IN MEDIA, POLITICS, AND THE AWAKENING

As people struggle to overthrow their tyrants in the Arab world, social networks were their journalistic tool. But for this tool to be effective, they need the media to spread it further wide. And in process, people found themselves in the middle of a very complicated relationship between media and politics .. They found themselves in a two-front war. A front in the streets against the tyrant's security apparatus, and a front of propaganda war against the nature of media structure in the Arab world.

GULF MONARCHIES & IMMUNITY TO CHANGE

As the uprising in Bahrain had been crushed last month, and the protests in Oman lost momentum, the six GCC monarchies seem passing the general Arab awakening. In fact, they seem immune to any change that might lead to put in place what Winston Churchill referred to as the "least worst form of government". Ruling families in these six monarchies gained a dose of self-confidence, and pro-democracy forces in the Arab peninsula lost hope. So, what are the characteristics and compositions of these monarchies that make it immune to a democratic change? 

ARAB TYRANTS .. ROBBERS OF TIME

Inspired by an article by Mr. Ahmed Berqawy published by Assafir Newspaper

Let us put aside the scientific definition of time. It is more serious and more dangerous than that. It is our life in that time .. It is our limited time .. our time in the timeline of life .. It is to say, that the biggest robbery ever existed in the history of mankind, is the robbery of our life committed by our Arab tyrants .. They robbed our time, a time that we cannot retrieve.

POST-REVOLUTION AND THE IDENTITY OF THE NATION

Those expecting that Tunisia, and Egypt will transit smoothly and quickly to a democratic system will likely be disappointed. Removing a tyrant is just the first step toward a stable democratic system. Scholars argued that it takes two to three decades for any society to adopt to the practice of democracy. They also argued that social and political fundamentals erected in the early stage of the transition, will play a major role in drawing the phases of this transition. Fundamentals as the reconstruction of certain principles like the identity of the nation, the concept of citizenship, and the concept of state secularism, are essential to be debated at a national level, in order to build a different future.

QANA MASSACRE .. WE NEITHER FORGOT, NOR FORGAVE

On April 18, 1996, Israeli army shelled a UN compound near Qana village, in which around 800 Lebanese civilians took refuge fleeing the Israeli operation of "Grapes of Wrath". The Israeli artillery pounded the compound with M-109A2 155 mm guns, 106 Lebanese civilians died. A UN investigation committee concluded that it is "unlikely" that the Israeli shelling was a technical or procedural error. And a vote in the UN general assembly decided that a $1.7m cost of repairs to be paid to UNIFIL by Israel. Mark that "Cost of repairs" .. Of course, international condemnation yet to be heard. Israel repeated its criminal episode of Qana again in 2006. Those responsible of that massacre are yet to appear on trail.

Today, we commemorate this crime not to remember, but to reassure the whole world that we will never forget .. and we will never forgive ..  

ARAB AWAKENING & THE MIND REVOLUTION

Anyone who takes a glimpse on the events sweeping currently the Arab world, will not be able to miss certain realities; 1. people and youth are trying to jump on the speedy train of the 21st century, while tyrants are clinging to the status quo. 2. People and youth insist to turn the page of the status quo or die trying to, while tyrants are ready to kill their own people to preserve this status quo. 3. People and youth are dreaming of nation building with the principle of citizenship as an umbrella of unity, while tyrants are fueling society diversities, sectarian and otherwise, in order to spread and rule, ignoring the risks and hazards of civil war, or the disintegration of state and society. In general, it is a struggle for forming the future, where people dreaming of it to be bright, tyrants tend to kill to preserve it dark. But if oneself takes more than a glimpse, the reality to unfold is a different story.

EGYPT SHOULD LISTEN TO THE OLD MAN

Born in 1923, Mohammed Hassanien Heikel is 88 years old now as he watched another major shift in the modern history of the Arab world, "the Arab awakening". In his 66-year long career as a journalist and a writer, he covered the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948, and the Egyptian revolution of the "Free officers" in 1952. He accompanied the late Egyptian leader Jamal Abdul Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s, and the Egyptian-led of Arab struggle against the colonial powers of that time. He was a witness of Suez Crisis in 1956, the six days war of 1967, and the Ramadan war of 1973. He was the first to write a book on the Iranian revolution of 1979 (The return of Ayatollah), and he watched with an eagle-eye the rest of the controversial events of the middle east. And between then and now, he earned the "leading Arab journalist" title, and became a highly respected commentator on Arab affairs.

LEBANON WAR .. SO HISTORY WON'T REPEAT ITSELF

In April 13, 1975, the Lebanese civil war broke out. For 15 years on, Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians, Israelis, Americans, French, and many more, fought on Lebanese soil. In the war of Lebanon, people went mad. Lebanese killed each other not for a reason but of the religious identity of the killer differed from that of the killed .. In the war of Lebanon, all sects and communities committed massacres against each other .. the blood of more than 100 thousands human life had been shed, and mixed with no distinction, with no aim, and with no accomplishment .. The war of Lebanon ended with no victorious side .. It just unfolded lessons, principles, and values, in which catastrophe will be the only outcome, if Lebanese don't comprehend it, maintained it, and embraced it .. Today (April 13, 2011) is the anniversary of the outbreak of the war of Lebanon .. Below is the first episode of a documentary series of 15, aiming to explain the roots and the outcome of the War of Lebanon .. So history won't repeat itself .... 

BAHRAIN .. McCARTHYISM OF THE 21st CENTURY

During the McCarthy era in the United States between late 1940s and through the 1950s, thousands of Americans were, recklessly, accused of being communist or communist sympathizers. In process, they were subjected to aggressive investigations and punishments. As a result, hundreds were falsely imprisoned, and twelve hundreds lost their jobs for unsubstantiated accusations. This was in North America in the middle of the 20th century, and is considered by most of scholars as an era to regret in the American history. And those who had been subjected to such accusations, are mentioned as victims.

FRANCE .. BANNING THE BURQA IS PROBLEMATIC

A controversial bill banning the Burqa-style Islamic veil in public came into force in France on Monday. The enforcement faced low-key challenges, and the French police arrested three women for defying the ban in Paris. According to the bill, the violators of it will be punished by a 150-euros fine. But those who force others to wear the burqa will be subjected to a stiffer punishment which may extends to 12 months in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros. In the bill, the part related to punishing those who force others to wear burqa is morally justified and some even will find it needed in combating women oppression. But banning burqa in public is against civil liberties, might be highly problematic, and above all, might lead to a wide spread of the use of burqa itself among French Muslim minority.

QADDAFI .. ZEUS OF LIBYA

Since he seized power in 1969, Muammer Qaddafi has been a controversial figure. The Late Egyptian leader Jamal Abdul Nasser described him as the heir of Arab nationalism, and I bet the Soul of Nasser regrets it deeply. Saddat, in contrary, saw in Qaddafi a lunatic dreamer and not worthy of any sort of attention, after all, Saddat wanted the spotlight for himself. Reagan called Muammer "the mad dog of Libya", and so on. But all those who tried to describe controversial Qaddafi, failed in comprehending what Qaddafi saw in himself, a GOD ..

A STORY OF A SUCCESSFUL INTERROGATION

Inspired by a poem by Ahmed Mattar.


In the south entrance of an small alley in an Arab capital, an ancient deserted two-storey building stands in the right corner. In the upper floor, in a cold and a wet room. A blindfolded-handcuffed man was brought in by six security officers in civilian-cloths. Two men in black suits were waiting for him. The door, then, was closed, and in the six security waited in the corridor. 


Inside the room, the two men in black stand on front of the blindfolded-handcuffed man, who was seated on the only chair there. One of them opened a file in his hand, and the interrogation began.

TYRANTS & FEBRUARY .. YOU FOOL ME NO MORE

It is another Friday in the Arab world. People took to the streets, blood shed followed, and the Arab tyrants vaguely repeated their promises of reforms. Some of my European friends argued: Why not giving them a second chance. After all, it is safer to transit toward democracy without violence or chaos. .. Well .. History itself argued otherwise. As well as, ironically, the month of February.  

IRAN .. AWAITING THE BLUE REVOLUTION

Many saw a resemblance between the popular uprising that led to the fall of Ben Ali in Tunisia, and the fall of Berlin wall in 1989. And the spread of uprisings across the Arab world added more weight to the resemblance. Nevertheless, the resemblance between events of the current Arab awakening and events from the cold war era doesn't end with the Berlin wall. The Saudi decision to send troops to Bahrain last month is, more or less, similar to the entry of the soviet troops into Hungary in November 1956. Both sent their troops to quell a legitimate popular uprising, and both blamed a foreign "evil" agenda for orchestrating the uprising. 

CRISIS GROUP: THE BAHRAIN REVOLT

The International Crisis Group issued on April 6, its report regarding the Bahrain revolt. The report dismissed the claims that the popular uprising in Bahrain was a tantamount to an Iranian style as it is claimed, by the Saudis, that it would lead to a Shiite takeover. The report stressed that the Saudi military intervention in Bahrain made any peaceful solution for Bahrain's crisis "immensely" more difficult, and the regional context "significantly" tenser.

SAUDI ARABIA: COMBATING BLACK MAGIC

I read today in The Angry Arab News Service administrated by Dr. As'ad Abukhalil that in Saudi Arabia, 

UNDESTANDING QADDAFI'S GREEN BOOK

In his quest for glory, Muammer El Qaddafi published, in 1975, his "Green book". Influenced by the ideological struggle in the cold war era, he claimed that the book contains within its 110 pages the "Third ideology", after capitalism and communism. According to Qaddafi, to solve the problems of the world, oneself should study and understand the "Third ideology". Qaddafi ordered the book to be taught at school, and, in process, Libyan students were forced to spend two hours a week studying the book.

YEMEN .. PREVENTING SEPARATION

By the Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies 

The popular revolution in Yemen has established several features that differ from the movements that have emerged in the Yemeni arena over the past few years. Since the onset of the peaceful protests that swept across Yemen, Yemenis united behind the "topple the regime" slogan despite their different causes and affiliations.This revolutionary situation has created a new two-sided formula in the Yemeni arena.

WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS

Uprisings in the Arab world erupt. 

Tyrants used all kind of scarecrows to convince people to accept the status quo, stay home, or face chaos. 

This reminded me of the scarecrow in Constantine Cavafy's (1864-1933) masterpiece "Waiting for the barbarians".

CONSPIRACY THEORY

"There is no such thing called a Conspiracy theory. There are conspiracies and it is rooted deep in history in an extent that no one can deny", said president Assad of Syria while addressing the Syrian parliament on March 30. Then, backing himself with this definition, he went on, for the rest of the speech, portraying the unrest erupted in Syria as a new episode of such conspiracy. But, if only logic can function with disregard of history, scholars will, unanimously, dismiss Assad's claims and might even call it "absurd". But, in contrary, it drew a heated debate between scholars in the Arab world.   

BAHRAIN: DEMOGRAPHIC ENGINEERING

Facts on the Ground: A Reliable Estimate of Bahrain's Sunni-Shi'i Balance, and Evidence of Demographic Engineering.

By Justin Gengler

The last time the Government of Bahrain reported official demographic statistics on its Sunni and Shi'i communities was in its very first census in 1941, which put the percentage of Shi'a at 53% of the island's population. (See Qubain 1955, who tells that the census was taken "primarily for food control purposes.") In the intervening 70 years, speculation about Bahrain's evolving Sunni-Shi'i balance has become both a local flash-point and a source of frustration for those attempting to study the country.

ASSESSMENT: THE BAHRAIN SITUATION

The dilemma in Bahrain reached a deadlock, with the Saudi (Peninsula Shield) military intervention complicated the situation there, by inviting other regional powers to follow the same course. The Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies. issued an assessment report of the situation and the possible solutions.

BAHRAIN: A DIRTY JOB UNDER A SAUDI UMBRELLA

On March 14, under a controversial interpreting of the "Peninsula Shield" treaty between the six gulf countries, Saudi troops entered Bahrain to help the Royal family in quelling a month-long popular uprising demanding a constitutional monarchy. The uprising was crushed, hundreds between dead or injured, opposition leaders along with more than 300 activists were detained or declared missing, and a campaign of systemic suppression against the Shiite community was unleashed. Many in Bahrain, the Arab world, and globally, argued that the Saudi intervention is more of a political nature than security, given in hand that Bahrain's security apparatus and army are up to the task. It is international condemnation what the royal family worried about, and as they are still going on in their dirty job, real condemnation never really heard, with the suspicion of a Saudi "Shuush" preventing it.

BAHRAIN .. GALLOWAY SAID IT ALL

Since Saudi led "Peninsula shield" troops entered Bahrain to quell a popular uprising, world capitals, and media likewise, were very sensitive in expressing their "dis-like" of such move, and the propaganda of those who supported the Saudi invasion was loud and senseless. Maybe be it takes a "rude-gentleman" to say it all. In his way of course.  

GOLDSTONE .. AN "OOPS" WHICH IS BEING EXAGGERATED

Richard Goldstone, the South African judge, who chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council to investigate on the claims that war crimes had been committed during the Israeli war against Gaza between 2008 and 2009. The findings which produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report. The report stated that there is evidence of "potential war crimes" and "possibly crimes against humanity" by both Israel and Hamas. This finding unleashed back then, the wrath of Israel. Most of this wrath had been directed at the chairman of the mission, Goldstone himself.


In April's fool day, The Washington post published a column  written by the Judge himself titled "Reconsidering the Goldstone report on Israel and war crimes". His reconsideration, as he mentioned in his column, was based on:

We'll Give you Libya, and We'll take Bahrain

By Pepe Escobar, published by Asia Times online

You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the United Nations independently confirmed that Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a "yes" vote by the Arab League for a no-fly zone over Libya - the main rationale that led to United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.

THE SHIITE QUESTION

Inspired by the uprising that led to the fall of the authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, Bahrainis rallied (Feb 14) in the streets of Manama. They first faced a brutal crackdown by the regime's security apparatus that caused tens of casualties between dead and injured, before they had been allowed to camp in, and around the Pearl Square at the heart of the capital. They announced their demand of a constitutional monarchy. Foreign Media rushed to the tiny Kingdom to cover another Arab uprising. Headlines rushed as well to the screens and pages of the media around the world, as it did in the case of Tunisia and Egypt, except it was phrased differently. In Egypt and Tunisia, and later in Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and even Yemen, most of the headlines are phrased as "popular uprising" or so. While in Bahrain, it was phrased "Shiite uprising against the Sunni ruling family".

EGYPTIAN MEDIA .. OLD HABITS DIE HARD

Egypt's ruling military council pledged "repeatedly", that they won't seek staying in power. The council announced that they will patronage the democratic transformation. And, it is very hard for oneself to argue otherwise, except in regards of the Egyptian media. Or maybe it is the Egyptian media old habits.

YOUTUBE .. REVOLUTION'S MEDIA TYCOON

Arab tyrants, unanimously, while watching the Arab-awakening wave reached their shores, they blamed, or still blaming, the media for inciting it. And instead of answering the grievances of their people, they decided to unleash their absurd media counter-attack. They banned foreign media inside and closed their offices, and went, ironically, to advertise their state "so-called" TVs as the only reliable source of the truth. But foreign media went on covering as they were inside, thanks of course to social networks. Tyrants lost the media war.

PALESTINIANS .. A STORY OF CONSTANT SADNESS

When Dorothy Thompson filmed her documentary on the situation of the Palestinian refugees in 1950, she named it "the Sands of Sorrow", it was the first documentary on the suffering of the people who, between 1947 and 1948, lost their homes and, in process, they lost their land, rights, and nation. The documentary was released in an attempt to mount enough solidarity and response to a dire situation and to end it soon. These sands of sorrow, and the roots of it, are still, six decades later, haunting the middle east.

It is our Humanity that guards our Soul

As I froze myself in front of the screen swirling around news channels, watching how tyrants are waging war against their own people, and how intellectuals debate in words of hate and suspicions .. I realized how desperately we need to understand each other. Maybe because we allow words to wrath in an emotionless language. We are casting out our humanity for the sake of political and economic interests  And this must be diverted to the other direction.

Al JAZEERA & BAHRAIN: BIASED OR NOT?

I hereby, before I rumble on about Al Jazeera and its coverage of Bahrain's "revolution", I would like to state that it will be a criticism of a news channel that I love and respect. And so, any attempt by anyone to criticize a loved party, usually, goes too much emotional, and too personal. Though, I will try to be objective as much as I can.

THE SYRIAN DILEMMA .. STATE TV WORSENING IT

As protests are sweeping around Syria, the Syrian TV, instead of listening to the call of its people, is keeping broadcasting the same absurd propaganda that we all watched in the media of Arab tyrannies. It didn't work in Egypt or Tunisia, and it did only managed to worsen the situation in Yemen, Jordan, and Bahrain. And it did fuel sectarian and ethnic tensions, and jeopardize the co-existence of the society other than saving the regime. Yet the Syrian state TV didn't learn the lesson.

SAUDI ARABIA: ISLAM BANS PROTESTS, BUT CORRUPTION IS OK

In their pre-emptive move to quell the feasibility of any protest call to materialize, Al Saud ailing ruling family returned, more than a week ago, to an old friend, the religious institution. The latter responded positively, and issued a fatwa, or a religious edict banning all kind of protests as un-Islamic. Really!!, .... And now the princes are more than satisfied. They are printing 1.5m copies of it. 
Someone told me: how on earth those princes don't feel ashamed by advocating such nonsense publicly?!! .. I say, it goes far worse than that, they don't feel ashamed admitting corruption publicly, just listen to Bander Bin Sultan, former Saudi ambassador to the United States.       

GREAT BRITAIN .. SHAMEFUL

Almost everybody in the Arab world cried demanding a No-fly-zone since the lunatic tyrant of Libya started bombing his people. The revolutionaries repeatedly, and for weeks, wondered, in complain, about the reason behind the delay of such implementing. The corrupt GCC leaders (Arab Gulf countries) asked the UN Security council to sanction such operation, crying crocodile tears over the causalities among civilians inflected by El Qaddafi forces. Amr Moussa, the Secretary of the Arab League, stated in a press conference the organisation's request, or consent, for the No-fly-zone to be carried out. Then, he went to Paris to consent again the start of actions.
But, once the coalition forces started bombing Libya's air defenses, the mood dramatically, changed.

WHAT IS BEHIND U.S.-SAUDI ALLIANCE? .. IT IS NOT OIL

I always wondered how could the United States allied itself with a State like Saudi Arabia. It looked to me that it is an alliance between certain values and its demonic opposite. An alliance between the 21st century and the 12th one. Between a country that embraces values (at least at home) like free expression, gender equality, the role of think-tanks, personal liberty, and human rights .. and a dark kingdom that

EVERYBODY WANTS AL ASSAD TO STAY .. EVEN THE ENEMIES

Since Syrian people started to break their silence and are protesting in demand of democratic reforms, the supporters of the Syrian regime kept accusing everyone who does not go along with Damascus' foreign policy, accusing them of destabilizing "the last Arab fortress of resistance", the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia got the most of the blame. Surprisingly, Hillary Clinton came out to state that Washington have no influence to exert over Damascus and won't seek the use of force if things there escalated. The ailing Saudi Monarch expressed solidarity with the Syrian president. But, a very bizarre wish that the Syrian president will survive this turmoil came for unexpected direction. Really. If you don't believe me, just read this article from HAARETZ ...

ARABS - FROM A GREAT CIVILIZATION TO BACKWARDNESS, WHAT HAPPENED?

Once upon a time, a thousand years ago to be precise, a super-intelligent alien arrived to earth to study its civilizations. The alien reached a conclusion that the far advanced Arab civilization will one day conquered all Europe, and will discover and settle in the Americas. The alien returned last year and shockingly asked: What happened?!!! Nicholas D. kristof is trying to provide an answer in his article published by New York Times ...   

OBAMA CAESAR ... THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY

If oneself picked a random person in this globe and asked him: What was George W. Bush worst blunder of his countless follies? I bet you the answer will be "waging war against Iraq" .. And if oneself asked why? .. One of the top answers will be "He waged it without a UN mandate" .. But the Bush-era has become of the past now, someone came cruising to the White house in 2008 with the word "CHANGE" is printed in-bold on his Sail .. He pledged to reverse his predecessor policy, and Libya came as his first test .. And YES, he passed it by securing a UN mandate, but wait, Oops .. He forgot to get a congressional authorization!! .. Simply, he didn't follow his predecessor policy, he followed Julius caesar's one.

MOROCCO .. IGNORED BY THE SPOTLIGHT

As Media breathlessly struggles for broader coverage of the Arab awakening, however, and in a way that seems deliberate, demonstrations in Morocco is not having its fair share of this coverage, in both Arab and International media, despite the continuous protests since the 20th of February. 

HOLD IT .. SOMEONE IS CLAIMING TO KNOW QADDAFI BETTER ..

Since his first speech after Libyans revolted against his backward regime .. El Qaddafi drew the attention of everybody .. Psychologist tried to analyze his lunacy, they were not much successful. UK's "The Telegraph" tried to dig deep in his mind, good job, but in vain .. And after a month of futile attempts .. A man came forward claiming that he knows El Qaddafi better .. He said that El Qaddafi is no saint, but a good man ..    

WHO IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO WORLD PEACE?

If a journalist asked any European politician: Who do you think is the greatest threat to world peace? I bet that he will pick an answer from the following package .. [Iran, Hamas, Syria, North Korea, Islam, Fundamentalists, extremists, Hizbollah, Al Qaeda, Islamist Jihad] .. but surprisingly, my eyes fell on a report that is saying that an EU poll, conducted few years ago, showed that European voters didn't pick from the same package their politicians would do .. they unexpectedly choose someone else .. check it out ..   

THE STORY OF THE ASCENDING TO THE THRONE OF "KING OF KINGS"

After the fall of the Shah in the late seventies, no one thought that someone will claim anymore the title of "Shahanshah" (King of Kings). Let alone, in the 21st century, a leader will be subjected to mockery if he does so, but with Qaddafi, lunacy prevailed. Elizabeth Dickinson tells the story of how Qaddafi maintained to secure such ascending in her article published by FP Magazine ..  

SYRIA .. NO LONGER A "KINGDOM OF SILENCE"

As pro-democracy uprising swept the Arab world, many argued, intellectuals and others, Arabs and westerners, that Syria is immune to such kind of a sweep, ironically this argument was advocated by Al Assad himself in a recent interview. The basis of such argument is stationed around

March Madness: Democrats vs. Dictators

In the West, they are fond upon the idea that the world is a battle between good and evil, just take a tour in any movie store and you will know what I mean, or a video games store .. but to contest it in an article!, this is new for me .. Ladies and Gentlemen, MARCH MADNESS by FP Magazine, Oh, I forgot to say that they (of course) put Putin in the Evil's side ..      

THE LESSONS OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Amid the fury of the Arab awakening – not to mention the West deepening crisis over Libya – old Constantinople is a tonic, a reminder amid minarets and water, palaces and museums and bookshops and an ancient parliament and a thousand fish restaurants that this really was the only united capital the Arabs ever had (I disagree) .. Robert Fisk argues that Ottoman adventures hold lessons for the leaders of the West ... 

The Eve of the 1st War on Saddam: Four Days of Diplomacy

The history of the Persian Gulf War has been well documented, but the release of declassified transcripts of Saddam Hussein’s deliberations on Feb. 24, 1991, the first day of the Persian Gulf land war, provide gripping new details. Studied along with an archive of transcripts at the George Bush Presidential Library, these records disclose what led up to, and what occurred, on that fateful day. New York times .. 

DICTATORS' MANUAL TO QUELL UPRISINGS

After the success of the revolutions in both Egypt and Tunisia, other uprisings hit a wall. The remaining corrupt-dictators of the Arab world pulled out their demonic manual of "How to quell an uprising" .. Read it (in-Arabic) ..   

A NICE LITTLE STORY FROM SAD BAHRAIN

Bahrain:

More than a thousand people marched today in one of Bahrain's villages during a funeral of a protester that was killed by security forces yesterday. A reporter witnessed an injured look-like participant .. the reporter approached and the conversation went as follows:

I detest the Gaddafis .. But I disrespect them less than the rest

Did you heard Buthaina Sha'aban (A close and formal adviser of President Assad for political affairs)? She was the first Syrian official to address the issue of Dera'a .. I was waiting for such event .. because as far as I disagree with those Egyptians who argued that Egypt is not Tunisia, or with the Lybians who argued that Libya is not Egypt or Tunisia, ... and so on .. I agree with those who argue that Syria is not the rest of the Arab regimes .. The region which is witnessing a general turmoil for the last 3 months and so on, might explode if a revolution occured in Syria .. But after listening to Buthaina Sha'aban .. I said why not?!!! ..

THE RIVER OF MADNESS

Once upon a time, in a small kingdom where people lived in harmouny and prospirity, a river forged itself in the kingdom. People rushed to drink from the yet cold and clean water of this new river.

From that time and so on, the Kindom lived in a grave tragedy, they all drank from the river of madness ..  

King: What you are telling me is horrible!

Vizier: It is Fate, Your Majesty.

Q&A IN THE MIDDLE EAST

In the Arab world, where they chop your nose if they don't like your ears, even Q&A has its unique form ...


Q: Who did burn the ousted Tunisian dictator Bin Ali?

A: Mohammed Bu Azzizi