The Reason I Don’t Criticize Israel!

“While Israeli actions in Lebanon are outrageous…” I think this is pretty much the only condemnation of Israeli actions in Lebanon that I have made ever since the beginning of the current tragedy. I frankly thought that this little adjective, “outrageous,” would prove quite sufficient to convey my feelings about this new round of Israeli aggression and intransigence in our midst. But many seem to have had a different impression. Indeed, quite a few people have so far conveyed their “annoyance” with me for failing to be more critical of Israel, and some have even begun to draw their own conclusions about my motivations in this regard, ones laced with a rather “healthy” doze of the sort of conspiratorial thinking for which we are all too famous. Continue reading →

The Opening of the Golan!

Slowly but surely, the conflict in Lebanon is beginning to spread as all sides fall victims to their rhetoric, their pride, their ambitions and their schemes. The latest chapter in this is not the meaningless operation that took place in the occupied Golan Heights a few days ago itself, but the fact that the party that tookcreditfor it, the previously unknown Free Homeland Party, claims to be an independent Syrian organization acting against the government will. Continue reading →

الثورة

القبول بالأمر الواقع هو الخطوة الأولى نحو التمرّد والثورة، ولا يمكن للتمرّد والثورة أن يبدءا إلاّ من هنا. وإذا كانت معظم الثورات الإيديولوجية قد اندلعت وفقاً لمنطلقات نظرية وهمية، فلا شكّ في أن مردّ فشلها هو هذه الحقيقة بالذات. لذا، وإذا ما أردنا أن يكون لثورتنا من أجل الحرية والعدالة والتنمية في المنطقة فرصة حقيقية في النجاح، لابد لنا من تجاوز أخطاء الثورات الإيديولوجية وأن ننطلق بثورتنا المرجوة من الواقع وأن نعيد، بالتالي، ترتيب أولوياتنا بما يتناسب مع معطياته، مهما كانت قاسية وظالمة، ومهما بدا درب التغيير طويلاً. فالدرب يطول أكثر مع كل انطلاقة خاطئة للثورة، وما أكثر هذه الانطلاقات في تاريخنا المعاصر.

Diversity and Turmoil

First posted on my short-lived blog Tharwalizations.

Diversity in our region creates certain dynamics that are simply too complex to be tackled through some facile generalizations. In this regard, and while Arabs across the region and the world seem to stand in solidarity with Hezbollah, the Bedouins in Israel seem to have a different opinion on this matter. Indeed, the Bedouins seem to “bitterly resent Hezbollah,” since of its Katyusha rockets tend to fall at them. Also, and contrary to how many Arabs feel with regard to the US, the Bedouins of Israel “don’t think the U.S. is engaged in a war against Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and elsewhere. They think Arab anger around the world can be laid at the feet of dictators who spread misinformation to distract people from inept rule.” Continue reading “Diversity and Turmoil” →