Did you see the evening news about the starving Syrian town? The pictures of children crying for food? The 11-year-old boy too weak to walk? The little chests with rib bones protruding? All of it is even more shocking, because while the people of Moadamiya starve to death, barrel bombs delivered by airplanes of Assad’s […]
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Several years ago I was in Burlington, N.C., and needed a place to spend a couple of hours while my daughter was in a meeting at Elon University. Someone recommended a little coffee shop on the main street past the campus. There was, they told me, a comfortable place to sit and read my book. […]
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(Note to readers: I have changed the original title of this piece to emphasize the point of my article. You are encouraged to read it again and think with me about this and similar commonalities or needs that might help us to create peace between us and the Middle East.) A few days ago […]
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A Middle Eastern Love Story By Martin Accad Director of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, Lebanon Maryam was born a Muslim. Her society required her to live as a Muslim and eventually to die as a Muslim as well. Youssef was born a Christian. His society too required him to live and die […]
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(My friend Jan Therien traveled to Israel and the occupied West Bank late last year. It was her first visit ever to any part of the Middle East. Before she left, I asked her to take notes and be prepared to write her impressions for my website. Below is her first contribution. FF) East Jerusalem. […]
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My last blog promised that on January 4 I would tell you about my plan for “carrying on” my effort to be a positive influence in this violent world. And here it is. This is an invitation to you, a regular or occasional reader of my blog. I want to encourage you to write […]
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2015 is gone! I am tempted to say, Praise God, al hamdulilla, good riddance. In 2015 my husband was sick, I was exhausted and stressed and trying to keep appointments, when I discovered I was not superwoman and got hauled off to the ER myself. A few months later, expecting to return home the next […]
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The last time I was in Damascus I bought an inexpensive piece of local art from the artist himself at his little shop in the covered suq (market). Afterwards, feeling very happy with my purchase, I strolled on up the narrow, sheltered street, enjoying the colorful store windows and being part of the noisy, […]
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Yesterday our topic was What Not to Do in Response to the Attacks on Paris and Beirut. Reading that blog first, will make this one more meaningful. As yesterday, my ideas are organized as a list. 1.Stop talking Sit down, take several deep breaths, drink a cup of coffee or tea, whatever makes you […]
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We are responding. All of us in some way are reacting to the shaking of our world. I happen to be a list-maker, especially when the world is shaking. This is how I get a measure of control over my own emotions and actions. I am not any smarter than you are. But in […]
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