Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
The Last Za’im
The Lebanese MP and former minister Suleiman Franjieh gave a long interview to LBC’s Marcel Ghanem last week on Kalam Ennas. Topics covered included the situation in Syria, the disputed extension of the Lebanese Parliament’s mandate, and the upcoming Lebanese presidential elections. Franjieh, who is the scion of an established political family and the grandson and namesake … Continue reading
Analysts and Combatants Discuss Qusayr in Lebanon’s Premier Spin Room
Two Thursdays ago, the Lebanese political talk show Kalam al-Nas featured an interesting discussion of Hizbullah’s involvement in the battle for al-Qusayr, and its repercussions on the Lebanese domestic front. Several guests weighed in (including Ramzi Kanj, Nawfal Daou, Salem Zahran, Mohammad Salam, Saleh Machnouk, and Louay Miqdad), and while no fists were thrown, the show had … Continue reading
Podcast on Lebanon and Syria
I recorded a podcast about Lebanon and Syria with Karl Morand of Middle East Week a couple days ago. You can listen to it here. In other news, the Daily Beast is reporting that the U.N. has reversed its decision not to build camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and is now proposing a dozen large camps housing … Continue reading
Hizbullah & Grendizer
A friend of mine, one Abdul Rahman C., published this amusing post on his Facebook wall today. I reproduce it here with his permission. I remember watching Grendizer episodes as a kid, but never thought about its political influence upon my brain. (I always assumed that the cartoon with more obvious resonances with Lebanese politics … Continue reading
Operation Strange Bedfellows
The last ten years have witnessed some of the strangest contortions in Middle Eastern political history. Tracking the maneuvers and realignments of Lebanese, Syrian, Qatari, Turkish, Palestinian, Saudi, and Israeli leaders as they navigated the shoals of SALSRA, the STL, the Doha Accord, the July War, the Iraq War, the Turkish flotilla incident, Operation Cast … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…