Latest writing and updates:
Moaz al-Khatib Speech at the Arab Summit: March 26, 2013
Translation follows:
Greetings (al-salam alaikum) to you from a brave people, a quarter of whom have become homeless; and 200,000 of whose sons have been put in prisons; and who have paid a price for their freedom close to 100,000 martyrs; and whose country (infrastructure) has been destroyed at the hands of a mad, barbaric regime…
"Al-Bernameg": Amr Hamzawy on Democratic Institutions
In this translated clip – taken from the March 8 episode of “Bernameg al-Bernameg” – we see Egyptian political scientist cum politician Amr Hamzawy pretty effectively sum up the liberal critique of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led process of institution-building…
The Charter of the Syrian Islamic Front
Below is a translation of the charter of the Syrian Islamic Front, a coalition of Islamist brigades working to topple the Assad regime. (Original document here, posted January 21.) …
Dodge Middle East: "Are You Dodge?"
They keep showing this ad while I’m watching episodes of 04 online.
I guess it grew on me? …
Bassem Youssef: "Why you do this?"
From the January 4 episode of “Bernameg al-Bernameg” (“The Show Show”), Bassem Youssef responds to the lawsuits filed against him…
"Just a second, Mister President.": Morsi look-alike at Alexandria demonstration
This really has no broader significance. I was just entertained…
Bassem Youssef: "To us, you aren't sheikhs or 'ulama."
I know that some people are sick of the more serious serious segments of Bassem Youssef’s “Bernameg al-Bernameg” (literally, “The Show Show”), but I thought this one, from his December 21 episode, was useful…
Qaradawi: Egyptian Protests Fitna, Khurouj 'ala Wali al-Amr
There were a number of noteworthy points in the November 25 episode of Sharia and Life. Certainly one of the most striking, though, was Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi’s characterization of recent protests against President Muhammad Morsi’s constitutional declaration as khurouj ’ala wali al-amr and fitna. These (related) charges are grave. I’ve left these terms untranslated below, as they have no immediate English parallel, but they basically amount to “rebellion against the legitimate ruler” and “chaos and discord,” respectively. These ideas were among those deployed by authority-friendly clerics (Egyptian and otherwise) during Egypt’s January 25 Revolution to discourage protesters and discredit their actions as un-Islamic. Qaradawi has now turned them on those organizing and participating in Tuesday’s planned mass protests…
Mehio, "What is Qatar doing in Kuwait and the Emirates?"
Below is a translation of Lebanese journalist and commentator Saad Mehio‘s September 22 read on intra-Gulf relations — more specifically, those between Qatar and everyone else. (Via the Twitter feed of Professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla.) …
Al-Dustour, "Egypt Will Only Be Saved From Death and Destruction by the Union of the Army and the People"
Below is a translation of the front-page editorial that seems to have led to the confiscation of privately owned newspaper Al-Dustour’s Saturday, August 11 edition…
Al-Rashed, "Victims of Syrian Propaganda"
Below is a translation of Al Arabiya General Manager Abdul Rahman al-Rashed’s defense (published in pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat on August 6) of his channel’s Syria coverage. Al-Rashed’s piece is, in part, a response to Sultan al-Qassemi’s recent Foreign Policy piece, “Breaking the Arab News” (English)…
Al-Qassemi Response: Al-Athbah, "'A New Horizon'?"
Below is a translation of Abdullah bin Hamad al-Athbah’s response (published in Qatari newspaper Al-Arab on July 9) to Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi’s critical account of Al Jazeera Arabic’s “love affair” with the Muslim Brotherhood (“Morsi’s Win Is Al Jazeera’s Loss”, English and Arabic)…