Qifa Nabki
Qifa Nabki
Nasser’s Charisma and the Mideast’s Bygone Secularism
My father often says that in mid-century Saida, it was rare to see women wearing the veil in public. Stories like this are a dime a dozen among the retiree set, and even 50-somethings can harken back to a more secular Lebanon. As`ad Abu Khalil talks about how, during his student days, he would drink … Continue reading
On Revolutions, Past and Present
Thomas Babington Macaulay, the British historian and politician, once had this to say about the French Revolution and its discontents (as Roy Mottahedeh reminds us in the preface to his The Mantle of the Prophet): “A traveller falls in with a berry which he has never before seen. He tastes it, and finds it sweet and … Continue reading
Be Sure To Check Out Beirut Design Week
If you are in Beirut at the moment, be sure not to miss the chance to check out the various talks, conferences, films, exhibitions, and workshops connected with Beirut Design Week. The quality of some of the projects is really stellar. You can find the program here. I was thinking recently that I have moments … Continue reading
Al-Akhbar and Syria
I’m in Beirut for a couple of weeks, and as usual, the blogging takes a back seat to seeing family, catching up with friends, and fulfilling my craving for hindbeh bzeit, shish barak, and chicken livers in pomegranate syrup. However… I have been working on a piece about Amal Saad-Ghorayeb’s recent articles on “Third Way” intellectuals … Continue reading
PR to the People
Someone remarked recently on this blog that proportional representation (PR) is notoriously difficult to explain, particularly in a country like Lebanon that already has a kind of proportional quota system in place. The Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform (CCER) has produced a great animated video that breaks down the proposed system and makes it pretty … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…