The last several days have involved travel via a number of different modes of transportation. As I noted in my last post, the folks at the Jisr ash-Shughur train station were kind enough to store our bikes for us so that we could ride the train to Damascus to meet …
The Kindness of Strangers—لطف الغرباء
If ever there were a place that deserved to have this as their motto, Syria would be it. In the three days Elaina and I spent bike touring between Aleppo and Jisr ash-Shughur, we were constantly offered to share tea, eat food and stay the night. Even at grocery stores, …
Feeling old in Aleppo—شعور بإني عجوز في حلب
The grand plan to cycle around Syria and Jordan started to become a reality for me as we flew over the Syrian coast and the Orontes River valley. For several days I had engaged in that peculiarly modern form of global tourism, pouring over images of the northern Syrian landscape …
Links for April 6th through April 7th
These are my links for April 6th through April 7th: Solidarity with Ibrahim Hassan Ibrahim تضامن مع إبرهيم حسن إبرهيم – “We demand that AUC immediately assume full responsibility for the cost of all job-related injuries, including Ibrahim Hassan’s surgery and ongoing care, and enforce workplace safety protections.” West Bank: …
Links for April 3rd through April 5th
These are my links for April 3rd through April 5th: Palestinian teen in critical condition after being shot in head by Israeli forces – International Middle East Media Center – Less than lethal? The Costs of Owning a Car – Wheels Blog – NYTimes.com – Nearly $9,000/year for a car …
Links for March 23rd through April 3rd
These are my links for March 23rd through April 3rd: ZNet – Cowardice Pays: Reflections on Academic Abdication and a Paul Krugman Lecture in Iowa City – Excellent piece criticizing the defeatist attitudes of even the most “lefty” of mainstream academic pundits and their professorial minions Annotated link NDP admits …
Links for March 18th through March 20th
These are my links for March 18th through March 20th: Songwriter’s Notebook: The Israeli Terror – Folk musician David Rovics pens an excellent piece about the moral corruption of the state of Israel and draws comparisons between Zionism and National Socialism that go beyond the usual superficial mantra that Zionism …
Links for March 14th through March 16th
These are my links for March 14th through March 16th: Starhawk: Tristan Shot in the West Bank – Starhawk on Tristan: “I grieve for Tristan because he’s a friend. I know him, I have marched with him shoulder to shoulder, sat in meetings with him, shared laughter and gossip and …
Links for March 9th through March 13th
These are my links for March 9th through March 13th: This Palestinian Life – a film by Philip Rizk – CIA Awkwardly Debriefs Obama On Creation Of Crack Cocaine | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source – MediaBard: I’m OK, You’re OK – “Hate to say it, but I …
Links for March 4th through March 8th
These are my links for March 4th through March 8th: March 3 1979 in Iran: Stop the Bomb – “Already in 1978 the Iranian woman, Atoussa H., wrote to Michel Foucault, a fan of Khomeini: ‘It seems that for the leftist movement in the West, which lacks humanism, Islam is …
Links for March 1st through March 2nd
These are my links for March 1st through March 2nd: Israel/Gaza: Donors Should Press Israel to End Blockade | Human Rights Watch – In the weeks since heavy fighting ceased on January 18, Israel has arbitrarily refused entry to items like chickpeas, macaroni, wheat flour, notebooks for students, freezer appliances, …
Dance of Death: ‘Waltz with Bashir’ and Sympathy for the Killer—رقصة الموت: «فالس مع بشير» والعطف على القاتل
I spent some time over the past week translating this excellent critique of the film “Waltzing with Bashir” by As`ad AbuKhalil (aka, the Angry Arab). Aside from butchering the title of the article and completely failing on one complicated parenthetical statement, I seem to have done pretty well. It was …
Links for February 25th through February 27th
These are my links for February 25th through February 27th: 362 – Greek To Me: Mapping Mutual Incomprehension « Strange Maps – An interesting mapping of which languages are the quintessential index of gobbledygook in other languages. Interestingly, no one seems to think of English as being beyond comprehension. Hat …
Links for February 23rd through February 24th
These are my links for February 23rd through February 24th: Lebanon news – NOW Lebanon :: If not now, when -Out in force – "The event, the first of its kind in the Arab world according to the organizers, was staged by the Beirut-based Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer …
Links for February 23rd
These are my links for February 23rd from 12:22 to 13:45: Reform in Saudi Arabia | Tiptoeing towards reform | The Economist – The Economist on changes afoot in the kingdom of the two holy shrines, and an Ikea outlet (thanks to Angry Arab for the jab) Faculty shortages leads …