الديمقراطية ثورة

Democracy Is a Revolution

As-Safir

The Egyptian uprising has moved beyond demands for reforms, raising the slogan "The people want to change the regime" as a revolutionary principle aiming to overthrow the entire political-social system.

محيي الدين اللبّاد وثقافة العين

Mohieddin al-Labbad and the Culture of the Eye

A lifetime project to revive Arab eye culture: the book as hospitality — three-quarters for the writer, one-quarter blank for the reader. Before al-Jahiz's duck: "This is not a duck!"

الغاوي في القاهرة: زمن العودة الى أصل النزاع

The Suitor in Cairo: Time to Return to the Root of the Conflict

As-Safir

Confidence-building means symbols instead of solutions—Netanyahu responds with self-rule indistinguishable from colonial mandate language.

شارون والجمل

Sharon and the Camel

As-Safir

The camel is dangerous because it remembers and never forgets and endures — but most dangerous is that it finally rises and shows no mercy. Sharon is gone and the camel remains, with all the time in the world.

Modern Arab Feminism

Arab women's rights are the first concession to fundamentalism—and since 1929, Nazirah Zayn al-Din's question stands: "Do you want to unfurl your flags over your women's faces as a substitute for the kingdoms you have lost?"

An Intelligent Man’s Guide to Modern Arab Feminism

Al-Shidyaq saw the repression of female instinct as the foundation of male domination—and Nazirah Zayn al-Din asked: "Do you want to unfurl your flags over your women's faces as a substitute kingdom for the kingdoms you have lost?"

شؤؤن الاوسط

Middle East Affairs

We explained absences—'why no democracy?'—instead of analyzing what exists: the mechanisms of authoritarian systems. Hope, not optimism.