Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
Will Israel Destroy Lebanon in 2008?
The threats have become more insistent of late. Ehud Barak promised five Israeli army divisions in the next round of battle against Hizbullah, while Northern Command chief Gadi Eisenkot unveiled his Dahiya Doctrine, stipulating that any village that fired a single shot at Israel would receive the same treatment meted out on Beirut’s southern suburbs. … Continue reading
The Syrian Deployment: For Domestic or Foreign Consumption?
Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar carried a front-page investigative feature today about the much-discussed deployment of Syrian Army forces on its border with northern Lebanon. Al-Akhbar, known for its pro-opposition line, interestingly did not seek to sweep aside recent reports claiming that the Syrian troops numbered in the thousands, not hundreds. In fact, the paper’s reporter confirmed … Continue reading
Lebanon’s Cabbies on the Syria-Israel Negotiations
View from a ’72 Benz C250 series, issue no. 1. Beirut’s service taxi drivers are more oppressed than usual these days. The new Interior Minister, Ziad Baroud, is proving his mettle by enforcing the long-ignored seat belt law, and so the chauffeuriyyeh are predicitably getting shafted, not least because most old cabs don’t even have working seat … Continue reading
The Meaning of “Qifa Nabki”
I’ve gotten enough questions about this to warrant an explanation. The words “qifa nabki” are an allusion to a famous classical Arabic ode, the mu`allaqa of Imru’ al-Qays, an Arabian poet who lived before Islam. The first hemistich of the poem reads: qifā nabki min dhikrā ḥabībin wa manzilī || قفا نبك من ذكرى حبيب … Continue reading
Conspiracy Chronicles, issue no. 1
This theory comes courtesy of Abbas, who works as an office boy at a consulting firm in Ras Beirut, and uses the first person plural pronoun (“we”) when speaking about the Hizb. ** Abbas: The Damascus bombing was a message to Syria from the Salafists operating in north Lebanon. The message stated, loud and clear: … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…