The Lebanese look forward to parliamentary elections in June of this year. The 128 seats in the Majlis Al-Nuwab, or parliament, will all be up for re-election. The elections will take place under a law agreed to last May in Doha, Qatar, when the Lebanese parties resolved a long-running dispute on a whole bunch of [...]
Archive for February, 2009
The 2009 elections: some numbers
Posted in Politics, tagged Amal, Aoun, Elections, Electoral Law, Hezbollah, Lebanon, March 14, Middle East, Sectarianism on February 24, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Officials or children?
Posted in Politics, tagged Berri, Lebanon, Middle East, Saniora on February 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
When will our officials grow up? I could not believe what I read today in the news. أصدر رئيس مجلس النواب نبيه بري بيانًا قال فيه: “كنت اريد إرسال توضيح لصحيفة “الأخبار” التي تفردت بنشر الخبر، ولكن بعد أن قرأت رد دبشليم الملك “الرئيس السنيورة” ووزيره بيدبا الفيلسوف شطح تراجعت عن التوضيح”. بيان بري كان [...]
More on maids in Lebanon
Posted in Society, tagged Foreign Labor, Lebanon, Maids, Middle East on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Here is a very good article on maids in Lebanon, the new slave trade. We need to do more to make the Lebanese realize that this phenomenon is a shame to our nation and needs urgent attention to curb abuses. I have previously written about why this is a problem.
Angry Arab on Jumblat and the “white man”
Posted in Society, tagged Jumblat, Lebanon, Middle East, Western on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I am not a great fan of the Angry Arab, but I do peruse his posts. I find them often to be insightful. Today I came across a great post commenting about Walid Jumblat and his “white man” complex. Spot on, AA. Here is a quote: He never seems to be able to have his meal in [...]
And they want Aoun to lead us?
Posted in Politics, tagged Aoun, Free Speech, Lebanon, March 14, Middle East, Zein Eddine on February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Here is how General Michel Aoun responded to the recent killing of a March 14 supporter who was returning from the commemorations that were held on February 14 on the fourth anniversary of Rafic Hariri’s death: أعرب [عون] عن استنكاره لمقتل المواطن لطفي زين الدين، مقدمًا التعازي الى أهل الفقيد وداعيا إلى التهدئة. وأضاف: “التحقيق [...]
Is he for real?
Posted in Journalism, tagged Al-Hurra, United States on February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I just found out that some guy named Robert Satloff has a program on Al-Hurra TV. Al-Hurra being an Arabic-language TV, Satloff actually does his program in Arabic, a language it seems he has barely mastered. No really, the guy thinks he can get away with reading like a ten year old from a teleprompter? [...]
One day, Israel will pay the price
Posted in Foreign Affairs, tagged Israel, Palestine, Peace on February 13, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Israel was created by shear shrewdness and utter disregard for the rights of a people, the Palestinians. Zionism found unimagined success in their efforts to create a Jewish state in Palestine. Thanks to a strong PR effort combined with well-organized military plan and international support, today Israel is a powerful country and the Palestinians an [...]
Broadcasting ignorance!
Posted in Journalism, tagged Arab World, Islam on February 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A fair share of the Arab airwaves today are dominated by quacks and pseudo-scientists selling their bogus theories on a whole host of things. Here is a good example from a television program talking about the importance of Mecca. When I first saw this, I did not know whether to laugh or cry. I just [...]
