The End of Israel - it's apartheid or nothing, says Olmert
Ehud Olmert: "If the two-state [bantustan] solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, then the State of Israel is finished."
Ehud Olmert: "If the two-state [bantustan] solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, then the State of Israel is finished."
A group, described by the BBC as "a newly-formed group loyal to parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri" has been fighting an Islamist group in Tripoli.
But, but, but, I thought the fighting was over King Saad.
Yes, I concede, he beat me on this one.
But just for him, here is a wider shot of Damasco Bite that I took a while ago. The Syrian takeaway in east London, which deserves a full post, but I'm still reeling from the fact that he got there first!
London has just a handful of Syrians. Most Arabs in the capital are Palestinian, Iraqi, Lebanese and Egyptian. I know of just two Syrian restaurants here: Abu Zaad in west London, and Damasco Bite in the east. Except that Abu Zaad doesn't really count because although it claims to be Syrian, it is actually run by a motley collection of Lebanese, Moroccans and Egyptians.
Damasco Bite is different.
But while London might be lacking Syrians, Manchester is very different. The UK's second city has a large population of Aleppines. Mostly merchants, they moved to the city after the revolution, taking their money with them in fear their businesses would be confiscated. That's why Syrian Air and BA (until recently) have direct flights from Manchester to Syria - and why BA flew straight into Aleppo.
Anas is claiming that Amazon.com is now blocked in Syria (thanks Yazan). As Yazan comments: "Why would any regime block Amazon.com?!! Unless people are exchanging secret *how to topple regime* advices through book reviews!"
It seems to be an incredibly random move, if it is confirmed. It comes a week after Facebook access was stopped. It seems someone has got hold of a list of the websites with the most hits, and is blocking them.
As Golaniya says about the Facebook decision, "I think they did not block Facebook–the-site, but the unfamiliar reaction to this site." In other words, it wasn't the content of the site that worries authorities, but the fact that people are becoming active and using something the authorities don't understand.
Could Facebook be the number one site in Syria? Quite possibly. And Amazon is probably pretty high up there too.
But are these bans working. Well, Idaf raises an interesting point. If this really was about stopping civil society, then they've just lost a brilliant opportunity to monitor the activities of all these people who - of course - are using their full real names on Facebook.
Right, As'ad, explain this*
Wassim first pointed it out, and I had to check the actual magazine cover in the shop. I couldn't believe that the Economist would go this far over the top. It is the most absurd cover I have ever seen. I really believed it was a spoof.
It must be the most blogged Economist cover in history. My favourite analysis is by Ahmed in Jordan - and he rarely even blogs about politics:
"It’s almost unbelievable. Here we are seven years later. Palestine in in shambles. Arafat is gone. Sharon is semi-dead. The Wall. Israel’s fortress mentality. Iraq drowning. Lebanon divided. A whole generation of Palestinians lost to violence and no hope."
(*The Angry Arab says he is a fan of The Economist - but he distances himself from its editorial, so maybe my top line isn't reallllllly fair!).
Syria accepts US invitation to Annapolis Peace Conference, sending Deputy Foreign Minister.
Sentimentality can be destructive. But I'm slowly learning how to make it work for me.
I'm a half-half - I have Arab blood and English blood. I have lived in London and Damascus, and I could never live without either of them. I consider them both as home.
When I'm in one, I miss the other like mad. But the two cities affect me in very different ways. Doing the LHR-DAM journey fills me with joy in the beginning, before London slowly works its way back into my thoughts.
Travelling in the opposite direction puts me into a trance which lasts weeks. I mourn my distant lover. I look forward to the night. Because in the night I sleep. And in my sleep I dream. And I can be sure that at least every two days Damascus will appear in my dream. It may not always be a good dream, it may even be mundane and dull. But at least it is a dream of Damascus.
After a few weeks, I start to live for London again.
It's just about reached that time where I'm getting excited about being in London. I've got a ton of things I want to do here: a Yemeni film festival, a Yemeni architecture exhibition, watch the Yacoubian Building (yes, yes, I still haven't seen it), see a screening about Algerian Jews, and go to the Arab Freedom Concert, get a pile of books from SOAS, and track down some Syrian DVDs.
You can often tell where I am by the nature of my posts.
When I'm in Damascus there are things I crave about London. SOAS, cinema, shopping, organisation.
In London I miss something more sensually fundamental about Damascus. Smells, sounds, tastes, views.
London is my friend, Damascus is my lover.
Outgoing Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has declared a state of emergency, following the failure of the country's politicians to choose a successor.
This means that the army, led by Michel Suleiman, has taken control of ALL security agencies - including those currently run by the Government.
No-one predicted this scenario. What it essentially means is the (supposedly) neutral military is now running the country, because the Government has failed to do so.
Ok, not so much of a controversy, although some people might be offended by this.
The amazing Mazen Kerbaj is publishing a series of cartoons - simultaneously - in a Danish and Lebanese newspaper. The Danish paper is called 'The Information', and in Lebanon, it's appearing in Al Akhbar.
Here are a couple of quotes from a couple of his sketches:
"Everything is cheap here, cigarettes, alcohol, kalashikov."
"Censorship? Never? You can say whatever you want...it's won't be censored. Maximum, you get killed."
The whole series can be found on Mazen's excellent blog.
I thought Golaniyah said it best, until I read Levantine Dreamhouse. I don't often find myself in the same position as Abu Kareem, but he sums up the pointlessness, and embarrassment of this whole situation better than I could have.
Interesting piece by the Guardian's Yemeni journalist who used to live in Damascus.
"In Syria, jokes about the brutality of the army have faded since Bashar al-Assad came to power, because he has clamped down on the culture of immunity soldiers used to enjoy. Criticism of such excesses is now permitted, because they are framed in the context of the government not living up to its stated ambitions.
In fact, Assad is said to greatly enjoy jokes about the regime and gains kudos from ordinary Syrians because of it. It is a curious phenomenon: the head of a regime enjoying jokes about his own regime's apparatus. In other places this might be seen as arrogant, as if Assad were laughing at the people. But it isn't seen that way and one of the reasons it isn't is because Assad is not generally perceived as the architect of the regime, only the inheritor of it, and so Syrians can believe that their views of what is ridiculous about the system are shared by the president".
Thank you very much to John Wreford for this amazing find.
As if the Syrian racism against Iraqi refugees isn't bad enough, now the Iraqi government is playing at it.
This is a flyer posted all over Sayida Zeinab:
Photo: John Wreford.
It reads:
"The Iraqi Ministry of Transport is operating secured journeys to Iraq - in modern air-conditioned vehicles, accompanied by 'protection' - for the Iraqi refugees to return to their country, free of charge.
The first journey will be on Monday 26 November 2007. To register, contact the Iraqi Trade Attache, in Mezzeh Sharqiyeh."
Not sure what the 'protection' they are offering includes? Armed guards?
Meanwhile, it's also reported Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is offering Iraqi refugees in Syria $1200 to return home. Who can refuse that kind of money. And more importantly, can they turn that money down when their families need it so badly.
Many are living in a poverty they never knew they would face. Many spent their entire life savings to save up for the journey to Syria. Many risked their lives to make that journey.
But if their children are starving in Syria, how about saying - I'll take the money, travel to Iraq and get the first bus back. I'll be back soon.
Shame on Iraq, and on Syria for allowing this to happen.
Money in return for death. What a great deal.
London and Paris are now just about as close as Damascus and Beirut.
The Eurostar train's launched a new service whizzing between the two world cities in just over two hours.
They've restored St Pancras station into one of London's most attractive buildings.
The attention to detail is incredible. Even the metalwork has been painted in exactly the same shade of blue as it was when the station opened 100 years ago.
When it opened, it was the largest enclosed space in the world. Now, it has the claim of being one of the most impressive.
And the romanticism isn't lost on this place. Stations are meeting places, scenes of rekindled love. That's why I love this sculpture. It reaches almost to the ceiling of the building. And it's in exactly the right spot to stare you in the face when you step off the train.
But seeing posters telling you Paris is two hours away doesn't really mean anything.
It's when you see hoards of people pulling suitcases.
It's when you hear French voices mingling with English ones.
It's when you see English staff speaking French.
It's when you realise you can spend Euros in (a tiny corner of) London.
That's when you realise Paris has arrived in London. The past and future working together.
I'm impressed that London has been able to restore this place. A few years ago they were threatening to demolish it. London doesn't respect its history, because it's been so obsessed with the future. I hope Damascus isn't going that way. But when I hear the Amara plans, it makes me worried.
So it's good news when private businesses restore Damascene houses in the Old City - more on that soon. And even better news when we hear that there are finally plans to restore the Hijaz station.
The back part is going to be turned into another shopping mall, with the front restored to its former glory - exactly what happened to St Pancras. It'll be great to give such a fantastic building a better use than just a book fair.
This is hilarious. This is a series of news flashes that have just come up on the news wires. All of the following happened within a seven minute period:
0727 SAUDI ARABIA MAY HAVE STARTED STUDYING A REVALUATION OF THE RIYAL
0732 GCC (Gulf Co-opartion Council) OFFICIAL SAYS NO GULF ARAB STATE CAN DROP DOLLAR PEG UNILATERALLY
0732 GCC OFFICIAL SAYS GULF ARAB CURRENCIES APPEAR TO BE BELOW THEIR APPROPRIATE VALUE AGAINST THE DOLLAR
0734 GCC OFFICIAL SAYS GULF ARAB STATES SHARE COMMON DESIRE TO REVALUE AND SHIFT TO BASKET OF CURRENCIES
I knew there had to be something more behind this visit than an agreement over prisoners and borders. So thanks to Norman for pointing it out.
Jordan's King Abdullah made a surprise visit to Damascus, his first in four years. And it comes just days before Arab leaders meet in Egypt to talk peace ahead of the Annapolis talks in the US.
This is definitely positive. Either Jordan and Syria are trying to forge a unified view between the two sides in the Arab world (i.e. the Syria-Hizbollah-Hamas axis versus the Saudi-US-Fatah-Israel-Jordan-Egypt axis) ... or Jordan is carrying some kind of message from the US begging them to attend the US peace talks.
Either way, it's good news.
Interesting to note that neither Jordan or Syria mentioned the peace talks following the surprise meeting, it was all about prisoners and border. Apparently.
The Jordanian one, that is.
It's Abdullah's first visit to Damascus for many years. Jordan and Syria have suffered from frosty relations, despite a positive start seven years ago. Both men come from similar backgrounds - a connection with Britain, they are similar ages, they both inherited their jobs.
Syria has agreed to release 250 Jordanian prisoners, and Jordan will investigate the border dispute. Both countries claim the other is currently on part of their land.
They've also been discussing Lebanon, where there's a stalemate over the choice of president.
They've also signed agreements on economic cooperation, water, and security.
Arabs make up one of the world's biggest exile groups.
Lebanese, Palestinians, Iraqis and Algerians have fled over the decades - and put down roots in places as diverse as South America, the US, the UK, Germany, Sweden and even Senegal.
And we don't just leave for political reasons, Arabs from countries not affected by war leave the region for economic reasons. Out of 20 million Yemenis, around 2 million live abroad.
But I'm interested in what happens to them when they leave - or when they grow up away from this place they call 'home'.
The easy option is to assimilate - to cut your ties. But most of us are far too stubborn for that. We're a bunch of flag waving, argumentative people. Even those who don't have an opinion seem to find one when presented with someone else's argument.
A large number of Arab exiles fled for political reasons. Many are opponents of ruling regimes. Look at the Iraqis in America. They disproportionately represented the Iraqi pro-war camp: if all these Iraqis want to topple Saddam by military means, who are we to disagree. Ahmed Chalabi led the camp - and did a very good job.
And when you are abroad - away from the situation you fled - it becomes a lot easier to oppose, and to call for catastrophic radical change. Because you won't be nearby when the bombs start falling.
The opposite is also true. Many Arabs who left for economic reasons attach a huge amount of sentimentality to 'home'. And any criticism of the ruling dictatorship is equated to criticism of the country. So what do we do - blindly defend injustice.
The biggest critics and defenders of Arab regimes are the exiles. The ones who won't be directly affected if the government falls, or if it stays. And the irony is, these people live in Washington, and New York and London and Paris. Their voices are heard by those who chose to topple or support our leaders.
Pictures: Politics and Nargileh - London's 'Arab Street', Edgware Road.
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