Back to the dark ages

Arab information ministers have adopted a media charter prohibiting Arab satellite channels from offending Arab leaders, their fictitious Arab nation and the traditions of its dwellers, and God.

Arab countries, at the initiative of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday adopted a document which imposes "regulations" on Arab satellite television and bars offending their regimes.

Over the opposition solely of Qatar, the home of Al-Jazeera, information ministers of the 22-member Arab League voted in favour of the document...

It calls for the stations "not to offend the leaders or national and religious symbols" of Arab countries...

The Cairo document authorises signatory countries to "withdraw, freeze or not renew the work permits of media which break the regulations". It stipulates that satellite channels "should not damage social harmony, national unity, public order or traditional values."

Programming should also "conform with the religious and ethical values of Arab society and take account of its family structure." Channels should "refrain from broadcasting anything which calls into question God, the monotheistic religions, the prophets, sects or symbols of the various religious communities."

Broadcasters should avoid "erotic or obscene material" or programmes that "encourage smoking or the consumption of alcohol," the latter prohibited by Islam. They should also "protect Arab identity from the harmful effects of globalisation."

Brilliant. Now let's go resolve that Lebanese crisis.

Comments

[Bad Vilbel]

No. Let's go resolve the Lebanese crisis. The arabs have fucked it up enough. Leave us alone.

[Bad Vilbel]

Oops. I meant to say "let's not go resolve the Lebanese issue". (let's dont and say we did).

[Riemer Brouwer]

No more obscene material. Assuming the standard for obscene will be the lowest denominator, that would effectively mean no more Rotana video clips. Let's see if that's ever gonna happen.

Also, no offense of monotheistic religions. Let's see also if Arab stations will stop bashing the Jewish and Christian religions for that matter. Wanna bet on it? Oh wait, betting is not allowed either.

Which would also mean that shows like Deal or No Deal would no longer be allowed, as this is a pure betting game.

[R]

Another sad day to add to the ever-growing list that documents the offenses against freedom of thought and expression in the Arab world. Another indication of the pandemic totalitarianism that plagues both the Arab leaders and large swathes of the population...

This is not a return to the dark ages as much as it is a manifestation of the darkness that has not left our region for eons... Whatever.

[theFool]

heheheh... I'm right behind you AK with a bucket and a shovel.

I have a feeling the reporter was laughing while typing it up for AFP.

[Craig]

Breaking news on US channels right now that Imad Mugniyah is dead, killed in a car bombing in Syria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imad_Mugniyah

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1978

http://saroujah.blogspot.com/2008/02/bomb-in-damascus.html

[abu yussif]

saddam hussein couldn't have said it better himself.

[JoseyWales]

To quote a great man (anyone know who??):

El-Arab jarab.

Never has so much been said, to so many, with so few words.

[danny]

RIP Mughnieh!! Hassouneh...DUCK....

Hassan has instructed the funeral to be on Thursday instead of Wednesday as per Islamic tradition...
I guess he's looking for trouble. I'd love this rat to be exterminated along with his all leadership during the funeral. I really do not care about the collateral damage. Lebanon has been the biggest collateral damage in the history of mankind...

[Jeha]

At least they agree on one thing; no wonder the Douma game was up for only a day or so... Let's not ask who's turn is up next; we may not like the answer.

[fed up lebo]

international tribunal to find out who killed the chahid????maybe they get detlev nahess or whatever he called??

[Bad Vilbel]

I posted this elsewhere. This doesn't seem to happen as much on THIS blog, but after every M14 leader gets assassinated, a bunch of useful idiots pretending to want to be "fair" come out and inform us that "we dont really know who did it." and lecture us about immediately pointing the finger at Syria, and of course, inform us that it could very well be Israel or the CIA.

So, I'm expecting, now that someone from the "OTHER" camp has been assassinated, these same idiots, in all their fairness, to come out and tell us "we dont know who did it." and it's not necessarily Israel, it could very well be Syria...

Yet I'm not holding my breath when it comes to those disingenious imbeciles (they know who they are).

[Bad Vilbel]

What I really want to know, though, is why every fuckhead this side of the Litani is "condemning the killing". Fine, I understand Hezbollah would condemn it. But why does PM Saniora, Mufti Qabbani, and every other fuckwit in Lebanon feel the need to make a public statement condemning the killing of a terrorist? Why does March 14 still feel the need to "pretend" to be pro-Resistance and pro-Terrorism? Is it so freaking hard to be consistent in one's principles?

[Ramzi]

Bad Vilbel,

Good post. I was just about to say the same thing, but you beet me to it.

It reminds me a bit of when Saniora condemned the Human Rights Watch report on Hizballah's part in the Israeli/hizb war. And thus when the 2nd part of the report came out with all its details of Israel's atrocities in that war, he looked the fool. And Lebanon couldn't use that report to its benefit as its government had already condemned the HRW organization.

[Solomon2]

This charter brought to you courtesy of the same people who refused to clap when Russia replaced the Soviet Union at the U.N. eighteen years ago. Thus Iraqi government demonstrates that they still haven't learned from the Americans how to break bad habits. Here's hoping the next election happens sooner rather than later.

[Bad Vilbel]

A good example of why I call these people "sheeple" and "imbeciles":

(from Naharnet's story about Mughnieh)

"He was a legend. We always heard of his victories against Israel although we never knew him personally," said Ahmad, a 22-year-old man as he climbed an electricity pole to erect a black flag.

In other words, you're mourning a guy you never knew, just because you've been TOLD you should mourn him. And what exactly are these "great victories against Israel"? Car bombing fellow Lebanese during the civil war? Kidnapping Americans in Beirut then trading them for weapons to Iran? Car bombing 300 US marines?
FUCKING IDIOTS!

Goes to show exactly what the kind of mentality these sheeple have, and why the word "brainwashsed" is so easy to apply.

[Ex-Aounist]

Just to tell you a small story but Real story nonetheless about THEIR "SHAHEED" Imad.

Michel Seurat a french author was kidnapped by this men and his gang in the 80's, El shaheed Imad Mughnieh later entered in contact with his wife Marie Seurat and agreed with her that against sexual favors he would bring her her husband so she can see him one last time. She agreed and he delivered, left them alone a few hours then took back Michel into custody where he passed away.

Mabrouk 3alayon heik Shaheed, Let'em SHOVE their heroes ....idiots.
If this is a martyr and a hero, then the M14 martyrs should apply for sainthood!

It is because Imad Moughnieh specifically that we are regarded unjustly as terrorists abroad, get humiliated to get a visa and discriminated against in international airports!

What did this alleged hero achieve? Death of Americans and foreigners and innocent Lebanese, bringing down Lebanon's reputation in the mud and putting us for years on the blacklist of dangerous destinations.
Mughnieh was the number 1 terrorist of the Hizbullah.He is even reported as the engineer for Saydet al Najat bomb I even read somewhere that he was linked to the Hariri assassination.
Of course Orangies cannot argue that Saad's Men or Samir's men inflitrated Damascus to bomb out Mughnieh looolI

Now there are many scenarios I want to write down here so please bear with me, one of them being that Syria has sold out the Hizb..

Mughannieh was a mastermind behind Hariri's assassination, now that the IT is about to start investigating...Some heads are bound to fall a la Ghazi Ken3an in order to cut ties for implicating bigger heads...

Guys, let's think about this Mughnieh assassination calmly ....

The Syrian authorities have not announced his death. Only HA have done that. They could have simply killed a person and said that it was him. Furthermore, there have been no independent verifications of his death. This could have been a great opportunity for this guy to appear as if he died and at the same time use his "death" for political reasons to counter March 14 especially tomorrow.

How convenient it is that he was killed 1 day before the Hariri ceremony. Hizbullah, in agreement with Syria, planted the whole thing, they found a poor fellow, put him in a car and blew it up.

This whole thing is a sham to give them an excuse to interrupt tomorrow proceedings. Its funny how quickly the clean up crew mopped up the site, with no pictures of the body or anyone to ID him.

I bet you Imad Mougniyeh is some where sipping margaritas on a beach. He is too important to be killed, he is the mastermind behind all the killings and plots and he is the connection between Syria, Iran and Hizbullah, while Nassralah is just PR. And now Imad Mougniyeh can stop looking over his shoulder.

I find it hard to believe that he was killed now, when the americans and Isreali's have been trying to get him for decades now. All of a sudden, with tribunal at the near horizon, Syria is busy finding ways out of it. They gave the information on this guy's whereabouts maybe even allowed the killers in, or did it themselves.

Did anyone see the body ? i didnt... was he really killed? it is obviously something done to counter the M14 show of good will tomorrow...this way ... someone is boiling HA blood for tomorrow... to create something ... we'll see what happens tomorrow
It's a possibility...

I have trouble believing into Mughnieh assasination, done by Syria, israel or CIA. If it was for any manipulation purpose they wouldn't have killed such a big shot internally but not that known to the public.It was easier to kill one of the stupid MP's of hizb ( IN LEBANON ) who has no decisional power and then organize huge demos to provoke trouble tomorrow...Mughnieh is not well known to the public but is very important internally which leads me to think that this is all a plot...

Besides, is Syria admitting that Mossad operates freely inside of Syria without the knowledge of Syrian Intelligence????? Which is the bigger story here, that this guy was killed or that Syria is either incompetent when it comes to the Mossad, or is complicit with the Mossad???

My guess is Mughniyeh could have testified against Syria at the IT and that was his death ticket. Syria can't stop the IT and so the process of liquidating the witness list has begun.

plus it was known that the "assassinated" ALREADY had the habit of using a fake ID....if you get what I mean!! If they were able to convince people that he is dead, then he can move more freely. espacially that his head is wanted by so many countries.

Is there any DNA testing to identify the corpse?

HA may have various goals by claiming the death of mughnieh. it will remain an unverified mystery for me.

What's more Guys, did you notice he died near a join Iranian-Syrian intell office, makes u wonder !
Which lead me to think that maybe the car "bomb" he was transporting to detonate in lebanon blew up in his face prematurely...or another scenario

Can Assad call for a transparent investigation into Imad's killing?

"when the Isreals and Syrians talk, run for cover - too evils plotting evil deeds, no one is safe"

anyway there is no coincedence in Syria, nothing happens for no reason, and isreal alone is not capable of gettnig to him without inside knowledge..

It would be funny if Israel and Syria were in cahoots together on this one. Nothing coming out of the Middle East would surprise me. The most important thing we all have to realize is that the beginning of the end is near!!! The Hizies are political pawns and will be left in the gutter when the time comes. Pay for a peaceful transition.

And talking of the devil .....

Will Hezbollah retaliate to Israel with a new July War? Have you read what about f*&cked up Madman Yakan barking to Hizbies "To deal Israel a blow" ???

Mughnieh killing is a big big thing... but dunno how to interpret it...is his assasination a gift from Syria to the Americans (Imad was america's most wanted before 9/11), is it a Pasdaran/Mukhabarat clash? or are mossad and cia well infiltrated in Syria...Any views?? overall I say good riddance and that's good news for the free Lebanese...
'gift from Syria to the Americans' is the best explaination so far
A present from Syria to the USwith a note: "Give us Lebanon back, and we'll show you what we can do with HA"!!

Fasten your seatbelts...it is a BUMPY ride ahead...
IT has Begun ...............................

[Andre]

Ex-Aounist,

That was too long...I am not sure what to make out of your post. I personally think that it is interesting that the funeral will be held on Thursday in the suburbs to coincide with the R. Hariri memorial demo. Perhaps the intention is to force M14 to cancel its demo out of respect for Mughniyah or it is to create an open conforntation b/w the two parties...in any case, this killing really hurts HA and their intel services. Perhaps a signal that there is a powwer struggle inside the Syrian/Iranian/HA intelligence.
We'll probably never know exactly who liquidated him.(if he really was as you suggested).

[Bad Vilbel]

That was too long to read, Ex-Aounist. Sorry.

I'll say this: If you think Syria has the ABILITY to sell out Hizb (assuming they wanted to), you're wrong. Hizb is much bigger than Syria and answers directly to Tehran. Specially a guy like Mughnieh, who was allegedly answering directly to Ali Khamenei. I can't imagine Syria slapping Iran in the face like that. Syria needs Iran and is completely subservient to it.

[Ex-Aounist]

BV,
Bear with me bro, I know it was a long post, but what you skipped is also what you are talking about.
To cut the story short if Bashar Assad is proving he's more than willing to play the game by the rules ( of the US that is ) and gets the nod from the USA- easing the pressure of the IT - not to mention EU and ARAB acknowledgment and help??? do you think he would give a rat's ass about Iran ? I doubt it .
Hence IF, and it is a BIG IF, Mughniyeh is really the man who was in that car, then ...God only knows what is cooking in the syrian kitchen...
Especially that Israeli are knocking again on Turkey's door for negociations with syria and Motaki was supposed to meet with Imad Mughniyeh in Syria....
Something is smelling to high heaven and it's FISHY ...very very fishy!

[Bad Vilbel]

Yes, Ex-Aounist, he gives a rat's ass about Iran. He has to. Iran holds the Assad regime by the balls, for lack of a better wording. This is not a relationship of equals. I'd suggest you read Tony Bey's countless EXCELLENT analysis on the subject (over on Across The Bay). It's been proven (to me at least) that the Assad regime is too dependent on Iran for its very survival for their marriage to simply be a marriage of convenience (as some in the west, who advocate prying Syria from Iran's orbit would have you believe). Assad does not have the ability (even if he wanted to, and believe me, he doesn't) to pry himself away from Iran.