The Alawite Question!

An interesting guest-post onSyria Comment raises the all too important issue of Alawite rule in Syria from the hence missing Alawite point of view. The post does a good job in summarizing Alawite concerns, and poses certain questions that members of the other communities in Syria are required to answer in order to convince the Alawites to take part in changing the situation in the country and turning against the Assads. Continue reading →

Should Syria and Israel Start Peace Talks Now?

My latest contribution to the Creative Syria Think Tank is up and running, alongside those of my dear friend, Ibrahim Hamidi, Patrick Seale and Ghayth Armanazi. As usual, people can read and vote on the various contributions.

How should the two countries plan for the talks in order to enhance the chances of success? What other related issues should be dealt with as part of the final solution? Continue reading “Should Syria and Israel Start Peace Talks Now?” →

الحقيقة وعشاّقها

28 آب، 2006 / مدونة “أقوال وأفكار”

على من يبحث بجد عن الحقيقة أن يملأ عقله مسبّقاً بحبها، لأن من لا يحبها لا يمكنه أن يكابد المشقات للوصول إليها، ولن يهتمّ كثيراً إن فشل في ذلك. ولا يوجد أحد في مجتمع المعرفة ممن لا يدّعي بأنه من عشاّق الحقيقة، ولا يمكن لمخلوق عاقل أن لا يغضب ويحتجّ إذا ظُنّ به عكس ذلك. ومع هذا، قلّة هم عشّاق الحقيقة من أجل الحقيقة، حتى في صفوف أولئك الذين يقنعون أنفسهم بأنهم كذلك. Continue reading “الحقيقة وعشاّقها” →

The all too real need

First posted on my short-lived blog Tharwalizations.

Nationalism, Baathism, Islamism, whateverism, etc, indeed, the various isms that have swept across the region in the late 90^th and early 20^th Centuries onward have been nothing but a betrayal of its amazing ethnic diversity and all the intermixing that has been taking place for centuries. What we need is something new, a new idea of who we are, a new conception, no matter how vague, that can allow us to celebrate our differences and turn them into a source of strength rather than trouble and internecine warfare and mayhem. WE need to knit ourselves again into new fabric that can be reinserted back into the civilized world, for all our sakes.