Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
Fighting Climate Change on the Corniche
Feast your eyes on Rami Eid, an environmental activist who is staging a protest about climate change by spending three days ankle-deep in water in a glass cube on the Corniche, Beirut’s busy seaside thoroughfare. Follow him on his blog here, and check out +961’s photos here. My hat goes off to the guy for … Continue reading
Maronites, Arabs, Phoenicians, Klingons…
I’ve been on the road for the past week, conducting dissertation research at the wonderful collection of Arabic manuscripts at Leiden University. A note: when in Holland, eat Indonesian food. Nothing seems to be happening in Lebanon these days, so allow me to take this opportunity to wax ascerbic about one of my favorite subjects: … Continue reading
When Bashar Met Abdullah
The news is full of speculation about the potential consequences of yesterday’s meeting between King Abdullah al-Saud and President Bashar al-Assad. The Saudi king paid a landmark visit to Syria this week, commandeering two of Damascus’s largest hotels for his entourage, and sitting down with the Syrian president to discuss important matters such as the … Continue reading
All for None
I’ve written an opinion piece on the senselessness of consensual politics for The National. It will be out in print this Friday, but the editors at The Review have agreed to put it up a couple of days early on the website, given the timeliness of the subject matter. The first few paragraphs are below. … Continue reading
An English Version of al-Akhbar?
My friend Sean over at The Human Province sent me an email this morning speculating about whether there was anything to the rumor about the excellent Lebanese daily newspaper al-Akhbar launching an English version. The paper, while following a mostly pro-opposition line, is the only widely-read publication that regularly goes after parties on both sides … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…