What kind of a girl saunters in to a maximum security prison and starts telling the inmates what to do? One with a lot of guts—and training.
Originally published in JO.
IN 2008, Zeina Daccache made headlines by doing the impossible: she got access to one of Lebanon’s toughest men’s prisons and staged a play there, starring the inmates. After months of work, she brought the great and good of Beirut society, from the Prosecutor General to the Minister of Interior, to sit in a makeshift theater and watch a group of convicted murderers, rapists and drug dealers act out a parable about the failure of criminal justice. Read More »
January 14, 2010 – 12:48 am
Palestinian-American spoken word poet Remi Kanazi isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. The opening lines of his Rambling Poem on Israel and America are characteristic of his unapologetic, in-your-face poetry. Read More »
December 17, 2009 – 10:03 pm
The Western world has yet to fully grasp the number of excellent Arab fiction writers due to the language barrier. However, it seems that things may are about to change for those Arab writers the rest of the world needs to hear about.
Abu Dhabi is a cosmopolitan metropolis. With its burgeoning economy that has made it a popular destination for expats, as well as its cultural initiatives, it is no surprise that it recently played host to the first international nadwa (workshop) for Arab fiction. Read More »
November 23, 2009 – 4:08 pm
There are grooves and holes
In rose rock.
They were alive before you and I
Came by
And briefly unclasped our hands
To touch them.
They are alive within the airless space
Of now.
They’re wrinkles
On the face of history.
History is a tired woman.
History stands by the side of the road,
Her cheap necklaces toll for you.
Read More »
September 7, 2009 – 8:29 pm
One I strangled with the pearls
You once dived for in a boutique.
One I rammed with a creaking taxi
(Prayer beads over the rear view mirror
Nancy on the stereo).
One I left out in the night,
When the desert cooled off
And the spit of the dogs
Grew hotter.
Read More »
I spoon you into my mouth,
Fingers twitching
At the handle.
Tablecloth violated
By sweet little drops
And spills.
Until the moment
Of no more,
No more.
Read More »
Throw me a fag.
You know what? Just get over here.
I’ve been thinking… Remember those days? When we moved seamlessly through life, often asking ourselves if it could possibly be any better? If the passersby, the colossal statue we shared with them and the same one we fought over, were true to reality? Was it merely an attempt of evading a series of conventional bores? Or did we really come across love in its most infant form?
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You say you wanted a happy surprise,
A jewel in a piece of sugared dough,
Something to crack a molar on and more.
A life that’s a feast fit for a troll,
A grain of sand that’s bursting with the world,
- All the things you say you want.
Read More »
Nigel Ashton’s latest book is entitled King Hussein of Jordan: A Political Life.
Jonathan Mok: Why and when did you get interested in the life of King Hussein?
Nigel Ashton: I’ve been interested in King Hussein ever since I was a PhD student back in the 1980s working on British and American policy in the Middle East during the Suez crisis. I was fascinated from an early stage by the way the King successfully negotiated a series of dangerous challenges to his position and the way in which he managed his relations with other powers in the region.
After King Hussein died in February 1999, I felt it was a good time to start researching a biography of him. Up to that point there had been no full biography written with the benefit of access to his papers and interviews with his close friends, family members, and confidants. Thereafter I made more than a dozen trips to Jordan between 1999 and 2007, carrying out a range of interviews with former political leaders and his close family members, including his wife Queen Noor and his eldest son, King Abdullah of Jordan.
Jonathan: King Hussein seemed never to employ anti-Semitic rhetoric to condemn the Israeli occupation and Jewish lobby in the United States. In fact, he was believed to be good terms with leaders such as Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. How did the King view Jews and the Jewish state?
Read More »
When I first met Rana Husseini, I was struck by how forthright and open she was – a firm handshake, a piercing, inquisitive stare and the no-nonsense way in which she chose her words and spoke them. I quickly understood how men who are convinced of women’s inferior nature would be intimidated by someone like Husseini – and that’s besides all of the work she has done in support of women’s rights.
Rana Husseini, whom I first interviewed in 2007, is an investigative reporter and world-famous campaigner against the cruel phenomenon known as honour killing – both in Jordan and beyond. Her book, Murder in the Name of Honour, recently sold out upon its launch in Amman. Before the launch, I sat down with Rana to talk about everything from local politics to Orientalist imagery.
Natalia: So, this book was a real labour of love!
Rana: Yes. I wanted to get this one just right. I wasn’t about to let anyone sensationalize the subject matter. Thankfully, Oneworld Publications worked out really well for me and my agent, because they understood where we were coming from.
N: The cover looks great, by the way. It’s so different from the usual covers that are used on books about this region.
Read More »
