Qifa Nabki

@yuhaa ‘l-Lubnaniyoun: The Zu`ama Discover Twitter…

The Future of al-Mustaqbal

Now that the mystery of Moussa al-Sadr’s disappearance has been solved, Lebanon needs a new vanished imam to contemplate. Why not Saad al-Hariri? Even by his own peripatetic standards, al-Hariri’s absence from the political scene over the past several months has been something to behold. The man has well and truly left the building, and … Continue reading →

Al-Akhbar’s Recent UN Tribunal Coverage Likely Based on Pure Speculation, Not Actual Reporting

On October 11th, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published a story by Omar Nashabe entitled “STL’s Cassese: Resignation Likely Sign of Infighting, Not Ill Health.”  In the piece, Nashabe (who is the paper’s judicial affairs editor) claimed that the previous day’s resignation of Antonio Cassese from the presidency of the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was “likely prompted … Continue reading →

Tunisia’s Upcoming Elections: Lessons for Lebanon?

The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) has published an excellent primer on Tunisia’s upcoming elections. It is succinct, well-written, and will bring you up to speed on all of the most important players, issues, and questions in about twenty minutes. I highly recommend checking it out (download the PDF here). Speaking of elections, Lebanon’s … Continue reading →

Keep Syria Comment Alive

Two years ago, several people who had never met and, in certain cases, did not even know each others’ real names, launched an online experiment called OneMideast.org. The group consisted of ten Israelis and ten Arabs from a variety of professional backgrounds: academics, journalists, businesspeople, and various others. They had little in common apart from … Continue reading →