ISIS and al-Qaeda: Similarities and differences
There is a fervent Saudi attempt to isolate the phenomenon of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and to regard it as a phenomenon unrelated to elements in contemporary Arab political culture...
View ArticleWhy the US war on ISIS will fail
Yet another global war was announced by the US. The US has not really ever taken a break from declaring global wars since the end of World War II. Its war on communism was more than that: it was a...
View ArticleWhich Islam?
Western media are aghast: why can’t “Islam” condemn the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and expel it from “Islam.” For Western media, Islam is an office with fancy headquarters where bureaucrats...
View ArticleThe US and Israel are to blame for Arab misery: let me count the ways
It is the season of the revival of the “Arab Mind”: propagandists for Saudi princes around the world are peddling the same message contained in the racist book, The Arab Mind. Propagandists of Saudi...
View ArticleBiden’s Omission
It is said in Arabic: take their secrets from their minors, and we can also take the administration’s secrets from its minors, i.e., Joe Biden. Joe Biden is infamous for not being smart, and is well...
View ArticleWestern awards for the natives
Western governments love to give awards and grants that bestow honors and legitimacy to selected groups and individuals. In the Middle East, the West prefers the award-giving business in order to pick...
View ArticleAudacious Gulf policies and military adventures: the case of the UAE
There is a new audacious conduct by Gulf countries. The previous generation of Gulf rulers were all cautious and reserved even if they were engaged in covert operations alongside the US or Israel (like...
View ArticleRadical Reform in Islam: Shaykh `Abdullah Al-`Alayli
Beirut has been commemorating the 100th birthday of Shaykh `Abdullah al-`Alayli. This cleric, dubbed the “red cleric” by his reactionary enemies, was the first cousin of my grandfather. We grew up...
View ArticleSome determinants of Iranian foreign policy in the Arab East
Iranian foreign policy has become far less shaped by the Islamic ideology of the Islamic Republic’s founder. Its policies are now similar to those of the other regimes of the region that are...
View ArticleJeffrey Feltman’s children: The jihadis of Lebanon
One of the most under (or un) reported stories about the Middle East is the story of the rise of jihadi groups in Lebanon over the last decade. All American correspondents in Beirut are too...
View ArticleJustifications for Israel’s founding: transformation of Richard Cohen
When I came to the US back in 1983, Richard Cohen (The Washington Post columnist) was considered one of the most liberal voices on the subject of Israel. He used to be a rare liberal who was willing to...
View ArticleThe NYT’s unsubtle war on fairness in covering the Arab-Israeli conflict
In a few articles over the last few days, The New York Times’ hostility to the Palestinian people and their just cause was revealed to all. First, there is a note from Public Editor Margaret...
View ArticleMubarak’s verdict: ancien Arab regimes as new regimes
Make no mistake about it. The Sisi court which reversed previous court and government decisions in Egypt regarding the culpability of Hosni Mubarak and his family in cases of murder and corruption did...
View ArticleBefore Edward Said: a tribute to Fayez Sayegh
Long before there was Edward Said, there was a man named Fayez Sayegh. He was one of the most visible spokespersons of the Palestinian cause in the West. There is very little about him on the web (he...
View ArticleArab world’s reactions to the CIA torture scandal
The Arab world has reacted to the CIA torture scandal in two ways: 1) the regimes were completely silent. Neither the Syrian regime (the only regime that now stands in opposition to the Saudi-US...
View ArticleThe end of electoral appeal in the Arab world
For too long, the totem of elections was sold to the people in the Middle East—those who live outside the pro-US tyrannical regimes in particular. In the decades of the Cold War, the whole premise of...
View ArticleHenry Kissinger’s world view of the Middle East
In his new book “World Order,” Henry Kissinger reveals the extent to which classical Orientalism lives on the mindset and worldviews of thinkers, writers, journalists, and scholars. New scholarship on...
View ArticleAddressing Hezbollah’s “corruption”
There is always a story or an angle about Hezbollah that gets the attention, first, of the Saudi media, and then consequently of the Western media. Readers of Arabic are struck by how the themes,...
View ArticleThe Left and Islamophobia: Remarks About Michael Walzer’s Essay in Dissent...
There is so much to say about the crime against Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical newspaper, AND the ensuing affair. Much has been said already, and protests were held, and pens were brandished all...
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