Habib Toumi

Erdogan with Shimon Peres in 2009 - Word Press

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Israel to “take another look at its relations with its neighbors” if it wants to maintain ties with Turkey in the future.

“Israel should give some thought to what it would be like to lose a friend like Turkey in the future,” Erodegan told Euronews, Israeli media reported.

“The way they recently treated our ambassador has no place in international politics,” said the Turkish leader.

Earlier in January, Israel’s deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon called Turkish Ambassador to Israel Oguz Celikkol in for a public dressing down over a Turkish television show that depicted Mossad agents as baby snatchers.

At that meeting Ayalon instructed the camera crew, in Hebrew and in the ambassador’s presence, not to film them shaking hands, to show that the Turkish envoy was sitting on a lower sofa, to show that there was only an Israeli flag on the table, and not to film them smiling.

Diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated since the 2008 Gaza attacks. continue reading…

Kalima, the translation project of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), is publishing an Arabic translation of Junot Diaz’s “Drown”.

The book, a collection of ten short stories covering 191 pages, examines a whole range of the life experiences of Dominican Republic migrants in the United States and depicts several experiences.

It moves from the story of a young champion in the Dominican Republic to that of a young man traveling to the United Nations only to end up in a poor neighborhood in tough circumstances in New Jersey.

According to ADACH, the stories are coloured with the difficult experiences of a child trying to grow and are saturated with images from a limited cultural scene depicting a fine fatherless young man who is burdened by poverty and a worried mother in the gritty neighbourhoods of New Jersey. continue reading…

 Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has warned Israel that its settlement policy was unwise and did not help promote peace in the region.

“Israel’s settlement policy could be an obstacle to peace. I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake,” Berlusconi was quoted as saying by Haaretz, one day before he begins a visit to Israel. “I welcomed Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s courage is his announcement of a 10-month [residential settlement construction] freeze. It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel’s good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a piece agreement,” Berlusconi, who describes himself a s a supporter of Israel, said.

The Italian leader said that his views on the decades-long conflict plaguing the Middle East have shaped Italy’s new foreign policy.

“I always supported Israel. As a result, as prime minister, I changed Italy’s foreign policy and thereby turned Italy into Israel’s closest friend in Europe … At the same time, I cultivated ties with the moderate leaders of the Arab and Muslim world,” he said. continue reading…

Al Mabhouh - The Times

The hit squad that killed a top Hamas commander in a hotel room in Dubai injected him with a drug that induced a heart attack, The Times reported on Sunday.

The squad then photographed all the documents in the briefcase of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, 50, and left a “do not disturb” sign on the door, the London paper said.

The body, with no suspicious signs, was discovered by staff at the hotel after lunch on January 20 and local doctors diagnosed a heart attack.

However, nine days later, after blood samples sent to Paris for analysis showed signs of poison, Hamas announced his death and blamed Mossad for the assassination, the paper said.

Citing unnamed Middle Eastern sources, The Times said that Al Mabhouh had been tracked from the moment he boarded Emirates flight EK 912 at Damascus at 10.05 on January 19.

“He was said to have been travelling on a false passport and on arrival in Dubai was followed by two men described as Europeans carrying European passports.”

Al Mabhouh who moved to Damascus after leaving Gaza in 1989 is blamed by Israel for the abduction of two Israeli soldiers who were later killed.

Speak no Turkish, hear no Turkish in Istanbul café as teacher seeks to improve English language skills - Turkish Daily News

The top floor of Konak Café’s three-storey building in Istanbul’s historic Süleymaniye neighbourhood is crowded with students, idlers and opportunity-seekers. Everything is Turkish about the place in, except the language used to communicate. Speaking Turkish is “totally forbidden” at the café run by a young English teacher who wanted to give Turks a chance to practice English in their home country, Turkish Daily News reports.  The teacher opened the café to help students who are familiar with grammar rules, but have difficulty explaining their views orally. “It is a place for them to improve their speaking skills without having to go abroad or compromise leisure time in their lives,” said Altan Çarıkcıdoglu, who runs the café.

continue reading…

Dalal

The family of a Kuwaiti girl who was stabbed to death has said that they would never forgive her alleged Filipina killer. “We will never give up the right of our daughter, even if the United Nations Security Council holds a session on the case,” a relative was quoted as saying by the Kuwaiti daily Al Watan. The family was reacting to news that President Gloria Arroyo had sent Vice President Manuel “Noli” de Castro Jr. to Kuwait to appeal for the life of Jakatia Pawa, a Filipina facing death in Kuwait for allegedly stabbing Dalal Al Naqi, the 22-year-old daughter of her employer. De Castro will carry a letter from President Arroyo to the Emir of Kuwait “interceding for the life of Ms. Pawa,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on its website, local media reported. continue reading…

Robert Ford

Robert Stephen Ford, the former US deputy head of diplomatic mission to Bahrain, is to be the next US ambassador to Syria, putting an end to a five-year hiatus.

Washington has not appointed an ambassador in Damascus since then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called back Margaret Scobey in February 2005 in response to the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and amid tensions between the two countries mainly over issues relating to Iraq and Lebanon. “US Middle East envoy George Mitchell gave the name of the new US ambassador to Syria in a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad,” the Lebanese daily An-Nahar said on Saturday, quoting unnamed American sources. Mitchell was in Damascus last week as part of a tour in the region that saw him visit several capitals. Syria has repeatedly urged the Americans to name an ambassador to help address the numerous issues pending between the two countries. Damascus had refused to hold any meeting between the US attaché at the embassy and high Syrian officials. continue reading…

Reepalu

The mayor of a Swedish city has come under Israeli fire for equating Zionism and anti-Semitism and calling both “unacceptable extremism.” “Malmö does not accept anti-Semitism and does not accept Zionism. They are extremists who put themselves above other groups, seeing others as something lesser,” Ilmar Reepalu said in an interview with Skanska Dagbladet newspaper. Reepalu was asked whether he considered a public condemnation of anti-Semitism in Malmö. Charlotte Wiberg, of the Swedish Committee against Anti-Semitism told Yediot Aharonot that “Reepalu chose not to show solidarity with Jews facing danger in Malmö, but rather, with the people who wish to marginalize a religious group because of Israel’s policy.” George Braun, the president of the Jewish community in Gothenburg, about 250 kilometers from Malmo, told Israeli daily Haaretz that Reepalu’s statements and “other events in Malmö are making the Jewish community feel very uncomfortable.” “Some people, especially the young, are leaving the city,” he said. continue reading…

Sura Al Shawk cannot play basketball because of her headscarf

A Swiss girl of Iraqi origin has failed to overturn a ban on wearing a headscarf while playing league basketball matches in Switzerland.

Sura Al Shawk, 19, was last August told by the basketball association (ProBasket) that she was not allowed to play for her STV Luzern club with the head scarf. The association said that the veil was a visible religious symbol and that the game needed to remain religiously neutral.

Sura contested the decision and in November filed a case, supported by Daniel Vischer, a local MP representing the Green Party.

But, the court on Thursday supported the association’s claims and said that the overall safety regulations and compliance with regulations came ahead of Sura’s personal interests and wish to wear a headscarf.

Sura has ten days to appeal the ruling.

Nine corssdressers from three Gulf countries were on Thursday sentenced to one month in prison.

The verdict means that they will be released this week as they were arrested on New Year’s Eve in a disco in Manama and later charged with public debauchery and soliciting revelers.

According to court documents, the nine defendants were wearing women’s clothes and had heavy makeup on their faces. They were held after the police was alerted about their appearance and behavior in the hotel disco.

Homosexuality is officially banned in Bahrain, but lawmakers, wary of the growing number of gays in the country, have been pushing for a crackdown, including the adoption of tougher immigration measures and prompt deportations.