Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Syria:  The Hunger Wars

The Death of Universities (in Britain) “I think he’s a crypto-fascist,” says Moorcock, laughing. “In Tolkien, everyone’s in their place and happy to be there. We go there  and back , to where we started. There’s no escape, nothing will ever change and nobody will ever break out of this well-­ordered world.” How does he feel about the triumph of Tolkienism and, subsequently, the political sword-and-sorcery epic  Game of Thrones , in making fantasy arguably bigger than it has ever been?" Michael Moorcock: “I think Tolkien was a crypto-fascist”

"The liberal peace model rewards violence."  Syria: An Inverview with Samer Abboud Read also Why the Syrian Army Remains Loyal

Karen Armstrong: " As one who speaks on religion, I constantly hear how cruel and aggressive it has been, a view that, eerily, is expressed in the same way almost every time: “Religion has been the cause of all the major wars in history.” I have heard this sentence recited like a mantra by American commentators and psychiatrists, London taxi drivers and Oxford academics. It is an odd remark. Obviously the two world wars were not fought on account of religion . . . Experts in political violence or terrorism insist that people commit atrocities for a complex range of reasons. Yet so indelible is the aggressive image of religious faith in our secular consciousness that we routinely load the violent sins of the 20th century on to the back of “religion” and drive it out into the political wilderness." "A religious tradition is never a single, unchanging essence that compels people to act in a uniform way,” Armstrong writes. “It is a template that can be modified and altere...

A Forgotten Genocide The Places in Between

An Egyptian woman washes clothes next to a mausoleums in Cairo's city of the dead where she lives with her family. Photo by @mostafa_bassim  Via Everyday Egypt

Uneven and Combined

A soft liberal take by the Guardian Middle East Still Rocking from First World War Pacts Made 100 Years Ago

I Hate New Year's Day Girouettes françaises

Iraq Odyssey by Samir (In English from minute 01:30) In  99 Homes , Iranian-American writer-director Ramin Bahrani ( Man Push Cart, 2005;  Chop Shop , 2007;  Goodbye Solo , 2008) has created a compelling work that puts flesh and blood on the foreclosure epidemic. 3000 Nights

The Christmas that was not. "The Social Conscienc e of the Saint John’s Bible II— On Syrian Refugees and the Reversals of Christmas"

Middle East Goes Monty Python on ISIS

Noam Chomsky was Right about Porn

Crimes at home and abroad For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" stinks — and here's why Also, What Makes Hollywood Run? (a free book) Filming the Middle East (an interview)

Benedict Anderson (1936-2015)

The Astounding Eyes of Rita أم الزين الجمّالية

Remembering Fatema Mernissi

The Novelist Salwa Bakr

Wars Past and Wars to Come