Hama, Syria: Rather than the conventional wisdom of a “wrapping up,” of Syria’s seven years of civil war, this observer calculates that the conflict is on a trajectory to expand during 2018. Granted, over the past six monthsthere have been perhaps more than a dozen inflated declarations of “Victory.” including 2 or 3 of the “Devine Victory” variety from three[Read More…]
Rashidieh Palestinian camp, on the border of Occupied Palestine: The first ever official census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was finally released on 12/21/2017 in Beirut. The village by village and camp by camp survey by 500 specialists found that only 174,422 Palestinian refugees are living these days in the country. Counted were al Palestinians living in the 12 official[Read More…]
Oxford: Not 20 minutes had passed following President Trump’s outrageous “Capital offense” declaration recognizing all of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel when shouts were heard in parts of Lebanon of an arriving apocalypse.Some self-flagellations were observed in certain Shia quarters, predications of end of times spread as well as many calls for a Third Intifada to “liberate Jerusalem.”[Read More…]
Idlib, Syria: George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished!” boast takes its name from a banner that was displayed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during his May 1, 2003 televised address. It referred to his claimed victory in Iraq fourteen years ago. In a less publicized incident, US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld also declared an end to combat operations referring to “Mission Accomplished” in Afghanistan on May 1, 2003,[Read More…]
Tehran: In many respects the people of Lebanon are gifted if not blessed. Most of whom this observer has been honored to meet are strikingly intelligent, creative, often charming, sometimes cunning and devious, hardworking, ingenious, adaptive, and good natured—much like most people in this region including dear friends in Syria. And all want a real country, and many[Read More…]
Last week’s resignation of Lebanon’s popular Prime Minister Saad Hariri has fueled a plethora of politically inspired conspiracy theories. At the forefront are some of Iran’s several Lebanese proxies who immediately in knee-jerk fashion, accused Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri hostage while they demanded the PM’s return to Lebanon. For what purpose is still not clear. Many in Lebanon[Read More…]
Israeli commanders, stationed along Syria’s southern border and the Golan Heights and Quneitra Valley, with some of their forces now operating daily more than 14 km inside Syrian territory, reportedly are expressing plenty of confidence these days. One reason is because they believe that Iranian-Hezbollah forces are losing the high stakes struggle to win the hearts and minds of Syria’s[Read More…]
With every Palestinian birth in Lebanon the resolve for Full Return deepens. (Image by Wikipedia) Permission Details DMCA [Part 1: Is Lebanon’s economy heading for free-fall?] Part 2: Granting Palestinians the right to work can salvage Lebanon’s economy: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the offspring of nearly 800,000 ethnically cleansed from their homes in Palestine during the 1948-50 Nakba, are today[Read More…]
Damascus: Despite the 12/12/2017 announcement by rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah that a deal has been agreed to during this month’s Cairo Reconciliation talks and that details would be announced later, it is doubtful that substantive progress will result. Or that this time the results will differ much from the preceding half-dozen still-born ones over the past decade. When[Read More…]
This week’s words from the Levant offer contending messages for Israel’s and Hezbollah’s friends and foes alike: “We are naturally unhappy about the fact that Lebanon will be largely destroyed. Ask Iran why this may well happen? But be assured that it won’t drag on for anything close to 34 days like last time. (July 2006). We urge all civilians[Read More…]
Mt. Bental, Golan Heights, Israel (Image by tcees) Permission Details DMCA Oxford: For Israel, the initial phase of its next long predicted war with Hezbollah is focused on neutralizing Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah while destroying factories allegedly under construction to build long-range missiles. Some Israeli recently bombed sites are also claimed to have been housing chemical weapons. Earlier[Read More…]
Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp, Beirut: This week commemorates the 35th anniversary of the Wednesday, Sept. 15 to Saturday, Sept. 18, Sabra-Shatila Massacre in the Fakhani neighborhood of Beirut. For many of the families and loved ones of the victims, as is certainly the case with this observer, it seems as though the Sabra-Shatila Massacre was committed at most four or five[Read More…]
Editor’s Note: The University of Oxford Interviews Professor Franklin Lamb about the Future of Syria. Interview conducted by graduate students from Oxford Universities Middle East Center, St Anthony’s College, UK. August, 2017. Franklin Lamb is Oxford University Research Fellow, Oxford, UK Franklin Lamb is a Doctor of Philosophy in international law and is currently a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford,[Read More…]
The Story of One Child’s Struggle to Survive: On 2/17/2017 ten year old Ghina Wadi, who has spent the past seven months often in unbearable pain, which for the first month was periodically relieved for only approximately 15 minutes at a time- by heavy injections of morphine, had another of what hopefully this time will be a leg saving operation.[Read More…]
The National Museum, Damascus: President Obama’s Syria legacy is already being widely debated. In 2009 the former Southside Chicago community organizer and Law Professor entered the White House promising a new direction and vision in the Middle East from that of his predecessor and pledging “a new way forward.” “A New Beginning” is the name of the speech he delivered on[Read More…]
Outside of Madaya, Syria: It was this past July that ten year old Ghina and six year old Nagham, old sisters of four year old Manal and three year old Mohammad-Kamal, left their apartment near the main street in Madaya, Syria to collect some medicine from the nearby town’s clinic for their mother Sahar. As they left the clinic and[Read More…]
The National Museum, Damascus: It’s a god-awful situation today in Palmyra. How much of our priceless cultural heritage will be destroyed during the expanding re-occupation by Islamic State (IS)? This observer has received more than two dozen emails in the past 72 hours asking for details of what is happening in Palmyra. Many scholars and citizens interested in Palmyra[Read More…]
Beirut: As many of us would agree, the continuing conflict in Syria has created a devastating humanitarian crisis: the magnitude of humanitarian needs is overwhelming in all parts of the country and affects the region and beyond. The Syrian conflict has become the world’s largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, the estimated number of people in need of the[Read More…]
“Attacking hospitals and medical workers is a non-negotiable red line. As such, it must be set out – in clear and simple terms – in all military manuals, rules of engagement and standard operating procedures. Too often, unverified intelligence, or opaque claims that a hospital is a quote “command and control center,” is justification enough for an attack. To stop[Read More…]
Aleppo University Faculty of Law, Aleppo, Syria: Contrary to most recent media reports, and frankly to this observer’s surprise, forces defending both rebel controlled East Aleppo as well as government controlled West Aleppo during the unrelenting slaughter of this savage war, do sometimes appear restrained in their attacks. This observer does occasionally sense some concern among belligerents for civilian[Read More…]
Shatila Palestinian Refugee camp, Beirut: The intense summer heat was gone and the evening was breezy and cool that fateful Thursday evening, September 15, 1982, according to survivors of the Sabra-Shatila Massacre who, 34 years later, still remember and recount many details of the slaughter that was soon to follow. It was following the 9/14/1982 assassination of President-elect BachirGemayel, leader[Read More…]
Al-Moaddamiyeh, Damascus Countryside: September 8, 2016 was a long hot tense day at the border-crossing at al-Moaddamiyeh, at town roughly ten kilometers southwest of Damascus. Approximately 135 Syrian soldiers and 35 volunteers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society (SARCS) evacuated more than 300, mainly civilians, who have spent the past more than four years trapped, two years in Daraya and[Read More…]
Qalamoun Mountains, Syria: Reports continue nearly daily of yet more damage to our archeological treasures Syria. A few examples include the recent ISIS destruction at Tal Ajaja, one of Syria’s most important 2nd century AD Assyrianperiod. “More than 40 percent of Tal Ajaja was destroyed or has been ravaged by IS recently”has revealed Khaled Ahmo, the Director of Antiquities in Hasakeh.[Read More…]
Tel Hara, on the Golan Plain, Syria: The likely next American President, Hilary Clinton is fielding an array of foreign policy advisers, a few being sort of table scraps from the Bush administration and others having resigned from Obama’s. They are today preparing white papers on all manner of “adjustments” to what the presumed 45th American President reportedly believes was a[Read More…]
Jablah, North Syria: “Don’t cry for us Syria” has recently become a motto/logo of sorts for many physically and psychologically brutalized youth around this ancient land. They are the youngsters who represent a new generation of Syrians, many of whom were born in this century. It is into their patriotic hands that the Syria’s Torch has been passed. Amid all[Read More…]
The United Nations Human Rights Council, along with the global community and many in Lebanon, has become increasingly concerned about the massive violations of Palestinian civil rights. As noted in Part I of this discussion, Palestinians in Lebanon suffer from more than two dozen targeted violations including ambiguous legal status, absence of protection; the outlawing of their right to work[Read More…]
Yarmouk Palestinian camp, Damascus: In Lebanon today, Palestinians are beingthreatened by the governmentthat ISIS (Daesh) and Al Nursa are plotting to take over Ain el-Helweh and the other 11 camps in Lebanon. Palestinian factions and the residents of the Ain el HilwehPalestinianrefugee camp in Saida Lebanon know verywellthat militant jihadist groups including ISIS (Daesh) and Al-Nusra are nowdeeplyimplanted in theirmidst[Read More…]
Palmyra: “Syrian Troops Looting Ancient City Of Palmyra, Says Archaeologist.” So shouted the highly respected UK Guardian’s headline of June 1, 2016 on the eve of the opening day of this month’s two-day Berlin Convergence attended by more than 170 scientists, archaeologists, architects and planners. The gathering of experts was convened to discuss how best to preserve Syria’s, and our heritage,[Read More…]
According to the Syrian General who commanded the whole neutralization of the ISIS “Erase” project, and who generously gave these observer hours of his and his staff’s time, all of Palmyra and the close-in surrounding area are now cleansed of bobby-traps and are safe. The General proclaimed just this week that Palmyra and our cultural heritage sites here are ready and waiting to again receive foreign friends.
Selling One’s Soul – The betrayal of Christ and Constitution 
Climate Crisis Has Caused Increasingly Irreversible Losses, Says UN Report 
Yarrow Mamout Masjid Dedicated at Georgetown University 
Adolf Hitler, Carl Orff & Sophie Scholl 
Algeria’s Gas vs. Rightwing Ideology: Will Italy Change Its Position on Jerusalem? 
From Balloons to AUKUS: The War Drive Against China 
Paul Keating’s criticism of Australia’s AUKUS deal is damming but not “astonishing”, – in fact, timely! 
In memory of 20th anniversary of the Iraq War 
CBI investigation against Harsh Mandar’s NGO is nothing but travesty of justice 
Concept of Gram Swaraj (‘Village Self-Reliance’) and Its Increasing Relevance for Our Times 
Indian Democracy & Chaos in Parliament! 
Veterans Condemn Eviction of Aruna Rodrigues from her Residence 
America’s Wars 
Criminals at Large: The Iraq War Twenty Years On 
Massive White House Protest Against Endless Wars 
From ‘Progress’ to an Economics of Happiness 
On Missing Dr. Strangelove Or How Americans Learned to Stop Worrying and Forgot the Bomb 
The Arrest Warrant Against Putin and International Justice 
Illiberal Democracy and Anti-modernization waves in south-Asia 
To prevent a civil war that is about to happen in Pakistan 
Self-Reliant Farmers Improve their Economics and Also Contribute to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation 
Where Do We Go From Here 
Modi Government’s crusade against the opposition 
India’s shift to a Defence-oriented economy, with increasing role for the private sector 
Spent Matters: The AUKUS Nuclear Waste Problem 
Iraq Invasion 20th Anniversary: 5 Million Dead In Iraqi Holocaust 
The Significance of the Paris Commune 152 Years After 
In memory of Anton Semyonovich Makarenko who championed democratic education 
Genetically Modified Animals Bring New Risks and Uncertainties 
When will the suicide of Dalit, tribal students stop? 
Social media and people’s life: A way of good governance 
In USA Black Farmers are Down From 14% to 1.4%, They Need Help 
Demystifying the halo around `Naatu Naatu’ and RRR 
Amazon Rainforest Destabilizes the World 
Iraq and 15 Lessons We Never Learned 
Paulo Freire: Education, Schooling and Social Change 
A Donbas Diary: Looking Back at the Early Stages of the Conflict in Ukraine 
The U.S. and UK’s Submarine Deal Crosses Nuclear Red Lines with Australia 
In memory of Writer Han Suyin Chaos in Pakistan: Imran Khan Takes on America and its Comprador Elites 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
