Politics

The Israeli human rights group, Gisha, has filed a court case against the state of Israel's blockade of Gaza.

Some startling findings include:

• Cinnamon is permitted, but coriander is forbidden.
• Tea and coffee are permitted, but chocolate is not.
• Mineral water is permitted, but fruit juice is forbidden.
• Canned meat and tuna are permitted, but canned fruit is forbidden.
• Tahini (Sesame seed paste) is permitted, but jam is forbidden.

Other forbidden goods are childrens' plastic toys, and textiles, among other things ...

The BBC has an interesting look at the African-Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Their ancestry comes from Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, and Senegal.

They settled and married from other Muslim Arabic speaking non-African Palestinians in Jerusalem, and face the same challenges that the broader Palestinian community faces.

Limits on the Prime Minister's power to prorogue parliament have been passed.

An academic paper by Elizabeth Anne Roodhouse titled The voice from the base(ment): Stridency, referential structure, and partisan conformity in the political blogosphere analyzes six top political blogs and their coverage of Sarah Palin's candidacy for Vice President in 2008.

An interesting finding is:

The BBC has an article on how the Military in Egypt is still seen as a savior and hopes for it to intervene. This even comes from educated classes and intellectuals, not just the general populace.

If the "hereditary scenario" plays out, where Gamal Mubarak being installed as president in a "charade dressed up as a democratic vote", some are hoping for the army to interfere and prevent such a thing from happening.

The Iraqi poet Ahmad Mattar has always been a vocal critic of the Arab rulers and the silence of the Arab populace, with witty sarcasm and brilliant literary creativity. In a previous article, we gave a few examples, of his criticism of Saddam and the general downfall of Arab contemporary state of affairs.

He has a new poem on Obama, which is given below with an English translation. Even though it is titled Obama, it is really an inward looking poem lamenting the state of the Arabs.

The White House has a gallery of Obama's visit to Ottawa yesterday.

One of the photos has a caption of Obama with "Canadian Prime Minister Graves".

Here is a screenshot, since it will probably be corrected soon.

I wrote before on France, and the marginalization of minorities causing alienation and ethnic strife. That was triggered by police chasing an immigrant youth who hid in an electric station and died when shocked by the current. Days of rage followed with confrontation between police and immigrant youth. Lots of property damage ensued.

One of the culture phenomenons everywhere is the emergence of unlikely entertainers suddenly, gaining fame in a short time, and everyone listening to their music/performances.

In the USA this is often a result of a mighty marketing machine behind mediocre talent, coupled with tabloids gossiping about the latest juicy rumor (e.g. Britney Spears).

US President-Elect Barack Obama was on an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC yesterday.

Among the things that was discussed, was his intention on keeping the Blackberry he currently uses.

What struck me was this quote:

"One of the things that I'm going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation -- the bubble that exists around the president.