Habib Toumi

Hagai Ben-Artzi -Ynews

Hagai Ben-Artzi, the brother–in-law of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called US President Barack Obama an anti-Semite

“It’s not that Obama doesn’t like Bibi,” he said, referring to Netanyahu using his nickname. “He doesn’t like the people of Israel,” he said in an interview with Army Radio.

Ben-Artzi said that Obama’s anti-Semitism stems from years of indoctrination by controversial preacher Rev. Jeremiah Wright, from whom Obama distanced himself during the election campaign.

“For 20 years Obama sat with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who is anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli, and anti-Jewish,” he said. “Think about it. If you had heard of someone who for 20 years sat in church and heard anti-Semitic sermons and didn’t get up to leave after two weeks, wouldn’t you think he identifies with it? As a politician running for presidency he had to hide it, but it comes out every time and I think we just have to say it plainly: There is an anti-Semitic president in America,” he said.

The situation creates a difficult situation for Israel, he added.

“When there is an anti-Semitic president in the United States, it is a test for us and we have to say: We will not concede. We are a nation dating back 4,000 years, and you in a year or two will be long forgotten. Who will remember you? But Jerusalem will dwell on forever.” continue reading…

Nouria Al Sbaih - Al Qabas

Kuwait’s former education minister has accused lawmakers of abusing their positions to ask for favours from ministers.

“There are MPs who are blackmailing ministers. The minister has either to accept their demands, regardless of their legitimacy, or face grilling,” Nouria Al Sbaih, said. “Such practices cannot be called democracy, and are blatant blackmail,” the former minister was quoted as saying by Al Qabas daily on Wednesday.

Kuwaitis must be highly selective in choosing their representatives and must stress competence and not tribalism and sectarianism, she said.

“The people of Kuwait should be the ones who assess the performance of any minister or lawmaker.”

Nouria has had a stormy history with conservative MPs who opposed her nomination in April 2007 as Kuwait’s first woman education minister and shouted and jeered as she took the oath of office after she refused to wear a headscarf in parliament.

One MP, Dhaiffallah Bou Ramia, was forced by parliament Speaker Jassem Al Khurafi to sit down after he stood and shouted during the ceremony. continue reading…

A Bahraini husband took out an ad in a local paper to appeal to his wife to forgive him and return home.

“Dearest Om (Mother of) Saleh … I beg you to come back home and I hope to please you and make up for the past days … Your loving husband,” Abu Saleh wrote, ending the message with red roses to express his love. The ad was published in Al Waqt newspaper.

The ad is unprecedented in Bahrain’s history and a rare occurrence in conservative societies where family matters are kept strictly private.

“We were initially shocked by this unprecedented request from a husband to his wife and the pledge to compensate for past mistakes that have seemingly caused a family rift,” Radhi Al Mousawi, Al Wqat deputy editor, said. “However, we salute the man’s courage and bravery to declare his love and admit his mistakes publicly even though we live in a male-dominated society that is prone to accuse women and to forgive men for their mistakes.” continue reading…