, who becomes indoctrinated as a fundamentalist Islamist, regards Michel as a "sectarian Christian" who is introducing a "corrupt, western" idea of secularism in order to advance a sectarian agenda.

It is highly important that such matters begin to be discussed and addressed in our society, as we suffer from many ailments that need to be treated and cured if we are to experience a renaissance and come out of the coma in which we continue to be stuck. When young men are shown cheering and encouraging a fellow citizen for murdering his sister for "honorable" reasons, attention is brought to a sick mentality that drives many of our people. It is a step in the right direction that will hopefully open the door to further self-examinations and self-critiques that can help make us a better, more advanced, more dynamic society.

Arab "Reconciliation": The Latest Joke

2009-03-13T07:19:00.003-04:00

As we've recently heard in the news, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad met on Wednesday with King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt as part of an effort to reconcile the so-called "differences" between the Arab states that had caused relations to sour in the last few years. The reports coming out of this meeting is that it was "positive" and "constructive" and that a "mechanism" was agreed upon to help these states deal with future issues that may be a cause of discord.

First, to suggest that this was an attempt at reconciling the differences that have arisen between different Arab states, while at the same time uninviting Qatar, an important party to those so-called "disagreements," at the request of Egypt appears quite disingenuous and leads one to believe that alterior motives are at play. It is illogical for "Arabs" to be negotiating an end to the rift that has materialized in the last several years when a major Arab player is left out of the negotiations.

Second, the argument that there are mere "disagreements" between the two "camps" of the Arab World which need to be reconciled is completely contrary to the truth and to the reality of the events. There are no "Arab disagreements" between Syria on the one hand, and Saudi Arabia and Egypt on the other hand. It is not as if these states were working toward achieving a common goal and serving a common interest and had mere disagreements on the best means of achieving that goal and serving that interest. What there was in reality is clear collaboration by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt with the enemies of our nation and an active participation of these states in the war against our people. Egypt and Saudi Arabia both played a dirty and sinister role in joining forces with the US and "Israel" to help them destroy our honorable Resistance against the brutal and criminal occupation of our land. Because these Arab regimes failed miserably in their endeavor, as their master "Israel" was defeated in its wars against our people, and because Syria stood steadfast with our people's right to resist their oppressors, these Arab regimes began to hold a grudge against Syria as it denied them their chance to please and obediently serve their masters.

The actions of these Arab states were not simple disagreements over a means to a common end. They were clear, unambiguous crimes against our people and their right to fight and struggle for their dignity and freedom. Egypt's role in helping the Jewish state starve and kill our people in occupied Palestine made it into a tool for the enemy. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's endless efforts to help "Israel" destroy the Resistance in Lebanon once and for all puts it in the same column with the Jewish entity. There is therefore nothing over which to reconcile. There are not mere "differences" between various parts of a common cause. There is rather a clear collaborator and criminal on one side and a clear defender of just rights on the other.

Unless and until these Arab regimes recognize their crimes and desist from denying our people their national rights, including their legitimate right to resist a brutal occupation and defend themselves against a barbaric enemy, then all these meetings and negotiations are futile, as they cannot possibly produce any fruitful results.

Let "Them" Accept Secularism First

2009-03-04T21:37:00.003-05:00

It has become a common declaration among many of our people whenever they are confronted with the issue of secularism. "If 'they' accept secularism, then we would be happy to have a secular country." That is, they justify their sectarian mentalities and feign support for secularism by claiming that it is the other sects that refuse to accept secularism and therefore they have no choice but to embrace sectarianism. This is of course a bogus argument intended merely to rationalize their deeply embedded sectarian sentiments and their vehement opposition to secularism.

To claim that the only thing keeping you from accepting secularism is "their" sectarianism and "their" rejection of secular principles demonstrates a clear, unambiguous sectarian, divisive mentality, as you divide our people into "us" and "them." There is a clear matter of principle that we have to decide. Do we view our nation as one society and one people with one interest and one life? Or do we treat our nation as a collection of sects with differing and competing interests? If your position is in line with the former, then you should, under this principle, reject any notion of "us" vs. "them" and apply your ideals equally to the nation as a whole. If you believe in the latter, then no amount of explanations and rationalizations can disguise your inherent sectarian view of society.

As for the very logic behind such statements, its nonexistence is clear to the astute and conscious citizen. An individual who claims that he/she cannot embrace secularism until the "other side" does so first is merely a declaration that he/she does not wish to let go of his/her sectarian attitude. And just who is this individual expecting to embrace secular principles? There are citizens of our nation of all backgrounds who have adopted secular ideals, so who is this individual referring to when they proclaim that "they" must first accept secularism? They are in reality astoundingly implying that sectarian groups from other sects must accept secularism before sectarian groups from this individual's sect can be expected to transform into secular organizations. Such an outrageous condition is placed knowing full well that no sectarian organization is ready to tolerate, much less promote, secularism, or they wouldn't be sectarian to begin with.

Until we forever drop all divisive thoughts from our mindset, we can continue to expect to experience woes and disasters. The categorization of our people into "us" and "them" is representative of a diseased mentality of which the nation must rid itself. The only solution to all our ailments is the realization that we are one nation with one interest in life.

The Propaganda of Michael Totten

2009-02-26T16:16:00.008-05:00

Michael Totten has a new entry here in which he tells his version of the "bravado" story of Christopher Hitchens being roughed up by members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party after defacing one of their memorials. The story is filled with so many lies and distortions that I don't even know where to begin. In any case, here are a few observations:

1. Michael Totten, Christopher Hitchens, and Jonathan Foreman, are three western neoconservative commentators and self-proclaimed intellectuals who can't read, speak, or understand Arabic, and who have never read any material on or by the SSNP, who nevertheless find themselves qualified enough to make judgments about the Party. It appears their entire display of arrogance was intended to make the claim that the SSNP is a Nazi tool of the Syrian regime employed in Lebanon to do the dirty work of Bashar al-Assad. Michael Totten even went as far as accusing the SSNP of committing all the assassinations in Lebanon, thereby bypassing the investigation and the "international court" that they so proudly flaunt and issuing a full and final verdict. Never mind that there is absolutely no evidence linking the SSNP to any of the assassinations, but then again, propaganda doesn't need or even want evidence.

2. Michael Totten and Co. apparently have a problem with the emblem of the SSNP, to which they refer as a "swastika" when in fact it is a Cyclone with no ties or relations to the Nazi swastika. The Cyclone is in fact a historical Syrian symbol that represents continuous movement and dynamism. In addition, it has a specific meaning in the SSNP flag, as its four corners represent the motto of the SSNP, namely "Freedom, Duty, Discipline, Strength." And in any case, whatever their distaste is for the Party emblem, it is quite an arrogant argument they make that they have a duty to deface any poster or memorial which contains a "swastika." What if a different person thought they had a duty to deface any object that contains the British flag? I wonder how they would be viewed in the western world in general and in Great Britain in particular. And I wonder if anyone would pity them if they were to be roughed up upon being caught engaging in such an act.

3. Michael Totten, who quite clearly and openly displays his utter ignorance when it comes to any matter relating to the Middle East in general and to the SSNP in particular, makes it a point to insist that the SSNP is a "nazi" party, thereby justifying their criminal actions in the streets of Beirut. It is of course of no surprise to anyone who has read the writings of Antoun Saadeh (founder and leader of the SSNP who was murdered by the Lebanese government) that the type of nationalism espoused by the SSNP is one of SOCIAL nationalism, which includes all elements of society within the definition of the nation, and is completely contradictory to the RACIAL nationalism of National Socialism and the POLITICAL Nationalism of Fascism.

But Michael Totten doesn't bother with actually reading up on a matter on which he is utterly ignorant, as he dismissively and mockingly states "Many say they cannot be National Socialists, as were the Nazis, because they identify instead as Social Nationalists, whatever that means." So the intellectual vigor of this individual leads him to the brilliant conclusion of "whatever that means." What that means Mr. Totten is that while National Socialism is a racist ideology, which excludes all elements not of a specific racial origin from the definition of the nation, combined with a socialist economic philosophy, Social Nationalism is one that includes all elements of society and does not discriminate between one racial group or another. In fact, if Mr. Totten or his pals had bothered to read Antoun Saadeh's book on sociology, The Genesis of Nations, they would find that the founder of the SSNP was very critical of European racism which he believed to be irrational and not based on any scientific principles. Moreover, if they bothered to read the Principles of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, they would find that in the Fourth Basic Principle Saadeh states that "the alleged purity of the blood or race of any nation whatsoever is a groundless myth," and he goes on to argue that "this principle would free the nation from blood-tie bigotries that are apt to cause the people to neglect the national interests and to direct their energies towards internal strife, corruption and apathy. For those Syrians who believe or feel within the country or nation that they are of Aramaic extraction would no longer be actuated to fan Aramaic blood-loyalty, so long as the principle of Social Nationalist unity and the equality of civic, political and social rights and duties are guaranteed, and no discrimination between one blood or race in Syria is made. In the same way, those Syrians who claim to descend from a Phoenician (Canaanite), Arab, or Crusader stock, would no longer care also for any other than the cuase of their community, within which all matters affecting them would take place, and on whose fate would depend the fate of their family and of their descendants, their hopes and their ideals." Instead, Michael Totten relies on an analysis of the SSNP made by an "Israeli" in a publication called the Atlantic, whatever that means.

4. Michael Totten, again in a show of utter ignorance and pure propagandistic nonsense, accuses the SSNP of wanting "to resurrect the ancient pre-Islamic and pre-Arabic Syria and annex Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, and parts of Turkey and Egypt to Damascus." Of course, there is nowhere in the writings of Saadeh or any of the Party intellectuals any mention of annexing any part of the Syrian homeland to "Damascus". The truth is that the SSNP believes that the people of the entire fertile crescent form a single nation that was historically known as Syria. This has been established by historical, sociological, and anthropological findings. The SSNP merely advocates for the national unity of the people of this homeland and aims to persuade them of their true national identity. This is a far cry from wanting to forcefully annex different parts of the nation to a single city or political entity.

5. Mr. Totten goes on to state that the SSNP is made up of predominantly Christian members. I don't know how Totten comes to this conclusion as the SSNP has never conducted a census to determine the sectarian make-up of its members, for it is a truly secular party completely opposed to sectarianism or any other divisive mentalities. I can also guarantee that Michael Totten did not himself conduct a survey of SSNP members to arrive at his conclusion. The truth is that Social Nationalists include Syrians from all political entities and from various religious and ethnic backgrounds, and the SSNP does not know, nor will it ever care, what the specific sectarian and ethnic breakdown of its membership is.

6. Michael Totten then propagates the myth that the anthem of the SSNP is sung to the tune of the German anthem under Nazi rule, "Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles." Given that Mr. Totten and his friends have most assuredly never heard the anthem of the SSNP, and probably have never even heard the Nazi German anthem either, it is most likely that Mr. Totten merely regurgitated this information from some other propagandist, perhaps Daniel Pipes, without even bothering to check its veracity. The fact is that the SSNP anthem, which is titled "Syria, peace be to you" and not "Syria, greetings to you" as the ignorant Totten proclaims, is not sung to the tune of the Nazi German anthem nor does it have any relation to it. But again, the likes of Hitchens and Totten are more interested in spreading propaganda to further their own agenda then they are in relaying accurate information.

7. Michael Totten makes the argument that Beirut in general, and the Hamra area in particular, is a "liberal and cosmopolitan “March 14” stronghold," and that the SSNP has no popularity there. Well, what would probably be shocking news to Mr. Totten, is that the SSNP is in fact the oldest party in Lebanon and has had a strong presence in Beirut and elsewhere since long before the current "March 14" groups ever existed. Furthermore, to call the parties that make up the "March 14" alliance "liberal" is akin to calling Rush Limbaugh tolerant.

8. The most arrogant position by Totten and Co., however, is their justification of their own actions. That they went to another country and defaced a memorial there is treated as an act of heroism when in fact it was a criminal act of vandalism over which they would have been prosecuted in any other country. Had they done the same in the US they would have been arrested and at the very least fined for their offense. Had they committed vandalism in Singapore, they would have been caned.

In the end, Michael Totten and Christopher Hitchens prove they are but neocon propagandists, who are willing to support sectarian, feudal, reactionary groups such as the Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party (which is neither progressive nor socialist and is run by a feudal, sectarian, war criminal who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Lebanese) in order to further their own agenda. I believe it is a good lesson they learned that they don't in reality have a right to go into a foreign country and deface and vandalize whatever objects they dislike.

Clowns of February 14

2009-02-16T17:07:00.002-05:00

Everytime I witness an event organized by the February 14 (or March 14) clan I am amazed at how the so-called "leaders" they have to offer combine ignorance, dullness, stupidity, opportunism, and thuggery all into one. There is not a speech I hear by these clowns that is not full of empty slogans, vitriol, and nonsensical emotional rhetoric and empty of any substance. How any normal person can take such farcical characters seriously is beyond me, and is quite disturbing. And those were the drivers of the so-called "Cedar Revolution." If that's considered a revolution then Barnum & Bailey must be showcasing regular revolutions across the United States.

Beautifying the Enemy

2009-02-16T16:53:00.002-05:00

I am especially digusted by attempts made in certain media outlets in the Arab World at beautifying the image of the terrorist leaders of the occupying entity. When terrorists like Rabin, Peres, Livni, or Barak are turned into peace doves and presented as advocates of human rights in general, and Palestinian rights in particular, I truly shudder and cringe. It is also quite obnoxious that some in the Arab World actually express preferences in "Israeli" elections, as if any result is going to matter for our people and our cause. Our land will remain occupied, and our people will continue to be oppressed, as all sides in the elections are representative of the same racist, hateful, colonial ideology.

This is NOT a War on Hamas

2009-01-08T11:30:00.003-05:00

Contrary to the propaganda spewed by much of the mainstream media, this latest "Israeli" terrorist aggression is not a war on Hamas; rather it is part of the continuous war on the Palestinian people that has been ongoing for decades, since the inception of the Jewish entity. The war increases in intensity and severity every so often because "Israel" has had a continuous policy of terrorizing civilians for the purpose of intimidating them into submission and capitulation. Everytime "Israel" launches another one of its destructive, terroristic attacks, it justifies it by claiming self-defense and laying the blame on whatever group is resisting its murderous ambitions. This case is no different.

The bottom line is that "Israel" is a racist, colonial state that cannot be sustained except through military force. It is an unnatural entity that was built for a particular group of people on land inhabited by another people. As such, this entity could not possibly have materialized without the ethnic cleansing and driving out of the indigenous population, which is exactly what took place in 1948, and what has been continually taking place since that time. The Palestinians have been forced to live under occupation and siege while the Jewish entity has been doing everything in its power to make life unbearable for them, in the hope that this would make them go away.

This is the essential root of the problem and the source of the conflict. It is NOT Hamas. Hamas is merely a natural reaction to the problem, as is any resistance group against a brutal and oppressive occupation. However, the mainstream media, along with the leaders of western nations and collaborative Arab states, would like to ignore the problem, pretend like there has been no injustice inflicted on the Palestinians, and merely hope that the Palestinians can be bullied into accepting their fate and just submitting to the hegemony of "Israel." However, the Palestinians have refused to just lie down and continue to fight for their rights, which is making "Israel" and the nations mentioned above increasingly frustrated. The Palestinians are thus continually blamed for their plight and "Israel" is given a free pass to do what it wishes to them. However, unfortunately for "Israel," the Palestinians are going to continue to fight, and ultimately Palestine will be free, and the Zionist state will be brought down. This is the fate of an unnatural entity built on the blood and bones of another people.

Gaza on My Mind

2009-01-06T07:34:00.002-05:00

The distortion of the facts in Gaza being perpetrated by the mainstream media today, specifically in the US is truly appalling and grotesque. It is of course no surprise, as the US media has always took it upon itself to beautify the image of "Israel" and conceal its ugly nature from the public. However, the deceptive propaganda campaign being waged by these self-described "objective" journalists, reporters, and analysts is quite outlandish. Justifications for the killing of civilians are being made on a regular basis through the ludicrous claims that Palestinian civilians are hiding weapons stockpiles in their homes, schools, and medical clinics. (I of course don't have any problem with anyone helping the resistance in anyway possible, as it is the duty of every patriotic Syrian to aid the resistance against this cancerous, rotten entity) Moreover, "Israel" is continuously and consistently being portrayed as defending itself against brutal attacks by "terrorists," when reality has clearly shown that "Israel" itself is the true terrorist and criminal in this conflict. In addition, once again our people are being stripped of any legitimate cause in the media (with the participation of saudi-funded propaganda outlets) by arguing that the resistance is made up of proxies causing trouble for the sake of advancing a political agenda of another country. The suffering of our people and their endurement of one of the most brutal occupations in human history is thereby denied and relegated to minimum importance and our righteous cause in fighting for our basic national rights is thereby stripped. It is up to us to correct these misstatements of facts and distortions of the truth by using every possible avenue available to us to bring the truth to the public. I urge all our people to organize and become active as we are engaged in a struggle of life or death, whatever the outcome, we are the ones to answer for the consequences.

"Israeli" Crimes in Gaza

2009-01-05T08:55:00.002-05:00

Norwegian doctor and Gaza aid worker Mads Gilbert gives an accurate account of the carnage, destruction, and deliberate civilian targeting that the Jewish entity is visiting upon Gaza.

GAZA FACTS

2009-01-05T08:43:00.002-05:00

1. Contrary to the myth being disseminated in the mainstream media, "Israel" Broke the Cease Fire, Not Hamas. Under the Truce agreement signed on June 19, 2008, all sides were to cease fire and "Israel" was to lift the siege on Gaza and open all border crossings so that much needed aid may enter the strip. Since that date, "Israel" continually failed to abide by its side of the agreement, as it kept the border crossings closed to everything but a very limited number of supplies and aid. Furthermore, on 4th November, Israel launched a series of raids into Gazan territory, killing 6 Palestinians, and subsequently completely tightened its siege of Gaza by sealing all border crossings, causing a humanitarian catastrophe. Richard Falk, the UN human rights rapporteur, argued that these actions constituted a "crime against humanity".

2. The fire power between the Jewish entity and Hamas is disproportionate. "Israel" dropped 200,000 pounds of artillery on the Gaza Strip in one day, December 27, killing over 200 people. More than 275 people were injured in the strikes. On the other hand, Israel is the largest recipient of military foreign aid from the United States, receiving $3.2 billion in advanced, sophisticated, and very deadly weaponry yearly. Although Hamas has sent rockets to the Jewish settlements built on Palestinian land in an attempt to protect its people against genocide, these rockets are generally ineffective and cause very little casualties.

3. The International Court of Justice has found "Israel" guilty on fourteen counts of violating human rights. Included among these violations are the Apartheid Wall, the settlements, the "Israeli" blockage of food, medicine, fuel and other life resources from coming into Gaza and the imprisonment of the Gazan people.

4. United States law prohibits the president from providing military aid to any country which engages in a persistent pattern of gross violations of international human rights. Under the 1976 US Arms Export Control Act, it is illegal to use US weapons to carry out extrajudicial-killings. Since September 2001, the "Israeli" army has used attack helicopters, tanks and F-16 fighter jets to target Palestinian civilians, homes, buildings and demonstrations.

5. As of January 5, 534 Gaza Palestinians have been killed since the December 27 "Israeli" attacks began. Over 2500 Gazans have been injured (many critically), 35% women, children and elderly. The Al Mezan Center for human rights rationally states that most Gaza victims are civilians.

Long Absence

2008-12-19T16:56:00.002-05:00

I apologize to my readers for my lengthy absence, but I should be back on track now. There's so much that has been happening and so much to talk about, and yet the overall picture is still the same. Palestine remains occupied, and no one appears to give a hoot about the suffering of innocent Palestinians, including the corrupt puppets and slaves of the Palestinian Authority. The February 14 puppets and slaves in Lebanon are still attempting to maintain their grip on power, although that grip appears to be loosening bit by bit, in spite of continuous American encouragement and assurances. Of course the highlight of the last few months was the Iraqi reporter throwing his shoe at George Bush, the butcher of Baghdad. Nothing could have expressed the true sentiments of the Iraqi people more than that simple act of basic human instinct. I did see Raghida Dergham condemn and denounce the courageous act of Mountadhar Al-Zeidi, but as a journalist for hire and a slave, nothing applies to her better than the famous words of Said Taqieddine: "How eloquent is the harlot when she lectures on chastity." In fact, this phrase pretty much sums up all the nonsense spewed by the slaves, puppets, and defeatists of the Arab World.

Death: A Way to Life

2008-07-26T14:48:00.002-04:00

On July 22, Sami Moubayed, a Syrian political analyst and professor, wrote an article in the Gulf News, titled "Women of Valor," in which he questioned the value of dying for your country. Specifically, Mr. Moubayed was undermining the contribution to their nation of the likes of Sanaa Mahaidly and Dalal Moughrabi, the two martyrs who died fighting the Jewish occupation of our land. Mr. Moubayed's analysis was that these were bright young ladies, with their whole future ahead of them, who could have become gifted intellectuals and thus contributed more to their nation by undertaking various intellectual and academic activities. Therefore, according to Mr. Moubayed, living for your country is better than dying for your country.

With all due respect to Sami Moubayed as a political analyst, I believe that his understanding of life and death is completely lacking. First, all nations are made up of individuals who are able to contribute to the advancement and development of their respective nations. We are all productive potentialities endowed with the capacity and duty to enrich our nation in our own respective ways. The nation is thus made up of doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, farmers, workers, etc., each of which is able to contribute to the betterment of the nation based on their specific individual ablities, talents, strengths, weaknesses, etc. However, the nation is also in need of fighters; those who are willing to risk their lives, or even give up their lives, for the sake of defending their homeland and protecting the national rights of their people as a whole.

From here, we understand that the life of the nation is more precious than the life of individuals. That is not to say that each individual life is not valuable in its own right. Rather, the continued life of the nation overrides and takes precedence over the idea of individual self-preservation. For this reason, numerous individuals throughout history have willingly sacrificed their individual selves for the sake of their respective nations as a whole. If we are to engage in an analysis of what each of these individuals could have contributed to their nation were they to remain alive, we would be undertaking a futile exercise that completely misses the basis of such acts of selflessness. It is not that these individuals do not value their lives, nor is it that they have nothing to offer to their nations while living, but rather they understood that the continued life and liberty of their nation was in danger and they viewed national life as more important than their individual lives.

Our nation is today divided, fragmented, and many portions of it are occupied by foreigners. More importantly, its continued life is under constant threat from its enemies who are working day and night to subjugate it. In such a state, the nation cannot meet its vast potential, as it is broken and its resources are dispersed. Our nation is currently neither free, nor sovereign, nor independent, because its destiny is controlled by foreign will, it is not allowed to act freely in betterment of itself, and its right over its land has been completely stripped from it. As such, the nation's very existence is threatened, and its life, in all its true meaning, has been stolen from it. In such a situation, it is natural that individuals within the nation would rise to defend their land and protect their nation's life. Such people understand that life is not worth living if it is empty of honor and dignity. That is, they realize that individual life means nothing when the nation as a whole is reduced to mere existence.

It is worth clarifying here the difference between living and existing. Life is a mere stand of dignity. That is, one cannot live unless they are enshrined in glory, dignity, and honor. And whereas life is not possible without glory, mere existence does not differentiate between glory and humiliation. Therefore, while the nation can exist in a state of enslavement and humiliation, it can only live in a state of glory; a state where it controls its own destiny, is in full possession of all its rights, and is occupying its rightful place among the nations. Only then can our nation truly be living in a meaningful sense.

It is with this understanding that our brave compatriots go into battle, insisting on defending their nation's honor. They understand that their individual lives do not take priority when their nation is divided, occupied, and subjected to persecution and oppression. And what people mistakenly conclude, is that these people do not love life, when in fact these are the very individuals who truly love life. But loving life to them is not a cliche. They love life because they love freedom. They would love nothing more than to see their nation living in freedom and their people freely acting for the betterment of their nation. And because they love life, within its true meaning, they also embrace death when death is a way to life. That is, they will gladly give up their individual lives if this leads to the life and prosperity of their nation. Therefore, rather than belittle and demean the actions of courageous, honorable figures such as Sanaa Mahaidly and Dalal Moughrabi, our intellectuals, including Sami Moubayed, should be honoring them and commemorating their sacrifices in a respectful manner.

Distorting the Resistance: The Case of Samir Quntar

2008-07-11T21:26:00.005-04:00

With news of the recent agreement between "Israel" and the Resistance in Lebanon over the exchange of prisoners, the story of Samir Quntar, who is to be among the Lebanese detainees to be released by the Jewish entity, has again resurfaced with the official propagandistic version of the "Israeli" government being presented as the factual depiction of the event which led to the capture of Quntar. This version portrays Samir Quntar as a brutal, merciless, cold-blooded killer who killed a Jewish civilian in front of his 4-year-old daughter and then proceeded to smash the young girl's head against a rock with the butt of his rifle. It is an image of a heartless psychopath whose only intent was to terrorize and murder innocent civilians. Unfortunately, although Quntar's version of the event was never heard, most media outlets, including Al-Jazeera, have presented the concoction disseminated by the Jewish state as the true and accurate version of the event.

This depiction of Samir Quntar is in fact part and parcel of the continuous campaign waged by "Israel" and its allies to discredit the Resistance and tarnish its image before the world. The ultimate aim is to conceal the reason for the very existence of the Resistance and to strip it of its cause. The world must be prevented from seeing that the Resistance has a cause, which is to liberate its land from foreign occupiers and protect and defend its people's inherent rights. As such, Resistors are transformed from freedom fighters to murderers and trouble-makers whose sole objective is to terrorize civilians.

The reason that "Israel" chose to fabricate that very story about Samir Quntar is because the tale implies that Quntar organized this entire operation for the sole purpose of killing a civilian in front of his daughter and then crushing the skull of the little girl. In reality, Samir Quntar, and three of his comrades, embarked on an operation on April 22, 1979 the purpose of which was to attack one of the biggest "Israeli" military bases, located in Nahariya, in order to prevent the continued establishment of permanent Jewish settlements on Palestinian land.

The operation initially succeeded brilliantly in that Quntar and his fellow fighters were able to drive their speedboat into occupied Palestine, maneuvre through six squadrons of warships, hide the boat from the seashore guards and "Israeli" radar, and enter the settlement camp of Nahariya after combatting and defeating an "Israeli" patrol squad. However, the subsequent detection of Quntar's group by "Israeli" forces led to a gun battle that resulted in the death of several people including an "Israeli" settler family of four. The exact details of the event are still unclear, but Quntar at the time engaged in a battle in order to escape and return to Lebanon. His intention was thus to get back into the boat and make his way back. However, his plan was stopped short and once the dust of the battle cleared, people were found dead.

The idea that Quntar would take time from his heated battle with "Israeli" forces in order to shoot a father in front of his child and then crush the skull of the child is completely implausible. However, "Israel" needed a tale that would demonize Resistance fighters and all those who dare stand up to the Jewish state and its occupation of their land. It also needed to minimize the success of the operation in the ability of 4 fighters to penetrate "Israeli" security. As such, during the course of the sham trial (this was a trial run by the occupiers to try resistance fighters from among those whose land is occupied) the illegitimate prosecution presented to the illegitimate court fabricated evidence to demonstrate that Samir Quntar was nothing more than a brutal, cold-blooded killer, equivalent to any common criminal.

Unfortunately, this story has floated around for so long that anyone who dares regard Samir Quntar as a hero is seen as a hypocritical, callous apologist for a disgraceful criminal. As such, the successful liberation of Quntar by the Resistance in Lebanon is portrayed as a group of terrorists whose moral bankruptcy allows them to insist on the freedom of a convicted murderer. What is most saddening, however, is not the position of the enemy on this issue, as this is normal and expected, but rather the position of fellow citizens whose very honor and dignity the Resistance is fighting to defend.

After his sentence was announced, Samir Quntar responded saying "I don’t care if the sentence was 9 or even 10 life sentences, the important thing for us is that we made them realize that we are here to stay. Now and tomorrow." These words express the mindset of a person struggling to defend his land and his people against an unjust, brutal occupation, and not that of a murderer. It is in line with the spirit which says that there is nothing easier than for some nations to surrender their right to life for the sake of an "everlasting peace", and we refuse be among those nations.

The Folly of Economic Prosperity through "Peace" with the Enemy

2008-07-07T19:48:00.005-04:00

Many misguided citizens of our nation anxious to make "peace" and normalize relations with "Israel" have used a fallacious economic argument to make their case. The assertion is that if we come to a "peace" settlement and normalize ties with the Jewish state, we will find economic prosperity, as western nations will reward us with money and we will benefit from new economic relations with said nations. There are two erroneous assumptions with this theory. The first is the assumption that "Israel" is willing to open the door for the potential prosperity of our nation, and the second is that economic agreements with western nations is the way to economic prosperity.

In their blindness to reality and clear misguidedness of surrounding events, many proponents of the above-mentioned argument find it useful to cite to two prime examples of economic boom following normalization with "Israel." These two examples are Egypt and Jordan. The idea that Jordan and Egypt are exemplary models of economic success is based on superficial observations and a shallow understanding of economics. A simple visit to either of these countries presents one with a facade of economic prosperity. This facade is constructed by the presence of western retail stores, restaurants, and hotels and by the financial wealth of certain capitalists and entrepreneurs, who were able to achieve tremendous financial success. In reality, however, these manifestations merely show that rich people can be found anywhere and that western nations have no problem turning developing countries into consumers of their products. A closer look at the economies of both Egypt and Jordan gives a much more grim and dismal outlook.

Recent developments have exposed Jordan's major economic problems and its inability to eliminate or even reduce the increasing poverty rate in the country. Global price increases have hit Jordan especially hard, as it has proven to lack the ability to cope with this crisis, given that Jordan imports just about all its consumer products, including much of its food. A study on rural poverty in Jordan indicates that because of the arid nature of the land in Jordan, people are unable to produce enough crops to feed themselves. In a statement released on June 24, 2008, the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood called on the government to declare certain extreme poverty areas as disaster zones. Poverty rates in those areas were astoundingly high, as these rates stood at 52.8% in southern Ghor, 62.5% in Wadi Araba, and a shocking 73.7% in Rweished. This means that these percentages of people in those areas are living on no more than $553 per year. Yusuf Mansur, in an article in Bitter Lemons, shows that high inflation, combined with the stagnant double-digit poverty and unemployment rates, is forming a dangerous tripod, and goes on to argue that "last year the average household consumed 20 percent more than it earned, not a sustainable phenomena."

Jordan's normalization with "Israel" has thus failed to pay off in the manner proposed by those supporting normalization. Even as early as 1998 Francesca Ciriaci, writing in the Jordan Times cited the "failure of the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty to deliver many of the promised economic dividends" as a cause for the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The situation in Egypt does not look any less grim, as price increases led to riots recently, due to the fact that such increase in the cost of food is unsustainable for a large portion of the Egyptian population. Add to this the fact that Egypt is a net importer of food, and Egypt's economic condition becomes even more fragile. Reports continue to show that poverty is rampant in Egypt's rural areas.

The idea that economic prosperity will come with a so-called "peace" agreement with the Jewish entity is a flawed one based more on the wishful desire to achieve success without having to struggle than on any reality-based findings. Economic prosperity can only be achieved with national unity and with organizing the national economy on a productivity basis. Turning our society into one that merely consumes western products is not a healthy development, and is bound to lead to the economic collapse of our different entities. In addition, basing our economies on services and on opening our markets to the invasion of foreign goods is not a wise or sustainable policy. Economies can only be built on increased productive capacities. If we are to achieve true economic success, we must focus on maximizing our productive potential by investing in industries, research institutions, and agricultural programs. Only with increased production can we hope to alleviate our citizens from the economic disasters they continue to experience. Therefore, rather than normalizing ties with the enemy, our priority should be on normalizing ties with each other, so that we may remove all obstacles to our natural economic life-cycle and realize our productive potential.

The Resistance: In Defense of Lebanon

2008-06-30T06:12:00.003-04:00

With the news coming yesterday of the approval of the "Israeli" cabinet of a prisoner exchange deal with the Resistance in Lebanon, another accomplishment was recorded in the long list of accomplishments that the Resistance has achieved for Lebanon and the Lebanese. It has become increasingly obvious that the Resistance has taken the role of the true defense force of Lebanon, as it has liberated occupied Lebanese land, confronted and repulsed an attempted "Israeli" invasion, and worked seriously and diligently to secure the release of Lebanese prisoners languishing in "Israeli" dungeons. Yet, even as we recognize and praise the Resistance for all the sacrifices it has made and work it has done in contribution to real Lebanese freedom, sovereignty, and independence (as opposed to the bankrupt version that had been chanted during the farcical "Cedar Revolution") many groups and individuals are working tirelessly within Lebanon to eliminate the Resistance and terminate even the spirit of resistance.

The Lebanese state, since its inception, has never displayed a political will to commit to the defense of Lebanon against external threats. The issue of defense was historically seen as a nuisance to the Lebanese sectarian/tribal politicians, as it was an unnecessary expense that would take away some of the state funds they would be pocketing and because it would act as a disturbance to their personally-motivated political agenda. Therefore, it was always a popular resistance that had to take on the role of the defender of Lebanese territory. When "Israel" pulled out of Beirut and moved back to southern Lebanon, it was due to unrelenting resistance to its occupation, and when it withdrew from most of the south back to Palestine, it was also because of the actions of the national Resistance. The Lebanese political entity had no interest in committing to the liberation of Lebanon, and in fact many saw the south of Lebanon as a mere burden that could be relieved were "Israel" to take a hold of it. As such, absent the Resistance, "Israel" would most definitely have taken complete control of at least southern Lebanon and began building settlements on it, as it has done with all territory it has ever occupied.

Today, the Resistance in Lebanon has evolved and developed into such a major fighting force that it constitutes the only deterrent to the devious schemes and designs of "Israel." The Lebanese Army is no match for the Resistance, as it does not receive even near adequate support from a political class completely unwilling to build an armed forces capable of defending the homeland. However, those same politicians who have expressed complete and utter disdain for anyone or anything demonstrating a serious will and ability to fight the enemy, are committing all their energy and power to combatting and eliminating the Resistance. Not only do they not want to commit to a national defense themselves, but they also want to prevent anyone else from doing so.

Of course such politicians cannot merely come out and declare that they are opposed to the Resistance because they do not want to commit to Lebanon's defense. Therefore, they use justifications and rhetoric that is more likely to give them credibility amongst their constituents. Thus, they claim that the Resistance should be disarmed because its existence flies in the face of state sovereignty, as national defense should be the sole responsibility of the state and not that of an armed militia. The argument is that if Lebanon is to have a true state, then it cannot tolerate an armed militia that is outside of its control. This argument is of course utterly bogus for two important reasons. First, as I indicated in a previous article, these same political forces have, throughout their history, shown nothing but contempt for the Lebanese state. They themselves act outside of the sovereignty of the state, creating their own private fiefdoms in their regions and turning state institutions into their personal business enterprises. Second, their anti-Resistance argument implies that they are indeed committed to defending Lebanon, but that such defense must be consolidated within the Lebanese Armed Forces, when in fact their history has proven that their idea of an armed forces is a ragtag army incapable of standing in the face of a mounting military attack. It is a member of this very political class who once declared that "Lebanon's strength is in its weakness."

Nations and states build armed forces not merely for aesthetic purposes, but rather for concrete objectives, namely the defense of the homeland and the ability to decide the nation's destiny. The goal, therefore, is not the armed forces themselves, but rather the defense of the country. The armed forces are merely a means to achieve that end. The nature of such armed forces is determined by the economic, social, and political circumstances surrounding a given nation or state. Today, Lebanon's position is such that the Resistance has proven to be the most effective tool in confronting an enemy attack and defending Lebanon and the Lebanese against external threats. As such, demanding its disarmament and elimination is effectively a crime against the interest of the Lebanese state, because it is a request to put an end to the only effective means of defending Lebanon. Such demands, therefore, can only be motivated by narrow individual or other particuaristic interests.

The fact of the matter is that Lebanese political groups calling for the disarmament of the Resistance today are working in accordance with a foreign agenda. They are doing so in furtherance of their own selfish interests. "Israel" and its client US administration do not want to see any group within our nation challenging the complete dominance and hegemony of "Israel" over the entire region. They therefore have a heavy interest in destroying all resistance within the nation and demonizing the very concept and spirit of resisting occupation and oppression. They have thus employed local sectarian/tribal chieftains, who form the political class of the Lebanese entity, to undermine the Resistance, strip it of any real cause, and mount an unrelenting, vicious propaganda campaign aimed at vilifying the Resistance and harming its image within the Lebanese public. We thus see recurring accusations of the Resistance being a foreign proxy with a narrow, sectarian agenda unrelated to the defense of Lebanon and the Lebanese. Our people who fought and sacrificed in defense of their land are turned into mere troublemakers and "terrorists" acting merely in furtherance of foreign goals.

Nevertheless, the truth continues to be exposed by the very actions of the Resistance on the ground. Notwithstanding the unrepentent propaganda compaign led by corrupt sectarian groups in Lebanon, the Resistance is proving time and time again that it is working for Lebanon and the Lebanese. It has liberated Lebanese land, repulsed an "Israeli" invasion attempt, and freed Lebanese prisoners held by the enemy. None of this would be happening without the Resistance, which has consistently proven over time that it represents the true spirit of our people and nation.

Refugees in Syria and Settlers in Palestine

2008-06-28T09:23:00.003-04:00

In the aftermath of the US war on Iraq, large numbers of Iraqi civilians were forced to flee the country, most of whom were taken in as refugees in Syria and Jordan. Syria suddenly saw its population increase by at least 1.5 million people as it opened its doors to Iraqis attempting to escape from the dangerous and miserable conditions in their country resulting from America's devastation and occupation of Iraq. Recently, the US State Department coordinator for Iraqi refugees expressed his appreciation of Syria's role by stating: “We salute Syria, the government and its people for its generosity in welcoming” Iraqis who fled the US-led 2003 war. Mr. Foley went on to "recognise the considerable burdens that are shouldered here by the Syrian government and its people... (and) are appreciative of the co-operation that we have on this issue."

Syria in fact has been a haven for refugees throughout its recent history, as people fleeing various wars, massacres, and campaigns of ethnic cleansing have found a haven in Syria, where they were welcomed and treated equally to all Syrians. The list of refugees includes Armenians, Kurds, Palestinians, Lebanese, and today Iraqis. This issue was a subject of debate on Syria Comment, a blog discussing matters related to the Syrian Arab Republic organized by University of Oklahoma Professor Joshua Landis. Within the discussion, one of the comments was offered by an "Israeli" participant, who argued that just as Syria has welcomed "Arab" refugees, Israel has previously welcomed "Jewish" refugees and granted them full citizenship. This claim distorts the whole issue of refugees and misrepresents and mischaracterizes both Syria's welcoming of refugees and the nature of the Jewish state of "Israel."

First, Syria did not only welcome "Arab" refugees as the "Israeli" participant claims, without going further into the definition of what constitutes an "Arab." Large numbers of Armenians and Kurds, as well as some Circassians have all found refuge in Syria. Syria has opened its doors to all peoples suffering from various unfortunate circumstances, regardless of race, nationality, or religion. Second, Syria is not a state founded on exclusionary principles and was not established pursuant to the ethnic cleansing of an indigenous people and its replacement with a foreign group. A Syrian, in this regard, is defined merely as a citizen of the Syrian state and is not required to trace his/her roots back to a particular ethnic/racial group.

This is contrary to the very basis under which "Israel" was created and the reasons why Jews were taken in by the colonial entity. "Israel" defines itself as a "Jewish state" and as "THE state of all Jews." As such, "Israel" has a policy of increasing the number of Jews within the territory it occupies and decreasing the number of non-Jews. It is in fact leading a demographic war, so to speak, so that it may change reality on the ground and create the right environment for the continuation of its existence as a purely Jewish state. The vast majority of Jews who came into Palestine to be part of the new Jewish state were not in fact refugees, but where rather immigrants of choice led by their ideological beliefs in realizing the divine promise of the land of "Israel." In addition, it is now widely accepted and known that various attacks against Jewish targets within the Arab world were organized and carried out by Jewish groups in order to entice Jews of those states to move to Palestine.

Furthermore, the Jews who came into Palestine came not as refugees willing to share the land with its indigenous inhabitants. Rather, they came as settler colonialists intending to remove the natural people of the land and occupy their place. It was part of a concerted campaign to create a state exclusively for Jews on land inhabited by another population. As such, it is utterly ridiculous to compare the refugee situation in Syria to the settlement of Jews in occupied Palestine. The former is a generous humanitarian deed carried out by a people genuinely concerned about the plight of others, while the latter is a campaign based on a racist, exclusive ideology aimed at creating an ethnically pure state.

Europe to the Rescue

2008-06-25T13:22:00.002-04:00

If anyone out there is wondering what the solution is to the Palestinian issue, Europe has the answer for you. In fact, just yesterday a conference was held in Berlin, Germany, to secure funds for the one missing piece that will make the dream of all Palestinians come true. While I know that readers are anxiously awaiting the substance of this story, I would like to review Europe’s history in this conflict so that we may put the European nations’ current charitable deed in its proper context.

In 1916, France and Britain, being the self-proclaimed rulers of the world, entered into the Sykes-Picot Agreement (named after Sir Mark Sykes and Georges Picot, the respective diplomats of the two nations) which divided the Syrian nation into various zones of influence, leading to the creation of the current statelets we have today. This agreement was followed in 1917 by the infamous Balfour Declaration, issued by Lord Arthur James Balfour, the foreign secretary of the Kingdom, promising the Jews a "homeland" in Palestine. The British at the time apparently wanted to compensate the Jews for their persecution at the hands of Europeans by generously awarding them another people’s land.

Throughout this period, the British were of course actively helping European Jews immigrate to Palestine in accordance with their plan. In 1947, with the European nations taking the lead, the UN General Assembly approved a partition plan which essentially legitimized the occupation of Palestine by granting the Jewish settlers, who made up 30% of the population (after the organized immigration campaigns) and owned less than 7% of the land, 56% of Palestine proper, including the most fertile regions. The British subsequently armed Jewish terrorist gangs before withdrawing, thereby setting the stage for the creation of the exclusively Jewish state of "Israel."

Once it was declared, all European nations raced to recognize the new exclusivist state on Palestinian land, while none raised so much as a voice over the brutal massacres and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians. Since then, Europeans have actively aided the Jewish state in its occupation by providing it with military and financial assistance. France was one of the main providers of military weapons for "Israel" until the 1970's and was responsible for helping "Israel" build its nuclear weapons arsenal. France and Britain also fought side by side with Israel in the 1956 Sinai war and directly assisted the Jewish entity in the 1967 war. Even as recently as a few years ago, Germany provided "Israel" with nuclear submarines.

Moreover, Europe has generally looked the other way at "Israel’s" repeated and consistent violation of UN resolutions, as well as its numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. Europeans further directly participated in the blockade of Gaza to punish the Palestinians for choosing the wrong candidates in their elections.

So, after all this rich history in the Palestine conflict, what was Europe’s solution for Palestine’s problems? More "Palestinian Authority" police and larger prisons. That’s right; apparently the main problem plaguing Palestinians today is that not enough are being imprisoned. The continued occupation, the killing of civilians, and the suffocation of an entire population are secondary issues according to Europe’s "civilized" nations. If this doesn’t make up for all their prior crimes against our people, then I don’t know what does. Therefore, I say "Europe to the Rescue."

Jenin Revisited

2008-06-24T06:54:00.002-04:00

As I was going through some videos yesterday, I happened to stumble on a documentary film I had seen a few years ago about the massacre in Jenin. The film, Jenin Jenin, was a 2002 first hand account of what took place in Jenin during the "Israeli" vicious assault on the camp. The producer of the film, Iyad Samoudi was subsequently shot and killed by "Israeli" soldiers in Yamun. The film itself tells the story of the Jenin massacre through the words of the camp's residents, as there is no narration in the film. This film, however, is a must see for all those who are interested in seeing the criminal and genocidal nature of the Jewish state, and what effect its murderous actions have on Palestinian civilians.

Ever since its inception, "Israel" has carried out a continuous campaign of oppression and persection against the Palestinian people in order to make life so miserable for them that they would have to leave this land allegedly promised to the Jews by the real estate agent of the heavens. In carrying out this oppression campaign, the Jewish state has continuously and systematically engaged in killing and maiming of civilians, demolition of homes, expropriation of land, uprooting of trees and orchards, looting of homes, theft of people's life-savings, and imprisonment and torture of men, women, and children. The Jenin camp itself was formed after the forced expulsion of residents of Haifa in 1948, who were taken by bus at gunpoint by Jewish terrorist groups in order to clear the area of its indigenous inhabitants and make way for its new Jewish settlers. These natives of Haifa of course have absolutely no right under Jewish "Israeli" law to return to their homes, stolen from them by Jewish settlers.

One of the stories that came out of this ethnic cleansing operation is documented in United Nations archives. A group of former Haifa residents exited the bus in Jenin on a very hot day. As they were suffering from extreme thirst, they pleaded with the Jewish terrorist militants to provide them with some water, to which these militants apparently agreed. A little later these terrorist militants came back with gallons of what appeared to be some type of fluid. As they approached the Palestinian civilians, they dumped the fluid on them and ignited it. This fluid was gasoline and the Palestinian refugees were burned alive. The very nature of this Jewish state is very clearly exemplified in this story. It is a state intent on killing and ethnically cleansing Palestinians, as their entity must be of Jewish purity. It is a state based on a racist, hate-filled ideology which regards the native inhabitants of this land as subhumans.

Today's media, of course, conceals every criminal aspect of the Jewish entity and attempts to portray "Israel" as a thriving "democracy" in a sea of dictatorship and backwardness. This "democracy," however, is in fact a racist theocracy which aims to build a state for Jews only. The massacre of Jenin was not only deliberately hidden from the public eye, but was in fact so twisted and distorted, that the media attempted to imply that the "Israelis" themselves were the victims of the Palestinian inhabitants of the camp. Video footage of Israeli tanks crushing Palestinian men who were forced to strip naked and lie on the ground was not shown to the international public. Investigators were adamantly prohibited from going to Jenin to determine what actually took place without so much as an utterance from the worldwide media. Reporters who were able to gain access to the camp spoke of the smell of death everywhere. It is not known how many bodies were buried under the rubble.

The Jenin massacre was in fact an act completely in line with the nature and concept of the Jewish entity. It was a savage, barbaric act by a terror machine bent on destroying the very livelihood of all Palestinians. It was an act that should have shown the entire world what this "light unto the nations" truly is. However, the world has closed its eyes and plugged its ears to the suffering of the Palestinians. The so-called western "civilized" world is actively aiding in the destruction of Palestine and in the killing of Palestinians, as well as the killing of Syrians in general. As for the Arab World, aside from the occasional outbursts over some cartoons of the Prophet in an obscure European newspaper, we cannot expect much from them. Our only salvation is to unify our ranks across our entire homeland from Iraq to Palestine and collectively confront the threat to our very existence. Otherwise, we can only expect the future to look even more gloomy and grim than the present.

"International" Inspections: A Tool of the Powerful

2008-06-23T06:28:00.004-04:00

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Damascus on Sunday to begin inspection of a site attacked by "Israel" last September, which the US has claimed was a nearly completed plutonium-producing reactor. The United States has been demanding that these inspectors be given widespread access throughout Syria in order to determine whether Syria truly has a secret nuclear program. Up until now, the Syrian government has refused to grant the IAEA inspectors access anywhere but the previously bombed site. The underlying issue here is the hypocrisy of the so-called "international community" and the dubious role these international agencies play.

The mere fact that any potential Syrian nuclear program is criminalized is in and of itself clear evidence of the disingenuousness and utter animosity of the United States and its cohorts in the so-called "international community." We are told that because Syria is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it must expose any nuclear program it carries out to the IAEA, in accordance with the agreement. "Israel" on the other hand is not subject to such an inspections regime because it never signed the NPT. What is left out of this contention is that the US pressures and threatens countries of the Arab world to force them to sign the NPT while leaving "Israel" to its own accord and even directly aiding it in building its own nuclear weapons arsenal.

Furthermore, the excuse of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction is consistently used to attack our nation and subject it to sanctions and concealed espionage. When the US "suspects" any site within Syria to house a nuclear weapons program, Syria is expected to immediately open up said site to inspectors or face possible punitive measures. This is a convenient way of gaining access to sensitive Syrian military information by US spies disguised as international inspectors. The humiliating, farcical inspections regime imposed on Iraq since 1991 provided clear evidence of "international" agencies being used by the US for purposes of espionage, as was admitted to by some of those inspectors themselves.

In essence, "international law" has been historically used as a tool by powerful countries to control and subjugate weaker nations. There is no independent international institute or agency that can objectively and impartially police the entire world. Rather, powerful nations of the world will use "international" institutes to further their own objectives, because no force can subject them to any norms of justice when they commit crimes and violate written international law. The United States has just recently committed one of the greatest crimes in modern history and its destruction of Iraq and deliberate killing of over 2 million Iraqis through sanctions and war. Yet, no independent institution or body exists that can bring US leaders to justice for such crimes. Likewise, because it is protected by the US, "Israel" can go on occupying land, killing civilians, using weapons of mass destruction, and thumbing its nose at any and all international law without any consequence. While Israel has violated over 30 UN Resolutions freely, Iraq was devastated and had its entire social fabric torn to shreds in the excuse of enforcing UN resolutions which Iraq had actually enforced.

The United States even went as far as lying and fabricating evidence in front of the entire world to justify its vicious attack against a sovereign country. Yet, not a single "international" voice was raised at least admonishing this behavior. The US was left to lie, deceive, destroy and kill without anyone being able to hold their government responsible for its actions.

The bottom line is that strength is the determining factor in the affirmation or denial of national rights. A nation can only further its interests through power. The idea that an international body can make sure that all rights of peoples are protected and that peace between nations is preserved has proven to be completely bogus. Nations who wish to protect and preserve their rights must strengthen themselves in order to be able to face external threats posed by powerful nations wishing to impose their own interests on them.

The New Arab Media: In Service of the Enemy

2008-06-21T11:37:00.003-04:00

Having touched upon the subject of media bias regarding the Palestinian issue, I would like to shed light on a rather new and dangerous development in Arabic media circles (mostly Saudi-funded) in which Arabic news sources have taken on the role of propagating for the enemy and changing realities in our nation, such that "Israel" is no longer viewed as the enemy. Following up on the daily news, reports, and opinions coming from these media outlets, one comes out with the clear conclusion that "Israel" has been replaced with Syria and Iran (which apparently includes all people of the Shiite sect) as the new enemies of the "Arabs." These media sources have engaged in some of the most grotesque forms of sectarian incitement and hatemongering in order to instill in their viewers and readers a whole new understanding of realities in our nation.

This media campaign has set out to twist and distort all facts on the ground to promote the concept of surrender and submission to the enemy and to viciously attack the spirit of Resistance against occupation and injustice. As such, the Resistance in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq is portrayed as nothing but a collection of proxies engaging in "terror" campaigns and "irresponsible adventures" for the sake of enforcing "foreign" agendas; those "foreign" agendas of course being those of Syria and Iran. The success of the Resistance in Lebanon in 2006 against the criminal "Israeli" war machine is ridiculed and turned into a failure and defeat for Lebanon, while the "Israeli" soldiers captured by Resistance fighters in Lebanon and Palestine are mourned.

In today's Opinion section of Al-Arabiya, Tareq el-Hamid goes on a verbal rant against Syria, complaining that Syria has not had to pay a price for all its actions. Within the article Mr. el-Hamid refers to the Lebanese Resistance as "Iranian Hizballah" in keeping with the aim of portraying our Resistance groups as foreign proxies. The article, in pure propagandistic fashion, ridicules the positions of the Resistance and Syria against "Israeli" and US occupation and hegemony by exposing their current "negotiations" with both governments. Of course Mr. el-Hamid conveniently fails to differentiate between independent negotiations with an enemy aimed at achieving certain nationalistic and humanitarian goals and clear collaboration with the enemy in order to promote this enemy's agenda.

Egyptian magazine Rose el-Yousef wanted to do its part in this interview with Mount Lebanon Mufti Mohammad Ali al-Jouzou. The blatantly extreme sectarianism expressed by both the magazine and its guest had a clear goal; to incite against and discredit any and all true Resistance against "Israel" and to aid in the division and fragmentation of our nation. The actual language used in this interview shall not be repeated here, but I would urge readers to read the interview in order to understand the vulgar nature of those propagandists doing the bidding of the enemy. In this piece, taken from "Israeli" newspaper Yediot Aharonot, al-mustaqbal translates an article essentially celebrating the "values" of the Jewish state, while demeaning our people who are sitting in "Israeli" dungeons by referring to them as "terrorists."

In all these opinion pieces and news articles, the aim is one thing: promotion of surrender and admonition of resistance. In order to achieve success in this endeavor, they must achieve the enemy's objective of stripping our people of any cause. This is why Resistance groups are portrayed as pure proxies with foreign agendas and no real national cause. In addition, "Israel" can no longer be viewed as the enemy, as that would defeat the entire purpose of this media campaign. Therefore, new enemies have to be created to distract the people and turn their attention away from the real threat to our nation. Sectarian incitement and agitation is used to turn our people's aggression inward rather than outward toward the enemy. In essence, these new Arab media outlets are serving the enemy in dividing our people and attempting to quash any spirit of Resistance within our people.

The "Truce" Shall (Not) Set You Free

2008-06-20T09:26:00.001-04:00

The Palestinian resistance group, HAMAS, has reportedly come to a truce agreement with "Israel" which would allegedly end all "hostilities" between the two sides. I will refrain from commenting on the details and specifics of the "truce" as such "agreements" have been formed before and will probably be formed again in the future, but to no avail, as Palestine will remain occupied and "Israel" will continue to unabatedly kill Palestinian civilians and steal Palestinian land without consequence. My intention here is to expose the bias in the coverage of this conflict and to shed light on its true nature.

News media across the globe, including unfortunately many Arab news outlets, have consistently reported on this issue as if both sides have equal faults and equally legitimate claims, or in more extreme cases, pitting the blame for the entire conflict on the Palestinians and other Syrians for refusing to accept and acquiesce to "Israeli" occupation of their land. The very first sentence in the BBC’s coverage of this story reads "Israel and militant group Hamas have agreed to end months of bitter clashes with a six-month truce starting on Thursday, Palestinian officials say." There are two insinuations and implications in this one sentence that distort the nature of the entire struggle. First, the Palestinians defending their land against occupation are referred to as a "militant group," while the occupiers of the land are referred to simply as "Israel." This immediately gives the idea that the Palestinian side is a rogue, violent group, while the other side is a legitimate state. Second, the phrase "months of bitter clashes" places both sides on equal footing, a clear mischaracterization of the actual events on the ground, where "Israel" uses a vastly superior military force to destroy Palestinian civilian infrastructure and massacre Palestinian civilians, while Palestinians attempt to defend themselves with whatever minimal means they have. It also implies that both sides have equal grievances in a bitter dispute, while in reality there is a clear aggressor on one side, and a clear defender on the other.

What most people fail to understand, and what most media sources deliberately conceal, is that this struggle has its roots in a very basic concept; namely the refusal of a people to submit to the genocidal intentions and designs of a foreign occupying force and their rejection of a racist, bigoted ideology that aims to bring about their extinction. "Israel" was created on the basis of a racist, exclusivist ideology, which promotes the idea that a land inhabited by an indigenous people has been divinely promised to a foreign particularistic group, who must replace the natural inhabitants of that land. As such, the Jewish groups who mass migrated into Palestine in accordance with a clearly-defined scheme, proceeded to commit terrorist activities and massacres against Palestinian civilians and engage in acts of ethnic cleansing to clear the way for the rise of their exclusively Jewish state. Once this illegitimate state was declared by the very terrorists who had been murdering Palestinian civilians, it was naturally rejected by Syrians in general and Palestinians in particular. Much of the western world faulted our people for refusing to accept the rise of a cancerous, expansionist, racist entity on our land and blamed us for the ensuing conflict.

The very concept of the Jewish state runs contrary to every human value. It is based on the belief in the superiority of a particular people who are endowed with the right and duty to exterminate a whole population in order to create a state made exclusively for them. It is a concept that would normally be rejected by all righteous people around the world. Unfortunately, the major powers of the world have not only accepted this twisted ideology, but also actively supported and aided it in its ultimate aim. It is the support of this very concept that led to the massacring of tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese throughout this struggle and the deliberate killing of over 2 million Iraqis through both genocidal sanctions and an ensuing war of destruction.

Nevertheless, our people continue to be blamed for not willing to surrender and submit in the interest of their so-called "peace." After the division of our nation, the occupation of our land, and the deliberate killing of our people, "Israel" and its client, the United States, with the support of most western powers, continue to preach to us about the need for "peace." However, as Antoun Saadeh clearly spelled out, "the right to struggle is the right to advance, and we are unwilling to surrender this right to those who preach to us about peace and prepare for war."

Power Sharing and Power Cuts: The Concept of a State in Lebanon

2008-06-19T06:36:00.000-04:00

Recent events and developments in Lebanon have brought back an all-too-familiar face; namely the blatant sectarianism of Lebanese politics and the complete inefficiency, or more accurately non-existence, of Lebanese state services. Recent major power cuts across the country have reminded us of the primitiveness and corruption of the Lebanese political system while ongoing developments in negotiations over government formation have clearly exemplified the utterly tribal, sectarian nature of this system. In all this, one reality continues to prevail; the complete absence of a true state in Lebanon.

In line with foreign commands, certain political forces in Lebanon have demanded that the Resistance surrender its weapons out of an alleged "respect" for Lebanese state "sovereignty." It is claimed by these politicians and tribal and sectarian chieftains that if we are to build a true state in Lebanon, then no armed force should exist outside of the authority of the state. The implication is thus that the only thing standing in the way of true state formation in Lebanon is the weapons of the Resistance. This of course is an utterly disingenuous argument wrapped up in complete falsehoods and made by the very people who have, throughout their sectarian political history, shown nothing but utter contempt for the Lebanese state.

One only needs to watch the Lebanese political process for one day to realize that Lebanon does not really have a state, but instead is made up of a conglomeration of sects and tribes who are in continuous conflict with each other over who gets what share of what pie. Sectarian and tribal chieftains want to consistently assure themselves of a political and financial interest in the government by using highly divisive and destructive sectarian machinations. These chieftains control certain areas in the country, where members of their sect happen to be in the majority, and treat it as their own fiefdom, acting as feudal lords over their subjects in said region. No businesses or social projects are allowed to develop unless they are first consulted and given a stake in the matter. In many cases these chieftains impose their own taxes on people of their area and behave as petty dictators subjecting their followers to the rule of their armed militias. Should any person object to such a scenario, their fate will be at the mercy of these feudal lords as there is no recourse with a state institution to protect the rights of the citizen. The local chieftains further use religious clergymen who issue decrees reinforcing the sectarian nature of the country and effectively granting divine authority to those feudal lords.

In addition, all ministries and government institutions are treated by these sectarian chieftains and their employees as their own profit-making enterprises without the least regard for the plight of the average citizen and their basic needs. Ministries and government institutions are not viewed as vehicles for providing public services and forming policies for the public interest. Rather, they are seen as mere opportunities to increase their personal wealths and strengthen their political powers. The average citizen is thus left to fend for himself/herself and can only receive minor services when one of the chieftains decides to grant such citizen certain services as "favors" in order to sustain and promote a patronage system whereby they increase their particularistic power base.

Therefore, the country is turned into one where citizens must form their own armed Resistance to defend their land, as no state exists that is committed to the defense of the homeland; where average people have to operate their own generators as the power supply provided by the government is grossly insufficient to meet the basic needs of the country; where local social services have to spring up in order to provide citizens with basic education and medical needs, as no state exists to provide such services; and where an unhealthy patronage system is continually maintained where sectarian and tribal chieftains will provide particular "favors" for people in exchange for these people's loyalties.

Such a system cannot constitute a truly effective governing body, as it lacks the very basic concept of statehood and of citizenship. It further disrupts and hampers the country's economic life, as citizens are inhibited from engaging in innovative economic projects by consistent interference by local chieftains, acting as feudal lords, as well as corrupt government employees. The system in Lebanon must be changed from a highly tribal, sectarian system into a secular system that treats all citizens as members of a single nation with equal rights and duties. A new system must arise which clearly enforces the following principles: Separation of religion from the state, debarring the clergy from interference in national political and judicial matters, removal of the barriers between the various sects, the abolition of feudalism, the organization of the economy on a productivity basis, protection of labor rights and of the interest of the nation and the state; and the formation of a strong armed forces which will be effective in determining the destiny of the country and the nation. Outside of such a basic structure, Lebanon will continue to live in a constant state of tension, and Lebanese citizens can only expect to experience continued woes and disasters brought about by vicious sectarian politics and agitation.

"Historic" Handshake?

2008-06-18T06:40:00.000-04:00

Recent rumors and alleged leaked news reports have been suggesting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be meeting and shaking hands with "Israeli" president Shimon Peres. I will not comment on the actual veracity of this news item, aside from saying that the event is highly unlikely to take place for various reasons. However, I would like to clarify the main issue involving our position toward the Jewish state, which I think many of our compatriots have misunderstood.

Most nations in the world have gone through various stages and developments in their relations with other nations. Those stages have included periods of enmity when the interests between two given nations clash. However, such enmity is normally of a temporary nature giving rise to a possible reconciliation between the two sides with a change in circumstances. Unfortunately, many of our people have viewed our position toward the Jewish entity in the same light, holding the view that a mending of ties with this entity is possible and in fact preferable, as it will ultimately give rise to an everlasting peace. Such thoughts misrepresent the true nature of our enmity with the Jewish state and demonstrate a complete lack of awareness of our national interests.

Our historic enmity with "Israel" is not based on a divergence of certain interests between two sovereign nations. Rather, it is based on the illegal and illegitimate usurpation of our land and our national rights by a group of people with strange, stagnant, racist beliefs. The very existence of a Jewish state on our land is one which cannot be reconciled with our rights and sovereignty ideals. It is neither reasonable nor beneficial to accept the occupation of our land by a people that has no relation to this land whatsoever and that forcefully took this land from our people, its rightful owners, by engagin in mass ethnic cleansing. It is not reasonable for us to accept the continued persecution of our people by these occupiers and the continued swallowing of more and more of our land, while our people are denied the right to return to their homes and their land of origin.

The idea that all these matters can be resolved through mere "peace" negotiations is naive at best. There is not a mere minor disagreement between us and the enemy in the south of our land. It is rather the very concept of such a state that runs contrary to our fundamental rights. The passage of time does not negate this reality. The Jewish state is one that disturbs the natural life-cycle of our people and our nation, as it creates a political entity specifically fabricated and designed to incorporate only people of a particular "religious" background on our land, while expelling our people and denying them their right to the land of their ancestors. It is an unnatural, unhealthy, cancerous entity that can in no way become legitimate in our eyes.

It was a crime to allow the creation of an exclusively Jewish state on our land and it continues to be a crime to support, fund, and aid this state in the killing of our people and the usurpation of more of our land. The fact that a certain number of years have passed since the initial commitment of this crime does not lessen or diminish its criminal attributes. As such, the possibility of a "historic" handshake is not something that we should ever strive for, as it would merely represent a recognition on our part of the right of a foreign group of people to steal our land and massacre our people. As Antoun Saadeh said once: "The hand that stretches out to make peace with 'Israel' shall be severed from the shoulder." This was a symbolic phrase expressing the nature of our struggle with the Jewish entity and the impossibility of ever accepting the existence of such a state based on its very concept.

Rice in Beirut

2008-06-17T07:19:00.000-04:00

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made a surprise visit to Beirut yesterday and met with several Lebanese political figures. The exact purpose of her visit is not clear, but she did make some remarks worth mentioning. First, Rice demanded at one point that Syria and Lebanon establish full diplomatic relations. This is another example of the extreme arrogance of the United States, in that it views itself as authorized to determine the nature of the relationship between two other countries. Diplomatic relations, or lack thereof, are a matter to be determined between two given political entities, based on their interests, as well as their positions toward each other. It is fundamentally a matter to be determined strictly by the two states involved. The fact that the US arrogantly views itself as the policeman of the world is of no consequence.

Second, Rice declared that the US has not changed its view of Hizballah, as it still deems it a terrorist organization. Here, I must fault Lebanon's political figures for allowing a foreign diplomat to criminalize their national Resistance, which was responsible for liberating Lebanese land from the criminal, murderous Jewish state to the south, which was aided by Ms. Rice's country in killing innocent Lebanese, and which provided the Jewish entity with the cluster bombs it dropped on Lebanon, which continue to this day to kill and maim innocent Lebanese. Ms. Rice should have been politely told that such statements are not welcome in Lebanon, especially given that her own country provides the illegal entity in the south with the weaponry to terrorize and murder Lebanese and Palestinian civilians. Ms. Rice comes from the single largest state sponsor of terrorism to our country to preach to us about the vices of "terrorism." As Said Takieddine once said: "How eloquent is the harlot when she lectures on chastity."

Rice: Settlements will not delay negotiations

2008-06-16T06:26:00.000-04:00

Taking a common US position toward any and all violations of Palestinian rights by the Jewish entity, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice stated today that while Settlement building by "Israel" is not helpful to the "peace process," it will not delay negotiations on a final settlement. Throughout this entire so-called "Peace Process" Israel has continued to expand its territory by swallowing up more Palestinian land and building Jewish settlements, with the obvious aim of making demographic changes that would put new realities on the ground and thereby adjust the "settlement" on a so-called "final solution." The Jewish state has repeatedly demonstrated nothing but contempt for the rights of all those living around it and has engaged in clear expansionist behavior without having to face any consequences, as the US continually defends and supports its destructive actions.

The position communicated by Condoleeza Rice is essentially that "Israel" can continue with its policies of expropriating Palestinian land and expanding its territory and the Palestinians just have to deal with it. This is the type of mediation that the US provides in these so called "peace" negotiations; namely that our people are obligated to accept the cancerous entity and its criminal behavior as a "reality" and a "fait accompli," while we must continue to ensure that "Israel" is guaranteed permanent hegemony and dominance over the region. When negotiations are being carried out over a land dispute, what's the point of negotiating when "Israel" is continually changing realities on the ground? How can we expect to negotiate with a state that is consistently attempting to change the conditions of those negotiations?

"Israel" has proven time and again that it is not interested in a "peace" settlement. Rather it is interested in surrender and complete submission to its demands. And this is exactly what the US is helping it achieve. While "Israel" is allowed to repeatedly murder Palestinian civilians and strangulate them so that they suffer a slow death, every act of resistance against this genocidal behavior is condemned and denounced by the US and the so-called "international community." No one raised a voice when a family of seven was brutally and mercilessly butchered by "Israeli" gunships on a beach in Gaza, but the entire "civilized" world continues to raise hell over the fact that one (ONE!) "Israeli" soldier was captured by the Palestinian resistance.

Antoun Saadeh once stated that "strength is the determining factor in the affirmation or denial of national rights." It is only with our strength that we can protect and secure our rights; anything else is hopeless and useless. The "civilized" nations of the world will not defend us against the violations of our rights; they in fact pressure us to just accept those violations. If we do not begin building and developing our nation now, the future is going to look even more grim. If we do not rely on ourselves and strengthen our nation in the face of all external threats, we should not expect to retrieve any of our land or our national rights.

SOFA (Another Ugly Face of Occupation)

2008-06-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

Iraqis have recently stated that negotiations over a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) have stalled due to various unaccepable demands by the United States. Among those demands are the establishment of indefinite American bases in Iraq, the completely free access of US jets over Iraqi airspace, the right of American forces to attack and/or arrest anyone they please at anytime they please, and a blanket immunity from prosecution for all US troops and security contractors (i.e., mercenaries).

The fact that there are even negotiations over such an agreement has shown the clear ugly face of the US occupation of Iraq. Under the guise of spreading "democracy" the United States has proceeded to commit one of the most brutal, heinous crimes against an entire population. And now, the United States is apparently trying to add to Iraq's humiliation and subjugation by attempting to establish a permanent occupation of Iraq.

It has become increasingly apparent that the only path toward true Iraqi freedom and sovereignty is Resistance. The United States is evidently not interested in pursuing a political process which would create conditions that would allow Iraq to control its own territory. Rather, the United States is more interested in continuing its illegal occupation of an entire country, so that it may maintain control of its natural resources and prevent it from ever achieving true independence and advancement. Therefore, if US troops are not forcefully evicted from Iraq, the situation is only likely to become more dire.

Continuous Stalling in Government Formation

2008-06-14T09:01:00.000-04:00

We are approaching a month since the Doha Agreement was finalized, and we have yet to witness the formation of the new Lebanese government. These last few weeks have highlighted Lebanon's extreme sectarian and tribal nature, as the various sectarian and tribal groups have been engaging in heated disputes over who gets how many and which ministries. Unfortunately, it is this very sectarian nature of Lebanon that has led to all its past and recent woes, and yet our people and so-called "leaders" have continued on this path unwaveringly, insisting on gaining even petty sectarian benefits even if such benefits result in harm to the country at large.

I am going to refrain from addressing the particulars in this ongoing struggle because I believe strongly that unless the inherently sectarian, corrupt Lebanese system undergoes a complete overhaul, we are merely going to witness repeated violent conflicts, interrupted by periods of more stable sectarian bickering and widespread corruption. All those who claim to support the rise of a strong Lebanese state should immediately withdraw from all sectarian groups and demand a system that represents all Lebanese citizens equally. Otherwise such episodes as we saw last month are bound to repeat themselves, especially given that the interest in serving particularistic, selfish interests leads many Lebanese politicians to collaborate with the enemy to the detriment of their country and countrymen.

Bashar al-Assad Interview

2008-06-14T08:50:00.000-04:00

I am linking to the interview given by President Bashar al-Assad to the Hindu Times, in which he clarified and laid out various Syrian positions and policies. As we are aware, President Assad is going to make a historic trip to India next week in an attempt to strengthen relations and cooperation between the two countries. The full interview can be found here: http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/12/stories/2008061254551100.htm

What struck me about this article is Assad's clarity and firmness in his positions. He addressed several topics, including current indirect negotiations with "Israel," latest developments in Lebanon, and the pace of continuous Syrian reforms. With respect to the indirect negotiations, Assad made clear that Syria has nothing to offer "Israel" in exchange for the Golan, as the Golan is Syrian land and should be returned to Syria without any pre-conditions. Regarding Lebanon, Assad expressed an interest in establishing full diplomatic ties with, and paying a visit to, the Lebanese entity, but only once a "national unity" government is established and he has discussed the matter with President Michel Sleiman. On the matter of reforms inside Syria, Assad admitted that reforms have gone slower than originally planned, and that this was due to various political realities, including the dangerous developments and ensuing US threats after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri. However, Assad did state that reforms would continue and would begin moving at a faster pace, once the security situation in the region improves, and threats coming from the US subside. It is an interesting interview and should be read and analyzed carefully to fully understand Syria's positions and objectives in the region.

Blog Initiation

2008-06-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

I have initiated this blog to discuss current events relating to the Syrian nation and discuss their consequences on our people. I am doing this in an effort to raise awareness amongst our people to the common issues effecting all our people across this homeland and to promote and preserve our national unity.