The Witches of the Apocalypse!

Ibrahim Hmeidi has just published an interesting reportage dealing with the now celebrated phenomenon of the Kubaisi women, the orthodox sufi women movement founded by the Syrian scholar and teacher, Munira Kubaisi, AKA the Miss.

The movement which began in the early 60s in Damascus is now an international one with “centers” all over the world operating quietly, almost clandestinely sometimes, albeit, let me rush to say here, they are so far pretty apolitical and, as such, has no connection to any terror groups or activities. Continue reading “The Witches of the Apocalypse!” →

A Heretic in New York!

I just got back from a trip to New York where I took part in the Festival for International Literature organized by PEN World Voices. This marked the first time in what seemed like forever that I was treated as a literary figure and not a political one. It was quite a refreshing change to say the least. I spoke at two panels: Exiles in America, and Truth and the Internet, both of which proved quite interesting and lively indeed. Continue reading →

Of Lions and Termites!

The debate in the comments section below perhaps got unnecessarily heated, but Alex did make some “sober” points that I simply need to respond to equally as soberly I hope.

Indeed, demanding anything like “simultaneous goodwill gestures between the Syrian government and its Lebanese opponents,” and advising that “[i]f the Americans wanted peace in the Middle East, they should make a deal with Bashar,” seem based on the erroneous assumption that Bashar and his henchmen are indeed capable of behaving like true statesmen and not like the sectarian thugs that they are. People who insist on looking at the Assads of Syria as statesmen are in an unfortunate state of denial. Bashar has been out of his depth from the moment he stepped into office, Maher is an unreliable hothead, and Assef is a man obsessed with his sectarian identity and with the necessity of keeping Alawites in control of Syria at all costs. Continue reading “Of Lions and Termites!” →

Falling Apart!

No, I have not abandoned blogging in favor of politics, just as I had done with my literary ventures. No, I am not going to allow politics to take this part of my life as well. It has already taken too much.

Indeed, its latest victim seems to be my health. This is, at least, what the doctors seem to implying. Judge for yourself:

“Well, let see here, all your blood tests came back negative, and so did your urine tests. Your x-rays show nothing wrong with any of your vital organs, and you seem to have a pretty healthy heart. Still, you have a temperature of 105 and the blood pressure of a comatosed lizard (i.e., ridiculously low blood pressure, well-nigh zombiesque), so, are you under some kind of pressure????” Continue reading “Falling Apart!” →