Tag Archives: Middle East

“I support Israel, but what Senator Cruz did was outrageous and incendiary. He showed a true lack of sensitivity for the people he was speaking to, especially the religious leaders who were there. It was a political speech, inappropriate and, overall, an uncomfortable moment. He was speaking to people outside of the building. It was a willful and deliberate confrontation, …

Mediaite sets the stage: Jay Carney, on his very first night working for CNN, ended up sparring with Senator John McCain over President Obama‘s ISIS speech, in which McCain repeatedly took shots at Carney for not telling the truth, saying at least once that “facts are stubborn things.” The second McCain appeared on CNN, he immediately got combative with Carney. …

Via CNN: It’s time to go after ISIS in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama said Wednesday night in a nationally televised address intended to sell stepped-up military efforts to a war-weary public. Obama said the United States would expand its airstrikes against the Sunni jihadists in Iraq to target them across the border in Syria. “I have made it …

Via the Washington Post: The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday afternoon ordered U.S. carriers to stop flying to or from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, prohibiting them from traveling through Israel’s largest airport after a rocket landed nearby. Airlines were banned from flying to Tel Aviv for a 24-hour period beginning on Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. The FAA …

Gay Star News reports: Saudi Arabia police have arrested 35 people and accused them of being gay. The men, allegedly dressed in women’s clothes, were arrested at a beach resort in the western city of Jeddah. According to local reports, neighbors contacted the religious police complaining of the loud music being played at the party. The police took the arrested …

The Associated Press reports: A judicial official says an Egyptian court has convicted four men of committing homosexual acts and sentenced them to up to eight years in prison. The Nasr City misdemeanor court issued its ruling on Monday. Police arrested the men for holding parties they say involved homosexual acts and where they found women’s clothes and makeup. Three …

Via the Lebanon Daily Star: A judge presiding over a case prosecuting homosexuality has ruled that a notorious piece of legislation criminalizing gay sex is not valid, a decision that has been hailed as a major achievement by activists in Lebanon. The latest edition of The Legal Agenda, a quarterly magazine published by the non-governmental organization of the same name, …

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon died today at the age of 85. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the nation bowed its head to a man he described as “first and foremost a brave soldier and an outstanding military commander” who “had a central role in the battle for Israel’s security from the very beginning.” In many ways, Mr. Sharon’s …

“The decision to bar homosexuals from entering Kuwait is a sovereign decision. Amnesty International should take care of lofty and noble goals for which it was established, leave aside homosexuality and deviations and stop defending delinquents. The organisation should heed the annual rates of births outside the institution of marriage in Europe and abortions as well as the high rates …

That’s (sort of) the view from atop the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s 160-story Burj Khalifa. Gizmodo has the deets on how the photo was made. By the way, it can cost up to $100 to visit the observation deck.  Here are some of the records the building has set.

Openly gay Knesset member Nitzan Horowitz has announced his intent to run for mayor of Tel Aviv. Horowitz, a second-term MK and former journalist for Channel 10 News, will be challenging former Labor member Ron Huldai, who has served as Tel Aviv’s mayor since 1998. If he wins, Horowitz (49) would be Tel Aviv’s first openly gay mayor, and the …

Famed “wrapping artist” Christo is planning a massive oil barrel installation in Abu Dhabi that he says will be the world’s largest permanent sculpture. Via yesterday’s Guardian: A 150-metre-high, flat-topped pyramid would be taller than St Paul’s Cathedral or St Peter’s Basilica and would overshadow the Great Pyramid of Giza – creating Abu Dhabi’s answer to Egypt’s pyramids or Mecca’s …

The ceasefire is supposed to begin at 2pm Eastern.

More photos here.

Embiggen to vote.

Federal investigators have tracked down the man who produced Innocence Of Muslims. As it turns out, he’s neither Jewish or Israeli (as he told others), and he’s spent time in prison for bank fraud. A federal law enforcement official said Thursday that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was the man behind ‘‘Innocence of Muslims,’’ a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet …