How did the ‘Butcher of Hama’ find himself back in Damascus?

On June 26, 1980, Syrian President Hafez Assad was preparing to receive an African diplomat in his palace in Damascus. Arrangements were made according to protocol, and only minutes remained before the guest in question was set to arrive. While ... more

The crisis facing Tunisia’s Ennahda

The political crisis generated by Tunisian President Kais Saied sacking the government and dissolving parliament in July has caused great tremors within the country’s largest party, Ennahda. One hundred and thirteen prominent Ennahda members, among t... more

Israel’s original sin

“Israel was born in sin. I see in this whole transformation of the majority [Arab] to a minority and the minority [Jewish] into a majority as immoral. Have you seen anywhere in the world where the majority would agree to give in to a foreign invader,... more

The Muslim world: A fork in the road

Last year, on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, I published a column titled “The Bottleneck in Tunisia.” Stating that the differences of opinion between President Kais Saied and parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi had reached a fever pitch, I highlighted tha... more

Lebanon is on fire!

 Saad Hariri, who was tasked with forming the new government in Lebanon nine months ago, resigned after a 20-minute final meeting with President Michel Aoun, announcing that they had failed to come to an agreement. Emphasizing that there are "di... more

The story of Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian icon

Minding his own business in the West Bank city of Jenin in the village of As-ba'ah Al-Hartiyeh, Yusuf Mustafa Azzam gave his son, who was born in the year of 1941, the name Abdullah. Even though Zionist occupation had intensified during that era, Abd... more

The reality Israel does not want the world to see

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosted on Tuesday evening, May 4, 2021, a traditional iftar (fast-breaking dinner) program at his residence in Jerusalem for some Palestinian Muslim Arab leaders and the diplomatic representatives of Islamic countries.... more

The emir with no clothes

One of this week’s most intriguing hot-button topics was German philosopher Jürgen Habermas’ announcement that he is retracting his acceptance of the award given to him by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the “Cultural Personality of the Year” withi... more

Jordan's Abdullah showed everyone who's 'king'

American writer and academician Robert Satloff summarizes his exclusive meeting with Jordanian King Hussein in 1996 as follows:It was in River House, in June 1996, that I had my last face-to-face conversation with Hussein. When I entered, the house s... more

The female president wearing a hijab

On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, West African President of Tanzania John Pombe Magufuli (61) took his last breath. In official statements, it was said that Magufuli, about whom health rumors were spreading like wildfire because he failed to make a publ... more

The conscience of Rachel Corrie that was crushed under an Israeli bulldozer

I’m here for other children. I’m here because I care.I’m here because children everywhere are suffering and because forty thousand people die each day from hunger.I’m here because those people are mostly children.We have got to understand that the po... more

The Pope's rosary and the destruction of Iraq's Mosul

ISIS, also known as Daesh, which left its mark on recent Middle East history, served to weaken the opposition in Syria, bolster the regime and strengthen the PKK-PYD-YPG structure in the north of the country. In Iraq, the gradual capture of Sunni reg... more

The ball is in Saudi Arabia’s court now

As anticipated, the reaction of the Saudi front to the U.S. administration’s release of the report last week regarding the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was met with anger. As for Riyadh's response to Washington, we can see that the Kin... more