No Time to Waste

Tharwa Editorial

Maashouq and Qassir – two assassinations in the span of a week. Someone out there is making it quite clear for one and all that there is no room for dialog or negotiations. Indeed, a war has obviously been declared against the voices of reason and moderation in the Region, one that is likely to have disastrous consequences for the immediate future.

For the voices of reason and moderation in this bedlam Region have always been too few, a determined effort to silence them in this manner could produce the “desired” results in a relatively short period of time, leaving the Region to be torn apart by the dark forces of ignorance, avarice and extremism.  Continue reading “No Time to Waste”

Preempted, Yet…

Indeed, despite the fact that the Atassy 8 were released hours prior to the publication of this article, the main thrust of the article and its main arguments still hold true. I stand by each and every word.

Now that most of the work on the expansion of the Tharwa Team’s Projects has been accomplished, I can now free some time to writing articles and editorials once more. Heaven help us all. Continue reading “Preempted, Yet…”

From Hama to Andijon – is dialogue with Islamists an impossibility?

Tharwa Editorial

Is dialogue with political Islam truly an impossible and futile undertaking as many “secular” regimes in the Region assert? Or does the real problem lie in the fact that authoritarian and corrupt regimes are simply unwilling to dialogue with anybody, regardless of their political affiliations?

Moreover, can such a dialogue take place between representatives of secular movements and Islamist ones?  Continue reading “From Hama to Andijon – is dialogue with Islamists an impossibility?”