As'ad AbuKhalil

As'ad AbuKhalil
As'ad AbuKhalil
Born	As'ad AbuKhalil (1960-03-16) March 16, 1960 Tyre, Lebanon
Residence	Modesto, California, USA
Nationality	Lebanese-American
Other names	"Angry Arab"
Occupation	Professor of political science
Employer	California State University, Stanislaus
Religion	None (atheist)
Website
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

As'ad AbuKhalil Arabic: أسعد أبو خليل (born March 16, 1960) is a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus.

AbuKhalil is the author of Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (1998), Bin Laden, Islam & America's New "War on Terrorism" (2002), and The Battle for Saudi Arabia (2004). He maintains a blog, The Angry Arab News Service.

Biography

AbuKhalil was born in Tyre, Lebanon, and grew up in Beirut. He received his B.A. and M.A. in political science from the American University of Beirut, and a Ph.D. in comparative government from Georgetown University.

AbuKhalil is a professor at Cal State Stanislaus and was briefly a visiting professor at UC Berkeley. In addition, he has taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, California State University Stanislaus, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College.

Political views

AbuKhalil describes himself as "a former Marxist-Leninist, now an anarchist", a feminist, and an "atheist secularist".

He is vocally pro-Palestinian, describes himself as an anti-Zionist, supports a secular Palestinian state, and has remarked that "Israel will have to submit to the will of the Palestinians.". He is a supporter of the BDS movement, and agrees that "the real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel". He is an opponent of the Iraq War. He is critical of Zionism, of United States foreign policy, of Iran, Saudi Arabia, of both Fatah and Hamas, and of all rival factions in Lebanon including the Shia Hezbollah.

He had a contentious appearance on Bill Maher's program Politically Incorrect in 2001 shortly after the September 11 attack.

In an interview on New TV on January 13, 2010, AbuKhalil stated that "Lebanese nationalism – just like Zionism – was founded on racism and contempt for others – whether for Lebanese of other sects or for other Arabs...The Lebanese people, with all its sects, has never proven that it wants, or is capable of, true coexistence. Coexistence in Lebanon is coexistence in blood, conflict, and civil strife."

On 11 May 2011, AbuKhalil argued that an Israeli could only be redeemed if he or she meets the following three criteria: 1) the person refuses to serve in the Army or the intelligence service of the state as part of military service; 2) the person must leave the house he/she occupies and the land on which he/she stands; 3) the person must engage in armed struggle against the state of Israel. If an Israeli person fulfills those conditions, he/she should be acceptable from a pro-Palestinian point of view."

In a televised debate which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 23, 2010 (as translated by MEMRI), AbuKhalil stated that US President Barack Obama "has given free rein to the Zionist lobby to do whatever it likes, both in terms of foreign policy and domestic policy." AbuKhalil also stated that "The Zionists want to muzzle us, so that we won't oppose the wars, violence, or hatred of Israel." In the same interview, Abukhalil sharply criticized MEMRI, stating that it is "a rude, propaganda-spreading organization... which was established by a former Israeli intelligence official." (alluding to MEMRI founder, Yigal Carmon).

In an interview which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on October 25, 2011 (as translated by MEMRI), AbuKhalil accused the network of bias and accuses it of giving preferential treatment of "American Propaganda Officials."

The Angry Arab News Service

As'ad AbuKhalil addressing students in the University of Manchester

AbuKhalil's blog, the Angry Arab News Service, was launched in September 2003. The name of the blog is taken from a phrase used by a TV producer to describe AbuKhalil's perspective.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the blog is "known for its sarcastic but knowledgeable commentary", and "stands out for its sense of humor in the dour left-wing landscape." Ken Silverstein writes that the blog often becomes "a furious stream of consciousness that lacks paragraph breaks or other typographic niceties" (though AbuKhalil is nevertheless "a terrific writer and an insightful political analyst").

American journalist Glenn Greenwald has cited AbuKhalil's coverage of Syria as very good.

Books

• Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (1998), ISBN 978-0-8108-3395-1
• Bin Laden, Islam & America's New "War on Terrorism" (2002), ISBN 978-1-58322-492-2
• The Battle For Saudi Arabia: Royalty, Fundamentalism, and Global Power (2004), ISBN 978-1-58322-610-0

External links

• The Angry Arab News Service
• Interview in Ceasefire Magazine
• Profile in the Los Angeles Times
• Profile in Harper's by Ken Silverstein
• Debate with Irshad Manji, Muslim feminist/reformist/Zionist, on the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoon controversy
• Interview on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman on the July 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon – 26:30 into the broadcast
• Interview on Electronic Intifada
• Slideshow on Flickr
• As'ad Abu Khalil - The United States and the Arab Revolt, Feb. 25, 2012, presentation at conference "The Arab Spring: A Year that Changed the World", held at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.