Syria News Wire

Syria Comment

Qunfuz

• An Opposition Divided
  I was invited to al-Jazeera International’s Inside Syria programme to discuss the political opposition and its divisions with Najib Ghadban of the SNC and Professor Amr al-Azm. […]
• A Subtle Shift
  This was published in the National. From the very start, some commentators convinced themselves that the Syrian popular revolution was plotted, funded and armed by the West. From Seamus Milne to John Pilger, from Glenn Greenwald to George Galloway, they described the West supplying oppositionist ‘jihadist elements.’ Former leftist icon Tariq Ali spoke on Rus […]
• The Silence and the Roar
  A version of this review was published at the Independent. “The Silence and the Roar” by Syrian novelist and screenwriter Nihad Sirees was written in 2004, long before the roar of revolutionary crowds, and the countervailing roar of gunfire and warplanes, filled Syrian skies. The pre-revolutionary roar of the title is that of the (capitalised) […]

Qifa Nabki

• On Syria, What Separates Assir From Hizbullah & Hariri?
  Everyone is wringing their hands over Lebanese Salafist leader Shaykh Ahmad al-Assir’s call to send jihadists to help Syria’s rebels. On Monday, he announced the formation of resistance battalions that were prepared to join the side of the uprising, saying: “There is a religious duty on every Muslim who is able to do so… to … Continue reading » […]
• Lebanon: Fair-Weather Model or the Eye of the Storm?
  Theodor Hanf famously described Lebanon’s consociational system as a “fair-weather model,” meaning that it sails smoothly under sunny skies but is not built for stormy conditions. I found myself thinking back to this statement as I observed the remarkably smooth accession of Tammam Salam last week to the post of Lebanon’s Prime Minister. Compared with … Cont […]
• A Small Step Towards Addressing Energy Waste in Lebanon
  A few years ago, Maya Zankoul and I came up with a snarky parody of the ubiquitous iPhone advertisement, tailored specifically for Lebanon’s problems. At the time, the idea of a single iPhone app designed for life in Lebanon was hysterically funny, mainly because internet speeds were only a notch beyond the dial-up era. Since … Continue reading » […]