Dialogue by the Socratic Method

The latest, arguably boldest, article on the “Jordanian Spring” by Jordanian writer Tojan Faisal

7 Arabs Wary of Palestinians

You can hate the game, but not the player. While the majority of Arabs support the Palestinian cause and want to see it resolved, there are those Arabs who do not have warm feelings toward Palestinians. Despite this, along with the Arabic language, the Palestinian cause unites most people of Arab descent. Nevertheless, there are groups of Arabs that will forever remain wary of Palestinians

From Tahrir Square to Al-Husseini Square (1)

Tojan Faisal: The fall of states is determined by the fall of their capital cities, similarly when it comes to their birth or liberation.

From Tahrir Square to Al-Husseini Square (2)

The size of corruption that took place in that foundation, estimated in billions, forced it to officially recognize the “failure” of all its projects, followed by an unconfirmed promise to “investigate any suspected corruption” that had alloyed its work.

MSAS with a touch of inRANTation: Knock-off Sooria…and other amusing Shami oddities

“Stars and Bucks Caffee,” Louis Vitton label-designed serving trays, and the copyright infringement-disrespecting use of Disney characters—familiar markers of an arrival to Levant land. Sooria, Syria, in particular stands out for its product-aping attempts, grammar-distressing translations, and ironic circumstances (although a puzzling find at the Amman airport in Jordan raises the highest eyebrow). As part of MSAS, I continue to bring you highlights from my summer trip. Below are some examples of what is meant by “Knock-off Sham”:

A keychain of a car logo that has been close to being banned by heavy import taxes and replaced by the more ubiquitous “CHERY” makes is apparently a hot item to floss in Souk al-Hamidiyeh.

Maytha’s Shami Adventure Series (MSAS)

Through various means of transit-plane, train, new model suburbans, taxi cabs, chartered 50 passenger buses-my family of 5 and I dragged eight full-size pieces of luggage and sleep deprived eyelids along with us as we visited five cities (Amman, Damascus, Latakia, Aleppo, in the region known as “the Levant” or in Arabic, “bilad as-sham” in an abbreviated two weeks time. If you do the math, that’s about 2-3 days in each city. Now, for my mother, who hadn’t returned to the region since her hurried exit at the onset of war in Lebanon, some 35 years ago, and siblings who had never visited the region and can barely string together a sentence in Arabic that doesn’t have to do with food consumption, the trip was especially meaningful.

Queen Rania’s personality is not positive for Arabs

Imagine my horror when I woke up this morning to find that the campus newspaper had found a token Arab student reaction to a campus event with Rania al-Abdullah, the queen of Jordan: “As someone from the Middle East, I am very proud,” he said. “This is the Arab woman that we want and that [...]

Speaking of Authoritarianism

The Kingdom of Jordan is striking down hard against a serious threat to its security, a member of one of the most venomous and destabilizing crafts the in the world: a poet.

Thinking that the 27 year-old poet Islam Samhan’s words could bring down monarchs, A Jordanian court sentenced the wordsmith to a year in prison and fined him $14,100.

@QueenRania Asma al-Assad is Hotter

In a recent exchange between myself and my fellow KABOBers, a divisive debate was sparked. Typed gasps were exchanged as were statements questioning each others mental stability and capacity in judging human aesthetics. The debate initially began as a discussion over a recent poll taken by the Spanish paper 20 Minutos, known for its innovative [...]

Queen Rania Steals Facebook Page

Queen Rania of Jordan (or as I tend to call her, Queen YouTube) seems to be taking the social media world by storm…and by force. Shortly after joining Twitter, the Jordanian royal hopped on Facebook, having the admin rights of the user who created her fan page taken away. According to the user, who blogged [...]