The Pessoptimist

Jew in Arabia, goy in Israel

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Yemen ... all out war?

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Sound of the fighting in Sana'a early this Tuesday morning. The truce that existed between the Hashed tribes of sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar...
Monday, May 30, 2011

Saleh's forces cause bloodbath in Taiz

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Update Monday evening: What could be feared alkready from the appallingt pictures is now confimrd; the number of deaths in Taiz as a result ...
Saturday, May 28, 2011

Second Day of Rage on Tahrir Square, May 27

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Day of Rage II, a compilation by Jadaliyya Egyptian have held a second Day of Rage (or a day to save the revolution) o Friday 27 May. One...

Yemeni tribes take over military bases

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Thousands took to the streets in Sana'a on Friday, against the background of fighting between the tribes and  president Saleh's Repu...
Friday, May 27, 2011

Yemeni's fear another day of heavy fighting

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  Sana'a by night. This picture of the fighting was taken during the nght of Wednesday to Thursday. The situation in Yemen remains ex...
Thursday, May 26, 2011

Heavy fighting continues in Sana'a, at least 63 dead

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  One of the scarce video's of the clashes taken inside the Al-Ahmar compound,  And another one taken by The Guardian's Tom Finn: ...
Wednesday, May 25, 2011

New round of fighting takes 38 lives in Sanaa

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  Smoke above the Hassaba quatrer of Sanaa, the Yemeni capital  The toll of  another day of fighting in the Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, ...
Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Saleh's forces attack residence of rival tribal leader, Yemen on brink of civil war

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Sadeq al-Ahmar At least 18 people, (ten governmental security forces, six Ahmar tribesmen, and two Somali by passers) have been killed ...
Monday, May 23, 2011

President Saleh of Yemen again refuses to sign abdication deal

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Yemen Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign an agreement on Sunday to step down, the third time such a deal has fallen thro...
Sunday, May 22, 2011

North Sudan occupies Abyei, S-Sudan:calls it 'act of war'

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Northern Sudan has occupied a contested border region on Saturfay night after several days of haggling and fighting. Northern forces wit...

Some 55 killed during weekend of protests in Syria

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Update Sunday 22/5: The total deth toll on Friday appeared to be 44. On Saturday again 11 people were killed. Al-Jazeera English had the fo...
Friday, May 20, 2011

Emperor Obama is still wearing the same 'new clothes'

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Obama during his speech Another missed opportunity. That seems to be more or less the consensus in the Middle East about the speech U.S. ...
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Abu Pessoptimist
This blogname was derived from a satiric Arabic novel by the Palestinian Israeli Emile Habiby. In the ''The Secret Life of Saeed The Pessoptimist'' he uses absurdism as a weapon against the (ir)realities of daily life in Palestine/Israel. I consider it to be an example for how events in Israel/Palestine best can be approached. The subtitle is from a book by Dutch author Renate Rubinstein. In a way that is also still my motto. My real name is Martin (Maarten Jan) Hijmans. I've been covering the ME since 1977 and have been a correspondent in Cairo. In 2018, I concluded the study 'Arabic language and culture' at the University of Amsterdam. I started 'Abu Pessoptimist' in January 2009 out of anger about the onslaught of that month in Gaza. The other blog, The Pessoptimist, is meant to be a sister version in English. (En voor de Nederlandstaligen: ik wilde in november 2009 een tweede blog in het Engels beginnen en ontdekte te laat dat als je één account hebt, een profiel dan meteen ook voor allebei de blogs geldt. Vandaar dat het nu ineens in het Engels is... So sorry.)
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