Persiflage & Paroxysm

There was never any doubt from the start, from the first contact Libyan rebels had with Western governments to the day the first French jets appeared in the skies over Ben Ghazi, that the allies had most definitely taken sides. From the day the French President received a delegation of Libyan rebels and recognized them as the legitimate representatives of the Libyan people, there was never any doubt of what those jets were sent over there to do, and it was not and never was going to be limited to just imposing a no-fly-zone. They were sent to offer vital combat air support to rebel ground forces. In fact many wondered if the pilots flying the missions were coordinating their strikes and target packages with Libyan rebel spotters on the ground. That would certainly be a first, but there is nothing to suggest that is the case, certainly there is no overt mechanism in place. So, it was surprising to me when I began to hear so many voices out there decrying what US, European and indeed som...

I felt gutted, as if the home that was broken into was my own. Dear friends of ours were robbed on ‘Mothers Day Sunday’. The family, a mother and her sons, went for Sunday Mass followed by a celebratory lunch, and when they came back much of the front door was kindling and their closets’ contents were strewn all over the floor. I will not say where this robbery took place or whose house it was, to protect their privacy and the secrecy of investigations, but suffice to say it was in a crowded suburb of the Lebanese Capital. “I was afraid to stay at home alone, so all my children came and our neighbors too. We couldn’t sleep, I barely closed my eyes,” said the stunned mother of four. “It was a Sunday but we managed to find someone to fix the door but not the lock, so I couldn’t lock the door all night.” She appeared ok on the surface talking normally, saying the usual things: that it’s unlikely the culprits will ever get caught, expressing her lack of confidence in the abilities of th...

A simple white tulip, a humble gift and expression of love and gratitude to Mom for being the light in my life that keeps me on course. Love you always.

Our confessional political system will not be abolished through street protests but must be abolished in the hearts and minds of all our people first. The only way to turn a new leaf, to start a new chapter in our national history is to move on to a fully secular state. Below are a few ideas I wrote down of how we can start, I’m sure others have more to add: - Bring the smartest people in Lebanon on board, get them committed to boycotting all institutions, governmental and non-governmental, that deepen the sectarian divide, this includes political parties. - Organize, organize and organize. Create an umbrella organization, encourage members to set up anti-sectarian units in each town and village and for each sect. Let members form round tables in each Caza to discuss sectarian issue, any fears and apprehensions citizens may have. Let members of the same sect focus on converting their own to the idea of a civil state where state and faith are completely separate, where a...

I envy the executive worker bees of yesteryear and their clearly defined guidelines for formal and business wear. I envy the Gulf businessman in his crisp, freshly ironed dish-dash, smart buttoned up collar and cufflinks: all white for men, all black for women, what could be simpler. In the western world, office workers no longer know what to wear to work, there is total confusion as to what is appropriate attire for the office. As a journalist, I never thought this would be a real concern as my work in the field always dictated what I should and should not wear. I could hardly wear a three-piece suit to interview an official in a Palestinian refugee camp, but neither could I go to cover parliamentary sessions wearing torn jeans and a T-shirt. On the other hand, I have known some American journalists who, as they work in the Middle East, feel shorts to be appropriate office attire... tsk, tsk. As a business journalist I have come to realize the importance of exuding a professional, c...

We can be so much happier and richer as a nation than we are or have ever been in our history if we just focus our financial muscle on productive areas, encouraging young innovators, entrepreneurs, the real wealth and value creators, and not just the wealth preservers. It took talking to an Islamic banker for me to understand the simple concept that a wad of cash in a vault creates no value whatsoever, it only creates value if the bank turns around and takes a few risks with the money. Conventional banks don’t like risks; more to the point they don’t work hard enough on finding suitable risks to take that could yield good returns. Our banks are like old women, they wear too many protective layers to keep out the cold, but in the process they keep out the young, gifted entrepreneur who has more great ideas than collateral, more courage than sense, and no fear of tomorrow because he has many productive years still ahead of him. Simply put, old women like old, silver-haired men. As a re...

General "Butcher" Haig must have dismissed criticism of his inept leadership of British forces in World War I and believed ultimately in Britain's victory. The two million men who died under his command, while sincerely mourned I’m sure, were but mere details: "the plan," Haig must have thought, "is sound." He was not alone in thinking he's the only right thinking man on Earth. We are all guilty of rigidity in thought and belief; we are all human after all. But revolutions need revolutionary thinkers, people unencumbered by certainties. The mathematical rigour and discipline required in the pursuit of scientific knowledge allow us to abandon our certainties in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary with our pride intact. We have to be ready to change our views, ideas, opinions and, yes, even our most solid and dependable certainties. This is not to be mistaken for the Jumblatti practice of changing sides to achieve a political end. As I watc...

We see them chanting from Sanaa to Manama, from Benghazi to Cairo and even Beirut: “The people want to topple the regime.” They want change and they want it now and who can blame them. They are the empowered young people of the Arab world, they are the Facebook Generation. I have never felt so proud to be Arab. But it’s unfair to attribute all that's happened to one social networking site; it’s much more, it’s the online social networking phenomenon as an organic, interconnected whole that finally freed us from our fears. Its an online community built for its people by its people, a true democratic model to emulate. The online social networking age has turned the meek and frightened Arab into a bare-chested lion. The social media is the only tool that allows a 40-year-old in Aden to sit at home in his underpants and communicate without censorship or barriers with a 25-year-old graduate student in the US. It is the only forum for the free flow of information and opinions between peo...