elie chalala
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 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 [...]
The Arab-Christian Predicament Before and After the Rise of the Islamic State
by Elie Chalala. Many Mideast scholars and political groups have grown increasingly concerned with the dwindling numbers and persecutions of Mideast Christians. One Lebanese [...]
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 [...]
Deadly Identities
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 [...]
Aleppo: A Catastrophe Defying Poets’ Powers of Description
by Amjad Nasser. When talking about what is happening in Syria, I face the inability of language to express reality. My vocabulary remains limited. My ability to describe [...]
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, [...]
Syrian Booknotes
by Elie Chalala. Since the 2011 March uprising, scores of books have been published on Syrian politics, with most written by a new generation of scholars with no longstanding [...]
Whatever is Left of the Levantine Spirit?
by Elie Chalala. The Arab world lives in a state of nostalgia for bygone days, when much of the hatred and intolerance of today had not set in, and the demographic minorities [...]
Arab Revolutions Produce neither New Knowledge nor Genuine Criticism
by Elie Chalala. Hussam Itani has written a post titled, “Intellectual Production and Criticism.” “Since the beginning of the Arab revolutions, no concept has [...]
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 [...]
Adonis Sings the Same Old Tune, Again and Again!
by Elie Chalala. Adonis is once again talking and singing the same, stale, old songs about ‘changing society.’ The latest refrain in this worn-out tune appeared in a 4500 [...]
Generations of Catastrophes: The Palestinian Problem at Half a Century
A Brief Introduction by the Author. I rarely passed on an Al Nakba remembrance, an event which was pivotal in forming my political and moral consciousness during my early [...]
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 [...]
Novelist Salwa Bakr Dares to Say it Aloud
by Elie Chalala. Revolution’s successes and failures; the taboos broken, how political Islam’s “holiness” mask dropped; the intelligentsia’s flight to the past [...]
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 [...]
Twisted Logic: The Younan Sisters and Julia Boutros Sing the Same Deceptive Tune
by Elie Chalala. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq have led to various types of wars, including those of an artistic and cultural characters. One could certainly classify the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
No Loyalty Even for a Loyalist: Stories from Syria’s ‘World of Ghosts’ (Ahmad’s Story)
by Elie Chalala. Over the years, we have devoted a generous space to covering dissent by Arab intellectuals, especially the Syrians. We believed that most of those who were [...]
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 [...]
‘Photographs of Agony’, from Vietnam to Gaza, from Ghouta to Mount Sinjar
by Elie Chalala. The memory seems as though it is wired to store images, images that often live unpredictable lives within the psyche. Aziza, a 15-year old Yazidi Kurdish [...]
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 [...]
Assad’s New Front: When Words Become Weapons
by Elie Chalala. In addition to being a prominent Syrian leftist with a significant presence in the revolution, Michel Kilo is also a great short story teller. His anecdotes [...]
Va bene essere uccisi da Assad, ma non “dall’altro”. E ancora sull’attacco alla Siria e sul perché occorrerebbe sostenere Obama.
di Elie Chalala. Diffido delle guerre. A parte la loro immoralità, la mia formazione e i miei studi di politica internazionale mi hanno dimostrato l’impossibilità di [...]
Muslim Brotherhood: A Legacy of Cultural Desecration
by Elie Chalala. Now that Mohammed Morsi has exited the stage, what will the students of Arab politics remember about his Islamic regime? The Brotherhood has violated a long [...]
The Image of the Slain Child in Banias
by Elie Chalala. Why would a child be slaughtered? What threats does he pose to the Assad regime or any tyrannical regime? Yassin al-Haj Saleh tackles these difficult [...]
The Battle of Qusayr: End of ‘Resistance Glory’ and ‘Brotherly Bonds’
by Elie Chalala. Leaving the city of Qusayr in ruins, Hezbollah and the Assadist army revived memories of the debris of other battered cities: the destruction of Guernica, [...]
Horrors on the Syrian Coast: Sectarianism, Savagery, and Silence
by Elie Chalala. After watching and reading coverage of Assad’s Shabiha massacre of more than 360 people in Banias, Ras al-Nabeh, and the village of Bayda, and after [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
