Qifa Nabki
Lebanese elections
Hizbullah: It Feels So Good to Be So Bad…
Boy oh boy is the Axis of Evil the place to be these days. To witness the envoys tripping over each other in an effort to court Iran, Syria, and Hizbullah is to realize that the birth pangs of the New Middle East have been replaced by the death throes of the Bush doctrine. Being … Continue reading
Deadline Nears for Lebanese Voter Registration
View from a ’72 Benz C250 series, issue no. 4 “Three quarters of the people who get into my cab think the elections will be called off for ‘security reasons’.” I’m in a taxi, heading from Mar Mikhael to Hamra. “Really?” “Yes. What do you think?” “Me?” I ask, even though there’s no one else … Continue reading
Who Will Win Lebanon’s Elections? (Part I)
I had lunch with one of Lebanon’s top pollsters a couple of days ago, and I asked him about whose chances he liked, now that we’re just over three months away from the parliamentary elections. He said that Aoun had not lost as much support among Christians as his opponents are claiming. In fact, many … Continue reading
Nasrallah Tips His Hand
In a speech commemorating the one-year anniversary of Imad Mughniyeh’s death, Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah lingered briefly on the subject of Rafiq al-Hariri’s assassination, saying that it was an event that the entire nation mourned. Striking a tone both solemn and conciliatory, Nasrallah paid homage to the idols of his political opponents by way … Continue reading
Martyrs & Broken Bones
View from a ’72 Benz C250 series, issue no. 3 Last night, I took a taxi from Gemmayze to Hamra. The driver seemed to be in his 40’s, and he wore a smart felt cap and a wool sweater vest. A little wooden cross dangled from the rearview mirror. As we drove past the tens … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…