Links 22-24 February 2012

End of the week edition! Trying something different here — first a list of recent posts, then the usual links.

Recent posts from The Arabist:

• Palestinian reconciliation: Hamas' opening gambit
• McInerney on the NGO crisis
• Saudi Arabia's unrest in Qatif
• Nir Rosen on Syria's future
• Mubarak's letter to court
• Nathan Brown on Egypt's judiciary and corporatism
• In Translation: Fishere on Egypt's presidential race

The usual potpourri of links:

• Muslim Brotherhood Looks West in Bid to Revive Egyptian Economy - WSJ.com
  Good piece on MB and economics.
• Cairo's Undercover Strongman - By Magdy Samaan | Foreign Policy
  On Mourad Mowafi (may have posted this before but it's worth reading).
• Middle East Policy Council | The Syrian Uprising of 2011: Why the Asad Regime Is Likely to Survive to 2013
  Joshua Landis.
• Syria intervention is only a matter of time - FT.com
  By Emile Nakhleh, former CIA planner.
• Officials: Yemen's outgoing leader leaves US - seattlepi.com
  Saleh goes to Ethiopia.
• The Free Syrian Army Front: Deserters Battle Assad from Turkey - SPIEGEL
• U.S. does not believe Iran is trying to build nuclear bomb - latimes.com
  Not that it matters.
• Sell Out Of The Week: Joe Trippi - Republic Report
  Trippi now working for Bahrain PR.
• Saudi delegation pulls out of ‘Friends of Syrian People’ in Tunis citing ‘inactivity’
  Wanted arms to be provided.
• Moussa: Egypt will fare better without US aid | Egypt Independent
  Duly noted.
• Petrodar Names New Acting Head After South Sudan Expulsion - Businessweek
• Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revolt | Reuters
  At last.
• Ron Paul's "Super PAC" Sugar Daddy: Builds Toys For The CIA, Spies On U.S. Citizens, Opposes Democracy and Women's Suffrage | The Smirking Chimp
• Consensus sought on helping Syria rebels - FT.com
  "Bassima Kadma said rebels were already receiving military-grade communications equipment, bullet-proof vests, night-vision goggles and medical gear with the help of international allies. Western officials say they are also considering providing the rebels, operating under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, with intelligence as well as sources of funding."
• Ministry of Culture and Information in Saudi Arabia
  censors press on poverty.
• ‘Friends of Syria’ to send aid in 48 hours if assault stops
• “Friends of Syria” to call for U.N. peacekeepers
• Arizona Republican Debate: The Middle East | Informed Comment
  Once again, Ron Paul only Republican making sense.
• Saudi Arabia: Trial of Riyadh protester ‘utterly unwarranted’ | Amnesty International
• Besieged in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains - NYT
  Nick Kristof on the 3rd (4th?) conflict in Sudan, in Nuba.
• How Nasser shaped the Arab Spring - Al Jazeera English
  One of my hopes post-Mubarak is that Nasser and Nasserism will be left entirely discredited.
• Alaa Al Aswany: Are They Really Religious?
  Aswany back on the Wahabi-bashing - but is that scapegoating too?
• In Cairo, check your hijab at the door
  Discrimination against veiled women at Cairo nightspots.
• MJ Rosenberg: Senators Forcing Obama to War With Iran
• Q&A: Nir Rosen's predictions for Syria - Features - Al Jazeera English
  Very good, level-headed and depressing overview
• Egypt presidential candidate wounded in apparent robbery
  Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh assaulted.
• Where harsh realities meet - FT.com
  On intervention in Syria.
• Rights group slams law allowing settlement with corrupt investors
• Orientalism revisited, by Philip Rushworth
  A discussion of the debate around Said's work.
• MEI Editor's Blog: Updates from the Fronts of the Culture Wars in Egypt and Tunisia
  Good post.
• EU opens door to 'debt relief' for North African states
  "would turn debt relief into an incentive to adopt EU political norms, alongside threats to withdraw support for states accused of oppression or grave human rights violations."
• The Myth of Israel's Liberal Supreme Court Exposed | MERIP
  Jonathan Cook.
• London-based oil executive linked to 9/11 hijackers - Telegraph
  The always-minimized Saudi angle.
• Scott Ritter’s Other War - NYTimes.com
  Good profile.