When there’s so much going on in the world – from the unexpected election of newcomer Gen. Michel Aoun to the Lebanese presidency to the slow transformation of America’s ‘great democracy’ into something like an oligarchy, like those it has schizophrenically both allied itself with, while fighting against for years – and I remain so silent (dare I say indifferent), this only means one thing: that I need a vacation. And a vacation I sure did take. Continue reading “Destination: Sri Lanka”
Farewell Ghazi Aad
There are those whose passing makes them heroes, because some wrongfully believe that in respecting death, there is a duty to bury all that was shameful and negative and remember only what was good and virtuous about them, no matter how deceitful this memory made be. But there are others whose passing cements their status as heroes, not only because we have no choice but to remember and appreciate the genuine heroism they displayed during their lifetime, but because in their passing, we lament how few of them are left, to carry on the fight as they did. Continue reading “Farewell Ghazi Aad”
“Gaza: I saw the tunnel, he saw the darkness at the end of it”
You may think this is fiction, but it’s not. You may wish this were fiction, but you know better….especially if you have any sense of what the Middle East and Arab World has been, is as we speak and seems adamant on remaining – on the same course of hopelessness and injustice – for years to come. Continue reading ““Gaza: I saw the tunnel, he saw the darkness at the end of it””
“Waiting for George”
As mentioned in Eye on the East’s last post (A different kind of Eye…on the turbulent East) I’ve been hard at work on my first piece of fiction. You read (and hopefully enjoyed) one short story already – “Nothing but Alexandria” – so here comes the second. Continue reading ““Waiting for George””
A different kind of Eye….on the turbulent East
You may have noticed that activity on the blog has been slow lately. That doesn’t mean, however, that our “eye” hasn’t been looking, observing, analyzing or despairing at all the hopelessness and bloodshed around us and for once, rather speechless about it all. But speechlessness about the real world has diverted into an ocean of ideas and an outburst of imagination about a fictional world, which owes much to the real world for initial inspiration, but takes off to limitless heights thereafter… Continue reading “A different kind of Eye….on the turbulent East”
When looking back hurts, really hurts
Late Lebanese legendary filmmaker Maroun Baghdadi once said, “I come from a world where, strangely enough, the image has difficulty in spreading. It’s a world that has problems with its own image.” He went on to say that in Lebanon and the Arab world, the image can be considered a taboo, complaining that he had been sometimes accused of giving a “bad image” of the region in his movies. “This excites me,” he lashed back, “and encourages me to transmit my message through images even more.” Continue reading “When looking back hurts, really hurts”
April 13: The War isn’t Over
Whether you believe it should be called the Lebanese War or the Lebanese Civil War. Whether you believe it was fundamentally a confessional conflict or a proxy war fought on Lebanese soil. Whether you were in East Beirut or West Beirut. Whether you refused to leave during the country’s darkest hours or regret not having immigrated sooner than you did. Whether you believe the country has learned its lessons the hard way and will never let it happen again or believe war is just around the corner, waiting for the right spark to tear the country apart once and for all…there is one fact that remains:
…من الأفضل لنا أن نكون كذبة أول نيسان ليومٍ واحد
Note: This is the Arabic translation of Better be an April Fools’ joke for a day… posted on Eye on East on April 3, 2016. Given that this issue goes far beyond the April Fools’ joke, we thought to spread to a wider audience with this translated version.
ملاحظة : هذه هي الترجمة العربية لمقالة Better be an April Fools’ joke for a day التي نشرت على موقعنا في 3-04-2016. لأن هذه المسألة اكبر من قضية كذبة اول نيسان, أردنا أن ننشر الترجمة العربية، لتصل إلى اكبرعدد من القراء.
التالي ليس تذمراً فارغاً، إنه مجرّد كلامٍ يجب أن يُقال، مرةً واحدة وإلى الأبد.
Continue reading “…من الأفضل لنا أن نكون كذبة أول نيسان ليومٍ واحد”
Better be an April Fools’ joke for a day…
This isn’t a rant, it’s just something that has to be said, once and for all.
When Saudi Arabia decided to freeze its $3 billion in military assistance to Lebanon last February, you could criticize its motives for doing so but not the actual act of freezing the assistance. It is their money after all and they decide what to do with it. Continue reading “Better be an April Fools’ joke for a day…”
As a Woman…
Note: Initially posted last year, I re-post the below here today again, on this year’s International Women’s Day, unchanged, and will probably do so again, for many years to come…. An Arabic translation can be found here.
Eye on the East 