
A R A B I C A ارابيكا
SNUBBED?
"Trusted sources' tell the Kuwaiti daily "The Gazette" that Jordan's King Abdullah recently refused to meet with an envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The report comes the day after the King met in Amman with the visiting editors-in-chief of Kuwait newspapers.
Jordan enjoys a reputation across the Arab world as a collaborator of Israel and a sellout to the United States. This article, almost certainly sourced by Jordanian officials, seems to attempt to put distance between Jordan and the Israeli government. Netanyahu "sent a special envoy asking for a secret meeting with the king in Aqaba and was refused," the paper reported. "The sources pointed out that Abdullah is furious at Israel and its Prime Minister over the state of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and statements by those close to Netanyahu that ‘Jordan is Palestine."" Israeli sources responded: "The Jordanian regime is suffering a serious crisis on the domestic level, noting that any Israeli interference could embarrass the Jordanian king."
CONDEMNED?
Lebanon's major political factions all own media organizations that they use as platforms for their agendas. Hezbollah is no different, and on its Al Manar website, the "party of God" condemned the attack against United Nations forces in southern Lebanon that resulted in six wounded French soldiers. A roadside bomb detonated on Tuesday as a UN convoy entered the city of Sidon from the south. "This assault is an unacceptable criminal act," Hezbollah said in a statement published on Al-Manar. Hezbollah called on "the Lebanese security services to investigate the crime and punish the perpetrators." What the article does not mention is the fact that Hezbollah largely runs the south of the country. The Lebanese army has a presence there, but Hezbollah maintains an intelligence service, informers and keeps a close eye on residents.
SILENCED?
The Syrian Revolution Facebook group has a new logo featuring a grainy black-and-white image of a young man with a banner over his mouth reading: "Your silence is killing us."
BETRAYED?
Here, a short clip of a Syrian tank opening fire as it rolls through an empty street of Homs. Outraged comments include condemnation of the "scumbag army," "may God rip out your eyes, treacherous Bashar" and "he who kills his own people is a traitor."
July 27, 2011
photo credit: illustir