“It happened so quickly that all his rights were flouted.” – KHADIJA RIYADI, of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, on the arrest and conviction of Mohammed Erraji, who was sentenced to two years in prison for writing in a blog that King Mohammed VI’s charitable habits were encouraging a culture of dependency. [source] Not [...]

“People living in Amman only go…from Sweifieh to Abdoun or wherever – they don’t see poverty. I really want people to see the camps, to see real poverty. When people go there, they see how people are living there and they start to appreciate more what they have,” – Sara Sharif. The Action Committee said [...]

“What happened in Gaza in 2007 is an achievement; now it is happening in 2008 in Lebanon. It’s going to happen in 2009 in Jordan and it’s going to happen in 2010 in Egypt.” – Sheik Yazeeb Khader, Hamas political activist and editor, on the changing Middle East Washington Times I should go buy some [...]

“…allegations made in earlier reports by the organisation. It is based on allegations and assumptions that are far from objective to arrive at conclusions that are neither dependable nor convincing” – Nasser Judeh, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications, unconvinced by a Human Rights Watch report that claims the General Intelligence Department (GID) [...]

“The US military bases and the presence of around 150,000 American soldiers in Iraq have made the United States one of the neighbouring states in the region.” – Prince Hassan, in a seminar on “Armament and Security in the Middle East” on Tuesday. [source] The Prince also said he said he doesn’t expect US troops [...]

All the lessons of history in four sentences: Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. The bee fertilizes the flower it robs. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. – Charles A. Beard

Probably in response to Abbas’ decision to break off contact with Israel, but I found this incredibly ironic, but you be the judge… “Absence of negotiations would lead to a ‘Gazaization’ of the West Bank, and anyone who can’t see this is lying to himself,” – Prime Minister Olmert. March 3, 2008. [source]

“The organizers of suicide attacks don’t want to jeopardize their missions by recruiting unreliable people. It may be that some psychologically unstable people want to become suicide bombers, but insurgent organizations strongly prefer their cannons fixed.” – Political Sociologist Robert Brym of the University of Toronto, in a paper published in Social Forces. Brym concluded [...]