Blog
Abdulsalam Shalashtein

This Week in the Middle East: November 15, 2014

According to Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, if you’ve eaten out at a restaurant or supermarket recently, there’s a pretty high chance you’ve consumed human feces. That story and more in this week’s Middle East review.

Syrian Workers Beaten and Covered with Paint

(Image via Radio Sawt Beirut)

While it’s not uncommon for Syrians to be harassed in Lebanon these days, certain cases pop up where the abuse is taken to a whole new level. On Monday, three Syrian workers were attacked, beaten up, and then covered with white paint. The incident took place in Furn El Chebbak. The assailants have not been identified.

Maid Attempts Suicide


Earlier this week, an Ethiopian maid named Percotan Dobrey attempted to commit suicide but was cushioned by a car. According to Percotan, she asked her employers to allow her to go back to her country but they refused. She decided to take control of her own life by ending it. Percotan’s employers deny the claim, saying they booked her a flight, but Percotan changed her mind.

Read more here.

Lebanon’s Food ‘Dipped in Diseases and Microbes”

(Image via Daily Star)

Tuesday afternoon, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour named several establishments across Lebanon serving unsafe food. “The Lebanese citizen’s food is not only dipped with sweat, but also in diseases and microbes,” Abu Faour said during a news conference. “The Lebanese does not know what he eats, and it will be a disaster if he knows.”

Here’s the list of establishments and products he named as contaminated:

Spinneys: Meat
Jbeil Supermarket: Meat
Rimal restaurant: Hamburger
Fahed Supermarket: Minced meat, kafta, hamburger and shawarma
Crepina restaurant: Chicken and mayo
Dar al-Qamar restaurant: Meat
Chai w Asal restaurant: Hamburger
Baytna restaurant: Meat
Abdel Rahman Hallab restaurant: Ashta
Makiye: Ashta
Hawa Chicken restaurant: Chicken and taouk
MP Supermarket: Minced meat
Metro Supermarket: Rotisserie chicken
Poule d’or: Rotisserie chicken
Al-Amiliyya airport road: Whole Rotisserie chicken
Rashid Moussa shops: Sujuk
Ghanem institution: Hamburger
Al-Rayan institution: Shish taouk
Abou Khalil Damour: Sujuk
Bido: Sausage
Kababji Jal el-Dib: Minced meat
Roadster Diner: Chicken
Zomrab butchery: Soujuk and sausage
Tannouri market Baabdat: Minced meat
Al-Ashqar Antelias: Soujuk and sausage
Masoud market Minced meat
McDonalds: Chicken nuggets
Mnih farms: Labneh
Al-Khawly market: Sausage and beef pieces
Al-Sultan butchery: Chicken and minced meat
Metro: Whole rotisserie chicken
Nassar Supermarket: Meat
Marché du Rond Point: Meat
TSC Mega: Veal, hamburger, minced meat and taouk
Mazloum: Taouk and minced meat
Broumana market: Taouk and soujuk

Minister Abu Faour’s announcement raised a lot of controversy. Ex-minister Faisal Karami doubted Abu Faour’s statements to such a degree that he decided to take this photo:



Meanwhile, Chi N N had a part in Abu Faour’s press conference as well. They brought a live chicken with them to the presser and asked “What’s this chicken guilty of? Just tell. What did he do?” (It’s sounds much funnier in Arabic – check it out)



Read more here.

Blast Kills Dozens in Yemen

(Image via Daily Star)

Yemen has been through a lot the past few months with Houthis (Yemeni Tribal Shiites) taking over Sanaa. Sunni tribes and Al-Qaeda have been bringing out the big guns, resisting the Houthi expansion using all means necessary. A recent attack targeting a large gathering of Houthis at the residence of a local tribal chief in Radda resulted in the death of dozens, according the military and tribal men.

Read more here.

Sudan Military Tries to Hide Mass Rape

(Image via Daily Star)

After an alleged mass rape that targeted more than 200 women in Darfur, the UN conducted an investigation, only to find that the women were too terrified to cooperate. That’s because the Sudanese military were following the investigators around, removing any hope of privacy for the victims.

“The behavior and responses of interviewees indicated an environment of fear and intimidation,” said the report following Sunday’s visit. “Some of the sub-teams had to ask the military personnel to stop following them and also asked them to allow the conduction of interviews in some privacy,” it added.

Read more here.


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