This Middle East story is one I have wanted to bring to my readers for a long time. Ramona Sfeir is a person precious to me. I have one of her art objects, bought in the 1980s at an exhibit mentioned in this story, and it is one of my most valued possessions, because it […]
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Three Reasons. . . Four Thousand Middle Eastern Women Recently a group of 20 Israeli women set off from northern Israel, near the Lebanese border, planning to walk to Jerusalem. All along the way they were joined by other women and two weeks later, 3,000 strong, they reached the Palestinian city of Jericho where they […]
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A long time ago we knew a young Iraqi whom I remembered today while reading the news. His name was Asal. Actually, I can’t figure out how to write this in English; that first letter does not exist in our language and to an American sounds like a vowel, a bit harsh, made down in […]
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The truth about what is happening in Syria is complicated, full of contradictions and hard to know. The truth about what we should do or not do concerning Syria is simple, after we shed our biases. Almost everybody I know, here and in the Middle East, has an opinion, often irrelevant. I too, because […]
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This story is contributed by Alastair Greeves, former auditor for World Vision International. The friend he speaks of here is a significant character in my memoir, In Borrowed Houses. FF “Are you Terry Waite?” the Lebanese immigration official asked me as I handed him my passport 25 years ago. “Are you returning to our country?” […]
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Before you read this article, I want you to know that I wrote with some ignorance and what I have said is inaccurate at one point. Because I want to stand by my conclusion and preserve the truth about how I reached it, I have decided to post the piece as I wrote it and […]
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Years ago there was a well-known writer whose opinions appeared in some big magazines. After I read enough of his articles, his very name would give me goose bumps. I knew that if I read his latest essay I would either get scared or I would get very angry. He had a distinctive writer […]
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Two incredible wrongs were done, two crimes committed. Two men are in prison, charged with these crimes, but I am confident that not everyone who is guilty will be charged. Aiding and abetting takes many forms. I am speaking of the murder of Khalid Jabara, a 37-year old man, on August 12 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, […]
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When I learned that Marion Osgood was going to Lebanon, I controlled my jealousy by asking her write a story for me about her trip. She did, and here it is. Marion is British, and I have preserved her slightly different spelling of a few words. Also, in case you have not been to London […]
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The Solution We Are Afraid to Try A relative of mine who had earlier divorced in his wife, created a scandal in our family with his relationship to another woman. There were two horrifying things about the relationship. First they were a man and a woman living together and not married. Second, she was black […]
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