Author Archives: Arab America

  The Middle East Monitor reported that, Brigadier General Waddah Hmoud, director of Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate, disclosed that: “According to the Jordanian Refugee Affairs Commission, the official number of Syrian refugees in Jordan between 2011 until today is 636, 971.” These are the latest numbers according to the UNHCR, Government of Turkey, AFAD, UNHCR Registration, … Continued

A first-of-its-kind bilingual anthology of Hebrew and Arabic prose and poetry has recently been released in Israel, offering an example of the potential for collaboration despite heightened tensions between Arabs and Jews.

Unlike previous translations between the languages, it is published by one of Israel’s leading publishers and focuses on daily life and love as much as on politics.

Called “Two,” the collection is published by Keter Publishing House, and aims to launch a dialogue between young, contemporary writers in both languages. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict is unavoidably present in the anthology, but it is not the dominant theme. The best poems and stories approach political questions obliquely, framing them in unexpected ways.

Source: www.csmonitor.com

Former Secretary of State James Baker said Sunday that House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress in March is a breach of diplomatic protocol.

“I can’t remember an instance in which it’s been done,” said Baker, who served as secretary of state to former President George H.W. Bush, on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“The speaker of the House has every right in the world to invite whoever he wants to speak to the House; it’s a coequal branch of government,” Baker added. But, he said, “the executive branch of government really has the primary power and responsibility and authority to conduct the nation’s foreign policy. It’s not in the Congress, it’s in the executive branch. So our foreign policy benefits when there’s cooperation and so does the issue of U.S.-Israeli relations.”

President Obama will not meet with Netanyahu during the visit to avoid the appearance of influencing the election. And Baker predicted that the speech could backfire on Netanyahu in Israel’s March 17 elections.

As an example, he pointed to former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who he said was unable to overcome a challenge from his success, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, because Shamir he struggled to manage the U.S.-Israel relationship.

“Nothing is more important to the citizens of Israel than to know that their leadership is properly managing the relationship with their most important ally,” Baker said.

In a separate interview on “Face the Nation,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said the “political grandstanding” by Boehner and Netanyahu was not in the best interest of Israel.

Source: www.cbsnews.com

is time, the argument from some American pundits goes, the Israelis have gone too far. This time, to paraphrase Howard Beale in Network, we’re really not going to take it anymore. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to address Congress without even informing the Obama administration is an act that’s just too brazen to be ignored. Such blatant intervention in American politics crosses a red line that requires a tough response.

Only it’s not gonna happen. Whether Netanyahu ultimately does come or not, the United States will continue to take it. And for reasons of politics, policy and shared values, Washington will continue to accord Israel tremendous leeway in this Administration and in the years ahead regardless of opposition to some of its policies. And here’s why.

First, the Middle East is melting down at a rate nobody could ever have predicted. And despite the risks this turbulence may pose to Israel’s own Israeli security interests, the Middle East muddle is good for the U.S.-Israeli relationship. The behavior of various Arab actors—ISIL, Assad, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, even Egypt—reinforces the value affinity that binds Israel and the United States and to a great extent puts them together in the same trench. When Islamic State terrorists are beheading Americans and Syria is murdering thousands of its own people with barrel bombs and chemical weapons, Israeli transgressions–settlement activity, occupation policies—pale by comparison. This was precisely the same dynamic that brought the two countries together in the wake of 9/11–both attacked by suicide terrorists. In essence these Arab actors become the most effective talking points arguing for very close U.S.-Israel ties.

Source: www.politico.com

First of all, Governor, nobody in this country gets to force their religious views on others. And, while we’re at it, Muslims can own dogs.
Mike Huckabee is known as a former governor, an author, a onetime Fox News host, and as a possible contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. And now we have a new way to describe Huckabee: Christian Wahhabist.

For those unaware, Wahhabism is a sect of Islam, primarily practiced in Saudi Arabia, which follows a very conservative interpretation of the faith. Wahhabis demand that their religious principles be imposed as the law of their country. And Huckabee, in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN, made it clear that on certain social issues, he too believes that his religious beliefs should be the basis for the laws of the state.

But before we get to that issue, let me start with the reason Huckabee’s interview came to my attention. Huckabee stated that his continued opposition to same-sex marriage is based on the Bible, and that he can’t “evolve” on the issue “unless I get a new version of the scriptures.” He then added that it would be comparable to “asking a Muslim to serve up something that is offensive to him or to have dogs in his backyard.”

Source: www.thedailybeast.com

Source: test.arabamerica.com

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) in Al-Ahsa is studying a project to create a tourist track to Al-Qarah village bringing the total number of tourist tracks to four with one in the central oasis, the second in central Hofuf and the third in Al-Uqair which are all currently under construction.

SCTA Director General in Al-Ahsa, Ali bin Taher Al-Haji, said that the decision was made during a meeting with a delegation from Al-Qarah held at the SCTA headquarters in the presence of municipal council member Ali Al-Sultan.

Al-Haji said that Al-Qarah has a number of tourist spots that will enrich the integrated tourism experience, including Jabl Al-Qarah, Dogh Algrash (pottery area), the Sunday market (under development) and Ras Jabl Al-Qarah.

During the meeting, Al-Haji reviewed the efforts of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities under the supervision of Prince Sultan bin Salman, in the development of tourism in the Kingdom.

A discussion followed on Al-Ahsa’s distinctive natural and historical touristic elements with the support of Prince Badr bin Mohammed Al-Jalawi, Al-Ahsa governor and chairman of the Tourism Development Council in the province.

Al-Haji heard the delegation’s suggestions to improve the tourism input which includes the establishment of a pottery museum, a working group to serve artisans and the restoration of the historic gates to the province.
The meeting concluded with the formation of a working group to oversee the technical aspects of the project.

Al-Qarah village is well known for its mountain, Jabl Al-Qarah, which contains numerous caves and massive rocks and boulders. The limestone caves on the mountain are a must-see for visitors. They have a distinctive quality of staying cool in hot weather and warm in the winter.

Source: www.arabnews.com

“Mohamed Fahmy, aka Ganzeer, is an Egyptian artist from Cairo who created work in the street both during and after the January 25th Revolution. In 2011, he was briefly detained by Egypt’s Central Security Forces during a crackdown on political dissidence. He was not deterred. And yet, he doesn’t like to be referred to as street artist. “I’m not as good as those guys man,” said Ganzeer to ANIMAL as he was prepping the opening of his “All American” exhibit at the Leila Heller gallery in Chelsea, his first solo show in the United States. “I can’t do the really wicked stuff with spray paint, and control like thin lines to thick lines and all that stuff.”

“Street art is just one of many mediums that Ganzeer has deployed to express himself and so the typical labels used by the media to define him are both limiting and not necessarily accurate. However, there are exceptions: Bidoun magazine once described him as a “contingency artist,” and as someone who systematically alters his creative output based on where he is and the situation on the ground, it’s a term he’s most comfortable with. “I can’t stick to one thing at all,” he said. “Right after this [exhibit], I will probably jump to do something entirely has nothing at all to do with screen printing or making images or whatever.”

The exhibit is comprised entirely of one-off prints that were hand embellished, making each piece unique and an original. Printmaking is a process that Ganzeer had never experimented with before. While he routinely eschews the jargon thrown around by the art world, “Concept Pop” is a descriptor he uses when referring to his body of work. He explains:

Concept Pop is a magical world that exists between conception art and pop art, which is fun, but empty. So you have these two worlds, one is visually compelling in an amazing way but that’s it, which is pop art. And the other thing has so much content embedded in it and so much to say but then it isn’t nearly as stimulating. It’s just about delivering the concept in a stale and boring way. So concept pop is basically merging those two worlds together, having meaningful subject matter but delivered in a very digestible, kind of pop aesthetic.

Since May of last year, Ganzeer has been in “New York, Las Vegas and a handful of places,” soaking up the culture. His stay has inspired him to create a whole new body of work, a highly critical take of American culture that explores racism, propaganda, and the security state. Ganzeer says that one of his biggest misconceptions he had about the U.S. was that it celebrated freedom. Noting the MTA’s very Big Brother-like warning that “all bags are subject to search,” he says that such conditions set the stage for a revolution in Egypt. “That’s the reason Egyptians revolted against Mubarak and wanted to take him down is because cops were harassing them in the street,” explained Ganzeer while standing next to an MTA-inspired print. “So we decided alright, we gotta take this motherfucker down. This is the reason people revolt in other countries.”

Source: animalnewyork.com

“A woman who banned all Muslims from her shooting range in Arkansas, US, claims that business is booming since she took the decision as “a matter of public safety”.

Jan Morgan now has a Facebook page followed by more than 125,000 people and posts articles including lists of “verses from the Koran [that are] evidence that Islam is clearly and concisely evil”.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has written to the Attorney General Eric Holder accusing Ms Morgan of breaking constitutional laws forbidding racial and religious discrimination.

But the self-proclaimed Second Amendment Speaker and National Rifle Association (NRA) instructor insists her ban is not a constitutional issue and that she “understands that not all Muslims are terrorists”.

She told Fox News that business at her range had “quadrupled” since she put in place the ban, and defended the decision by comparing Muslims to “Nazis”.

“We are dealing in lethal firearms,” she said. “I’m not going to let a Nazi shoot in here, or a Ku Klux Klan member in here, either.”

Ms Morgan claims to have received the support of a number of high-profile Republicans including the former Presidential candidate nominee Herman Cain. In a Facebook post on Saturday she claimed that the local police chief had “sent his wife to take my class today”.

In another post on Thursday she reiterated her reasons for banning Muslims, saying: “Every single day… every Muslim who murders an innocent person as an act of Islamic Jihad, simply proves my case… over  and over again… I will never compromise my position.”

Last week, a father and son claimed they were kicked out of Ms Morgan’s range – despite being Hindu. The man tweeted: “My dad and I just got kicked out of a Muslim-free gun range. I’m not Muslim, I’m just brown.”

Source: www.independent.co.uk

President Barack Obama once again refused to label the fight against terrorism as a war on radical Islam or any kind of “religious war,” insisting that such labels hurt efforts to root out radical ideologies in Muslim communities.

Obama also cautioned against the risk of overplaying the threat of terror groups and said the U.S. should instead align itself with the overwhelming majority of Muslims who reject the radical ideology and tactics of terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda.

READ: Obama defends Saudi relationship

“I don’t quibble with labels. I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in Muslim communities,” Obama said in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology.”

Republicans have criticized Obama in recent weeks for refusing to label the terror threat the U.S. and the West faces as Islamic extremism or rooted in radical Islam. Obama stuck to condemning the terrorism and violent extremism in the wake of terror attacks in Sydney and Paris carried out by jihadists.

“We are in a religious war with radical Islamists,” Sen. Lindsey Graham proclaimed on Fox News earlier this month. “When I hear the President of the United States and his chief spokesperson failing to admit that we’re in a religious war, it really bothers me.”

But Obama said the U.S. needs to be wary of handing terrorists “the victory of overinflating” their actions and the threat they pose to the U.S.

Obama emphasized that while he is mindful of the “terrible costs of terrorism,” terror groups aren’t an “existential threat to the United States or the world order.”

SEE ALSO: Obama says Netanyahu’s visit is too close to the Israeli election for a meeting

“The truth of the matter is that they can do harm. But we have the capacity to control how we respond in ways that do not undercut what’s the essence of who we are. That means that we don’t torture, for example, and thereby undermine our values and credibility around the world,” Obama said. “It means that we don’t approach this with a strategy of sending out occupying armies and playing whack-a-mole wherever a terrorist group appears because that drains our economic strength and it puts enormous burdens on our military.”

The U.S. needs to instead keep its response “surgical,” Obama said, to address the specific threat the U.S. faces without alienating the majority of Muslims who are peaceful and reject extremism — those who “have embraced a nihilistic, violent, almost medieval interpretation of Islam.”

Source: www.cnn.com

A group of sacked Casino du Liban employees rejected Sunday a decision by the board of directors to form a committee to find a solution to a five-day standoff over their dismissal, after two board members revoked their earlier resignation over the issue.

George Nakhle and Hicham Naser quit their positions Friday night following a board meeting that failed to propose any tangible solution to the dispute, but Saturday went back on their decision.

They are now joining a new committee formed to reconcile the administration and some 191 employees who were sacked as part of sweeping reforms at the iconic entertainment venue and are now protesting within the building, forcing it to temporarily close.

The committee is expected to propose compensations for some of the sacked employees and an early retirement deal for others, according to media reports.

However, the employees have rejected the idea of the committee, and sent a delegation to discuss the issue Sunday morning with Bishop Boulos Sayyah, representing Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai.

Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi announced Sunday in an interview with Al-Jadeed that he had not been informed in advance of the Casino administration’s decision. He stressed that while reform was necessary for the Casino and all other public institutions, any solution reached should be fair to the employees too.

Source: www.dailystar.com.lb