A young women’s call “To Our Countries”

A new occasion to let us all remember that change in Middle East will come invariably from women. Let them be these women singing in exile from Sweden or the brave fighting women of Kobane.

Let this be a call for ALL OF OUR COUNTRIES… even those not in Middle East. 

Because this is not a tragedy for Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Israelis, Palestinians… and all MIddle Eastern People. 

The oldest remnants of human civilization are found in these lands.

so this is a tragedy in the bethren of HUMAN CULTURE.

A tragedy for all humans.

If Middle East keeps being lost… we will all loose… because it’s not “us and them”.

It’s US ALL.

And as far as we don’t change the way things are happening, this shit will never let the world advance.

So let’s help this voice to spread.

Let’s help  this women voice sound louder than the shots of a doshka in Kobane.

Louder than any invocation to Devil before killing someone in the name of a false concept of God.

Because God does not need our blood, ANY BLOOD, to stain the ground to make His point.

Please share. 

To Our Countries لبلادي

Basic Lessons to understand Middle East. Must read!

Advanced countries have long resolved the debate over the state and its system: The republics are republics, kingdoms are kingdoms, and change, when it happens, targets the rule, not the state or the system itself. But in the Arab countries, the nature of the “state” is still a matter of contention.Some wanted a “unity,” in which mainly the Levant countries that were created by the colonial powers would merge. Others wanted regionalism that is fortified with sectarianism. Between these two desires, some started justifying the colonial “interest” by finding fake historical justifications to consecrate the de facto states.There’s no historical state called Iraq, nor one called Syria, or Lebanon. Those words were used to describe locations, not national identities. Also, there was no state in the Arabian Peninsula, nor on the shores of the Gulf extending from Shatt al-Arab to the Strait of Hormuz, where three countries Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar were established, as well as Oman, which always had different features.Babylon is not today’s Iraq. The Hittites and the Assyrians did not have a “state” — in today’s sense of the word: a specific political entity — even though they had swept the whole Levant and expanded their empires by occupying other peoples’ lands.In the era before Islam, the Levant — specifically most of the so-called “Fertile Crescent,” i.e., Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and part of today’s Iraq — came under the rule of the Greeks, then the Romans, then the Byzantines. When Islam came and spread in the entire Arab region, the state of Islam under the Umayyad dynasty was an empire whose capital was Damascus. Then, with the Abbasid state, the capital became Baghdad. Then the caliphate withered away and was inherited by the Mamluks and the Seljuks, till the Ottoman dynasty came and built their empire under the Islamic banner and the Ottoman sultan.The “states” that we know in the Levant are less than a hundred years old. They were established by colonial powers and weren’t created, in their current borders, by the will of their people, but rather according to the interests of foreign countries that have dominated the region after the defeat of Turkey and Germany in World War I.

via Back to the caliphate

– Al-Monitor

A must read for all those who never go further than

“geez… again those damn mad people killing each other!” 

… spread please. 

Israel’s own misconception on “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”

The next war is inevitable, Israelis believe, because our enemies hate us, they’re fanatics, they don’t care about dying, they like to die, etc.What’s fascinating, though, is how people here completely overlook these last eight years of peace and quiet on the northern border, which the air force did everything in its power to disrupt until finally, this week, it succeeded. How can anyone say the next war is inevitable, that we’re fighting “the war between wars,” after nearly eight years of tranquility on the border with Hezbollah and Syria?How? Because the great majority of people in this country don’t notice it when the Arabs aren’t killing us, only when they are. They have this idée fixe that the Arabs have one purpose in life, to kill Jews, and when they’re not doing it, they’re preparing to do it. So no matter how long the Arabs take a break from killing us, it doesn’t change the general Israeli view of them, nor does it change their view of how Israel should deal with them.And it’s not just on the northern border with Syria and Hezbollah; very few Israelis have any idea that the Palestinian Authority has been working with the Israeli army and Shin Bet for 10 solid years to shut down violence in the West Bank. If you mention that to them, many if not most Israelis will get irritated. They don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to hear that the Arabs are afraid of us and our army, and that if we leave them alone they’ll leave us alone – even after eight years Hezbollah, 10 years Palestinian Authority, 30 years Syria, 40 years Egypt or nearly 50 years Jordan of Arabs doing just that.

via Israel’s ‘war between wars’ backfires

+972 Magazine

(Yeah… nothing better than a good old patriotic war)

There’s no bigger blind than that who doesn’t want to see.

And israelis don’t want to see. Specially their army rulers and politicians don’t want people to see. Because if people don’t see things as they do, “they loose, it’s game over”.

So let’s better be blind,.. and make people be ready to pull the trigger and empty their carriers over the enemy homes before these are fast enough to retaliate properly.

After that happens, you can say everything. Literally. Or you can say nothing. Either way it worked before. Ah, the magic of a “good’ol patriotic war!” …if that doesn’t work this time…. go for religion as a trick. And let time go on. No one likes the brownish beardies, after all, uh?… even themselves don’t like each other!… whatever the excuse, or the facts, it wil never be Israel’s brave holy warriors’ fault. 

So yes,… Israelis are applying the three Wise Apes motto: 

“see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”

Israelis hide from reality, same as ostridges hiding their heads into the dephts of their own moral ground…in the hope it will save them from their own fears and shames. 

To that strategy I say… Bollocks!

 

War… what’s it useful for? (… ask The Boss… yeah… Bruce. He also knows the answer)

What will happen now to the chemical weapons? I don’t really care very much. I thought from the beginning that the hysteria about them was vastly overblown. Assad is quite capable of committing all the atrocities he wants without poison gas.It should be remembered why his father produced this gas in the first place. He believed that Israel was developing nuclear weapons. Not being able to aspire to such expensive and technically advanced devices himself, he settled for much cheaper chemical and biological weapons as a deterrent. According to a secret 1982 CIA report, Israel was producing such weapons itself.So now we are in for a long process of negotiations, mutual recriminations, inspections, transfers of materials, and so on. Good for many months, if not years.In the meantime, no American intervention. No regional war. Just the usual mutual bloodletting in Syria.ISRAEL IS furious. Obama is a wimp. A coward. How dare he listen to American public opinion? Who will ever believe him again?After this red line was crossed, who will believe in the much broader line Obama has drawn in the sands of Iran?Frankly, nobody. But not because of Syria.There is absolutely no similarity between the situation in Syria and in Iran. Even if the “limited” action had led to a bigger operation, as was quite possible, it would still have been a small war with little effect on American national interests. A war with Iran is a very different matter.As I have written many times before, a war with Iran would immediately lead to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a world-wide oil crisis, a global economic catastrophe with unimaginable consequences.I repeat: there will be no American – and no Israeli – attack on Iran. Period.

via A Good War – Gush Shalom

Israeli Peace Bloc

Nothing to add.

Click the link, read the article… and u r reading my mind too.

Now back to check news abt Fukushima… ah wait… they just chose that country for 2020 Olympics uh? …. geeez.

Lebanese identity going the wrong way…

Sri Lanka is a nationality, not a profession. This should be clear to everyone. However, in Lebanon, the situation is different. A “Sri Lankan,” here, could be from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, or the Philippines. The identity has become a synonym for domestic service workers. In Lebanon, it’s normal to hear someone asking her friend, “Which country is your ‘Sri Lankan’ from?” The question is full of ignorance, even hatred and irrational racism, pointing to a feeling of Lebanese superiority toward the people of Sri Lanka.

Those who ask it are ignorant that there is a full-fledged country called Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon and, in ancient times, Serendipity. It has a civilization which goes further back in time, ages before Christ. Yet the people who live there are reduced by some idiots here to the status of “servant.” Some are unaware that their favorite tea was grown, manufactured, and made famous by that people.

In fact, the issue goes beyond domestic workers. The moniker “Sri Lankan” in Lebanon refers to anything considered “lower.” One often hears Lebanese comparing a woman to a Sri Lankan, as a form of denigration.

Power cuts only occur during emergency malfunctions. Electricity is a given and there is no need to discuss it. In short, electricity in Sri Lanka is not rationed.One of the quickest ways to hear some phrases is when one declares they will be visiting Sri Lanka for tourism. “Are you really going to Sri Lanka?” one would ask, as if one had mentioned an incredible event. But why this disgusting arrogance?

via A “Racist” Lebanese Travels to Sri Lanka

Al Akhbar English

Hmmm… if my memory is not bad… in Saudi Arabia they had different levels of works and wages depending of  where was the worker coming from:

1-Americans and Brits

2- Other anglosaxons (australians, Canadians…) and Germans

3- Other Europeans

4- Saudis

5- Other Gulfians

6- Other Middle Easterns

7- North Africans

8- Somalis-Indians-pakistanis-filipinos

9- Sri lankans-bangladeshis

Most of hard labour workforce are on those lower social classes. Saudis are racists. Not just about religion, arabicity, middle easterness or saudicity…. they can be selective to the level of family names and tribes.

Compared to this… the racism of this italianized version of arabs, that Lebanese are quite often, with that touch of french chauvinism, is almost laughable,… if it was not for the work conditions they impose to those considered to be “lower”.

There’s many things lebanese could have copied from other peoples, even from arabs,… but racism should not be one of them.

Btw, reading the article I liked the idea of living in Sri Lanka.

Really liked it.

Again: What’s Really Really Really Wrong with the Middle East?

Too many people in the Middle East refuse to look in the mirror. They’d rather come up with excuses and justifications as to why others, particularly forces outside their neighborhood, are responsible for their misfortunes. I know all about colonialism, Zionism, imperialism, communism, secularism, Islamism, and every other -ism that’s been marshaled to show why outsiders and not locals deserve the blame for what goes on in the Arab world.

But let’s get real. At some point, as every person knows, there’s an expiration date for blaming your parents for the way you turned out. And in the case of the Arab world, the warranty on coverage for blaming the Mossad, the CIA, America, the Jews, or Bozo the Clown for the absence of democracy, the lack of respect for human rights, and gender inequality has long expired.

To be sure, outsiders still influence the Middle East in very negative ways. But that’s no excuse for believing its people can’t shape their own destiny. After all, that is what the Arab Awakening was supposed to be about. And wouldn’t you know it: the Arab Awakening got hijacked not by Western bogeymen, but by forces within Arab society itself, including Muslim fundamentalists, secular and liberal elements that couldn’t organize effectively, and remnants of the old regimes who hung on to power after the dictators were gone.

via What’s Really Wrong with the Middle East?

 By Aaron David Miller | Foreign Policy

(Art: Bernard Boudon – http://www.cartoonmovement.com/p/977/cartoons?p=2)

To be honest, this article didn’t apport anything new to my personal knowledge, but… I’m sure that many of the opinions enlisted can still be a surprise for MANY middle easterns. Specially most of my beloved saudis.

Female saudis. 

I love to talk and learn from saudi women, honestly…. trying to set the same kind of link with guys tends to be a complete waste of time and fingerprints. Basically because they attach radically to ALL those negative stereotypes that appear on the list… it had to be someone. 

The End of ‘Greater Lebanon’ as we knew it…

What I wish to draw readers of this article’s attention to, however, is that I am not arguing with either the Future Movement or Hezbollah in what either are doing or aggressively pursuing. Neither of them are doing anything in a regional and international conflict of this magnitude save what they are compelled to do. The first is a Saudi organization with widespread popularity and alliances in its immediate surroundings, while the second is an Iranian organization with extensive popularity. Both of them are tainted by their “country of origin”: the first by a religious Salafist civil force supported by a tradition of decades of employing financial muscle in projects to mobilize [Sunni communities], while the latter is a military-security force whose training bears an Iranian touch in its secret organization.

Neither of the two groups are engaging in behavior that I would take issue with here, yet the predictable result of both groups’ actions will be to ratchet up the level of danger that [we Lebanese] must contend with; this what both the Sunnis and Shiites are doing. And, no matter their popularity, or the popularity of their enlistees and attendant activists, this is not right.

via The End of ‘Greater Lebanon’

Al-Monitor

Lebanon is a nation based n sectarism… most openly in making sure christians had a place in Middle East, guaranteed by french decissions and by territorial domination institutionalised by the french in early 20th century… It is what it is. Simple as that. Changing it will result in the end of Lebanon, because this country is what it is. Simple. And now I guess it will sound terrible but… when no shiite vs sunni wars mattered,… when the country was led by christians who made the 60-70% of population, and they were not involved in regional shyte…. those times when they were not puppets of neighbouring nations (Israel, Syria, GCC, Iran…) those were the times when Lebanon used to be the Middle East Switzerland. Dunno if it was due to christians ruling and dominating the political scenario or not…. but when that religious balance changed after 1967… everything was lost forever. Now muslims dominate in numbers, debating between sunnis and shiites in terms of power and government. Lebanon is what it is now… but I am not sure it’s really Lebanon. Or what it used to be called Lebanon. There’s too many nice ppl I met from there not to feel terrible abt this fate. I wish they find reasons to keep the party on. I wish that doesn’t ever change.

There is a movie where Israel and Hezbollah ally ….

There is a long history of Israeli filmmakers using Lebanon as a backdrop for self-criticism: Lebanon, Beaufort, and Waltz With Bashir all grappled with the moral and political consequences of Israel’s long occupation of the country. Cannon Fodder, it seems, uses Israel’s northern neighbor to ask a slightly less relevant question: Could a zombie invasion bring peace to the Middle East? Sure, why not.

via There is a movie where Israel and Hezbollah ally to fight zombies

FP Passport.

Never say never, they say… we can even spot who’d be the perfect candidates to play the zombie role…

It’s ever so simple: Middle East

The Middle East. The land of minarets and veils and other inaccurate clichés. Where every male’s earliest memory is being assaulted by a stranger who cut off a piece of his genitals, and they wonder why there is so much aggression. The Middle East remains a mysterious place that defies Western understanding because of its complexity and the stubborn refusal of so many to accept broad generalisations about it.

This unhelpful pedantry has fortunately been challenged by several brave Western observers who carried out extensive research in the area, mainly by talking to taxi drivers in from Cairo to Tehran and, whenever that proved unsatisfactory, they made up conversations with taxi drivers. While this evidence is not ‘real’ in the conventional sense, it does however prove their theories.

The most dominant theory describes the Middle East as an area of ancient and timeless tribal rivalries that keep it locked into conflict and ensures its receives more than its fair share of news coverage. So who are these tribes and what makes them tick? Here’s a handy list:

via Karl reMarks:

It’s ever so simple: a tribal map of the Middle East.

… AS ALWAYS, SATYRICAL, REALISTIC AND HILLARIOUS!

The Art of Civil War – By Fernande van Tets | Foreign Policy

“What period it’s from is not important. I just care how much it’s worth,” says Abu Khader, a smuggler in Majdal Anjar, a small Lebanese town on the Lebanon-Syria border. Smuggling everything from cigarettes to arms has long been a family business. But Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters low on cash have started offering alternative payment for the guns they crave — stolen Syrian antiquities.

Cuneiform tablets, Roman friezes and statues, and Byzantine coins are particularly popular. “They give me antiquities, and I give them guns,” Abu Khader puts it simply.

An AK-47 can set you back $1,200 on the black market today, and the more desirable M4 carbine can cost around $4,500. Selling antiquities can help finance these purchases. “I have moved at least 100 objects,” Abu Khader says.

In addition to the Syrian civil war’s horrible human and economic costs, the conflict has also devastated Syria’s cultural heritage. At a February UNESCO conference, the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) called the looting more damaging than the fighting that is ravaging mosques, old houses, and Crusader castles.

via The Art of Civil War – By Fernande van Tets

Foreign Policy.

(Pic: www.rickrayfilms.com)

Happened in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, … these countrie’s own nationals selling our heritage for nothing.

Yes. I said it right. Nothing. 

And I said it right: OUR heritage. Because it belongs to all of us. Mankind. It’s a record of what Humans have been doing since 1000’s of years ago. 

Nations come and go. People come and go. Politicians and doctrines come and go. This war will be over, same as these regimes, or what comes after them… (The Republic of Syria itself is less than 100 years old, for God’s sake… what can the whole area be in another 100? )… and those antiques are a proof that it happens as this.

They remain there to make us notice of the empty value of so much useless bloodshed. For centuries. Because at the end it was worth nothing. 

How many fights, wars, killings… through centuries. Only to leave that legacy to future generations: Antiques. Whatever they fought for, their wishes and hopes, their dream…  got lost with them. 

Our old, delicate precious records of the lessons we should keep from the past. 

In 1936-1939, during our Spanish Civil War, staff from El Prado Museum saved all the treasures they could from there, packed it on trucks and sent it out of that chaos of battles and bombings thru the french border,  to save it from destruction.

Because it belonged to all spaniards. Not them only. Also those on the enemy side. 

After the war finished, all those paintings from Velazquez, Goya, Greco, Zurbaran, Murillo… returned home. 

… The value of those artifacts destroyed or (hopefully) only lost and smuggled ilegally from Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Syria… is infinitely higher than those treasures from El Prado Museum.

Not just in terms of money value. Not even in terms of uniqueness… It’s more valuable because it is linked not only to a single nation.

The ground we are talking about has links to East and West. Its loss is a robbery that affects us all, same as those lost Buddhas in Bami-Yan. 

What does it take to Middle Easterns to notice that they are in our same club, whatever the hell they believe in?

Maybe the answer lays in that to the question: What would have they done in 1936 in Madrid?

….. gosh.