Al jadid
Rachid Taha, Innovative Rai Musician with a Message of Justice for Immigrants, Dies Unexpectedly
Rachid Taha, who passed away unexpectedly, proved quite unique among Rai artists, despite Cheb Khalid receiving the title of “The King of Rai Music.” Perhaps no [...]
Rest in Peace Mai Skaf: Death of Exiled Artist Mirrors Syria’s Dying Revolution
by Elie Chalala. As an editor of an arts and cultural magazine, I could not help but closely follow the views and activities of two Syrian activist artists, actress Mai Skaf [...]
The Western Connection: How the Romanticism of Gibran & Rihani Hooked Up With Naimy’s Critical Realism to Engender a New Arab Literature
by Michael Najjar. Aida Imangulieva’s book “Gibran, Rihani & Naimy: East-West Interactions in Early Twentieth-Century Arab Literature” is a translation of [...]
The Syrian War Has Taken Us Prematurely to Hell!
by Father George Massouh The crimes committed in Syria have surpassed what the human mind can imagine in terms of horrors and atrocities. Undoubtedly, in our cruel [...]
Lebanese Christian Cleric Debunks Myth of Rejectionist Moral Outrage over Jerusalem
If you follow news from Arabic sources, both the traditional and new media, while simultaneously relying on news from Western sources, you will feel as if you were [...]
Reckoning with Darkness: Looking Back on Algeria’s Dark Decade
Still from the film “Let Them Come” (2015). by Bobby Gulshan. The Algerian Civil War began in 1991 and ended in 2002. Known as the Dark Decade, the period began [...]
Amin Maalouf Talks about his latest book “Origins”
Amin Maalouf, perhaps the most famous and popular member of the French Academy, is a best-selling author and known as an intellectual whose works “honored” the French [...]
An Essay by Elie Chalala
Introduction by Elie Chalala. Recently the Lebanese branch of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has issued a statement asking Amin Maalouf to apologize [...]
Etab Hreib on Conflict, Commercialism, and Sexism in Syria’s Current Art Movement
by Rebecca Joubin. Critically acclaimed Syrian watercolorist, Etab Hreib, a native of Der-Ez-Zor, graduated from the Graphic Arts Department of the University of Damascus. [...]
Dying to Reach Europe: The African Immigrant Crisis
Reviewed by Aisha K. Nasser. Media accounts normalize the tally of illegal African immigrants drowning while crossing the Mediterranean. Eritrean novelist Abu Bakr Khaal [...]
Broken Dreams: Love, Corruption, and the Plight of Foreign Workers in Israel
by Lynne Rogers. Kate Jessica Raphael describes her novel, “Murder Under the Bridge, a Palestine Mystery,” as “the product of my imagination and experience – the [...]
Del poeta arabo ADONIS minimale a CHE TEMPO CHE FA: dal problema della marchetta editoriale all’impreparazione e scarsa vena “filosofica” di Fabio Fazio.
di Rina Brundu. Per certi versi sarei tentata di dar ragione al mio amico Elie Chalala, il quale gestisce la comunità di intellettuali musulmani Al Jadid negli Stati Uniti, [...]
When Morning Died (A Tribute to Sabah, 1927-2014)
by Hanna Saadah When Morning rose to wake the Arab eyes From long colonial sleep, tears turned to smiles And country song-and-dance redeemed the skies And dabki arms, [...]
Women of the Revolutions: The New Faces of Arab Feminism
by Angele Ellis. Two recent documentaries directed by women provide connected narratives – in wide-angle and close-up – of feminism in the Arab world. Together, they [...]
Sin, Redemption, and Visions of Female Illness in Modern Arab Literature
by Bobby Gulshan. Edward Said opened the space, Homi Bhabha articulated the next steps forward, and subsequently other scholars have emerged to take up the call. They desire [...]
Before Time Erases the Memories of Exile
by Lynne Rogers. The short film, “Still Life” begins with an elderly man aimlessly puttering in his Sidon apartment that has temporarily lost its electricity. With every [...]
Etel Adnan’s ‘THE ARAB APOCALYPSE’
by Mona Takieddine Amyuni. In a meeting with my students at the American University of Beirut on December 14, 2000, the Lebanese-American poet Etel Adnan told us that she [...]
Samar’s Dark, Tragic Odyssey to the Sea Revives an Old Syrian Song!
by Elie Chalala. Samar, a Syrian mother from Daraya, along with her three children, embarked on a journey to escape Assad’s barrel bombs. She was also searching for hope [...]
Words Behind Bars
Tadmur prison in the words of Faraj Bayrakdar: “In February 1988, 16 prisoners, including myself, were moved to the Tadmur Prison, where we spent four years. Finally they [...]
As 20th Century Begins, British ‘Orientalism’ Tool of Colonialism
by D.W. Aossey. The Hollywood epic, “Lawrence of Arabia,” immortalized the familiar story of T.E. Lawrence. But few know that proponents of the Orientalist ideologies [...]
‘The Assads’ Syria’ Nevermore: Ziad Majed Speaks on His ‘The Orphaned Revolution’
Let’s begin with the title of the book. What do you mean by the “orphan revolution?” I chose this title, which was used by Farouq Mardam Bey in one of his articles two [...]
Countering the Paradigm of Arab Othering Through Art
Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art: View From Inside By Karin Adrian von Roques Schilt Publishing Amsterdam, NL, 2014 by Rebecca Joubin. The beautiful [...]
Assia Djebar (1936-2015) – Home in France, heart in Algeria
by Elie Chalala. Assia Djebar has been a problematic for some Arab intellectuals, both when she became an “immortal” or a life-long member of the prestigious [...]
Syrian Regime “Dresses” up Image with Choreographed “Demonstrations”
by Elie Chalala.The heart wrenching images from Syria never stop engulfing the viewer with pain and helplessness as well as an anger that can distract attention from [...]
Dopo gli attacchi a Charlie Hebdo, la macchina del fango di Assad pronta a sfruttare il terrorismo. E altre posizioni “critiche” dal mondo arabo.
di Elie Chalala. L’ultima campagna mediatica del mumanah (l’allenza anti-occidentale dei sostenitori di sinistra dei Baathist-Hezbollah) è stata inventarsi una nuova [...]
Slave to History: A Moor in the New World
The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami Pantheon Books, 2014, pp. 324. In her new novel, Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami, turns to the 1500’s Spanish conquest [...]
Adieu to Sabah, a Lebanese diva with an eternally fertile voice
by Elie Chalala. Although Sabah remained off the stage, professionally speaking, for some time, the Lebanese kept hearing of and from her. Many Arab generations, especially [...]
Mumbai (India) batte New York – Una donna cammina per 10 ore da SOLA per strada e non viene molestata una SOLA volta! Il video virale prodotto da IndieTube. SOLA? Il dubbio ci assilla!
Ricordate i video che mostravano donne molestate e abusate verbalmente mentre camminavano lungo le strade di diverse città occidentali? Ebbene, lo stesso esperimento [...]
Living with voices: magical realism in war-torn Iran
by Lynne Rogers Afsaneh, A Novel From Iran By Moniru Ravanipur Translated from the Persian by Rebecca Joubin Ibex Publishers, 2014, pp. 211 Moniru Ravanipur introduces her [...]
In times of bigotry, chauvinism and intolerance toward Syrian refugees, a voice unlike any other–that of LBC’s Rima Assaf
by Rima Assaf. Your fault is that you are dying in large numbers. Thus, you have ceased to be a rare scene. Your crime is that the photographs of your body parts no longer [...]
Asala a thorn in Assad’s side, her arrest a black eye for the Lebanese government
by Elie Chalala. It is amazing how the Syrian regime orders its priorities at a time when an armada of allied forces daily bombards its territory. Nothing appears to restrain [...]
Arabic Poetry and the Public Sphere Today: a Conversation between Abbas Beydoun and Rula Jurdi
by Rula Jurdi Abbas Beydoun by Mamoun Sakkal “Before we ask ourselves why are the readers of Arabic poetry declining we must remember that throughout history, if one [...]
Al Jazeera’s floating symbol of ‘new type of media’ slowly sinking
by Elie Chalala. I have often written about the disgraceful institution known as Al Mumannah Media. Now, it appears as though the shame is spreading to other media outlets, [...]
A Tale of Two Lies: ‘Transfer’ of Homs Population Sold As ‘Victory’
by Elie Chalala. I have been watching and hearing too much about Assad’s military and political victories, especially his spurious electoral 88 percent landslide. [...]
Contro la censura di Assad: la fotografia della donna di Aleppo che ha creato il caso.
di Elie Chalala. Ogni volta che guardo immagini da Aleppo o sento che le periferie povere della città sono state nuovamente fatte bersaglio dalle bombe di Assad, mi ricordo [...]
The Arab and Lebanese Left: From Political Economy to Islamophobia?
by Elie Chalala. I am amazed by the intellectual decay of recent leftist analysis regarding the Syrian revolution. I am not referring to the immorality of their positions [...]
Culture of the Abyss: New generation of Lebanese politicians reveals further decline in quality of leadership
by Elie Chalala. Hussam Itani, former editor of the opinion pages of As Safir and currently a columnist for Al Hayat, has always distinguished himself with his daring and [...]
Your Silence is Killing Us
by Elie Chalala. “Your Silence is Killing Us” was the slogan put forth by the peaceful Syrian opposition on one of its many Fridays. It has become a sort of tradition to [...]
The Children’s Revolution: Youth and the Syrian Rebellion
by Farag Bayrakdar. It’s okay to cry a little for Syria and her people.And it’s also okay to believe freedom is near. The tsunami of Tunisian revolution toppled [...]
Ossama Mohammed – A un giovane regista siriano
di Ossama Mohammed A un giovane regista siriano. Non amo il montaggio parallelo (1), perché così sono stato creato dal dio del cinema: e chi può discutere con gli dei? Ma [...]
Una lettura di Adonis (futuro Nobel siriano?): sul “terremoto di Houla” e altre ambiguità a proposito del brutale regime di Assad.
di Elie Chalala. Gli articoli, discutibili, di Adonis sulla rivoluzione siriana hanno fatto in modo che i suoi critici continuino a scrivere che sia odiato dalla gente. [...]
Arab Spring – Thirteen Hours of Interrogation
by Mohammed Ali Atassi. The morning of September 18th, Syrian director and film producer Omar Amirlay drove from his home in Damascus to Amman, Jordan. Four months earlier he [...]
ROVINE di Faraj Bayrakdar, ex prigioniero politico siriano.
ROVINE Dentro ogni cella di prigi on e Vi è una sec on da cella C on: una fredda geografia C’è: una storia che brucia. Sì, dentro ogni prigi on e Vi è una sec on da [...]
The Issue of “Dialogue” in Islamic Culture
by Elie Chalala. “If you are a traditional Muslim you might be disturbed by parts of this book. But if you are an enlightened Muslim you will realize that dialogue is a [...]
LA BARBA DI DIOGENE 