Middle East

Tootsie Ice Cream Opens in Santa Ana; Also Offers Persian Shaved Ice

Cute name? Check. Awesome location? Familiar flavors of rocky road and vanilla? Check. Check. Offerings of waffle ice cream sandwiches, and faloodeh, Persian shaved ice? Yep.

The OC Weekly Reader On the Iraq War: Our Coverage Over the Past Decade

I still remember where I was when we first started bombing Baghdad in 2003--at some concert with some chilanga at the late, great Key Club in Los Angeles, still just a freelancer for this infernal rag. Everyone at the Weekly opposed the Iraq War, because we knew it was unjust, would accomplish nothi ... More >>

Top Five Anti-War Songs Ten Years After Iraq

Ten years ago, 'Shock and Awe' airstrikes by U.S. forces in Iraq marked the onset of another invasion of that country. President George W. Bush led a so-called 'coalition of the willing' mocked by anti-war activists as a 'coalition of the shilling' into hostilities under the pretext that Iraqi dicta ... More >>

Syrian Revolution's Second Anniversary is Commemorated in OC This Weekend

A weekend of events will be held in Orange County to commemorate the second anniversary of the Syrian Revolution.To kick things off, the Council on American-Islamic Relations Greater Los Angeles Area office in Anaheim (CAIR-LA) is joining the Syrian American Council LA chapter in presenting an edu ... More >>

The Agonists of 'The Gatekeepers'

Shin Bet vets ponder the Israeli state they've protected

[UPDATED with Award Winners:] That Oscar Buzz You're Hearing May Be Coming From the Irvine International Film Festival

See Update No. 2 on page 2 with the IIFF award winners.See Update No. 1 on the next page identifying the nine IIFF selections among the Oscar nominees. ORIGINAL POST, JAN. 4, 5:18 P.M.: The lineup for the second annual Irvine International Film Festival running Jan. 17-21 at Edwards Westpark 8 inclu ... More >>

[UPDATED with ASUCI Supporting Divestment:] UCI Student Panel Calls for Divesting from Firms Aiding Israeli "Apartheid"

See Update No. 3 at the end of page 3 of this post on leaders of UCI's Associated Students signing the resolution urging the university to divest from named companies for human rights abuses in Palestine. See Update Nos. 1-2 on ASUCI's legislative council unanimously passing the resolution urging di ... More >>

Straight Outta Syria

Orange County is home to growing numbers of refugees from that country's growing civil war

Syrian American OC Resident Brings Medical Supplies To Syria

As geopolitical gridlock stymies international aid in Syria, expatriates and Americans of Syrian descent are taking it upon themselves to travel to the region and medically assist refugees on border towns and residents inside Syria. One of them is Omar Chamma, who resides in Fountain Valley with hi ... More >>

California Assemblywoman Targets Anti-Israel Campus Activism, Or: Five Criticisms of Israel that Are Inherently Not Anti-Semitic

The California Assembly recently passed a resolution that calls upon college and university leadership to condemn anti-Semitism on campus. Assemblywoman Linda Halderman (R-Fresno) authored the resolution, which demands "no public resources will be allowed to be used for any anti-Semitic or any ... More >>

Boot Camp Gets Recruits into the Military, Reboot Helps Veterans Once They are Out

Those in the military who were deployed multiple times to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan often struggle transitioning back into "normal" society.A three-week workshop aimed at helping these service members through all aspects of civilian life--including finding employment--is coming to Brandm ... More >>

Rapper Omar Offendum to Perform at UCI's 'Sounds for Syria' Fundraiser

Friday's massacre of 108 people, including dozens of children, in the Syrian town of Houla, has been roundly condemned by world powers as fears of a protracted civil war take hold. This weekend's horrific violence is the latest episode since a 14-month long uprising openly challenged the regime of B ... More >>

Dana Rohrabacher and Hamid Karzai Spar as Afghanistan Bans Surfin' Congressman

"A democratically elected congressman of the United States should not be talking of an ethnic divide in Afghanistan, should not be interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs, should not be asking the Afghan people to have a federal structure as against what the Afghan constitution has asked for, ... More >>

Dana Rohrabacher Again Uses Twitter To Lie About His Terrorism Stances

Leave it to Dana Rohrabacher--Orange County's senior career politician--to wreck an enjoyable Mother's Day with smelly political garbage.Late on Sunday night, Rohrabacher used his notorious, often inadvertently hilarious Twitter account to once again spew a self-serving lie about himself.This time, ... More >>

Syrian Musicians Asala Nasri and Malek Jandali Criticize the Government, Get Death Threats

As violence continues to plague Syria, superstar singer Asala Nasri is joining forces with award-winning composer and pianist Malek Jandali. The two will take to the stage Sunday at the City National Grove of Anaheim, generously lending their time and support for a benefit concert. Proceeds from "Fo ... More >>

Local Syrians to Rally Against Assad Regime in Anaheim on Saturday

Southern California's Syrian-Americans and their allies are planning a protest against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad as an internationally agreed upon ceasefire fails to take hold. The action is scheduled to take place on the corner of Brookhurst Street and Orange Avenue in Anaheim's Littl ... More >>

Biola University to Hold Conference on Nuclear War, and How to Get Jews and Muslims Saved

​Nothing gets believers excited like the end of the world. To that end, Biola University this weekend will host a conference titled "Israel, the Church and the Middle East Crisis", featuring Calvary Chapel favorite Joel Rosenberg, a doom-and-gloomer in the Hal Lindsey mold, and author of "The G ... More >>

Syrian Americans Drive From Anaheim To NYC To Thank Family of Slain Journalist

​They could have gone with a thank-you card. Instead, an overachieving group of Syrian Americans have packed into a couple vans and are headed to New York to show their gratitude to the family of Marie Colvin, an American journalist who died last month while covering the Syrian conflict.At 3: ... More >>

Local Art Exhibit Seeks to Raise Funds for Syrians in Need

Sama Wareh and her art piece 'Starts With One"​As the now 11-month old uprising continues in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the death toll continues to mount. The opposition stronghold Syrian city of Homs has faced continued shelling this week. Those who survive do so on dwindling fo ... More >>

Promised Land Sees Israel Through the Eyes of Surfers

​A film about surfers of different faiths coming together in Israel, of all places, makes its U.S. premiere at a sold-out screening in Dana Point this evening.Promised Land, which was directed by Todd Morehead and produced by Morehead and Carlsbad Christian nonprofit Walking on Water, screens at 6 ... More >>

Rick Warren: Patron Saint of Humblebraggadocio

​Pound for pound, preachers are the best humblebraggers around because they can rattle off a list of professional accomplishments while giving God the glory for "working through them." It's a nifty trick that can be pulled off only by those who make a living chatting with the Lord and sharing his ... More >>

[UPDATED with Syria Convoy News] Violent Repression in Syria Claims Relative of Anaheim Businessman Bill Dalati

Bill Dalati​UPDATE JAN 17, 3:38 P.M.: Anaheim Businessman Bill Dalati returned back to OC yesterday from the Liberty Convoy for Syria. As Reuters, Al Jazeera, and other news agencies reported on Thursday, the group of about 150 expatriate activists were unable to deliver food and medical supplies ... More >>

Sign of the Great Recession, Part 98: Prices Rising at Military Mess Halls, Academies

​God bless our troops, but goddamnit, they're having it tough right now. Between a military that's shrinking, a lack of proper care for vets who need it, the thankless job of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a bunch of dirty hippies like me questioning why they had to go there in the first pla ... More >>

Semper F-U

[Hey, You!] If a Marine served in Afghanistan, does that mean he can skip out on rent?

[BREAKING:] Obama: All U.S. Troops Will Be Out of Iraq by End of Year

​Congressman Dana Rohrabacher told the Laguna Niguel City Council last night that U.S. troops do not belong in Iraq. The Huntington Beach Republican must be ready to give Barack Obama a bear hug because the president just announced all U.S. military in Iraq will be home for the holidays.In announc ... More >>

[UPDATED with Ex-Veep's "Arrest":] Dick Cheney Greeted by Protesters at Nixon Library

​UPDATE, SEPT. 8, 9:56 A.M.: As Dick Cheney was lauding his profound role in Bush administration wars on terror, the Geneva Convention and the U.S. Constitution before a polite Nixon Library crowd Wednesday evening, he was "arrested."Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans rose from her chair in the East ... More >>

UCI Muslim Student Union Event's Name was Less Threatening, But Critics Charge It Was Still Extreme

​Perhaps it was the UC Irvine-imposed suspension or the negative publicity over the disruption of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren's February 2010 speech on campus or just plain old growing up, but the embattled Muslim Student Union just presented a kinder- and gentler-sounding program ... More >>

Reza Abedi's Greatest Escape

A local high-school-wrestling coach gave up his Olympic dreams to flee Khomeini's Iran

Syrians Take Protest to Consulate General in Newport Beach Today

​Events are moving fast across Northern Africa and the Middle East, and Syria is no exception. To protest the massacre of peaceful freedom fighters in the streets of their homeland, Syrian Americans throughout Southern California are gathering at the Consulate General of Syria in Newport Beach fro ... More >>

Nuclear Meltdown Might Cause Sushi Shortage

ynetnews.com​With as many sushi restaurants as we have in Orange County, the possibility of a sushi shortage after the tsunami disaster hadn't crossed my mind until this story in Israel's Ynet Business News. It's true that nearly all the hamachi sold is farm-raised and most likely routed through J ... More >>

Rohrabacher, Royce, Campbell and Other Doves vs. Pelosi, Waxman and Other Hawks

​Before shock and awe, there was just give peace a chance. The call for a surge in Iraq drew a push-back from MoveOn.orgers. Doves bristle at endless warfare.Ah, the good old days. Now, down is up, Simon Cowell is Jennifer Lopez, and hawks who once warned "You-break-it, you-fix-it" are talking pul ... More >>

Dana Rohrabacher: I Know How To Bring Peace To Afghanistan

Dana: I like spending your money.​Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher--the politician who guaranteed actor/muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger knew how to solve California's problems if elected governor--now thinks he knows how to get the terrorists in Afghanistan to put down their weapons, tear up their pla ... More >>

A Not-So-Sweet Solicitation for the Troops

[Hey, You!] Keep your jingoism out of my Halloween pumpkin!

White House Dribbles Out Obama's Iraq Speech Tonight, Anti-War ANSWER Coalition Answers

​The Washington Post is reporting that in his speech tonight to announce the end of major combat operations in Iraq, President Barack Obama will say it is time to "turn the page." "Ending this war is not only in Iraq's interest-it is in our own. The United States has paid a huge price to put t ... More >>

Rohrabacher: U.S. Military Incapable of Winning In Afghanistan

Dana blew kisses to W​Given trillions of dollars, Pentagon brass like to think that no military mission is too difficult.So it's rare when a congressman--especially a conservative Republican politician--will openly tell the Pentagon that it's impotent: that no matter how many soldiers its sends or ... More >>

Today's Biggest Laugh: Dana Rohrabacher as Sage

Rohrabacher: Ignore my flip flops​In a county with a history of sending buffoons to congress, Dana Rohrabacher is fast earning his way to the top of the embarrassing heap.Rohrabacher, the politician who avoided Vietnam War era military service, continues to pretend he's an expert on the war in Afg ... More >>

Farr Ligvani Exhibit

Soka University

Article Asks: Is UCI Safe for Jews?

OCHillel.orgWelcome. (Or un-welcome?)​Lisa Armony has an exhaustive piece in the April 13 Jewish Journal whose title tells it all: "Is UC Irvine Safe for Jews?"Her conclusion? Yes and no.UCI has made international headlines in recent years, dubbed by observers an unwelcome environment for Jewish ... More >>

Steve Lopez Connects Viewers to War's Effect on One Camp Pendleton Family

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez tonight gives a video profile of a Camp Pendleton family soon to be separated by an overseas military deployment.

Camp Pendleton Welcomes Its First Arabic Food Stand

There's not a lot of warm fuzzy stories when you talk about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and even fewer ones about food. But here's one with both from the Wall Street Journal. It tells of how in nearby Camp Pendleton, they just set up a shawarma stand in the base due to popular demand. ... More >>

ADL Opposes Jewish Boycott of UCI, Gently Admonishes Chancellor Drake

​Not all organizations fighting anti-Semitism are the same. Take the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which announced opposition today to calls by "some in the Jewish community" to boycott UC Irvine over perceived anti-Israel activity on campus.Who would that "some" be? How about the Zionist Organiz ... More >>

Hidden Wounds, Paper Bullets

Grand Central Art Center

Green Party Meeting

Irvine Ranch Water District

Code Pink

This Year's Model

Mannequin

Silent Shout

Women in Black

Assal Pastry

Palo Fields

The majestic meals of Caspian Restaurant

Couched in Ignorance

Your TV and the Middle East