Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
Hamas & Hizbullah Go to Washington?
Joshua Landis, over at Syria Comment, has a new post entitled “Will Syria Benefit From Syria’s Invasion of Gaza”. In it, he argues that “the ‘moderates’ are moderate because they have no conflict with Israel. The radicals are radical because they do… Syria is compelled to fan the flames of hatred and violence because it … Continue reading
The Setting Star?
I was at a party last night when someone dropped a bombshell in the middle of a conversation. “It’s really too bad about The Daily Star, isn’t it?” “What do you mean?” “They’re going bust. Such a shame.” “WHAT?!” This report was confirmed by another person listening in on the conversation. “Haven’t you heard,” they … Continue reading
Michel Aoun & the Eastern Christians
I woke up this morning to be confronted with a flood of articles about the General’s trip to Damascus. Everywhere one looks, it seems, people are tripping over themselves to either claim or contest Aoun’s status as… er, how does one translate za’im masi7iyii al-sharq? The region’s head Christian? The Eastern-Christian-in-chief? Mr. Christianer-than-Thou? I don’t know about you, but I … Continue reading
Rebooting March 14th?
Something’s going on with March 14th. I’ve felt for a while that the coalition had begun to come apart at the seams before the events of May 7th, and the Doha Accord only formalized the fact that M14 was totally adrift: aimless, divided, and desperately in need of a raison d’être. It was not clear … Continue reading
Streets of Hamra
The Beirut Marathon began this morning at 7:30 AM, with perfect weather: a brisk 19/66 degrees with clear skies and dazzling sunlight. Hamra was completely cordoned off, with all cars ordered off the street since last night at 9PM. Amazingly, the Hamrawis obliged. The rare lull of activity in the streets meant that I was … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…