One of the confusing things I noticed between my Arab friends, is how divided they are – when it comes to their opinion about the west. They either think of it as the source of conspiracies theories, fake liberties and double standards or “the model” the Arab world should blindly follow.
I seldom met someone who is half way between both opinions..

So here comes my two questions to you (whether you are a western or an Arab):
1. Changing tables, are your western acquaintances divided in the same way towards Arabs? or is it different? does that have anything to do with cultural background?
2. Also I’m interested to know the definition for “the west” in your context?

Meet your new junior Senator from Oklahoma!

Dept. of Congressional Oversight:

We always love when articles on the Middle East bemoan the fact that societies here are infiltrated with conspiratorial thinking, as though the US was a paradise of rationality…  read more »

Five Reasons Haim Saban won’t be buying 50% of al-Jazeera, as reported in al-Mesryoon:  read more »

Today we present to you the second part of our translation of al-Sharq al-Awsat’s interview with Abd al-Malik al-Houthi, the leader (both political and military, it would seem) of the Houthi’s Saada-based insurgency in Yemen. Before proceeding to the interview we’re presenting a few links to people who are vastly more knowledgeable about Yemen than we.  read more »

American Egypt researcher says Mubarak “exploiting” country

Bikya Masr

30 August 2009

CAIRO: Lisa Blaides, an American researcher specialized in Egyptian and the Arab world affairs, who won an award last week for her work and research on Egypt under President Hosni Mubarak’s era, said that the Egyptian political elite is “exploiting” and manipulating politics for personal interests and that elections in Egypt are a means to maintain the regime’s power and status quo.  read more »

Okay, so here's the thing. Your car gets hit from the rear, you step out and call the police, but end up with a lady swinging a police baton at your face wanting to kick your ass. You're threatened to get a chronic injury if you call the cops... and guess what? She's a police officer's daughter.. to my knowledge at least. She also said swearwords to the man, and what's worse is that she insulted the divine entity.