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Ponder or Pander? The Point of Writing A Blog

Ponder or Pander? The Point of Writing A Blog

DANIEL M. VARISCO: When you make the big decision to write a blog you are faced with a number of important choices

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Street Art In Yemen: A Channel for Protest

Street Art In Yemen: A Channel for Protest

TABSIR; It’s two years since protests broke out in Yemen and a good way to follow how politics has changed is to follow the emerging street art scene

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Midaq Alley: A Slice of Cairo Brilliantly Revealed

Midaq Alley: A Slice of Cairo Brilliantly Revealed

DANIEL M. VARISCO: The incomparable Naguib Mahfouz had a brilliant eye for the detail that revealed Cairo everyday life. Here’s one of my favourite passages.

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‘The Blood’ and ‘The Bang-Bang’: A Freelancer in Syria

‘The Blood’ and ‘The Bang-Bang’: A Freelancer in Syria

FRANCESCA BORRI, TABSIR: The demands of the editors are depressingly obvious and there is little interest in explaining context.

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Democracy and Revolutions: Drawing a Line Is Not Easy

Democracy and Revolutions: Drawing a Line Is Not Easy

HANI SHURKALLAH, TABSIR: How could the people of Egypt support the parody of democracy that the Muslim Brotherhood had established?

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‘A Mental Defect’, Mr Brooks? Try Looking in the Mirror.

‘A Mental Defect’, Mr Brooks? Try Looking in the Mirror.

DANIEL M. VARISCO: David Brooks is taking a dangerous road by ascribing what he calls ‘mental deficiencies’ to the Egyptian people.

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Satire in the Arab World: Getting to the Crux of Issues

Satire in the Arab World: Getting to the Crux of Issues

TABSIR: Jon Stewart’s recent appearance on Bassem Youssef’s Egyptian show underscores the power that satirists have to unsettle holders of power

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“Game Changer”: Is This The Phrase That Will Haunt Obama?

“Game Changer”: Is This The Phrase That Will Haunt Obama?

DANIEL M. VARISCO: For George W. Bush the phrase was ‘Mission Accomplished’. For his successor there could be another phrase that defines his foreign affair policy

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Thomas Friedman in Yemen: ‘An Innocent Abroad’?

Thomas Friedman in Yemen: ‘An Innocent Abroad’?

DANIEL M. VARISCO: I felt the ghost of Mark Twain speaking to me as I read about Tom Friedman’s latest adventures in Yemen.

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Banished: The Man Who’s ‘Too Handsome’ For Saudi Arabia

Banished: The Man Who’s ‘Too Handsome’ For Saudi Arabia

DANIEL M. VARISCO: He’s a danger to Saudi society. Women in the Kingdom must be protected from his dazzling good looks. All hail Handsome Omar!

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Of Pockets Picked and Broken Legs: My Neighbour’s Beliefs

Of Pockets Picked and Broken Legs: My Neighbour’s Beliefs

QASIM RASHID, CHRIS STEDMAN, TABSIR: One of us is Muslim and one is an atheist but we agree on certain fundamentals concerning religion

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Declining Fertility Rates ‘A Badge of Modernity’

Declining Fertility Rates ‘A Badge of Modernity’

ANOUAR MAJID, TABSIR: It’s a phenomenon that’s being observed across the Muslim world as women are marrying later and opting to have fewer children

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The Bible and Hollywood: A Match Not Made In Heaven

The Bible and Hollywood: A Match Not Made In Heaven

DANIEL VARISCO: Here we go again. Yet another filmed interpretation of the Bible stretches credulity to the limit.

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Exile and Alienation: A Father’s Letters To His Son

Exile and Alienation: A Father’s Letters To His Son

GEORGE EL HAGE, TABSIR: I felt it necessary to express directly to my son the feelings of loneliness, isolation and alienation felt by a Lebanese exile.

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Poetic and Poignant: Lebanese Hymns of Love and War

Poetic and Poignant: Lebanese Hymns of Love and War

TABSIR: They reflect the everyday struggles of a people whose land has been wracked by conflict and war.

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‘You Have Two Cows…”: Alternative Take on Region

‘You Have Two Cows…”: Alternative Take on Region

KARIM SADJAPOUR, TABSIR: Politically correct it may not be but the ‘Two Cows’ version of today’s Middle East is certainly fun.

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For ‘Tribal Areas’ Read ‘Wild West’: Myth and Reality

For ‘Tribal Areas’ Read ‘Wild West’: Myth and Reality

KHALED FATTAH, TABSIR: There is a lazy shorthand in much Western reporting on the Middle East, particularly when it comes to describing the influence of tribes

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Teaching Syrian Children in Lebanon: Bye Bye Assad

ESTELLA CARPI, TABSIR: Classes are being organised for refugee children and it’s clear that the Assads no longer feature in a Syrian present or future.

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Of Jesus, Smith and Elvis: The Prophet Issue

Of Jesus, Smith and Elvis: The Prophet Issue

‘DANIEL M. VARISCO: It’s a shtick that gets trotted out in editorial conferences at this time of year and occasionally editors buy it. ‘So who’s the real Jesus?’

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Thomas Friedman: PR Guy for the Israeli Government?

Thomas Friedman: PR Guy for the Israeli Government?

DANIEL M. VARISCO: Another one eyed piece from Mr Friedman. Is it too much to ask that he simply recognises the realities of Palestinian life?

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