Links for January 18th
Links from my del.icio.us account for January 18th:
- Abu Dhabi Probes Nuclear Power - BusinessWeek - I find a lot of this brouhaha over nuclear power over the Gulf completely fake. Who's getting the contracts, after all? Westinghouse, GE and other Western companies. Besides, I'm all for nuclear!
- Competing summits reinforce divisions in the Arab world | Middle East | Jerusalem Post - Heya Fowda...
- Don't count on Egypt - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews - Israeli commentator is skeptical about Egypt's ability to curb tunnel smuggling, for various reasons. Has this great line: "This is not about malice; it's merely Egypt."
- Our man in Tangier - The National Newspaper - Review of Muhammad Chukri's "In Tangier", a book abut the Tangier literati.
- No cease fires - The National Newspaper - Jonathan Shaihin in The National looks at the big picture: it's the occupation, stupid.
- Think of Gaza as a prison – and all becomes clear - The National Newspaper - "Let us start with the current sad irony: the invasion and destruction of Gaza is being carried out by an ousted Israeli government, and actively supported by a defeated US administration. Yet, the two outgoing governments are colluding against a democratically elected government of Palestine."
- LRB · Ilan Pappe: Israel’s Message - On the dehumanization of Palestinians in the name of Eretz Israel.
- Solidarity Maps - High-quality maps of Gaza bombing.
- Turkish PM: Israel should be barred from UN - Israel News, Ynetnews - Erdogan lashes out against Israel again, could (should!) impact Turkey-Israel business.
- The Associated Press: US man jailed for stealing pages from rare books - Middle East bookworm tried to steal from British Library and Bodleian. I understand his passion, but he must have ruined those books...
- Text of U.S.-Israel agreement to end Gaza arms smuggling - Haaretz - Israel News - Text of Israeli demands for the US to exercise its military and diplomatic influence to help it maintain the blockade on Gaza, end smuggling and perpetuate occupation.
- Wedeman: Defiance amid destruction in Gaza - CNN.com - CNN's Ben Wedeman, one of the first journalists to cross from Sinai to Gaza a couple of days ago: "Earlier, when we caught the last bus from Egypt into Gaza, we spoke to Palestinian passengers, most of whom said they had been arrested in Egypt and abused by police before being deported. Their bitterness toward Egypt, particularly its president, Hosni Mubarak, and other Arab leaders over their perceived failure to provide support was echoed among others we spoke to."
- Radicalbeirut .:::. radical news, activism, protests - New Lebanese radical-left blog.
- Olmert’s Boast of ‘Shaming’ Rice Provokes Diplomatic Furor - Forward.com" - Zionist lobbyists sorry Olmert mentioned it in public - not that it happened.
- Slate's William Saletan gets it wrong on how to close the Gaza tunnels - By Blake Hounshell | FP Passport - Our friend Blake Hounshell says fancy plans to end tunnel smuggling between Egypt and Gaza won't work.
- Qatar shuts Israeli trade office over Gaza war - Yahoo! News - Qatar reverses (for now) a major Israeli diplomatic success in expanding relations in the Gulf.
- Islamists Today: Why Do They Hate Us? - Khalil al-Anani: "Now there is a common Arab feeling that Israel, as a State, is no longer wanted in the region and that whatever it does to normalize relations with Arab regimes, it will not gain the sympathy of the Arab people, who see it as a brutal, heartless State."
- US, Israel to sign deal to boost Gaza truce effort - Yahoo! News - US and Israel sign agreement to control Gaza-Egypt border and prevent use of tunnels for smuggling. I guess we should interpret that as US satellite Egypt and Israel satellite Fatah preventing smuggling?
- LRB · LRB contributors react to events in Gaza - Tariq Ali, David Bromwich, Alastair Crooke, and more.