Archive - May 14, 2008 - Article

Lebanon's media diversity

I first came to Lebanon in 1972 to study at the American University of Beirut and left in 1978. Other than the traumas of the Civil War - which are still on the minds of all of us, even those who did not experience them directly - I have three abiding memories of my first encounter with Lebanon: smelling the scent of the Mediterranean as soon as the airplane's door had been opened; hearing the voice of Fairuz, which always filled the air then, and still comes back today to comfort us when things are going very badly; and an open press, representing a wide range of opinion.>>>

My Very First Bus Ride

Among the students in my elementary school, there were many whose family could not afford to have an automobile. Therefore, they did not have the privilege of riding in one. Unluckily, I was one of them. For the kids like me, riding in a car was a luxury that existed only in our dreams, waiting to become a reality. A very few kids whose families had an automobile often made us envious by telling us stories about the pleasure of their joyrides. In those days, of course, there was no sign of Paykan, Peugeot, Patrol, or Pride, especially in smaller cities. Only horse-driven carriages served as the primary means of public transportation. The ones powered by two horses were equivalent to the deluxe models>>>

What next?

If, as seems likely, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO, MEK, PMOI) is de-proscribed in the UK, this ought to be good news for the group's 3,300 members in Iraq. I reported on the situation there back in February and concluded that since the Iraqi Government is adamant that the MKO be expelled from the country as a foreign terrorist entity, the only practical solution was for a western government (most probably the UK) to de-proscribe the group so that the members currently trapped in Camp Ashraf could gain safe refuge there. I am looking to see whether the MKO's western backers will now push for this solution>>>

بيداری ملی ايرانيان

از مدت ها پيش، تقويم های رسمی چاپ ايران از يازدهم ارديبهشت به عنوان «روز ملی خليج فارس» ياد می کردند و سايت های دولتی حتی مطالبی دربارهء اين روز داشتند، بی آنکه معلوم شود چه کسی در اين روز «ملی» قرار است چه بکند. اما تا فرا رسيدن اين روز چند حادثه مهم پيش آمد: نخست سفر احمدی نژاد بود به اجلاسيه ای که «کنفرانس کشورهای حاشيهء خليج عربی» خوانده می شد و نشستن او، بعنوان رئيس جمهور ايران، و وزير خارجه اش، منوچهر متکی، در زير تابلوئی که همين نام را اعلام می داشت. اگرچه، پس از روياروئی با جنجال ناشی از اين عمل زشت، سخنگوی دولت اعلام کرد که ترجمهء درست نام اين اجلاس «کنفرانس کشورهای عرب حاشيهء خليج» است و نه «کنفرانس کشورهای حاشيهء خليج عربی»>>>