In my part of the world, Ariel Sharon was known as the “Butcher of Beirut.” Even though his bloody legacy began to be built decades before he led the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 – through years of killing Palestinians in British-controlled Palestine prior to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 – he will still be primarily remembered for the responsibility he bore for Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila Massacre in the Palestinian refugee camp of the same name. Continue reading “Burying the Butcher, not Burying the Hatchet”
Happy New Year from Eye on the East
From Byblos, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Eye on the East wishes you, your family and loved ones a Happy New Year!
If 2013 was not your year, may you make the best of what you’ve learned and lived through so as to make 2014 better. And if 2013 was good, I hope 2014 will be even better, in whatever way makes you happy.
Eye on the East has been a wonderful journey and I hope the best is yet to come. It is really thanks to each and every one of you that this journey continues, so thank you! I hope you will continue to follow, read, like, comment and recommend Eye on the East to your friends, as I will do my best to keep my eyes on this beautiful and ugly, fast and slow, exciting and depressing and anything you make of this east…so that nothing is left unsaid…
The Lebanese Army: Coming a long way and a long way left to go
In another of those instances of invaluable political lessons one learns along the way, there is one about the role of the army that I will never forget. The idea is that in so-called developed countries with long-established and solid democratic traditions, Continue reading “The Lebanese Army: Coming a long way and a long way left to go”
Honoring Mandela
The best way to honor Nelson Mandela isn’t by sharing his words, but by believing in them and breathing life into them. Madiba’s words were loud but his deeds were louder, and this is what made the difference he was prepared to die for…[1]
It is always hard to see great people depart. Part of it has to do with the feeling that they will take something away with them, what made them sources of inspiration and models to emulate. This, despite the fact that what makes them great in the first place is that their impact has already transcended their grasp and can hardly stop its course even after they are gone. Continue reading “Honoring Mandela”
Thinking about Palestine
There is never a good or right time to talk about Palestine. A cause, a dream, a responsibility, a defeat, a crime and a badge of shame on the world, which has affected, been used and abused, and shaped a considerable part of the Middle East’s contemporary history. As the situation in the occupied territories continues to evolve, or rather deteriorate, and with it the chances of a viable peace, keeping Palestine in the public discourse almost seems like a constant necessity to keep the cause alive. Continue reading “Thinking about Palestine”
Human Rights Watch on the Children of Bahrain
We live in a world where violence has become common place, suffering a regular feeling we have learned to cope with and the dead just one more number. Or maybe this is the world that the Middle East and Arab World has taken to be its ‘daily bread,’ leaving little left to move us so deeply that it will impact us for the rest of our lives. Continue reading “Human Rights Watch on the Children of Bahrain”
We’ve Already Let Syria Down
If they are not yet, today more than ever, all eyes are on Syria. Well, not exactly today, but they soon will be…
Many of us have been following the Syrian uprising from day one: praying for the fate of the innocent children of Daraa who sparked the revolution, fervently denying the revolt was a conspiracy as the Syrian regime wanted the world to believe, disheartened by what parts of the Syrian opposition had become, and grieving for Syrian suffering and the horrors of Ghouta. Continue reading “We’ve Already Let Syria Down”
Ghouta, Syria
It will take a very long time for us to forget the horribly indescribable images from the Ghouta massacre. The fact that it was a chemical weapons’ attack is beyond question, but there are still questions on whether it was the regime or opposition forces who are responsible for it.
Beirut will never surrender, but…
They say that Beirut is a city that will never surrender, but what if everything that keeps life together in it is slowly disappearing, gradually being torn apart? Continue reading “Beirut will never surrender, but…”
Tahrir: Rebelling with a Cause
If this doesn’t exemplify people power, then I’m not quite sure what does.
Some have called it a second revolution, yet the over 22 million Egyptians who attached their name to the Tamarod (Arabic for rebel) movement by signing their petition for Mohammad Mursi to step down and the overwhelming crowds that keep filling the squares of Egypt, starting from Tahrir Square, are only carrying on with the revolution of January 25, 2011. Revolution doesn’t come easy and on June 30, 2013 it is only its second chapter that has started to be written. Continue reading “Tahrir: Rebelling with a Cause”
