The man who wrote "Why I Admire Israel" has been visiting Israel. And he spoke in the Israeli Parliament.

He received a warm welcome from the Israeli Parliament's Palestinian MPs (photo via Wassim).

Palestinian MK Ahmad Tibi: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You come here as a cheap tool in the hands of Netanyahu and ask the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee not to cede the Golan, your homeland, when more than half the Israelis want to withdraw. This is despicable." (via George - well worth reading)

Labels: Israel, Reform Party of Syria

Farid Ghadry is an interesting character. He doesn't mind being referred to as the Syrian(*) Ahmed Chalabi. He claims that if Syria held free and fair elections, he would win.

He has just written a piece called 'Why I admire Israel'. With the repugnant views aired in this blind article, I would tend to disagree that he would win any election in Syria.

Anyway, here are some select quotes from Ghadry's piece:

"As a Syrian and a Muslim, I have always had this affinity for the State of Israel. As a businessman and an advocate of the free economic system of governance, Israel to me represents an astounding economic success in the midst of so many Arab failures."

"Israel has, in less than 60 years, built an economy ten times that of Syria with one-fifth the population. How does one explain this fact? It is very simple: Israel is a vibrant democracy." (Not because of the basic arithmetic of colonisation: occupy, steal and use slave labour).

"To me, any dispute over shared lands is secondary to bringing prosperity to my people."

(* Note: I say 'the Syrian Chalabi' and not 'Syria's Chalabi' because - by his own admission, his only connection to the country is that he was last there when he was 10 years old)

Labels: Israel, Reform Party of Syria

This from As'ad.

Priorities of the Muslim Brotherhood.

I expressed my contempt for the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood a few days ago. Today, they made strong statements against the Jordanian government.

They said that the government is:

1) neglecting the Arabic language in some official functions;

2) encouraging students to gravitate toward pornographic websites.

These are the worries of the Muslim Brotherhood. What do you expect from an organization that was raised by the colonial powers and their clients in the region.

Labels: Jordan, Muslim Brotherhood, Reform Party of Syria, reformists/dissidents