Tag Archive

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… »

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… »

Lebanese Yogis Send Bohemian Vibes to Gaza – Message Received

Solidarity with Palestinians comes in all sizes, shapes and wackiness, as Facebook is often proof of. But, this latest display from Lebanon takes the cake.

A group of yoga practitioners, or yogis, gathered on the Beirut coast at dawn today. Using their yoga powers, they sent “positive vibes” to Gaza. They were moved to do something… »

Guest Post: Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon Deserve Civil Rights

Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon face a very uncertain future. They deserve better. When Palestinians were kicked out of their homeland at gun point in 1948, some found a safe haven in Lebanon, where they were received with an open arms. Lebanese provided them shelters, food and other life essentials years before the United Nations… »

UPDATE on Lebanon’s Negro: Maytha does some investigative reporting

…and pisses off a vexed managing director in the process.

In a story last month on this site, I commented on the wildly inappropriate use of name, slogan, and imagery for a steel wool product sold in Lebanon called “Negro Steel Wool.” After my initial repugnant shock surrounding the no-nonesense marketing of a …product, I… »

For Cultural Purposes Only

Share Update : You may watch “They Do Not Exist” online here. (Tarboush tip: Laurie King) from Sight and Sound Magazine The Palestinian Film Archive vanished during the 1982 Israeli siege of Beirut. Sarah Wood’s ‘For Cultural Purposes Only’ revives the memory of its contents through verbal description and drawings. Palestinian writer Adania Shibli finds… »

Caption Contest: “Reflections on the Arab Malady”

Share To the cover of “Being Arab” by Samir Kassir in the original French I add the first suggested captions: the shib-shib mufakkir and “Oh fuck mum just poured a bucket of poo over her head again having remembered she’s Arab while the earth splits into two.” Other witty captions are welcomed. The best one… »

Disturbing Image Series: And the Minstrel Show Lives on in Lebanese Markets

I cannot begin to express all that is wrong with the following image:

But I will try to.

In an attempt to sell “the best of our best” in household cleaning, a product found in a Lebanese grocery market features a caricature of a shirt-less Black man flexing his muscles as his might physique puncturing the “Negro”… »

Message to PETA from KETA (Kabob-enthusiasts for the Ethical Treatment of Akeel Arabi): You Can Mess with the Zohan, but Not the Kabob

Back in the middle of April, as part of the organization’s Earth Day campaign, PETA approached Lebanese Environment Minister Antoine Karam earnestly urging him to “lead Lebanon and the world in the charge against climate change and environmental destruction by going vegetarian and advocating a vegetarian diet, “as reported by Al-Arabiya. The article… »

Sizing Up the Lebanese Elections

ShareThis picture encapsulates the spirit of the recently concluded Lebanese elections… and it has nothing to do with the results that likely set the circumstances for its publication. The newspaper behind the photo claims it shows an actual ballot used by an angry voter. Khara 3alaykum wa 3ala hal entikhabat. Jumhuriyat moz. Mowaten adami. Most… »