Sabbah Report » Awards

The Day of The Awards of the Absurd, The Nobel Peace Prize Becomes Toilet Paper

Robin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:48:36 +0000

Illustration by Carlos Latuff

Two of them, yes two are in the news today. Two awards announced that are so far into the realm of the absurd, the stuff science fiction is made of, that one must shudder at the realization, Orwell's "1984" has truly arrived, war has become peace.

The first news has circled the globe already, our president, Barak Obama, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination for this honor coming only days after he took office, prior to any accomplishments whatsoever. Hope inpregnated in the nomination itself. Hope.

What does that word even mean? One definition reads "something that is hoped for or desired" Yet another is slightly different "to look forward to with confidence or expectation."

The first definition goes to longing-coming from oppression in many cases. The second goes straight to expectation and confidence, in this case, Obama who ran on the slogan of "hope" was given the confidence by many who voted for him because they expected results for their longings to be fulfilled.

In the case of Palestine, if one were using this issue to influence your vote, there were two viable options this past presidential election, one of two men was going to win, either McCain or Obama. Ironically at the time, a poll was taken in Palestine where McCain came out on top slightly. I asked a dear Palestinian friend of mine at the time how this could possibly be the case. He told me that Palestinians have learned that they would rather have straight talk from a tough opponent than anything that is lofty and non-concrete. It took me a while for me to understand what he was telling me, but eventually I did. Placing hope in a politician due to lofty speeches is not at the end of the day going to guarantee anything. Improvement possibly could have been hoped for, relief from years of Israeli aggression propped up by America, never. As an American myself, I can only in utter shame and sadness agree. Would McCain have been doing anything better had he been elected? No. He wouldn't have put forth any effort like Obama has in my opinion, but the question begs to be answered, Obama has said many things and then back tracked. His settlement stance is one prime example, first he says no more settlements, then he backed away.

A defining moment in Obama's presidency has been his Cairo speech, the first American president to go straight to the Muslim world to address them. A much needed outreach after eight years of George Bush's Middle East policy which included the pre-emptive, illegal war on Iraq. Obama in his Cairo speech addressed the Palestinian/Israeli issue in the following excerpt:

The second major source of tension that we need to discuss is the situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world.

America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied.

Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed -- more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, it is ignorant, and it is hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction -- or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews -- is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they've endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations -- large and small -- that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own. (Applause.)

Oh how the speech was hailed. It's a moment in history! He took himself to the Muslim world in peace. You are going to have to show me though where his speech concerning Palestine was in any way significantly different than what George Bush said when he entered office. He also pledged efforts towards a two-state solution, albeit not as eloquently. 20-20 vision shows us that the Bush administration gave a blank slate to Israel-US efforts towards "peace" in Israel/Palestine were nil during Bush's tenure. One must remember though that at the time of the Cairo speech, Rahm Emmanuel and Dennis Ross had already been welcomed in by the Obama administration. Yes, Obama has sent George Mitchell who accomplished peace in Northern Ireland, yet on the other hand, through votes and pressure on Israel's puppet leader of the PA, Abu Mazen, voting on the Goldstone Report in the Human Rights Council was postponed until March. This is peace? This is "hope"? This is reaching out to the Muslim world?

"War is peace"-George Orwell. The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize goes to President Barak Obama.

News yet of another award of the absurd has also been announced. The Dali Lama, winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, has accepted an award presented to him in Congress-the first ever Tom Lantos "Human Rights Award". (view the C-Span video HERE)To have the term "human rights" in the same sentence with the name Tom Lantos goes beyond the pale of decency. Tom Lantos who passed away in February 2008 was on record as being Israel's staunchest hawk in Congress. The Fanonite wrote:

Lantos was also an enthusiastic supporter of Operation Defensive Shield, Sharon's war of terror on the Palestinians. According to one analyst, "Lantos isn't just a Democrat who voted for the Iraq war, he was one of its co-authorsâ€¦Lantos has never met a war he didn't like. His unblinking defense of Israeli policy gives him tunnel vision with the rest of the Middle East.â€ Already in 2006 he was gunning for war; he wrote an article "Now or Never to Prevent a Nuclear-Armed Iran.â€ Lantos was also a prominent supporter of the School of Americas, where Latin America's military dictators and would-be torturers were trained. Lantos played a key role in building Democratic support for the Patriot Act. According to the Jeruslame Post, he represents Israel in countries with which it has no diplomatic relations.

In further absurdity, in January of this year, during the massive Israeli offense on Gaza for which the Goldstone Report has found war crimes were committed, the Dali Lama spoke before a conference wearing a keffiyeh around his neck as he urged Israelis and Palestinians to "work together" (view video HERE)

Today the Dali Lama accepted a "human rights" award from the foundation of a man who over a lifetime in Congress voted for torture (his support ot the SOA) and war. The keffiyeh he wore in January is missing. Chameleon.

Today in Sweden, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barak Obama, whose administration has like all past administrations done what Israel has "hoped", no "had confidence in" and "expected" the US to do, cover their crimes. "Hope"-yes this was his slogan.

"War is peace".-George Orwell

Postscript: China has accused the US of meddling in their affairs with the presentation of the Tom Lantos "humanitarian award". Note, Obama, todays Nobel Peace Prize winner, has not yet met with the Dali Lama, 1989's Nobel Peace Prize Winner. He is postponing meeting with him until after he meets with China's president next month.

Fourth Annual Brass Crescent Award Winners Announced

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:12:41 +0000

Just came to know the results of the Fourth Annual Brass Crescent Award and the "Best Mideast/Central Asian Blog" is "Raising Yousuf, Unplugged (Laila El-Haddad)". Congratulation to Laila, she deserve it... and thanks to all those who voted for Sabbah's Blog (I got a 'Honorable Mention')!

Vote for Sabbah!

Haitham Sabbah — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:55:45 +0000

To my surprise, I just came to know that my blog is nominated for the Fourth Annual Brass Crescent Awards 2007. Polls close Friday, December 14!

Vote for Sabbah! Go to "BEST MIDEAST/CENTRAL ASIAN BLOG" section and give me a tip ;-)

Hey, I’m a A-List Bloglebrity!

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:51:34 +0000

This "cool tool" is all about the amount of Vanity Fair, GQ, and People Magazine covers I can score. No? :-)

Ok, A-List Bloglebrity on the Internet, is all about the amount of link love you (I) can score. It is powered by Technorati records of the blog and some technical stuff, which I don't understand.

Anyway, Sabbah was ranked in A-List, which is the highest ;-)

Cookies, anyone ;)

2007 Bloggie Awards!

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:58:53 +0000

Nominations have opened for the 2007 Bloggie Awards (no, it's not just another blog award*). Last year I was honored to be named a finalist in the "Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog" category, along with Baghdad Burning, Sleepless in Sudan, Mahmood's Den and Subzero Blue. All terrific sites that I read regularly. The winner was Baghdad Burning!

Anyway, if you know my blog for days/weeks/months or even years now and you enjoyed reading it, then I'd greatly appreciate you nominating it in the categories of "Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog". The Seventh Annual Weblog Awards will accept your 2007 nominations until January 10th. Just follow this link and the instructions therein, and I'll be eternally grateful.

This year, I personally nominated two blogs beside my own, "Black Looks" (the African blog and winner of 2006 BOBs award) and "Desert Peace" (the Israeli blog).

Well, I'm not gonna beg to nominate Sabbah's Blog :-) other than to mention that in 2007 you can expect me to continue to bloviate on issues of the Middle East culture, activism, religion, and of course Politics.

*Wikipedia: The best known set of blog awards are the Bloggies, run by weblogger Nikolai Nolan. These awards are presented annually at the SXSW conference in Austin. Bloggies are voted on by the general public via a web-site. The awards cover thirty categories, including eight by region (Best British/Irish, Best American etc), seven by subject (politics, food, technology etc.) and awards for "Weblog of the Year" and "Lifetime achievement". [Source: Wiki]

Your blog wins a Rule The World award!!!

Haitham Sabbah — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 18:24:18 +0000

I liked this one:

Hello Sabbah,

I'm happy to inform you that your site sabbah.biz has won an award as best site to "Rule The World" (www.asktheworld.org/ruletheworld). Your site has been suggested by hundreds of our site's visitors and chosen by the Rule The World staff. Your site has been awarded because of his big popularity and quality. Google Maps, Internetstockblog, Dotcoma have won the same award too!

Here's our story: Rule The World is the latest project of www.asktheworld.org, a popular site with thousands of daily visitors and mentioned by various sites and magazines. Thanks to the suggestions of our visitors, we've created a rich world map which contains links to the sites that 'rule the world'.

By winning the Rule The World award, you have the right to own a "Award block" on the exclusive Rule The World map. The block will be positioned on a space of your choice on the map. Just follow the link www.asktheworld.org/ruletheworld and choose the block you prefer by writing us its number. Plus, you may decide to send us your icon (10x10) pixels or leave it creation to us. You may also send us a brief description of you site (in 100 characters).

Best regards
Rule The World
http://www.asktheworld.org/ruletheworld

And as a 'ruler of the world', practicing my power, I 'occupied Israel, Palestine and Jordan' (or big portion of them, lol).

Nice project. Similar to the very successful http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/, which now has a million copy of the original idea.

Anyways... Don't forget to VOTE FOR ME @ BLOGGIES!!!

Pictures of the year 2005

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 09:30:16 +0000

This is a nifty flash presentation of Reuters' 40 pictures of the year 2005.

My selection from these reflects the misery life that surrounds us in this part of the world. So here they are:

Each of these reminds us (although we never forget) of the endless story of, tragedy, corruption, greed, unjust, was, terrorism, occupation, …etc.

What a life!

You can see the 2005 Award Winners (pictures of 2004) here. And from my archive, here are the Annual Pictures of The Year International Winners.

SALT & PEPPER

Haitham Sabbah — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 06:50:23 +0000

Winner, Visions of Science Photographic Awards. (BBC; official site)

Science is cool (not really, but that's what we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better). The coolest science pictures you're going to see all day. Check out the Top 10 Winners of the Visions of Science Photographic Awards. I'm partial to 6 and 7, for some reason.

Faulty Routes

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 21:38:06 +0000

Unfortunately there seems to be some routing problems these days that affect reaching arablogger.com. Below results was obtained from alertra.com, which shows that arablogger.com was reachable from London, Frankfurt, Chicago and Orlando, but not from Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Atlanta and Oklahoma (at the time of the check, 9:00 GMT). These are just sample routes, which means that if your route is unlucky and fall through one of the faulty routes, then you will face some temp. problems. On the other hand, this also means that the server hosting arablogger.com is running normally, and is reachable by others.

Unfortunately, in cases of above failures, nothing can be done from our side. Try some other time!

Note: These problems can be of many reasons and shapes. Even Google was downed by latest MyDoom. However, Internet performance management company Keynote Systems said "there could be some wider Internet problem, but we're still researching the data."