A couple of months ago, I caught up with my friend Bassam Haddad, Director of Middle East Studies at George Mason and a co-founder and editor of Jadaliyya, and interviewed him for Guernica Magazine. The introduction is below, followed by a link to the main body of the piece.
Also, here’s a crowdsourcing challenge to the Lebanese expatriate readers: I’m going to be in Cambridge, MA this weekend, giving a talk to the annual convention of the Lebanese Collegiate Network. My brief is to give advice to students and young professionals who want to “further develop their understanding of life and society in Lebanon,” and to “enrich their connection to Lebanon” through their studies and work in the US. If you have an opinion on this topic, post it below. How many of you return regularly to Lebanon? How often do you go? Are you involved in any cultural, humanitarian, or political organizations? How do you stay in touch with the day-to-day, if at all?
**
In the fall of 2010, I was crossing a crowded hotel lobby at the Middle East Studies Association convention in San Diego when a friend introduced me to the writer, editor, and scholar Bassam Haddad. “Bassam is starting a website,” she said. “You should know each other.” He slipped me a business card with the word Jadaliyya (Arabic for “dialectic”) on it. “There isn’t much online yet,” Haddad explained. “We just launched.”
A few weeks later, Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, setting off a mind-bending chain of uprisings from Libya to Yemen. In the four years since, dictators have fallen, elections have been held, constitutions drafted, political parties established and banned, and presidents elected and jailed, as millions have protested and millions more have become refugees of civil conflicts. Meanwhile, Jadaliyya—which Haddad co-founded and co-edits with several other writers—has emerged as one of the most widely read sources of commentary on the politics, literature, history, and culture of the Middle East. More specialized than a mainstream periodical but more nimbly attuned than an academic journal to the evolving microclimates of expertise on the Middle East, Jadaliyya now reaches nearly two million readers each week, and is run by a growing network of volunteers around the world. Together they commission and publish a couple hundred articles every month—opinion and analysis, poetry, criticism, news roundups, book reviews, conference reports—in four languages: English, Arabic, Turkish, and French.
In the context of contemporary debates over the irrelevance of the academy, the corporatization of higher education, the end of scholarly publishing, and the disruption of old media by new media, Jadaliyya seems to be portentous of something. Is this the perfect marriage of informed scholarship and public engagement, or is it just a larger bubble of academics speaking to each other and few others? In our many conversations, Haddad has appeared allergic to both the trivialization of the region’s complexities by the mainstream media and the obscurantism of much academic writing. “We are trying to publish the most interesting work,” he told me over coffee in Beirut a couple years ago, adding, “but we don’t need every last footnote.” (keep reading)
Qifa Nabki 
My input for the crowdsourcing challenge as an expatriate living in Sydney, Australia.
How often do you go? Try to return yearly or every second year. Lived there when younger and have returned 8 times in the last 10 years.
Are you involved in any cultural, humanitarian, or political organizations? Not really, there are a few cultural groups that I might keep in touch with.
How do you stay in touch with the day-to-day, if at all? Twitter feed of prominent journalists (like M. Young), blogs like this, websites like naharnet and al-ahkbar.
Advice to students and young professionals: Go to Lebanon and check it out. You can only read/hear so many stories. It’s not until you go and see what it’s like does it all sink in. For example, what it’s like to catch a service, what people are like when they know you live overseas etc.
Further advice: If you have some sort of land/house in Lebanon, especially in a village, go and check that out too. Perhaps do some sort of semester exchange and get to live in Lebanon for months on end.
Posted by Joseph | April 3, 2014, 5:37 pmNot exactly an expat, but as a 1st generation Lebanese-American my input in this attempt at crowdsourcing carries some useful weight.
How often do you go?
I have not been to Lebanon in five years, but prior to this long lapse of time I have been there a total of 10 times. Where I have spent an average of 3 months every time.
Are you involved in any cultural, humanitarian, or political organizations?
To answer this more relevantly, I myself am not involved in any Lebanese organizations, but I keep in touch with family who are very active in their collegiate communities. Which from my understanding have some excellent student run institutions. If I were to live in Lebanon, however, I would be very open to the idea of joining a political organization.
How do you stay in touch with the day-to-day, if at all?
Whats app seems to be the the Lebanese social media du jour, and it will only carry on with Facebook’s recent (and expensive) acquisition of the company. I try to keep in touch on a daily basis. But as of late, group messaging on Whats app has created more headaches, if anything really.
Posted by HMH | April 3, 2014, 10:30 pm“Bassam Haddad: The Knowledge Production Project (KPP) is an organic outgrowth of what we have been doing at the Arab Studies Institute since 1992; that is, producing knowledge on the region that is analytically rigorous, stands the test of time, and is independent from various power centers and policy circles……
……And then finally, we are mining all think-tank reports and papers produced on the region, including the relations and job history of think-tank personnel and how they circulate within the realms of academia, media, government, and the think-tank world.”
A KPP Who’s Who of think-tankery would be a fabulous resource.
Posted by lally | April 4, 2014, 1:08 amPresidential elections and NO COMMENTS from the Doctor? Wallaw? What’s more important in Lebanon than screwing the Christians?
Posted by danny | April 23, 2014, 9:36 amScrewing Christians…..? Which Christians……?
From Naharnet:
“23 April 2014, 13:19 Geagea: We will not return to old habits of choosing a president behind closed doors and through foreign interference.”
lol. Shameless!
Lousy Google translation:
“She said among the wide range found in Beirut «opinion» that the adoption of the March 14 forces for the nomination of president of the party «Lebanese Forces» Samir Geagea involves more than meaningful, pointing out that «the former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was toured last week on the poles of this team to inform them that the stream future boss and Saudi Arabia have decided to support the candidature of Geagea for the presidency, based on the principle that Lebanon needs a strong president can confront the political and security challenges stand in the face of any weapon is illegal and prevents the spread of Hezbollah in Syria and bring him back to Lebanon ».
She spoke these circles about that this trend was not son time, the memorandum Ballqa who was collecting President Michel Suleiman with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in the presence of Prime Minister Hariri, pointing out that the day he asked King Abdullah Suleiman for not intervening to prevent the transmission of «Hezbollah »to Syria, and his participation in the battles there. Hence came – according to these circles – the gift of the three billion dollars from Saudi Arabia across France «and possibly support the advent of a strong president aims to benefit from the capacity of the army to enable it to prevent transmission of the Syrian and Iraqi forces to Lebanon, and consequently remain one force legitimacy only possess”
http://www.alraimedia.com/Articles.aspx?id=499403
I assume you don’t mind Aoun being screwed, Danny….:)
Posted by lally | April 23, 2014, 1:07 pmI popped in here to see if anyone was talking about the presidential “elections”…Nothing? This place is slacking lately…
Posted by Bad Vilbel | April 23, 2014, 2:19 pmLally the clAoun screws himself on his own. No assistance needed. 😀
Posted by danny | April 23, 2014, 2:36 pmSorry, boys and girls. This is the last week of classes, and so has been predictably busy.
Will try to say something interesting about an uninteresting topic tonight.
Posted by Qifa Nabki | April 23, 2014, 2:49 pmUninteresting topic, eh? 🙂
Posted by Bad Vilbel | April 23, 2014, 3:59 pmElection my ass
Posted by Vulcan | April 23, 2014, 4:11 pmAm more interested in the Damascus election it’s much more transparent 🙂
Posted by Vulcan | April 23, 2014, 4:12 pmOne more word ow balesh okfor ha!
Posted by Vulcan | April 23, 2014, 4:14 pmLally I miss you!
Posted by Vulcan | April 23, 2014, 4:16 pmCome to Beirut
Posted by Vulcan | April 23, 2014, 4:16 pm“uninteresting topic” How can an election that includes MPs voting for various victims of the leading presidential candidate be uninteresting?
There is very little about Lebanon that is uninteresting. To wit, this interview of a young Palestinian journo/visitor to Beirut post his release from the Shin Bet dummies who held & questioned him for 5 days:
“How did they welcome you? Other than at your newspaper’s conference, I assume you took the liberty of presenting yourself as a Palestinian in other places as well.
You know, with all the factions in Lebanon, you get lost in the beginning. You can’t know in front of whom you can safely identify yourself as a Palestinian. Of course it’s easy when you meet communists; their local history is rich with support for Palestinians — in some cases, more than the PLO itself.
Anyway, In Beirut, you get into a store to buy gum or water. You have to know to whom the store belongs – Sunni, Shiite, Amal etc. By knowing who you’re dealing with you can know how far you’re allowed to go in a small talk. Lebanese people always prefer to deal with people like them in daily routine.
Get this story: I’m riding this taxi, I look at the taxi driver’s left hand and see that all of his fingers are cut off. He starts talking to me and it turns out he fought with the Samir Geagea Brigades (A notorious militant leader who commanded several brigades that slaughtered, among many others, Palestinians. R.Y.). He checks me out and notices an unusual accent. I was terrified for the whole ride while he wouldn’t stop questioning me. The moment I got out of the taxi was one of the happiest of my life.”
………snip
“The political complexity of Lebanon is among the world’s most complicated. How did you notice its effects on the public discourse?
Oh, arguments are very different there. Most Lebanese are very politically aware, and I’m not just talking about the educated. I didn’t encounter anyone who claimed the Arabs of ’48 (those who remained in Israel following the 1948 war) are traitors or something, which unfortunately happens in other Arab countries. Debates are on a whole different level there – they’re more deep and profound, and they argue, debate and disagree about pretty much everything.
I enjoyed arguing with Assad supporters. When you live in such a political complexity on a daily basis, you’re forced to never stop thinking. The Israelis go to the army; they know things. The problem is that in Israel, the culture of censorship – due to the military/security culture – is the mainstream; that prevents Israelis from having important and profound thought processes. Add to that the fact we as Palestinians living here are not aware of many things for various reasons, and you get a lower level of debate than the one they have in Lebanon. I say if we’re doomed to have a war, at least have people capable of writing about it properly.”
http://972mag.com/the-shin-bet-was-very-nice-and-therein-lies-their-racism/89988/
Danny…it’s early yet to count clAoun out.
Vulcan !!!!!!!!!!! You crazy man……. </;~{)
Posted by lally | April 23, 2014, 6:17 pmLally;
HA does not and never will want the village idiot as a president. He is too combustible and cheaply bought out! Who on earth do you think wants to vote for a mentally challenged douche who used to go to 3asfourieh as a patient as far back as the late seventies….
Posted by danny | April 23, 2014, 7:25 pm“Hezbollah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouk said his party would like the president to be someone who would ‘frighten’ Israel.
‘We are interested in electing a strong president, and the [candidate] who is stronger at the national level is the one Israel fears the most,” Qaouk said in remarks published Monday by the National News Agency. ……”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Apr-14/253269-ghanem-aoun-oppose-amending-constitution-for-election.ashx
But Danny, if this version of HA’s presidential criteria is accurate, what could be more unsettling to Israel than an unhinged general with completely unpredictable impulses and worrisome friendlies?
Posted by lally | April 23, 2014, 11:23 pmAkbar Palace,
What do you think of the recent so-called Palestinian reconciliation?
How could the PA of Mahmoud Abbas ‘reconcile’ with a Hamas seeking closer ties with the axis of terrorism?
And I’m wondering who will be in charge in either the West Bank or Gazza? Abbas? Hamas?
Posted by Mustap | April 24, 2014, 2:12 amTell us Zionist AP how should we get rid of the terrorists? Kingdom is back.
By the way, Wise Enlightened Kingdom, don’t you see that AP is done building bridges with you? You’ve been properly bridged already.
There are many other Likud worshippers websites where you could be bonding with Zionist thieves.
Posted by 3issa | April 24, 2014, 2:51 amLally Lally Lally ;:()/~:)) I agree with you, Danny discriminates against the unhinged lol
I think Strida the lady in red should have ran for the seat in Beirut, I lay a bet that none f the lewaneez depdedentatures would have vote her out
Posted by Vulcan | April 24, 2014, 3:18 amOf course as expected the falastinians refuse offers of peace for another 60 year term
Posted by Vulcan | April 24, 2014, 3:27 amOr offers of surrender
Posted by Vulcan | April 24, 2014, 3:28 amCry Havoc and let slip the dawgs of war
Posted by Vulcan | April 24, 2014, 3:28 amLally the problem is if he lets loose on the Yellow Jackets by inviting Obama’s awesome force in. 😀
Posted by danny | April 24, 2014, 7:04 amAkbar Palace,
What do you think of the recent so-called Palestinian reconciliation?
Mustap,
How many times have we seen this? In my lifetime, about 7 times. We call this “Kabuki Theatre”. Enjoy.
How could the PA of Mahmoud Abbas ‘reconcile’ with a Hamas seeking closer ties with the axis of terrorism?
And I’m wondering who will be in charge in either the West Bank or Gazza? Abbas? Hamas?
I’m thinking if things break down enough in the West Bank, Israel brings in King Abdullah of Jordan and they raise the Jordanian flag over Eretz Yisroel/Palestine like it was from ’48 to ’67. Sometimes it’s better to do things the “old-fashioned” way.;)
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 24, 2014, 7:16 amAkbar Palace,
Agree.
OTOH,
I have doubts about this lollipop poster who claims to be an American Joo.
I believe h/she is neither American nor a Joo. Looks like Amal Saad Ghraib or Narmine Sharwani to me.
What do you think.
H/she too is very upset about the Kingdom’s wise standing in our world of fool politicians and mullala supported terrorists
Posted by Mustap | April 24, 2014, 8:03 amPassover must be over…
3issa what did you do girl? Triggered the romantic duo out of hibernation… 😛
and here goes the spamming…WHAT DO YOU THINK eh?
Posted by danny | April 24, 2014, 8:15 amMustap,
You lost me on the “lollipop poster” thing. sEnd a link and I’ll be happy to comment.
Danny,
I would have posted on Pesach but there wasn’t any news. We did hear for a few days that Abbas was going to dismantle the PA. Then we all woke up and realized it was a daydream.
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 24, 2014, 10:54 amAkbar Palace,
C’mon. It’s not your habit to loose it so easily. Obviously you’re playing the don’t know, don’t hear game
Isn’t it obvious who the lollypop is?
Ask yourself: how many commentators here claim to be American Joo’s and yet support terrorists, know Arabic very well and whose moniker rhymes with lolly? And you still need a link?
There is only ONE answer.
Notice, however how the crowd gangs together out of spite and previous grievances. Your Daniel of the lions den is seeking help from threesa!! He can’t help overcome his spite – Typical tribalism in full display. I expect the herd will flock to its ‘shepherd’ for additional guidance.
Posted by Mustap | April 24, 2014, 11:26 amAP,
You are isolating yourself with the romantic back n forth with the Salafist…Stay away from Wahabi worship.
Posted by danny | April 24, 2014, 11:29 amDanny,
Cut me break; I don’t make friends very easily. q:o)
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 24, 2014, 11:40 amAkbar Palace,
You see? It didn’t take long to trigger the response; a mere three minutes.
OK, so now you’re faced with an ultimatum: Join the herd or get excommunicated.
It is so simple….
I say heed the ultimatum since ‘resistance’ is futile.
But if you come to think about logically, isolation imparts a higher degree of ‘resistance’
So, I really don’t know what his problem is with you getting isolated. You would then be in a PERFECT resisting state. Isn’t that the ultimate goal of the herd?
But to satisfy the curiosity of the Lions den of the Daniels: Geagea is NOT going to be a pres. of the republica. Republica here is the farm and not the band.
So, let’s go back and discuss Palestinian reconciliation.
How will such presumed reconciliation affect the development of Qassam fireworks in the territories?
Posted by Mustap | April 24, 2014, 11:48 amMustap,
The fireworks will continue because there isn’t anything else to do under Hamas rule except cash foreign aide checks. The fireworks industry is the only business that keeps people employed, frees Palestine and is just plain fun.
Personally I think they should export the rockets to hobby stores in the west or to illegal militias.
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 24, 2014, 2:39 pmAkbar Palace,
I would say your proposal is worthy of consideration.
This is not to mean that this opinion of mine will ‘repair’ the bridges between us that everyone here is keen on destroying, beginning with the threesas, then the lollypops and now the Daniels of the lions den. I am just looking at the proposal objectively and with totally detached frame of mind.
We must be careful not to irritate the tribes. After all, the republica will be without a pres., or at least without a Geagean pres. and the Wahhabis are a dangerous bunch to deal with, especially if you get to ‘worship’ with them, not to mention that the tribes are inherently spiteful and extremely vengeful.
So, have you been enjoying your highly resistive isolated state of persecution?
Posted by Mustap | April 24, 2014, 2:56 pmYes. Being isolated. has its benefits. Enjoying ur sense of humor: I actually had a LOL moment after reading ur post.
In all, I like most of the participants here including Danny. Everyone here has their “schtick”, and so life goes on.
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 24, 2014, 3:17 pmWhy despising the medevial ruthless occupiers of Arabia systematically means that you support the despicable Iranian proxy occupying Damascus ?
Please answer Mr Wise King of the Vanguard Humanist Kingdom
Posted by 3issa | April 24, 2014, 5:02 pmAnd why try to show so desperately to the zionist white man that you are civilised ?
You are not required to reply to this one O Your Selfless Glorious King Of The Hejaz, Light Of Freedom, Hope Of The Orphans, Justice Of The Innocent, Relief To The Afflicted
Posted by 3issa | April 24, 2014, 5:06 pmThreesa,
How is supporting Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran any more civilized than supporting the KSA? In my my mind, ur not one to talk about freedom or enlightenment.
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 24, 2014, 6:00 pmWhat is it? A joke ?
Where did I say that it’s better to support Hezbollah or its patrons in Tehran?
Posted by 3issa | April 24, 2014, 6:16 pmAkbar Palace,
Threesa is ‘ve…ry civilized’ and ‘ve…ry humanistic’.
But you need to know how this comes to pass.
Threesa wants, in the name of calling his/herself Muslim, turn the world into a communist ‘heavenly paradise’, in which s/he can claim your spouse for a night or two while you show him/her gratitude and appreciation for doing so.
You see now?
I suggest from now on you refer the hard cases to my attention. I promise to decipher them for you free of charge in support of the upcoming ‘communist heavenly paradise’. That’s the next stage of the ‘resistance project’.
Posted by Mustap | April 24, 2014, 6:23 pmKingdom Of Heaven keeps referring to that comment I made, en passant, regarding the massive wealth of Arabia hijacked by a 500 people strong clique of royals and princes wasting $100K/night in the gentlemen clubs in Vegas and London…
Pathetic.
On the other hand Democratic Medieval Monarchy still fails to adress the pending questions:
– when did I ever mention any kind of sympathy to the yellow jackets (c) or to Assad
– how do you assess the popularity of the Wise ruler of Saudi Arabia if the citizens have never elected him
– what about his daughters being held against their will and telling about it on UK TV
– besides this…can you name ONE achievement of the saudi king (of light)
Posted by 3issa | April 24, 2014, 7:15 pmVulcan you are wrong. I have never endorsed hezbollah neither Iran or the Syrian mafia. Unless you could prove otherwise with anything I wrote here.
I however support any form of resistance against Israel.
POSTED BY 3ISSA | MARCH 8, 2014, 8:02 AM
Threesa,
If you “support any form of resistance against Israel”, then you are no different from Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas the the many other resistance pros around the world.
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 24, 2014, 7:31 pmDanny.
Do you mean Obama’s “advisors” in Jordan. Special Forces, or drones or ? The Israelis would have to trust that we know WTF we’re doing re Syria. They are not sanguine about the global jihad crystalizing on their borders. Will there be escalation once the remnants of CW are cleared out?
Vulcan.
I was trying to spin the case to Danny that HA just might think the Israelis could very well be most scared of a certifiable General Aoun….. Or maybe, it’s that other General as el jefe consensus presidente that would be more to HA’s taste. Constitutions are made to be amended,
The chance to build a real armed forces has just risen exponentially with the meeting between Lavrov and Bassil. Russia has no more cause to heed western embargoes on the kinds of military arsenal Lebanon is allowed. Some S-300’s anyone? How about some MIGs? Cyberwarfare enhancements?
The Russian offer to help with the Lebanese recovery, etc of off-shore energy assets is a great opportunity to cut right to the head of the Levant extractor class. Those boyos know what they’re doing. What a boon for Lebanon.
Posted by lally | April 25, 2014, 12:44 amQifa Nabki [ˈki-fə ˈneb-kē] is a blog about Lebanese politics written by Elias Muhanna…
Really? To echo my pal BV, what the heck QN or Elias? Even, if uninteresting the election should be somewhere here discussed, dissected, if only to to debate why and how it is uninteresting and what does that say about the state of things etc. BTW will anyone talk about the constitution and its constantly being abuse by all, yet again, the need to clarify it, change it, trash it etc…Who wrote that damn thing?
Now more of a jibe at your buddy Haddad that at you QN: Jadaliyya, wow! And Guernica, double wow!! This is so 1930’s, it is a no-brainer that these guys are living is some academic high-falutin cocoon, still focused on the loser-issue of all times: Palestine.
Cheers
Posted by Oldhand | April 25, 2014, 5:32 amAkbar Palace,
Notwithstanding the fact that the Hamas/PA reconciliation is described by many as no different than a marriage of two Hollywood actors, i.e. lots of fanfare followed by a speedy divorce, how much do you think Netenyahoo indirectly played a role to bring about this fantastic event? You need to consider the following while formulating an answer:
1) Bibi squeezed the juice out of Abbas in order to free a mere 80 prisoners, most of them have been in jail for more than 20 years, while he was more than eager to free more than 1000 prisoners for Hamas.
2) Bibi refused to recognize any sovereignty for the PA over the West Bank while he was more than eager to recognize Hamas’ sovereignty over Gaza.
And further, do you think Abbas learnt from Hamas based on the above and he’s just playing the same Hamas game as being hard to get?
Isn’t Hamas a useful tool for Bibi and he would seek to invent it if it didn’t exist? If your answer is yes to this question, then by extension wouldn’t so called resistance fall into the same category of useful tools for him, albeit, we know that these tools are discredited as far as the objectives they claim they seek to achieve, regardless of the fact that the threesas, the lollypops and the Ghrayebs cheer them as the ultimate panacea for Arab and Muslim grievances?
Posted by Mustap | April 25, 2014, 7:35 amMore to come latter
Posted by Vulcan | April 25, 2014, 12:46 pmKingdom what about my questions?
Posted by 3issa | April 25, 2014, 4:02 pmI support any kind of resistance to illegal occupation, ethnic cleansing and outright massacres. I then support the right of any lebanese to resist and fight a foreign occupier. Now for Hezbollah I don’t believe that they care so much about Palestine. Their claims are just bogus (as demonstrated through what they do in Lebanon and recently in Syria).
It’s not because Iran speaks of Resistance that I support them by default.
Posted by 3issa | April 25, 2014, 4:06 pmAkbar Palaca,
While waiting for your answers to my last comment about so-called Palestinian reconciliation, we need to address this latest attempt by our threesa to dissociate self from the web of so-called resistance. In my h. opinion, the threesa has failed to do so for more than one reason.
The first most important reason, of course, is the continued use of the jargon of resistance. In this current world of ours we need to be precise in the choice of words and it is urgent that we avoid the use of any jargon that may lead to confusion. As the jargon of resistance has become the hallmark of the axis of terrorism spearheaded by hezbollah, the use of such jargon becomes inadviseable regardless of any sugar coating one may coat it with.
The second important question, undoubtedly, is how many threesas in the Arab world there were prior to the outbreak of the Syrian revolution who were cheering the so-called resistance of hezbollah and then realized their foolishness after the revolution when said resistance became discredited. I believe, there were very many such threesas, and it is quite likely our own threesa was such naive cheerleader. We need to ask ourselves why this came to pass? How could such collective failure of intellect be so wide spread in such a vast world as the Arab one so as to allow millions to be deceived by such a mediocre character of the like of nasrallah? We also need to make a distinction between the many resistance cheering threesas among the Arabs and the very few who NEVER suffered from such deception in order to give credit where credit is due. If you look at the Arab world, you will see that only the Saudis, thanks to the wise counsel of their Monarch, and the people of the Gulf were the Arabs who escaped such misfortune of deception, and never looked up at nasrallah and his resistance mumbo jumbo except as the demagogue that he really is. And yet, we see apparently previously deceived threesa gullibles coming here and lecturing us about how to choose our counsel and leaders when our existing wise leaders have proven their value and worth not only to their own people but to the world at large. We cannot trust any such gullibles simply because of their history of lack of judgement and their inability to distinguish right from wrong until it is too late or as they say in retrospect, not to mention the fact that, after their first folly, they seem to be inclined yet again towards another discredited concept of communist nonesense. It is obvious that, except for the Saudis and the few Gulf States, the Arabs at large have not yet grown beyond adolescence, and they still need one to two hundred years to reach the threshold of maturity. Nasrallah and his demagoguery of resistance has made this fact clearly visible to the naked eye.
Posted by Mustap | April 25, 2014, 9:53 pmIf you look at the Arab world, you will see that only the SAUDIS, THANKS TO THE WISE COUNSEL OF THEIR MONARCH, and the people of the Gulf were the Arabs who escaped such misfortune of deception, and never looked up at nasrallah and his resistance mumbo jumbo except as the demagogue that he really is:…
Yassoo!!
Posted by danny | April 25, 2014, 10:40 pmhttp://www.videobash.com/video_show/walk-hard-you-don-t-want-none-of-this-700537
Posted by Vulcan | April 26, 2014, 6:01 amAs they say in Great Britain, “This is rich”:
I support any kind of resistance to illegal occupation, ethnic cleansing and outright massacres.*
Threesa,
Then with your strong statement above, you must be stuck for hours on anti-Iranian websites whining about Iranian and Hezbollah troops in Syria propping up another Arab despot and murdering thousands of innocent arabs.
But I doubt it.
*when perpetrated by Israel only
Mustap,
I’ll respond to your posts shortly. 🙂
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 26, 2014, 9:46 amI wish I could get a smile of approval like this… Kingdom finally got his
Posted by 3issa | April 26, 2014, 12:23 pmMustap,
Here are my comments:
… how much do you think Netenyahoo indirectly played a role to bring about this fantastic event? You need to consider the following while formulating an answer:
1) Bibi squeezed the juice out of Abbas in order to free a mere 80 prisoners, most of them have been in jail for more than 20 years, while he was more than eager to free more than 1000 prisoners for Hamas.
2) Bibi refused to recognize any sovereignty for the PA over the West Bank while he was more than eager to recognize Hamas’ sovereignty over Gaza.
Mustap,
BB has no control over Abbas’s decisions. Let’s step back from the “all-powerful jews” conspiracy. Let’s go back to Camp David. The issue was a few square kilometers of the West Bank and a few square meters of the Old City. In return, AN END TO THE CONFLICT. Palestinian leaders have never been ever to countenance that.
It all goes back to the most each side is willing to give up and it will never be enough. Therefore, the status quo will be “as good as it gets”. Which is fine for everyone except for American administrations.
And further, do you think Abbas learnt from Hamas based on the above and he’s just playing the same Hamas game as being hard to get?
This seems to be the ME method for negotiating. At one time the Great Lion of Syria though he was the most beautiful girl in the ME. She still hasn’t got a date.;)
Isn’t Hamas a useful tool for Bibi and he would seek to invent it if it didn’t exist? If your answer is yes to this question, then by extension wouldn’t so called resistance fall into the same category of useful tools for him, albeit, we know that these tools are discredited as far as the objectives they claim they seek to achieve, regardless of the fact that the threesas, the lollypops and the Ghrayebs cheer them as the ultimate panacea for Arab and Muslim grievances?
Yes and no. Fundamentalist resistance pros make Israel’s job easier by their intransigence, however, they are armed and dangerous.
we need to address this latest attempt by our threesa to dissociate self from the web of so-called resistance
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. I have no interest making anyone “see the light”. But I do enjoy showing how the ideas are inconsistent and illogical.
The first most important reason, of course, is the continued use of the jargon of resistance.
Good point, Language is important. That is why incitement is part of the peace process. That is why Germany has laws against anti-semitism. Free speech is fine; yelling fire in a movie theatre is not.
The second important question, undoubtedly, is how many threesas in the Arab world there were prior to the outbreak of the Syrian revolution who were cheering the so-called resistance of hezbollah…
Another good point. I am sensing that because of the Syrian revolution, a LARGE number of arabs have withdrawn from the Resistance Pro outlook and the anti-Israel bandwagon. Assad has done more for Zionism than Rabbi Schneerson (z”l) 😉
I’ve read the most anti-Israel commentators on this and other websites, and they’re all quite quiet now. Silence of the Lambs. However, I wonder if your POV changed in these past 3 years. We never spoke for the “arab spring”.
How could such collective failure of intellect be so wide spread in such a vast world as the Arab one so as to allow millions to be deceived by such a mediocre character of the like of nasrallah?
Words. Government-owned media. Government-paid clerics. Economic failure. Political failure. Human rights failure. Mix it all together and we find a Zionist boogeyman. Sad that arabs and jews can’t work together.
If you look at the Arab world, you will see that only the Saudis, thanks to the wise counsel of their Monarch, and the people of the Gulf were the Arabs who escaped such misfortune of deception, and never looked up at nasrallah and his resistance mumbo jumbo except as the demagogue that he really is.
That may be a sunni-shia reason, where each group is wary of the other.
It is obvious that, except for the Saudis and the few Gulf States, the Arabs at large have not yet grown beyond adolescence, and they still need one to two hundred years to reach the threshold of maturity. Nasrallah and his demagoguery of resistance has made this fact clearly visible to the naked eye.
The problems are deep. My thoughts are, protect yourself first. Let other kill themselves if they want.
Posted by Akbar Palace | April 26, 2014, 1:20 pm